The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Connector to Green Lake Trail must be removed
By Olivia Lueckemeyer
On Friday, January 15 the Gunnison County Planning Commission approved the minor impact project application for a private mountain bike trail on Lot 33A, Trapper’s Crossing at Wildcat.
The three-foot wide, 4,400 linear-foot trail was originally built without approval from the county and included a connection to the Green Lake Trail through the Trapper’s Crossing subdivision. Last fall, after a complaint from the area’s homeowners association, the Planning Commission requested that the property owner, Chris Baggot, apply for the proper land use permit before continuing use.
Upon reviewing the application, and after a work session and site visit was conducted, the trail was approved, albeit with a number of conditions.
An important stipulation of the agreement was that the trail remains private and that this is made obvious with the appropriate signage.
“One of the key issues the commission was focused on was ensuring this private trail would be truly private and not create a negative impact on the neighborhood,” Russ Forest, director of community development, said.
To uphold this condition, the commission decided that the connector between Baggot’s trail and the Green Lake Trail must be eliminated. Baggot has until April to submit a plan to both the Gunnison County Community Development Department and the town of Crested Butte detailing the steps he will take to remove the connector. Components of this plan must include the installation of “No Trespassing” signage and video surveillance.
With the exception of the connector, the commission seems to approve of how the trail was constructed. In a memo released following the approval of the application, the commission pointed out that, in reviewing the guidelines, there appeared to be significant focus on “minimizing environmental impacts and sensitivity to natural features.”
“Although trees have been removed in the trail construction process, the site visits seem to indicate care was given in the design and construction of the trail to minimize impacts,” the memo stated.
Baggot has until by July to complete the removal of the trail connector, at which time a site visit from the community development department to confirm proper implementation of the conditions will be conducted.
