The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Untreated and reflective metal not allowed
By Alissa Johnson
The Mt. Crested Butte Town Council has voted in favor of an ordinance that puts more restrictions on the types of siding that may be used in Mt. Crested Butte. Untreated and reflective metal siding will no longer be allowed.
“We ran into a predicament where someone put up reflective material and we didn’t have a strong code to protect against an instance like that,” community development director Carlos Velado explained at a February 21 public hearing. “This gives us some teeth on reflective materials for siding.”
The proposed change to the zoning reads, “All materials shall be non-reflective. Untreated, reflective, galvanized metal siding is not allowed on any roof or wall surface. All metal siding shall be complementary and secondary to the primary siding of the home. Primary siding shall be defined as siding type that covers the largest extent of the exterior. All exterior materials shall be approved by the Town of Mt. Crested Butte.”
Mayor Todd Barnes wanted to know if an explicit definition of non-reflective was needed. Velado said he had discussed the language with builders around town, and he was satisfied the wording was sufficient.
During later council discussion, councilmember Nicholas Kempin wondered if it were necessary to include the language addressing the proportion between siding types.
“We like to have more teeth on it. We don’t want it to all be our opinion. We want to say, ‘Here’s our opinion because,’ so if we’re challenged on it we can defend it with codified regulations,” Velado responded.
“I just think there are a lot of materials out there that maybe don’t fit the things we’re trying to prevent,” Kempin continued, expressing his concern that the regulation might inadvertently exclude products that would actually look nice.
Barnes thought it was good to give the Mt. Crested Butte Planning Commission some teeth. He noted there are some houses, and one in particular, that have too much metal and “are completely reflective and not matching code.”
After much discussion, the council voted six to one in favor of the new language, with Nicholas Kempin voting against it on account of the language addressing proportions. The ordinance, which also gives the zoning administrator the discretion to require a larger diameter culvert at the end of driveways, will be reviewed one more time before it is official.
