Briefs: Gunnison County

By Katherine Nettles

Sawtooth 2 lottery finished

The housing lottery for Sawtooth 2, Gunnison County’s latest workforce housing project in Gunnison, was held on Tuesday, February 18. There were 73 applicants, 52 of whom qualified for and were included in the lottery for the 32 units. County manager Matthew Birnie said Sawtooth 2 is nearly complete, with final landscaping and paving to be completed this summer. “We are targeting April for move in,” he said.

The Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority (GVRHA) conducted the lottery on the county’s behalf and will now manage the property as well. GVRHA executive director Melissa LaMonica said for Sawtooth’s 32 units, “We prioritized 80% AMI (area median income) first, and because that is our greatest need and largest pool of applicants, the initial lease-up will likely serve largely that AMI.” The salary range for 80% AMI within the county is between $57,680 and $82,400 depending on number of household members. The GVRHA also manages Sawtooth 1, Anthracite Apartments and the converted, dormitory-style Ruby B&B in Crested Butte, some county-owned properties within Stallion Park at Buckhorn, Mountain View apartments in Gunnison, the Valley Housing Fund’s Redden Property, and a workforce duplex for the Gunnison Watershed School District.  

CB South density, zoning questions

Commissioners unanimously approved a lot cluster of two .3-acre lots on February 4 in CB South for Sue and Pat Wallace. Commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels commented that while it seemed a straightforward change with approval by the CB South Property Owners Association (POA) and county staff having found that the application complied with standards in the county’s Land Use Resolution (LUR), clustering lots seemed somewhat contradictory to the county’s overall goal to focus density in such areas. Gunnison County assistant county manager for community and economic development Cathie Pagano responded that the parcel was on a hillside where it would be difficult to build more than one home, and it is not zoned for multi-family. Puckett Daniels said the mitigating circumstances made sense. “I just feel like it’s important to communicate to the public consistently about what we’re striving for and where we’re striving for it,” she said. 

This also kicked off a brief discussion about the CB South POA’s recently proposed amendments to the special area regulations for CB South. County attorney Matthew Hoyt informed commissioners that would be coming before them for consideration soon. “There will be an opportunity for this board to talk with the POA in CB South to think about the bigger land policy as it relates to the special area,” he said. The discussion is anticipated at the regular March 18 commissioner meeting. 

Property assessments on alternate appeal schedule in 2025

County commissioners approved using an alternate appeal schedule for the property assessment process in 2025, as the assessor’s office has used since 2017. Colorado statute requires that assessors reappraise all real property every two years during odd-numbered years and county assessor Alexandra Cohen asked for the continued alternate to give property owners a longer timeframe in which to receive and consider their property valuations and for assessors to investigate appeals or look at properties more closely. The regular schedule requires assessors to mail notice of property valuations on May 1, and property owners have through June 9 to appeal those valuations—all of which won’t change for Gunnison County. With the regular appeal schedule, Notices of Determination are mailed June 30 and property owners have until July 15 to appeal to the county board of equalization (BOE). Hearings are July 15 through August 5.

With the alternate appeal schedule, there will be a longer timeframe between notices and appeal deadlines. Notices of Determination will be mailed August 15 and property owners will have until September 15 to appeal to the CBOE, with hearings held between September 15 and October 31.

 “This gives two weeks for the mail to arrive, and then two weeks for the appeal to be returned,” commented Puckett Daniels, which can be helpful in the event of mail service delays. 

Appointments

Commissioners have conducted interviews for several appointments over the past months, and this month appointed Julie Baca and Andy Tocke to two at-large vacancies on the Board of Adjustments for one-year terms, and Drew Brookhart and John O’Neal as alternates for one-year terms. They appointed Bill Barvitski, Ashley Bembenek, Lynn Cudlip and Brooke Ann Zanatell to regular three-year terms on the Environmental Health board with Kari Roberts as an alternate. They appointed Janet Washburn and Dan Zadra to the CSU Extension Advisory Committee for three-year terms. They appointed Glo Cunningham to a four-year term on the Gunnison Valley Land Preservation Board, and reappointed Thomas Walker to a three-year term on the Weed Commission. Commissioners appointed Jody Reeser to a three-year term on the Historic Preservation Commission. 

They appointed Julie Baca, Bill Barvitski and Fred Niederer to regular three-year terms on the planning commission, and Catherine McBreen and Sean Patrick as alternates. For Region 10, they appointed Colleen Hanon and Vince Rogalski to two-year terms on the board of directors and David Assad and Shane McGuiness to two-year terms on the Business Loan Fund; Martin Schmidt was appointed to Region 10’s Gunnison Valley Transportation Planning Region Committee and Rogalski was appointed as an alternate. Jeremy Johndrow, Jake Jones, Tim Kugler and Chris Parmeter were reappointed to two-year terms on the Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation (STOR) Committee. Last, Steve Otero was reappointed to a two-year term as Veteran Services officer.