Crested Butte South POA gets new manager

Makes strong statement about clutter

Dan Vaughn is taking the reins of the Crested Butte South Property Owners Association, replacing Chris Behan, who moved on to (figuratively) greener pastures in the private sector of Colorado Springs.

For Vaughn, a move back to the mountains is just what he needed after finding himself unemployed in Cañon City. Before that Vaughn had managed grounds maintenance for a developer that built much of Keystone Resorts and their Master Planning Communities, helping create and manage several of their HOAs and worked with a private architectural firm in Breckenridge.
Vaughn had also put his degree in urban and regional planning to use as a planner in Summit County and in Durango. But he likes to fish. And while Cañon City has one river and a few fishable creeks, the Gunnison Valley has more, so he decided to make the move and he’s glad he did.
He had been to the Gunnison Valley before to get away and even to work as a landscape architect on a project in Mt. Crested Butte.
How does his new locale compare? Vaughn says there’s no comparison. “Summit County has become a suburb of Denver. At least here they still have real mountains.” And he’s been able to enjoy them, if briefly, while on the river fishing. He also likes to bike, ski and “all the usual things,” but he still has a lot of unpacking to do as well as running the Crested Butte South POA, which constitutes the county’s third largest population.
First on his plate has been an effort at “getting my head around the transportation situation.” With the valley’s Rural Transportation Authority making stops only at the highway, within minutes of people eager to get to one end of the valley or the other, Vaughn says he’s looking at different ways of getting a permanent run into Crested Butte South and “trying to get a year-round [transportation] link to serve this community.”
He’s also seeing “some opportunities” to expand the community’s cross-country skiing and hockey programs. Developing the subdivision’s commercial center is also “definitely in the plans,” to be built up once the real estate market finds its true bottom, Vaughn says.
But there’s a learning curve to catch and Vaughn says he doesn’t expect any major changes to come right away. Instead he’ll be getting up to speed and taking on the clutter that has become a hot topic in Crested Butte South over the last couple of years.
In a letter sent to property owners last week, Vaughn told them if they have their property picked up they can ignore the notice to clean up the clutter, otherwise the covenant related to “lot appearance” will be enforced and they will be getting a letter, maybe a fine, and even a lien on their property.
So pick up or pay for it, because there’s a new manager in town.