The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Deal would protect the Mt. CB trailhead
The town of Crested Butte has committed $700,000—about 25 percent of the total—toward the purchase of part of the Promontory Ranch on Snodgrass Mountain, a parcel that includes the Mt. Crested Butte trailhead for the Snodgrass trail. The Crested Butte Land Trust and the property owner, the North Village Reserve, a subsidiary of Crested Butte Mountain Resort, are negotiating the deal.
Since Crested Butte doesn’t have that money in its open space fund, the town will need a bridge loan to pay CBMR until the funds come into the town. The open space fund comes from real estate transfer taxes in the town. Crested Butte takes in about $450,000 a year in such open space tax, so the open space fund may be tapped out until sometime in 2015.
The parcel is one of four on Snodgrass that make up the Promontory Ranch, which is owned by the ski area managers. Its 93 acres basically encompass the land one sees to the north and west as one looks up the Snodgrass trail. The parcel includes the trail up to the fence that is crossed at the top of the first hill as one climbs Snodgrass.
“The timing is on a pretty short fuse,” Jake Jones, Parks and Recreation director, told the council. “This is a highly visible, high-impact parcel and this is a unique opportunity to protect a part of a trail that is dear to the community.”
“The land trust has been looking at this parcel for quite some time,” added Crested Butte Land Trust executive director Ann Johnston. “Once the ski resort began actively trying to sell the property, we received a lot of inquires from people who wanted it protected. The land trust board agreed. We have until June to secure the funding, so there is some urgency given the timeline.”
A final appraisal is currently being conducted. The CBLT submitted a $700,000 grant request to GoCo (Great Outdoors Colorado) and is approaching the Gunnison County Land Preservation Board and Mt. Crested Butte for support as well. The landowner is including a donation as part of the deal.
“Depending on the final appraisal, the landowner would contribute 25 percent of the value in a so-called bargain sale,” said Johnston.
“We would still need to raise about $500,000 if we get both the town and the GoCo contributions.”
The parcel is actually located inside the town boundary of Mt. Crested Butte. Johnston said the land trust will formally approach the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council at its meeting next month, but initial conversations with town officials have been positive.
“This is a high-priority project for the land trust,” Johnston said. “It meets our four main tenets of protecting scenic views, wildlife corridors, it helps ranching, and contains recreational opportunities. There is also a wetlands on the property.”
The Crested Butte council agreed to spend the money toward the purchase as long as the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council supported the acquisition.
“There are still a lot of details and due diligence to do,” said Johnston. “It’s not a done deal yet.”
