CB council approves its Community Plan for town

But discussion over the plan will continue…especially for how to handle Sixth Street

By Mark Reaman

While acknowledging that the Crested Butte Community Plan (CP) is not done evolving, particularly with how to address future development of the Sixth Street corridor, the town council on Monday officially adopted the document so that staff can actively move toward implementing the goals of the plan this summer. The first step is for the town staff to begin a comprehensive zoning code update that will begin this month. Public input will be solicited in the fall and the zoning overhaul should be complete by May of 2026. Staff will also start crafting a five-year housing strategy and a five-year “community spaces” strategy this summer.

The council and staff have said the Community Plan “seeks to incentivize private-sector investment in community-serving housing and spaces for businesses and non-profits to address Crested Butte’s pressing local challenges, including an escalating affordability crisis, a vulnerable and concentrated economy, a decline in full-time residency and zoning regulations that are underproducing the housing and infrastructure the community needs.”

The plan calls for Crested Butte’s commercial district on Belleview Avenue “to serve as a test case for how targeted zoning incentives and built-in flexibility can actively support the CP vision.” 

“By leveraging tools such as increased building height by one story, reduced setbacks and allowing adaptable development standards in exchange for tangible community benefits like deed-restricted housing or community serving commercial spaces (or a combination of both), Belleview can demonstrate how zoning can directly deliver community outcomes,”according to the plan.

Most of the council discussion on Monday came over the portion of the plan addressing the Sixth Street corridor. At one point in the planning process, the council was considering explicitly allowing an additional three feet of height on the current 35-foot building maximum in exchange for community housing or community spaces. But given some mixed signals from town council and BOZAR (Board of Zoning and Architectural Review) members, staff pulled back from that idea and instead the plan now states that by “strengthening the existing PUD (Planned Unit Development) process, and prohibiting underground parking to maintain the corridor’s scale and pace of development, the Town can preserve what people love about Sixth Street while setting the stage for future improvements.”

In a work session on the topic, Community Plan advisory committee member Jim Starr said while the plan had a great vision, he didn’t like the idea of having Belleview Avenue be the test case for Sixth Street. “That could be a mistake,” he said. “We might not experience a whole lot of change on Belleview, but I think Sixth Street is more likely to see changes faster — especially the section of the corridor north of the Four-way. That could change quickly.”

“Seeing no hard recommendations for dealing with Sixth Street in this plan was a surprise,” added councilmember Kent Cowherd. “I would prefer us to give more thought on Sixth Street and what incentives can be used to provide the town what it wants. It doesn’t have to be just an additional three feet of height.”

“What would the incentive be then?” asked town manager Dara MacDonald. “Allowing buildings to go to 38-feet was the primary incentive discussed.”

“I think we could still get some things while keeping buildings at 35-feet,” said Cowherd.

“Parking could be part of the incentives,” suggested councilmember Beth Goldstone.

“My understanding is that we can have a broader discussion with developers about incentives in the PUD process,” commented councilmember John O’Neal. 

“You give up certainty going down the PUD route,” said MacDonald. “PUDs can be a good tool but there is no clear pathway to incentives and a clear trade-off.”

“We can lose the possibility of more housing. It’s private land and it will all be developed. I like having it clear that developers can get an extra three feet on a building in exchange for something like community housing. It’s a clear trade,” said councilmember Gabi Prochaska.

“The more we can do to slow down development there now, to get what we want in the future, whatever that might look like, the better,” said Goldstone.

“I agree with Dara. It is certainty versus uncertainty,” said Crested Butte community development director Mel Yemma. “Part of the idea of the pullback was after listening to council and BOZAR, to do something different than Belleview.”

“The PUD process is not always the most protective process for the town. It involves a lot of horse trading,” said mayor pro tem Mallika Magner who was running the meeting in the mayor’s absence. She indicated the town came out on the short end of the stick with the Academy Place PUD project and opined she would not like a project along the corridor like the previously approved Sixth Street Station.

“PUDs come from the proponents and not the town,” said Cowherd. “So, it seems a little out of town’s control at the start.”

“The question is what gives us the most chance to get the most of what we want,” said O’Neal. “I’d gladly give up three feet for 16 deed-restricted units.”

During the council meeting, Magner suggested there must “surely be a whole range of incentives available to entice developers to provide community needs.”

Yemma said most, like parking and setback requirements, had been discussed in the planning discussions.

MacDonald said town would update the PUD process and also implement some town protections in zoning code changes, but developers would have some sort of use-by right. “The additional three feet was a potential trade-off,” she reiterated.

Yemma said the town would likely soon be increasing deed-restricted housing requirements for commercial projects as well.

Councilmember Anna Fenerty said given the number of local businesses and residents in the area, it was important that Belleview be done right. “Sixth Street is the drive-through part of town. I’m more concerned with Belleview,” she said. “Plus, I think the core of Sixth Street is very different from the north and south entrances to town on Sixth Street.”

Cowherd said he didn’t think a consensus on how to deal with Sixth Street incentives would be reached by the council that night, “but I’d be in favor of approving the plan as presented knowing we will chew on it more in the future.”

“I agree,” concurred O’Neal. “I think the current direction with the PUD is a good compromise moving forward. It is a good mechanism to get what we want.”

“Development will happen there and I want to make the incentives as enticing as possible,” said Prochaska. “If the PUD process is refined, can the trade-offs and incentives we want be clear?”

Town attorney Karl Hanlon said the council has control in a PUD process and lessons can be learned from previous mistakes. “But you can’t anticipate every situation. The council clearly defining the goals for that corridor is incredibly important no matter the process,” he said.

“In a PUD, BOZAR deals with details so it is hard for the council to deal with project minutia in a PUD,” said Magner. “As for learning from the past, Academy Place was approved not that long ago.”

“One thing is clear, the Community Plan is a vision for community serving housing and community serving spaces,” said O’Neal. “The vision is compelling.”

“For me, the next phase is the most important part of this process,” said Fenerty. “We can hammer out details in the future so I would like to continue forward with this approval step.”

“We will have this exact discussion when we begin talking about the zoning code changes,” promised Prochaska.

The council voted 6-0 to approve the plan with mayor Ian Billick not at the meeting.