The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Pursuing “alternative options”
by Mark Reaman
Developers hoping to annex 44 acres of land north of Crested Butte across from the Gas Café into town are “suspending” those efforts out of frustration with the town.
In a letter to Crested Butte mayor Aaron Huckstep dated Monday, August 3, Cypress Equities vice president Cameron Aderhold said the company had been pursuing the potential annexation for approximately 10 months.
“Notwithstanding this passage of time, Cypress has not been permitted to file a formal annexation petition under the Town Annexation Ordinance,” Aderhold wrote. The Town recently provided a proposed Pre-Annexation Agreement and Indemnity Agreement to Cypress. The Town Council passed a resolution in January requiring the applicant to enter into that Pre-Annexation Agreement as a condition of submitting a formal annexation petition.
“In the opinion of Cypress and its consultants, the Pre-Annexation Agreement and Indemnity Agreement proposed are not commercially reasonable,” Aderhold’s letter stated. “Cypress was (and is) willing to clean up the old municipal landfill—which was created by the Town of Crested Butte and for which the Town is responsible. But, from Cypress’s perspective, the Town has been unwilling to consider reasonable terms for allowing Cypress to perform this work on the Town’s behalf.”
Aderhold contended the town has ignored what the developers described as a starting “point from which to negotiate” and instead insisted on an unreasonable Pre-Annexation Agreement and Indemnity Agreement that he did not think “any prudent company would agree to…”
For the reasons stated in more detail in the letter to Huckstep, Aderhold wrote, “Cypress is suspending any further efforts at annexing the property into the Town. Instead, Cypress will pursue alternative options.”
While an “alternative option” is most likely to be an application to develop the land through the Gunnison County Land Use Resolution process, an email from Cypress attorney Marcus Lock stated, “Cypress has no comment at this time.”
At the Crested Butte Town Council meeting on Tuesday, August 4, town planner Michael Yerman said he would compile a final invoice for outstanding items the developers are responsible for paying.
Town attorney John Belkin said the staff was beginning to determine what a county development would mean in terms of density on the property.
Gunnison County community development director Russ Forrest said his office had not been officially approached about an application by the developers.
Councilman Jim Schmidt said the developer’s letter appeared to blame the town for requiring unreasonably high amounts of insurance ($20 million) and indemnity obligations ($10 million).
Belkin said he and the town’s consulting attorney had determined those numbers were extremely fair.
“We talked to lawyers who had dealt with landfill cleanups and the number was perfect,” Belkin said. “It would cost them about $250,000 for a $20 million policy. They paid $100,000 for an insurance policy that didn’t even cover landfill projects so I don’t understand the issue. As for $10 million in indemnity—is $5 million enough? If they find nothing, the project will probably cost them $2 million to $4 million. They’ll be hauling a lot of dirt. If they find something, the cost goes up. We suggested a sliding scale depending on what they find when they start.”
Councilman Skip Berkshire said he was bothered that the Cypress letter was crafted to make the town out to be the “bad guys.”
Councilman Schmidt didn’t like that Cypress characterized the old landfill as being a town responsibility. That is an issue that has never been definitively determined but the last two developers to propose an annexation of the property both wanted the town to be held responsible for the old dump. The town has never agreed to that contention.
“Is it worth our while to respond to this from our perspective?” asked Berkshire.
The rest of the council said it wasn’t. They agreed to not respond to the letter and were willing to walk away from the proposal, given the state of the situation.
