The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Wandering Willows application submitted to the county last week
[ By Katherine Nettles and Kendra Walker ]
A much-anticipated building permit application for a large home in the Slate River corridor has made its way to Gunnison County’s community development department and has prompted several residents and entities within the county to call for greater restraint in the Land Use Resolution (LUR) and the formation of a special land use area within the Slate River corridor.
On May 14, applications were submitted on behalf of Dirk Williamson and Louise Pentland of Frisco, Texas for building and onsite wastewater treatment system permits for 1101 CR 734, owned by Adele Louise Pentland. The permit application as listed online through the county states the property is for a single-family residence with detached garage/barn. The property is listed as 80 acres and has an assessed value of $3.4 million.
Gunnison County community development director Cathie Pagano confirmed Tuesday that her department had received the application. “Our staff has not reviewed the application yet but it is in the queue for review,” she wrote in an email to the Crested Butte News.
The plat, as attached to the permit application, is named Wandering Willows. A map shows the property divided into two parcels running north to south; Parcel 1 is 43.17 acres and Parcel 2 is 37.28 acres. Both sit adjacent to the Slate River, across the river from land owned by the Crested Butte Land Trust. Colorado law allows the division of parcels 35-acres or larger with no county review, according to Pagano.
The site plan shows a 9,984-square-foot house and 2,189-square-foot detached garage on Parcel 1, for an aggregate square footage of 12,173 square feet plus a 300 square foot greenhouse. The general contractor is Somrak Concept and Structure of Crested Butte.
Section 13-105 of the county’s LUR states that if a building on a parcel exceeds 10,000 square feet or the aggregate of all structures on a parcel exceed 12,500 square feet that a Minor Impact Land Use Change permit is required. A minor impact permit application is reviewed and decided upon by the Gunnison County Planning Commission.
The standards for review of such a project are that it meet or exceed:
1. Finding of no obtrusive visibility
a. Minimize visibility of structure by siting
b. Minimize visibility of structure by screening
c. Location of utilities underground
2. Obtrusive visibility shall cause denial
The above standards are only applied to structures that exceed the residential building sizes.
“As with all permits Gunnison County will review the application for compliance with all applicable standards including protection of water quality and floodplain requirements,” Pagano wrote.
CB expresses concern
During their May 17 meeting, the Crested Butte Town Council reviewed a letter they were planning to send to the county commissioners, regarding the development standards protecting the Slate River Valley.
“From an environmental perspective, the Town of Crested Butte is specifically concerned about the Slate River Valley and development throughout it,” states the drafted letter. “The River’s health and beauty are critical to the wellbeing of the Crested Butte community and all of Gunnison County.
“Crested Butte does not have a Comprehensive Plan and our Three-Mile Plan is 10-years out of date,” it continued. “Furthermore, we are concerned the County’s development regulations, like ours, may also need to be updated to better incorporate the challenges of today… We understand and respect jurisdictional authority. We hope you share similar concerns for the Slate River Valley. The Town looks forward to working with Mt. Crested Butte and Gunnison County this fall on shared regional challenges in the Upper Gunnison Valley.”
Former Crested Butte town attorney and former county commissioner Jim Starr advised the council, “I think for our community to offer its assistance is very, very helpful. While it will take some research and some data collection I think there’s a way to do this that will not overburden town staff,” he said, noting David Cooper, a senior research scientist who had done a previous study for the Slate River area in the ‘90s, has already expressed his willingness to help again.
“My request to council is that I can reach out to Jim to really understand what resources are out there that we can bring to the table and see if the county feels compelled to help,” said community development director Troy Russ.
Council agreed, and Russ plans to re-craft the letter with a request for a special study of the Slate River Valley and collaboration on evaluating the development standards.
County perspective: hands are tied for this round
During the Gunnison County commissioners meeting on May 18, several people spoke during public comment about their concerns in the Slate River corridor, and asked commissioners to consider a moratorium on development there.
Tim Szurgot spoke as a resident of Wildbird, the pedestrian community also adjacent to the Slate River. Szurgot asked commissioners to place consideration of a temporary building moratorium on the agenda at their next meeting.
“This would be a pause in development along the upper Slate River between Gothic Road and Paradise Divide so that you, the staff, the town of Crested Butte and the public could make a timely decision on this critical issue,” said Szurgot.
He suggested that during this pause the commissioners could take a closer look at the allowed development under the current building regulations and possibly create a “special geographic area” to protect the water and wetlands quality and existing wildlife habitat of the Slate River corridor from over-development. He also suggested that at least it would allow time to have some conversations within the community, and described several precedents set by the county and towns in the past for such a moratorium and special geographic areas.
“The economic reality is drastically different than when our LUR was written,” continued Szurgot. He implored commissioners to honor the previous efforts of people, governments and organizations that have protected “this unique landscape” for many years.
Jim Starr also echoed this request. “While the LUR has allowed buildings up to 10,000 square feet without any public input whatsoever, times have changed and we see more and more of these homes being proposed. I think it’s a good time for the county to look at that number,” he said, for wildlife, people and for water quality and water supply.
John Hess with Coal Creek Watershed Coalition also asked that commissioners consider this proposal, as did Dave Ochs and Rebecca White.
Commissioner chairperson Jonathan Houck responded to the comments to say there is not much commissioners can do about an existing application.
“We’ve received a fair amount of correspondence and concern. And it’s not being ignored by the board. At the same time…there are some parameters in which we have to operate when there is an active application,” he said.
County deputy attorney Emilee Gaebler reviewed how the regulatory changes could be changed and how they are limited in time. “It would not apply any future changes…retroactively to anything that is pending,” she explained. “That would all be tied to the previous regulation.”
Houck said on a broader scale the commissioners have been meeting with their planning commission, and discussing development in sensitive areas, as well as smaller square footage considerations not specific to the new application.
“We have been discussing the entryways into and out of Crested Butte,” he said, and how to keep the corridor between Gunnison and Crested Butte open and ranching production going.
“I want you to know your concerns are being heard by this board,” concluded Houck. But, he said, “With a specific application being filed within the county, we have to be thoughtful and considerate of how we handle the next steps,” said Houck.
Commissioner Roland Mason said he wanted to continue talking with the planning commission, and commissioner Liz Smith agreed that this was a new topic and area of concern in the last few weeks, but one she was ready to explore more.
