Briefs Gunnison County

New lease on life for Stallion Park
A proposal to remove deed restrictions on the majority of the housing units at Stallion Park looks like it might be gaining traction.
Of 24 homes in the development, one is privately owned and one is rented out by the county as affordable housing. Twenty-two units sit empty. They had been vacated to put on the market but have not been selling. Dr. Richard Landy, developer of the Stallion Park condos, and Brad Pauls, a lender in the Stallion Park project, have been working with county staff to remove deed restrictions from all but four of the empty properties, in an effort to make them more attractive on the market. The county would acquire the deed-restricted units as affordable housing in exchange for releasing the deeds.

Some details remain to be worked out. There are two existing foundations for units that were never built, which will need to be removed or buried within the property. And the commissioners are seeking assurances that homeowners association dues won’t rise so significantly that the deed-restricted units will become unaffordable. They charged the group with determining the best way to put a cap on how much those fees could rise for the deed-restricted units.
“We don’t want anything that says ‘in the event that,’” said commissioner Paula Swenson, suggesting a provisional clause would not be enough. “We just want the assurance that for these five units, their dues don’t go up [exorbitantly].”
    
Ballots to be cast by mail in November
The county commissioners approved a mail ballot for the November 1, 2011 coordinated election. According to Diane Folowell, deputy clerk at the county elections office, six groups are already on board, including the town of Crested Butte, REJ1 and the Library District. In general, Folowell said, voter turnout tends to be higher with mail ballots—as much as 10 percent to 17 percent for any given election. Cost savings are also significant, requiring that fewer ballots be printed.
“It’s increasingly more difficult to retain election judges,” Folowell added. “A lot of older people who were doing it we’re losing, because they’re moving or for whatever reason, and a lot of the younger people are working or home with the kids.”
Given the higher voter turnout, the commissioners had no concerns with a mail ballot.

Recreationists gain formal seat at Sage Grouse Committee table
The Gunnison Sage Grouse Strategic Committee will have a new member at the table. The committee and the Board of County Commissioners have approved the addition of one regular and one alternate seat on the committee.
Increased participation at regular meetings by a motorized user group, the Gunnison Off Highway Alliance of Trailriders, prompted the change.
“We’ve had a very involved mechanized group, in other words the mountain bike community, so at the last strategic meeting both groups were in attendance and the strategic committee felt it was a good idea to include a recreational seat.”
The commissioners agreed.