Mt. CB council approves OROS community housing plan

Council now looking to develop town housing strategy

By Kendra Walker

During the February 18 Mt. Crested Butte town council meeting, the council approved a community housing plan for six units to be built on Crystal Road associated with a nearby high-end commercial development.

The housing plan is part of the OROS development plan at 17 Marcellina Lane, which is a multi-family development consisting of two buildings and 38 condominium units. The development triggers 6.6 community housing units to be developed for sale based on the town’s inclusionary zoning requirements. 

OROS owner/developer Amy Alvarez has proposed developing six deed restricted community housing units off-site on 12 Crystal Road and $265,259 in payment in lieu for the remaining fractional unit. The community housing called Potamos Place includes a mix of three three-bedroom units, two two-bedroom units and one one-bedroom unit. OROS representatives said the community housing units will be built with similar amenities and construction materials as the free market OROS project, including garages, solar panels, all-electric and other energy efficiencies.

Based on feedback from the town council at their February 4 meeting, the developer proposed several changes to the housing plan to provide additional securities. 

 Council member Bruce Nation previously expressed concern that the one-bedroom unit should be another two-bedroom unit to better reflect the proportions calculated by the free market development. Due to space restrictions on the Crystal Road property, OROS has now proposed an additional $248,344 in payment in lieu to the remaining fractional unit, which is equal to the cost of the additional bedroom.

The community housing units will also be built and completed prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) for the first phase of OROS free market development, as per town staff conditions. Additionally, the developer agreed to secure design approval and complete the deed restriction process with the town for the Potamos Place units prior to the issuance of a building permit for the OROS free market project. Further, they agreed to apply for a building permit to construct the affordable housing within nine months of the issuance of a building permit for OROS construction. 

“All these provide additional security to the town to ensure the development is constructed concurrently with the condominium project,” explained town attorney Nicholas Klein. 

Council members asked about the project’s location on Crystal in relation to the wetlands and an avalanche path. The OROS team assured the council that those elements were the most important issues they looked at with the design, and the design is outside of both the wetlands and avy zones. OROS architect Brendan Hamlet explained that the hillside near the property is a snow slide area, which is less dangerous than an avalanche zone, and the development will have retaining walls. “We’re avoiding it and not making that condition any worse.” As for the wetlands, “I’ve done everything in my power to avoid the wetlands and we are staying further away than we actually need to (per town code).”

The council asked if the OROS free market project or the Potamos Place community housing project will be held up by water and sanitation main line capacity issue, given the Mt. CB Water and Sanitation District’s stance that no major developments should be constructed before they fix the trunk line. 

“We were told that we represent less than 1% of the impact,” said Alvarez, explaining that both properties are downstream of the trunk line area in question. “Both the Marcellina and Crystal lots are zoned for much more units than we are building. We believe this project will not really have any impact based on conversations we’ve had with them several times on the issue. We don’t see major issues for us to continue with our plan.” 

“They have not indicated any problems with our proposal. They expect they will be able to give approval on our application,” agreed OROS architect Erik Hendrix. “As far as undercurrents with the larger issues with the town, that is beyond our control. We’ve been able to satisfy all their requirements for everything they need on Marcellina.”

“We will be part of whatever they decide to do with the community in order to improve the sewer system,” added Alvarez. 

Council member Steve Morris again expressed concerns with making sizable affordable housing decisions without the council having developed a housing plan for guidance on such decisions. 

“We have no strategy or guiding document on how we want to see projects. I feel unguided on this decision. That’s been my biggest hang-up up to this point.” Morris suggested the council hold a housing retreat to help develop a housing plan and talk through how to use the town’s affordable housing fund. 

“I totally agree that we need to have a more cohesive community housing plan in place,” said Nation. “With that being said, I don’t think we delay their project. I think what they’re offering us is a good deal. I still would much rather have somebody build housing than us trying to do it ourselves. I don’t want to wait and hold them up on this so we can determine something that might not be a change from where we are at now.”

Council member Valeda Scribner agreed. “I believe that what they have presented is some really high-quality deed restricted housing that’s thought out, and I wouldn’t want to delay that while we in parallel are developing a strategy plan for the community.”

The council voted 5-1 to approve the Potamos Place community housing plan, with Morris voting against and council member Roman Kolodziej absent from the meeting. The project will now go through design review for the community housing plan with the planning commission, and Alvarez said the team is on schedule to submit for building permits. She estimated that once construction begins, the affordable housing units will take approximately 18 months to complete.

The council also plans to schedule a community housing retreat in the near future to start developing a housing strategy moving forward.