CB council starts formal annexation discussions

Let’s end up with something we can all be proud of

Negotiations have officially started between the Crested Butte Town Council and developers hoping to annex and develop 44 acres north of town. The December 1 council meeting lasted more than six and a half hours and was dominated by the annexation process. Representatives of the Dallas-based Cypress Equities group laid out their concept of the Slate River Addition while the council debated how to handle the process.

While there will come a time when the council will be prohibited from discussing the annexation proposal outside of formal public hearings because of rules governing so-called “quasi-judicial” proceedings, this isn’t it. The council is in the concept review stage for the proposal and can take unlimited and unsolicited comments and opinions about the proposal from the public and the developers. The council is wrestling with how long to remain in this “legislative” part of the annexation process. Once a formal annexation petition is filed, the council will essentially become judges and, according to the town legal counsel, will not legally be permitted to take any comment outside of public hearings.
While some council members were not entirely comfortable with those limitations, after hours of discussion with lawyers at the meeting, the council seemed to agree in concept with the proposed steps in the process.

The initial plan
The proposed Slate River Annexation would basically be divided into two pods delineated by the Slate River.
It would be comprised of primarily residential development with up to 115 residential units on 75 lots, but some space is set aside for commercial and business lots. At build-out, the new subdivision would add about 10 percent to the town.
The proposal is being put forth by Cypress Equities, which is owned by longtime Mt. Crested Butte second homeowner Chris Maguire. The company was represented by Cypress vice president Cameron Aderhold at the December 1 meeting.
“Without questions, Chris and all of us realize this is a very special place and we want to maintain and enhance the special character of the place,” Aderhold said.
“We understand that in Crested Butte, growth must pay its own way. We understand the desire to see the town grid continued and we tried to accommodate that, given the land and its contours. We are proposing about 25 percent less density than what was proposed by the prior applicant.”
“We are aiming to stay consistent with the current town unit mix and zoning,” Aderhold continued. “We are open to providing space for a new fire hall and we have three park areas in our proposal. We understand the need to address water and wastewater issues. As for affordable housing, we understand the need and propose to build something rather than just deed-restrict a lot. It is all part of the longer discussion.”

Old town dump is a major issue
The developers have said they would clean up the old town landfill site that is buried on the property. Previous developers had threatened to have the town take liability for the potential cleanup. Local Cypress attorney Marcus Lock said the company would clean up the entire landfill, including the portion located on town property, at no cost to the town. “We want to take a totally different approach from the last applicants,” he said. “We want to take responsibility and clean up the whole dump.”
Lock said Cypress has hired a professional environmental clean-up company, Casey Resources, to conduct the project and work with the state to get approval for the end result. Paul Casey told the council it would be the company’s “ultimate goal to get state and federal approval under a voluntary program. It will take a brownfields property and give it a beneficial use,” he said. “Landfills are interesting. I don’t know everything that’s in there but it will be interesting.”
Based on extensive testing, Casey said his firm concluded that the site was used for general domestic refuse but they have seen signs of asbestos and lead. The developers are asking that after the portion of the dump located on town property in the public works yard west of the bus barn is cleaned up, that area be converted to a park. It would reduce the overall public works yard by about 25 percent.
“The good news about this site is that the groundwater is clean,” said Casey. “It hasn’t been impacted.”
Casey said it would be up to the developer to determine the timeframe for the clean-up. It could be done in phases as the subdivision is developed, or all at once. When the clean-up is being conducted, the company would provide safety measures such as wind fencing and perimeter air monitoring to be protective of nearby residents. Casey admitted the clean-up would involve a lot of truck traffic coming and going from the site. “It could be a challenge,” he said. “We estimate there are 26,000 cubic yards of material to be taken out.”

Grid layout vs. a “natural” flow
Local engineer Tyler Harpel of SGM Engineering explained the pros and cons of things like a road-and-alley grid configuration versus a more “natural” looping road system on the east side of the development, storm water runoff issues and wetland buffers.
Crested Butte building and zoning director Bob Gillie cautioned the council that it is too early in the process to start favoring specific designs. “We don’t fully understand a lot of this yet,” he said. “Their ‘natural’ road proposal might cause building layouts to be significantly different from what’s in town now, for example. We have a lot of things to study yet.”
Town planner Michael Yerman agreed. “No matter what layout the town goes with on the east side of the river, ‘grid’ or ‘natural,’ they are creating an urban environment where there is currently a meadow,” he said. “There will be a lot of grading over there no matter what.”
Public works director Rodney Due said there are still a lot of details to consider with any plan. “The amount of road with either design is very similar,” he told the council. “For my world, I like the grid system with the alleys. It will help delineate utilities.”
Councilperson Skip Berkshire pointed out that the property could be one of visual transition from Crested Butte toward the Moon Ridge subdivision and eventually Mt. Crested Butte.

The bigger big picture questions
Crested Butte resident Tessa Jonson threw out the bigger challenge. “Why do we need to follow the norm?” she asked. “Why even have roads for example? Maybe this could be a car-free section of town. Why not make it all affordable housing that we need? Do something different.”
“Those are good points and we are open to anything in this discussion,” said Lock. “It’s what the concept phase is all about. We want feedback and then we want to take the best ideas.”
The proponents are currently suggesting four main entry points for vehicles. Two would be off of Gothic Road, along with entries from Seventh and Eighth Streets. Some trails are also being proposed for the development. Harpel pointed out that residents of the new Slate River subdivision would have easy access to public transportation and would be able to walk or ride bikes to school or the main business district of town. He expected that to restrict traffic volume.
“To Tessa’s point, don’t be afraid to consider new things,” said resident Dan Escalante. “In the end, the council can take the credit or blame for what ends up there. I have seen some new developments incorporate innovative ideas that work. Let’s make sure this is something that Crested Butte can be proud of.”
Lock said the developers want the growth to pay its own way; they are willing to explore creative options in dealing with the water and wastewater issues that come with such a development. He said Cypress was open to help fund some engineering costs if the state mandated a plan to expand the wastewater treatment plant as a result of the application.
“The goal is to make this the best project possible for the town of Crested Butte,” Lock said. “We want a good dialogue with the town to do that together. We want to know up front if there are any deal breakers. It seems like the three main issues are the old dump, the wastewater expansion and the possible fire hall relocation.”
Lock said he is confident there is great opportunity for a top-flight development on the property. “Taking a comment from Dan Escalante, it is important to me that we all end up proud of this in the end,” he said. “We want to build a great project. That is what we are shooting for. We want to do it right and we want to be consistent with town values.”
Lock made those comments well after midnight and before the town’s planner Michael Yerman had a chance to express his review to the council.
“Most importantly, I think we need a schedule on how we are going to eat this elephant,” suggested Berkshire.
Given the hour, the council decided to postpone Yerman’s comments and continue the discussion at the December 15 council meeting. They will begin the discussion at 6:15 p.m.