RV resort: Boon or bust?
Proposal most contentious aspect of annexation plan
Will Shoemaker
Originally published 2008-02-28



Since applicants of the proposed Gunnison Rising annexation east of the city first pitched the concept of a "recreational resort," the large RV park has become one of - if not the - most controversial components of the proposal.
It tends to evoke strong emotion from residents, partly because it would forever alter the entryway to the city from the east - now a lush meadow surrounded by gently rolling sage.
The applicants have long hinged the financial feasibility of the overall development on the 88-acre, 500-unit RV resort south of Hwy. 50.
The resort, they say, would have to come first, to make the rest of the project doable.
Residents, community leaders and consultants alike, on the other hand, have questioned the viability of a large RV resort in Gunnison. Not only would it add to the many already in the area, but the long-term prospect of the RVing industry has been called into question in light of rising energy costs, peak oil and the general fight against climate change.
As Gunnison Planning Commission Chairwoman Diane Lothamer noted recently in a work session, "the RV resort is the make or break item of the annexation plan."
It may boil down to a land use question for City Council in coming months: Is the RV resort an appropriate use of the land east of town and worth being included in the annexation?

The plans
Dennis Minchow, vice president of development for the Schuck Corp. of Colorado Springs, admits that the applicants are still trying to determine whether they "have a project" in the RV resort.
The Schuck Corp. has partnered with landowner Dick Bratton for the proposed annexation.
In order to complete parts of the annexation on the north side of Hwy. 50, improvements like the widening of Hwy. 50, installation of water and sewer lines and the drilling of wells will be needed.
"When you have a tremendous amount of up-front costs, you need some quicker returns to offset these costs, otherwise the interest rate will kill you," explained Minchow as reason why the RV resort is being pursued first.
The RV resort would add to the tourism economy in Gunnison, the applicants believe.
Ford Frick, a fiscal consultant hired by the city, expects retail spending from resort patrons to be about $40 daily, per RV unit.
Ron Beard - a national RV park planner and consultant who is working with the applicants to determine the feasibility of the resort - argues that daily spending habits of patrons would be much higher, somewhere in the range of $65-$100 a day.
Those are national figures, said Beard, based on research from Michigan State University. He thinks a high-end resort in Gunnison would probably garner revenues in the higher end of that spectrum.
A combination of sales and rentals of the actual RV lots is being considered, Minchow argued - not just individual ownership, as has been suggested.
The seasonality of the resort will largely be determined by demand, he said.
"People do travel in the winter in their RVs," Minchow explained. "The only reason we would shut it down is if we have a month in December when nobody shows up."

The reservations
The type of high-end RV resort envisioned east of Gunnison, Vikki Roach Archuleta believes, would drastically alter the character of the city, particularly the large swath of open space east of the city.
The 32-year Gunnison resident and business owner also questions the need for the resort with numerous RV parks already scattering the area.
She's not alone.
Gunnison Community Development Director Steve Westbay has been an outspoken critic of having the town's coveted entryway turned into a sea of RVs.
Gunnison Councilman Bill Nesbitt has questioned the potential impact to the city from the proposed RV resort, in light of current oil prices.
The city's land planning consultant, Jeff Winston, suggested that the RV resort was much less desirable than other parts of the proposed annexation.
Frick noted that the fiscal impact to the city from the RV resort was neutral.
He added last Tuesday that "the fear in RV parks is that they transform over time."
Both Winston and Planning Commission members have raised concern with the RV lots being open to individual ownership.
A memo prefacing Planning Commission's 63-point recommendation to City Council concerning the annexation, dated Jan. 30, states: "Individual ownership of small lots could be especially problematic if a future redevelopment were needed."
As for residential development north of Hwy. 50, "that's the thing we should be shooting for and there's question of whether it will even happen," said Winston, speculating that the development could stall after the RV resort were in place.

