The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Eight lots with up to 16 units being proposed
[ By Kendra Walker ]
The Mt. Crested Butte town council held a public hearing and reviewed the sketch plan of the proposed Hunter Ridge subdivision and possible annexation into the town on January 18.
Hunter Ridge, LLC has submitted an application to subdivide and rezone a 10.28-acre parcel that currently sits adjacent to the town boundary in unincorporated Gunnison County, along the south side of Hunter Hill Road. The property has a pending annexation application with the town and as part of annexation, the town has required the applicant to go through the subdivision process prior to final consideration for annexation. A similar proposal was submitted in 2018, which was ultimately denied by the town.
The current proposal differs slightly from the proposal submitted in 2018. The proposed subdivision has eight lots for a total of up to 16 units, with four lots zoned for single family residential and four lots zoned for low-density multiple family that could accommodate up to 12 units. The 2018 application proposed seven single-family residential zoned lots for a total of seven units in the development.
Hunter Ridge, LLC representative Mike Dawson noted that the developer Jamie Watt plans to cap the maximum house size at 8,500 square feet. The subdivision would be accessed from Hunter Hill Road with a private access road, another change from the 2018 application’s proposed access road from Castle Road. The remaining 4.34 acres would remain open space.
At maximum build out, the project will require 3.1 community housing units under the town’s inclusionary and mitigation requirements for affordable housing. Community development director Carlos Velado noted that the town has more flexibility in community housing negotiations as part of the annexation process.
The sketch plan has been reviewed by the planning commission, and the town council agreed with the planning commission’s recommendations, including the ask to reduce the lot 5 and 6 multi-family densities to either duplex or single-family to better match with the existing zoning on the surrounding properties.
“In general I would prefer as few units as possible on this property,” said mayor Janet Farmer. “I would rather see fewer units built than more if we can still have the three affordable units.”
“I’d also like to see it prioritizing the affordable housing construction rather than have it be the last thing built,” said council member Roman Kolodziej. “I’d rather not see four single family homes rather than two duplex lots just sit there forever.”
Much of the public comment during the public hearing and letters submitted prior to the meeting related to concerns of the property’s steepness, slope and soils stability.
“Our concern regards avalanche danger,” wrote Delrina and Jim Sides in a letter. “We hope that you will give serious consideration for requiring a more thorough and sophisticated seismic measure to identify how fragile the Morrison Shale bedrock is and how prone to avalanche it is in this acreage. We do not think that sophisticated enough testing has been done on Hunter Ridge.”
“I understand that it is a good idea to have the Hunter Ridge project annexed to the Town of Mt. Crested Butte, but I have some concerns about the density, geology, road grade and having a bond since it is an LLC,” said Kathy Hooge. “I also feel that because of the steepness/grade/ and avalanche area on this piece of property that a smaller number of units would be appropriate.”
She also included concerns about the feeder road and winter plowing, “With only one roadway in/out, consider snow blockage in the winter and fire in the summer. No one thought that a grass fire with high winds could take out an entire subdivision in Boulder County. Many of those residents complained of only one way out of that subdivision.”
In a letter, Bob and Linda Colvey expressed their concerns regarding safety, plowing, and soil instability, “The landscape in Mt. CB is littered with numerous building projects that were started with the best of intentions yet never completed.
Examples include: Andesite Point, Bridges at Columbine, Wildhorse at Prospect (the four foundations that sat untouched for 3-4 years), the Villas at the Summit, Nevada Ridge and the Outrun Poplar Building. Any project of this scope warrants appropriate and proportionate bonding on the principals as individuals, not just on an LLC which can easily shelter and/or transfer assets to avoid remediation exposure and liability.”
Dawson noted that building on these types of slopes is a common factor for most properties in Mt. Crested Butte. “The slopes are comparable to the adjoining neighborhood,” said Dawson. “There is no building envelope within 100 feet of any of the avalanche zones.” He also noted that there was a soils report done with the prior application. “The initial results are positive for slope stability and adequate soil condition, however, we are very clear that all of these reports requests for site specific engineering be done as part of construction on these lots,” said Dawson. “Everyone will have to have a site specific geologic review prior to construction.”
The planning commission also made the recommendation that the applicant provides a slope stability analysis that takes into consideration and evaluates the proposed roads and structures for the site, concurrent with the preliminary plan consideration before the planning commission.
Town staff will draft a motion for the town council’s consideration of approval into preliminary plan for the February 1 council meeting.
