Today, Erik Cavarra introduces us to a new re-envisioned plan for the Spring Valley Development that was initially approved in 2007 by the Garfield County Commissioners and now re-envisioned by the Storied Living Development Group based in Georgia.
Like some of the wide open spaces and prime elk winter range in and around the Roaring Fork Valley, the 5,909-acre Spring Valley Ranch, east of Highway 82 between Glenwood Springs and Carbondale, is on the chopping block. Georgia-based Storied Development LLC’s revision of an existing Planned Unit Development (PUD) is under review by the Garfield County Planning Department and the land is under contract.
At the first of four meetings this week for Spring Valley residents, Storied Development (SD) representatives spelled out the Spring Valley Ranch PUD amendment with poster boards, hand-outs and a presentation followed by a Q&A session. Tuesday morning’s meeting drew about 20 locals.
SD bills itself as a “high-end private residential community developer” with a portfolio of work in Canada, the Caribbean, the continental U.S. and Hawaii. Each exclusive community comes with amenities such as golf courses, swimming pools, a club house, tennis courts, a wellness center and, depending on the location, private skiing.
The Spring Valley Ranch project proposes all of the above plus 577 homes, public trails, a general store at the intersection of County Roads 114 and 115, and a wildlife habitat reserve. “Eighty-six percent of the homes will be second homes,” said Kathleen Wanatowicz, project outreach coordinator.
The plan also proposes 75 deed-restricted housing units, a fire station serving Spring Valley, a wildfire mitigation plan, a 2% real estate transfer fee, and road improvements, including an upgrade of the intersection of County Road 114 (CMC turn-off) and Highway 82.
“We’re going to do the infrastructure. We will build the amenities. We don’t build houses,” said Jeff Butterworth, SD development president, at Tuesday’s meeting. SD said it hopes to attract local contractors to the project.
Local concerns
According to SD, the project provides many benefits. The PUD amendment consolidates the land plan, reduces average lot size and doubles dedicated open space to 55% of the total property, including 700 acres of public open space and 15-20 miles of hiking and biking trails. Elk and deer get 1,100 acres of a habitat reserve. SD will build the fire station to serve Spring Valley since the area is not under the jurisdiction of local fire departments. The proposed general store could reduce trips to Carbondale or Glenwood Springs for groceries and other necessities.
Wanatowicz told The Sopris Sun that the project is significant for Garfield County. “It’s going to create a transfer fee with all the real estate property,” she explained. “That fee [will] go into a community foundation, which will then create about a million dollars each year to go back out into the community.” She added that building the project will create jobs. “One of the initiatives from the Colorado River Valley Economic Group is to keep jobs closer to home,” she said. “This is an opportunity for our construction workers.”
But Mary Beth Minion, who organized the Spring Valley Coalition, disagrees. “We’re not trying to stand on a soap box,” she explained, “but putting 27 holes of golf and a ski area, sports courts, a restaurant, overnight facilities and a whole commercial zone — it’s not consistent with the sage and juniper and pinon forest or the higher up elevations.”
Wanatowicz clarified that there are no plans for retail, big box stores or an all-night convenience store. Overnight facilities will be a few rooms for prospective buyers.
The citizens group is also looking at the project’s water supply and demand, disruption of critical wildlife habitat and migration corridors, light pollution, traffic and how the PUD could exacerbate the existing housing shortage with its target market of second-home owners.
PUD water basics
The Spring Valley Ranch PUD will have its own water system that comes from senior water rights from Landis Creek and Hopkins Reservoir plus supplemental water rights from the Spring Valley Aquifer. Well permits are also in place. According to SD, total water storage capacity is 68,000 to 105,000 acre feet, including the Spring Valley Aquifer and its upland tributary area.
SD also said that annual water demand from the project is estimated at less than what has been approved and that aquifer recharge exceeds water demands. Sewage will be managed by the Spring Valley Sanitation District Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Citizen concerns included evaporation, snowmaking, possible conflicts with well water levels and what happens to the land when historic irrigation water goes away.
Longtime rancher Jim Nieslanik and his family use the Spring Valley Ranch for haying, livestock grazing and branding. He told The Sopris Sun that he’s worried about what will happen to the business if this project gets off the ground. “My boys will have to cut way down to half the number of cows that we run,” he said. “Because you can’t run cows on the golf course. You can’t run cows when you got 500 homes.”
He gets a chuckle out of the proposed south-facing ski area, but water is no laughing matter. “You take water for the houses and the lawns and the golf course, you don’t have crops,” he said. “Nothing grows without water.”
How all of this will play out is still anyone’s guess. Once the PUD amendment is reviewed by Garfield County planning staff, it will be subject to public hearings and a decision from the Garfield County Commissioners. If approved, the project proceeds to the preliminary plan review, which could take a year, according to information provided by SD. The company expects construction on the first phase to start in 2026 and total project build-out to take 10 to 12 years.
All planning documents are available at the Garfield County website.
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