Briefs Gunnison County

CBMR road show hits the county
Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) took its master plan to the county commissioners this week. John Sale, director of planning, ran the Board of County Commissioners through Google Earth maps of possible new terrain on the backside of the mountain, or “Teo 2.” Two new lifts would serve about 100 acres of intermediate terrain and another hundred of extremes.

“The purpose is geared more toward extending the length of stay,” said Sale. The trails will be narrower than much of the existing terrain, with more of a backcountry feel but still be lift accessible.
Sales pointed to local skiers’ frustrations with this year’s limited terrain access as an example of what many visiting skiers experience because they ski only intermediate terrain. And compared to last year, the latest surveys show a 14 percent jump in the number of people saying the resort needs more terrain, from the mid-40s to about 60 percent.
The commissioners and county manager Matthew Birnie had all seen the plans but they had a few questions for CBMR. Birnie asked if lift options needed to be finalized before submitting the plan to the Forest Service.
“We’ll probably show the option with the biggest impact with the understanding that we can fall back to the lesser option,” Sale said.
“It’s conceptual,” said Forest Service district ranger John Murphy. “It doesn’t have to be perfect. That will come out in the NEPA [National Environmental Protection Act] process.”
Sale also clarified that the expansion will not include snowmaking, but it will include provisions for summer use, like hiking trails and zip lines.
“When the Muellers bought the resort, about 5 percent of business was in the summer. This past summer it was 15 percent, with a goal of 20 to 25 percent. All those factors will go into the master plan,” Sale said.
According to Sale, CBMR will continue to gather community input throughout February, and hopes to write the master plan in March before submitting it to the Forest Service in April. The plan goes before the Crested Butte Town Council on February 6 and Crested Butte South on February 8.

Linkage fees are back and better than ever
Gunnison County continues to finesse the workforce housing linkage fees. New demographic data prompted changes to the calculations last spring, but the commissioners have seized the opportunity to even out their stair-step nature.
A new methodology will allow the county to calculate fees per 100 square feet instead of 1,000 square feet. Homeowners with slight differences in square footages will no longer see large jumps in the fee.
In most cases, they will also see a decrease in the total amount of those fees.
The commissioners will consider a refund retroactive to March of last year, when that new demographic data became available, when they consider a resolution enacting the changes. That date has not yet been set.