The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Trapper’s HOA has some concerns
Another step in obtaining a cleaner hiking and biking trail through Baxter Gulch is set, but there remain a few hurdles before access is complete.
The 1% for Open Space board voted last week to spend $46,000 to purchase the recreation easement on Lot 19 in the Trapper’s Crossing at Wildcat subdivision. Local attorney Jim Starr, who negotiated the easement, has said his firm would donate $5,000 connected to the property through work done while the firm represented the Foothills of Crested Butte annexation proponents.
The closing over the so-called “Zipper” (the last name of the property owner) easement was slated for October 1 but has now been pushed back until November 4. The Trapper’s Crossing Homeowner’s Association is raising a few questions it would like answered before signing off on the deal. And according to Trapper’s Crossing covenants, the HOA does have to sign off on the easement.
According to HOA manager Angela Reeves, the board is deciding whether to poll all the homeowners about the situation or issue a comment from the board of directors. Concerns from the board include visibility of the trail from other Trapper’s lots, and what the odds are of trespassing and/or people camping in the area as a result of the trail.
Other concerns include who will police the trail, what precedent does selling an easement have on the other properties, and is it different from tax incentives, plus will other owners want to sell trail easements? The board is also asking if it is fair to Trapper’s owners to have a new trail when the nearby Whetstone Ranch subdivision turned down such an easement, despite being the more logical access.
“This is just a selection of the questions and concerns from the board,” explained Reeves. “The board was only recently approached about the Lot 19 easement and the board members have been communicating by email. They want to schedule a meeting in the near future to discuss the trail easement.”
If it is finally completed, the easement will restore a manageable trail access to Whetstone Mountain for the first time in almost 30 years, according to 1% for Open Space director Molly Murfee. “This has not been an easy process but it is one the board felt would be a great benefit to the community,” she said.
“We at 1% for Open Space are thoroughly pleased to re-introduce an improved Baxter Gulch access to the National Forest near Whetstone Mountain,” said Pete Nichols, 1% for Open Space board president. “This trail easement will provide a more logical trail orientation than what had previously existed, with fewer environmental impacts and fewer maintenance issues for the future. Although this has been a difficult decision for us, we left the boardroom as a united team of open space preservationists. ‘Thanks’ to all of the community for their input and their patience as we did our homework for this project.”
Starr said he could see the goal line. “I’m happy that we are now very close to the end of this widely supported trail project,” he said.
The 1% board had an appraisal conducted on the easement and it came in at $52,000. While an easement existed on neighboring Lot 18, the trail built there would be extremely steep; just constructing the trail would be expensive.
Danna Lambert of Arrowhead Trails, a consulting and trail building firm in Salida that helped build the Lower Loop and Green Lake trails, was hired by the town in 2008 to lay out a tentative trail. She estimated that 27 switchbacks would be needed to construct the trail through Lot 18, due to its steepness, vertical distance from the creek bottom, avoidance of unstable soil, water drainage mitigation, need for a sustainable rise, and proximity to homesites.
Lambert’s most recent estimate of construction costs of trails over Lot 18 versus Lot 19, made this summer, lists the maintenance requirements for the Lot 18 route as “high risk” and calculates it will cost twice as much per linear foot to build. Construction of the 27 switchbacks alone could cost up to $52,000, according to her figures.
“As an individual, I am encouraged with the final decision by the 1% board to fund the easement costs for Lot 19 of Trapper’s Crossing subdivision,” says local trail building guru Don Cook, “With these easements in hand, when the eventual trail is constructed, all who will use the Baxter Gulch drainage for their recreation will have a much better trail experience and the trail itself will be by far more sustainable for years to come, with little or no maintenance needed.”
“We at Big Al’s Bicycle Heaven, as a 1% for Open Space participant and a recreationally based business, support this purchase,” says owner Ali Fuchs. “Any improvements to our existing trail systems add to the experience of our visitors and gives them greater opportunities to be out. This is good for everyone in town.”
Additionally, the appraiser for the project, Wes Bucher, explained that whether a landowner is “paid” through selling tax credits procured from a donated easement or receives an actual payment for an easement crossing his or her property, there is a financial and liability burden the landowner will always shoulder.
“For us it ultimately came down to environmental sustainability and stewardship. This project is about human access. As we access these wild places, it is our responsibility to do so with the least amount of impact possible on the land,” asserted Murfee. “We feel good that we have made a decision that will cost the town and taxpayers less in the future by choosing a trail alignment that will require exponentially less maintenance. Lot 19 was the clear long-term choice for both our environmental and financial considerations.”
The Trapper’s Crossing HOA hopes to have a meeting to discuss the situation within the next week.
