The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Combining them could make the dump cleanup start sooner
By Mark Reaman
The Gunnison County Planning Commission agreed with a request from the Cypress Foothills developers to recommend a combined review process of the Slate River development’s preliminary and final plans.
The final decision goes to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), which will look at the recommendation at the December 6 meeting.
The development is located directly north of the Crested Butte town boundary. It is part of a hybrid development deal with the town of Crested Butte that is planning to annex some of the property for public amenities.
Cypress attorney Marcus Lock sent a letter of request to the Planning Commission based on the county’s Land Use Resolution that allows such a merging under certain circumstances. The Planning Commission board members were okay with the request as long as the public comment process was not shortened and as long as the Planning Commission had adequate time and opportunity for a thorough review.
“We concluded that it would be worthwhile for everyone to consider this possibility,” Lock said. “For us, the construction schedule is a consideration. We figured keeping both processes separate would take a minimum of 6.6 months and realistically probably eight months. Combining them literally could mean doing the dump cleanup next year or not.”
Lock reiterated that the sketch plan review was very thorough and the preliminary plan will be as well. “We think doing this is realistic, given the issues that were identified,” he said.
There were five main issues identified by Lock from previous Planning Commission meetings. Lock and Cypress engineer Tyler Harpel said they were looking to move the primary entry street off Gothic Road about 50 feet closer to Crested Butte than originally proposed. This would keep traffic headlights from affecting the existing house that sits across from the development property.
The second issue was impact to wildlife. Lock said the developers are working with the Colorado Parks and Wildlife along with a private company to take measures to mitigate impacts to wildlife, particularly elk that migrate through the area.
The third issue was the visual impact of seven home sites located near the cemetery. A private landscape architectural firm, EDSA, has also been consulted about how best to mitigate the views of the development from the nearby Crested Butte cemetery.
As far as getting water to the development, Lock said the developers and town were very close to striking a deal that would allow the homes on the project to hook into town water and sewer.
“That has been a heavy lift but we are very close,” he said. “That will simplify the infrastructure needs. The town will get a very senior water right on Coal Creek in exchange and that will effectively drought-proof the town. It’s really a win-win situation.”
The final main issue was working on the viability of extending Eighth Street from Crested Butte into the development. “Everyone wants that,” agreed Lock. “The issue is the town’s liability perspective from what might be underneath the right-of-way with the old dump. Our testing indicates it isn’t much, so we think we can make this happen. We are optimistic.”
Gunnison County Community and Economic Development Department assistant director Neal Starkebaum said combining the two review processes has been done in the past. “It can work well,” he said. “It can be more efficient. It still requires the same requirements for public hearings and public comment opportunities.”
The planning commissioners were assured that the standards for any approval would not change.
