The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“No change will be effected by vacating this cul-de-sac”
In a split decision, the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council gave its preliminary approval on Tuesday, April 2 to an ordinance vacating the cul-de-sac next to the Nordic Inn on Treasury Road. The 3-2 decision reflected the differences of opinion being expressed by residents and business people about the wisdom in abandoning a piece of property that is held in trust by the town, as vacating the property would transfer it to private ownership.
While the developer requesting the vacation said that without it, he wouldn’t pay to initiate a planned unit development (PUD) for the parcels of property he owns, including and adjacent to the Nordic Inn. Opponents have asked the town to hold off on the vacation until there’s an acceptable plan for the property.
Developing the property as a unit into anything other than the high- and low-density residential use it’s now zoned for would require the developer to go through the PUD process with the town, which could adjust the zoning on the property to be whatever is acceptable to both the town and the developer.
Currently the town is in more of a management role related to the nearly half-acre cul-de-sac, as opposed to outright ownership, which means the town cannot sell the property, but could forfeit it for what they perceive to be a benefit to the town.
At the public hearing on Tuesday, April 2, several business people and employees of John Johnson, who owns and would like to develop the properties surrounding the cul-de-sac, pointed out the benefits the new development would bring to the town in the form of jobs and tax revenue.
“That property isn’t providing any benefit to the neighbors or to the town,” Johnson’s attorney, David Leinsdorf, told the council. “No change will be effected by vacating this cul-de-sac.”
In his renovation of the Nordic Inn, Johnson used a lot of local subcontractors. Some of them came out to the public hearing to say they appreciated the work at a time when construction-related work can be hard to come by.
“I can tell you that several local families were put to work this past winter at a time when they really needed that work and I think the investment made in the community benefited your government tax revenues, but more important, kept people employed and gave them the ability to stay in the community and keep their kids in the schools,” said John Nichols of Home Works Fine Property Management, who acted as construction supervisor for the Nordic Inn renovation. “If we continue to say ‘no’ to people like John, we all know where that road ends.”
At the same time, the council considered several letters from Treasury Road property owners who had purchased their properties with the belief the property below them would be developed as either low-density or high-density residential properties, not as a commercial property.
Other concerns were related to the unknown. Johnson hasn’t proposed a plan for the property he owns, and several homeowners urged the council members not to support the vacation until they know how the land would be used, while others were concerned about the value being added to the Nordic Inn property with the additional acreage.
In a letter to the council, Reed Meredith, who has been a vocal opponent of the vacation, wrote, “Whether the current owner intends to develop this property, or plans to sell it at an increased price due to the addition of .46 acres, remains to be seen.”
One letter from the Henderson family, which owns a second home on Treasury Road overlooking the Nordic Inn property, says they bought the lot for its view of the mountain and were told by the “city planner” that no buildings taller than 35 feet would be allowed on Johnson’s property. “We recommend that vacation and transfer of the existing road and cul-de-sac be delayed until any PUD is considered,” read the letter.
The proposal to vacate the cul-de-sac was the main concern in each of the comments that urged the council to wait for a PUD, not the potential for development, and some comments touched on the positive changes to the Nordic Inn since Johnson and partner Ken Stone took over.
Of more concern to Treasury Road homeowners is that no one knows what the development will look like.
One immediate benefit would be the tax collection on the property, should it become private, although how much tax hasn’t been determined because no value has been placed on the property yet. But once the property goes private, there’s no recourse for the town to take it back.
That makes a lot of people nervous, including Town Council members David Clayton and Danny D’Aquila, who both urged caution on the council’s part and ultimately voted against vacating the property.
“I didn’t hear anyone opposing development. But they did want to see a plan because they feel the [cul-de-sac] is a buffer zone and there’s a level of comfort having it that way,” D’Aquila said. “I think all they’re asking for is to show us what’s the plan … and I think we owe it to that part of the community to see a plan before we change that space.”
Clayton agreed, saying the council had a responsibility to its constituents. “It’s basically a matter of timing. I haven’t heard from anybody who said they wouldn’t look at it. They’d just like to see what the plan is before the cul-de-sac is vacated,” he said. “The vacation is a one-way door. Once we replat the land, it’s done.”
Speaking to Johnson’s comment that he would need assurance that the property would be vacated before engaging in the PUD process, Clayton asked town attorney Kathleen Fogo if the town’s vacating the property could be dependant on an acceptable PUD for the property. Fogo said it could.
Councilmen Gary Keiser and Tom Steuer agreed there was enough opportunity in the PUD phase of the development for the public to comment and raise concerns specific to the design. “The folks on Treasury are going to have more heartburn when we see a PUD for Mountaineer Square North,” Steuer said. “That’s going to have quite a bit more effect on them than this thing.”
Mayor William Buck bristled at any suggestion of a delay or change from what Johnson had proposed. “We have a process in place that fully protects the public. To me it’s not a negotiation,” he said, pointing to statistics that show Mt. Crested Butte among three ski resort communities, out of a total of 24, that have negative sales tax. “As far as what the applicant has done and the improvements to the Nordic Inn, the cumulative effect has been far and above that of the other complexes. If that’s any indication of what they’re going to do in the future I would be more than willing to support them … We are starting to improve our guest experience and make this town a little better. I for one will not stifle economic development in our town.”
The Crested Butte Fire Protection District, which hadn’t been consulted on the proposed vacation at the March 19 public hearing, said in a letter that the emergency access wouldn’t be affected by the vacation and asked for any future development to be “reviewed for compliance with existing codes.”
With that, after a first reading of the ordinance vacating the cul-de-sac on Treasury Road, the council voted 3 to 2 in favor of the vacation. As of publication, a second, and final, reading of the ordinance had not been scheduled.
