Cypress and town press ahead with water service agreement

Still working on some details

By Mark Reaman

Negotiations over details in an agreement that would allow the town of Crested Butte to provide water and sewer service to Cypress Foothill’s Slate River development north of town are still going on. Final language is expected at the December 5 town council meeting.

The town has never provided water service outside of its boundaries. Cypress is working with the town as part of a “hybrid” development that would keep 23 home sites in the county, while 14 acres of the total 44 acres would be annexed into Crested Butte.

The potential annexed property lies west of the Slate River and would be used for some home sites, along with several potential public benefits that could include affordable housing, parks, a school site and a public safety center site.

While the county has ultimate approval authority on the 30-acre subdivision east of the Slate River, the Town Council is guiding many of the conditions placed on the county lots.

Under the deal to provide water, the developers have agreed to purchase and deliver the senior water rights in the McCormick Ditch to the town. The idea is that it would essentially “drought-proof” the town forever.

As part of the water deal, the two parties have agreed, among other things, that a 3 percent real estate transfer tax will be imposed on property sales after the initial sale; Cypress will pay for all water and sewer infrastructure and abide by town water regulations; and the development will adhere to town wood-burning stove regulations.

The first $50,000 in water court costs to change the water right will be split between the town and developers. Cypress will install a river trail, boat ramp, associated fencing and landscaping prior to the completion of the annexation.

On Monday, November 21, the council went over the agreement in detail. In part because of a previous discussion with Cypress attorney Marcus Lock about an unrelated matter associated with accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in town and possible litigation, the council was very deliberate with their concerns and requests.

They talked at length about wetland protections and agreed that property boundaries on the county home sites would not extend into the wetlands. Building sites would be at least 50 feet away from high-quality wetlands and 25 feet away from lower-quality wetlands.

“We want to uphold the wetlands that our community values greatly,” said mayor Glenn Michel. “We are being very cautious for a reason.”

“This agreement would be more strict than the county regulations,” assured town planner Michael Yerman.

“We just want to be clear,” said Michel. “We don’t want a lawyer in front of the council 24 years from now arguing about the meaning of what is in the agreement. I think this meeting started on a sour note with the ADU discussion but we need to be thorough.”

The council and developers went over details concerning river access, signage issues, entrance concerns about the tenor of any signage at the bridge across the Slate River from the town property to the private lots, water regulations and who had the ability to enforce them, and how to adjust the town code so the town could provide water to the possible 23 accessory dwellings if they were not deed-restricted, as the current town code mandates.

Yerman said the town staff needed clear direction from the council about outstanding issues and the staff and developers would work out deeper details in the next couple of weeks.

The council agreed to continue the discussion at the December 5 town council meeting.