The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Not the right spot for workforce housing
By Mark Reaman
The Crested Butte Town Council is interested in developing a 32-space campsite at Avalanche Park just south of Crested Butte. Consulting firm JVA Inc. presented the council with three alternatives on how to use the space on Monday evening and the majority of the council leaned toward a $650,000 improvement plan to get free-market tent sites on the property.
An option to bring in 24 workforce housing campsites was estimated to cost about $940,000. A large part of that cost would be for water and sewer infrastructure.
The other option included free-market tent sites and some RV spaces, but the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) indicated that allowing RVs would mandate new acceleration/deceleration turning lanes into the property and that would be expensive. The lanes would be needed since RVs and trailers take longer to slow down and accelerate. That option, which had 24 tent sites and 16 RV sites, would cost approximately $1.1 million.
“All three alternatives will require a significant capital cost to develop and should be considered for budgeting purposes,” the JVA report stated.
Traffic engineer Kari McDowell said that ideally the entrance to a potential campground would be located 260 feet south of the current turn-in to the county shops at the top of the hill near the south entrance to town.
Town planner Michael Yerman said separate entrances for the campground and the county shops would be ideal and would need cooperation from the county. McDowell said CDOT preferred one access point per parcel of land and the county’s access to its shops is through an access easement over town property. McDowell said the tent-only option would not require additional turn lanes on the highway.
The workforce housing option would give more space to the campers and would provide upgraded shower and restroom amenities. JVA consultant Joel Price said the idea was to provide a bit more privacy and space in a workforce housing situation than in a transient camper situation.
“With the workforce option, we would anticipate having something like a four-month lease for people. The campground host would be used for directing traffic over a weekend when people were moving in and moving out. Otherwise the RVs and campers would stay all summer so traffic wouldn’t be an issue,” Yerman said.
“If everyone moved in and out on the same weekend, CDOT said there’s a 50-50 shot they wouldn’t require acceleration lanes in that scenario,” explained McDowell.
In response to a council question about bringing in town water and sewer services to the site, Price said it would be prohibitively expensive.
Yerman said the town staff was looking at a campground project as a possible revenue producer for the town once the development was constructed. “Overall, the goal would be to cover maintenance costs but setting the costs can bring in revenue,” he said.
“It seems like every option will cost a lot of money,” said mayor Glenn Michel. “Why not start small and phase it in?”
“Some of the biggest costs are the infrastructure, so you have some large immediate costs up front with every option,” said Price.
“I don’t think this is a lot of money, really,” countered councilman Chris Ladoulis. “We just spent $900,000 for a snow storage lot in town. Spending $950,000 for 24 pads of workforce housing that could help up to 40 people could be money well spent. I think it could pay for itself.”
“It is odd to me to spend $950,000 for housing that is used for only four or five months a year,” said Michel.
“A lot of people do exactly that with second homes right now,” said Ladoulis to chuckles.
Councilman Jim Schmidt spoke in favor of not pursuing any of the presented options. “I think it’s all too expensive. For a million dollars I think we can better spend the money on year-round housing on block 76 or somewhere else,” he said. “It not being in town makes access off the highway expensive. Water and sewer is expensive. There would not be electricity. Do we want a Hooverville out there? Whose problem are we solving?”
Schmidt noted that the U.S. Forest Service operates several nice campgrounds in the Taylor Canyon. “I guess campgrounds near Crested Butte are not their priority,” he said. “I just think with workforce housing the money is better spent on permanent housing. Maybe we can help with providing showers in town where there is already water.”
“I like the tent-only option but with showers,” said councilperson Erika Vohman. “It addresses one of the priorities we have talked about. I think we would want to add more parking as well.”
“I like that option as well,” said councilman Paul Merck. “It is less expensive and I like the idea of the town having a campground. I’ve always liked it in Telluride. The workforce housing should be somewhere else.”
Councilwoman Laura Mitchell agreed with Vohman and Merck. “Option one would be an amenity for the town,” she said. “Camping close to town is desirable. I don’t like workforce housing out there.”
“I like the idea of a campground,” said councilmember Roland Mason. “I think we could start with the tent option and phase it in to include RVs maybe in 10 years. I think it is a reasonable price if we charge fees. I think if we have it out there, it will be full all the time. It could also address some of the pressure we have seen with backcountry camping. Having 32 new sites available would have an impact.”
“What problem are we trying to solve? People who want to camp in the backcountry by Judd Falls are not necessarily looking for an urban camping experience like this,” said Ladoulis. “Camping by a highway and camping in the backcountry is very different.”
“It is quiet and nice out there,” said Merck. “The traffic noise is stifled by the trees.”
“I just don’t think we have as much of a need for a campground as we do for workforce housing,” said Ladoulis. “All the businesses need workforce housing. They are all advertising for employees in Gunnison because there aren’t people up here.”
“We are addressing workforce housing,” said Merck. “As for a campground, people want to be here. It would be a good amenity for town.”
Michel said he too was in favor of pursuing a tent campground and not putting workers out there. He summarized that five of the seven councilmembers wanted the staff to pursue solid numbers and a plan for a tent campground at Avalanche Park. They will review the plan during the upcoming budget process.
Yerman said the idea would be included in the town’s five-year capital plan “and then the council will have to prioritize where you want it with a whole lot of other projects that are coming up.”
