Town of Crested Butte PROST plan plugging along

Open space and regional recreation expansion discussed

By Mark Reaman

Work on the Crested Butte Parks, Recreation, Open Space and Trails (PROST) plan is continuing. The council will take another look at the latest proposals at the next council meeting on February 17. A public presentation was provided to the town council during a November work session where they were asked for feedback. Among the big picture issues that came up were how partnerships would be needed to maintain and possibly expand recreation programming and facilities with the town and region; how to perhaps adjust the town’s role in open space partnerships particularly when it comes to holding conservation easements; and how better to define priorities when it comes to open space acquisitions.

The town is going through the plan under the guidance of the Community Compass template so much of the work session discussion centered on definitions and success measures. When it came to open space acquisition, the council generally agreed with six proposed “defined values” to include when considering such action. They included consideration of wildlife habitat, scenic vistas, recreation, agriculture, watershed health and ecosystem integrity.

Councilmember at the time Anna Fenerty questioned if there was a better term to use than scenic vistas as one of the values. She said too often people would use that phrase to argue against valuable projects such as affordable housing.

Mayor Ian Billick suggested the phrasing shift to add cultural or historic values that might include things like mining history or archeological sites. He also suggested making clear in the watershed health value that protection of the town’s drinking water was an important consideration.

As for overall strategy, Billick said he would like open space near town to focus on recreation opportunities while open space acquisitions further from the Crested Butte population center should prioritize more conservation.

Councilmember Gabi Prochaska said she generally agreed with that philosophy but would also prioritize open space that for example protected viewsheds from town. Both agreed that specific situations would bring unique elements to consider.

“Broadness has served us well thus far,” noted Fenerty.

Crested Butte Land Trust executive director Jake Jones advocated for as much emphasis on how the value of agriculture plays a role in open space considerations as things like recreation.

“A lot of property near town is important to agriculture and that benefits everyone,” he said. “Protecting wildlife areas and land for agriculture is important to what we do.”

The council agreed with that sentiment and asked to include a more explicit call for agricultural elements in the plan’s decision-making considerations.

Among the topics that will likely require more time for deeper analysis was the idea of how to get the town out of what can be a time-consuming chore of holding conservation easements. While both benefits and detriments of such an arrangement were considered, more discussion is on the horizon.

Councilmembers Beth Goldstone and Mallika Magner both indicated that while they appreciated the plan included the need for strong partnerships to support regional recreation, they both raised a red flag that the burden fall not just on the town for the entire North Valley. Again, time and cost were brought up as concerns if the responsibility fell totally on the town.

Billick suggested the plan include why the town was looking at recreation expansion. “That’s good but it shouldn’t just be the town doing it,” said Goldstone.

“We need help from other partners and users,” added Magner.

Councilmember John O’Neal said he too thought the plan should emphasize the benefits of the town’s PROST department. “It helps us live better lives and is an integral part that helps makes our citizens a healthy human,” he said. “It is good to have an explanation statement on why PROST is important.”

The plan will continue onward with more adjustments and feedback from the council and local citizens. The final plan is scheduled to be adopted in 2026.