A comparable model?
Bratton and the Schucks have long pointed to Tiger Run Resort near Breckenridge as an example of the project they envision - a high-end RV park, replete with swimming pool, a clubhouse and all the amenities that keep RVers around, and comfortable, for longer periods of time.
Del Aldrich, general manager for Tiger Run, calls the majority of the resort's clientele "upper middle class," mostly retirees.
With that, patrons travel the seven miles to Silverthorne, five miles to Frisco or three miles to Breckenridge to go "out to dinner frequently and spend a lot on ski equipment and skiing and related events," he said. "In the summer time it's the same thing."
When interviewed via telephone from Tiger Run's office last Friday, Aldrich said that between 150 and 200 patrons then filled the resort's 371 units, including cabins. The lots and cabins are all privately owned but can be placed by the owners in a "rental pool."
So, how would Gunnison Rising's RV resort differ from other parks in the area, like Blue Mesa Resort, west of Gunnison?
The setting is clearly different, noted Minchow. "We're closer to town," he said. "A lot of people go to Blue Mesa to make use of the reservoir and have no reason to drive into town."
Lance Loken, director of operations and sales for Western Horizon Resorts in Gunnison, which owns Blue Mesa Resort, welcomes an expansion of RV resort offerings in Gunnison, despite the proposed resort being a potential competitor.
"If anything, it brings more RVers into the area," he said of the proposed resort, which Loken thinks would benefit not only Blue Mesa, but Gunnison as a whole.
But how much sales do patrons at resorts like Blue Mesa really contribute to Gunnison?
Loken admits that many RVers who come from the Front Range "bring everything they need," and thus don't contribute greatly to local sales tax.
However, "it makes up a little town out there when it's full, about 1,000 people," he said of Blue Mesa. "You've got to figure that they're doing some spending in Gunnison."

Market study says
more growth ahead
The applicants partly base the feasibility of the high-end RV resort on a market study completed last year by Metrostudy, which notes an average 9.8 percent increase in annual RV sales between 1995 and 2006.
While a recent downturn in RV sales nationally has been noted by opponents of the local plan, a few industry analysts are expecting long-term growth of RV sales throughout the country.
Some of the research cited in that analysis was completed in 2005, entitled "The RV Consumer," by Dr. Richard Curtin, director of the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers.
During a telephone interview last Monday, Curtin explained some of the findings from his office in Ann Arbor.
Curtin expects continued, steady growth within the RV industry over the next 20 years. He has, however, forecasted short-term "cyclical" declines in sales.
The increase in long-term sales is largely a result of baby boomers aging, retiring and purchasing RVs.
Locals like Sidney Plotts are a case-in-point of the kind of RV enthusiasts that Gunnison Rising applicants believe they can target.
Plotts and his wife have traveled cross country by RV since 1968. Last year they traveled to Pennsylvania and Arizona. They just got back from Florida.
"I think the big thing about it is you're sleeping in your own bed every night," Plotts attested. "You're quite independent. You've got your own restroom and hotel, pretty much."
Even if the rate of purchases doesn't change among baby boomers in coming years, explained Curtin, "the sheer number of baby boomers will swell the number of people engaged in RVing. Up until now, the data shows that has happened and it's an ongoing trend."
After 20 years, however, RV buyers "would need to purchase RVs at a much higher rate than people in that age group (baby boomers) have," he said, in order for sales to remain even flat.
Gunnison resident Butch Clark - who has cautioned city leaders of the potential impacts from a large RV resort - offered that RVs are discretionary spending, thus their popularity tends to be tied to overall economic trends.
"These are toys," he said. "Whatever the toy of the moment waxes and wanes in desirability."
Current gas prices, cited by some as cause for a questionable future of the RV industry, still represent a small part of taking an RV vacation, according to Curtin.
Aldrich agreed of Tiger Run's clientele. "If you can afford to pay $700,000 or $2 million for a motor home, gas is not significant," he said.
Also, according to Curtin, RVs increasingly appeal to more than just families interested in camping and looking to enjoy the outdoors.
"There are families involved in antiquing or dog shows and horse show or are involved in events with their children," noted Curtin. "RVs provide a convenient means of travel for them to do these kinds of things they love to do."
He added, "They're the type of tourist that many communities would love to attract."

(Will Shoemaker can be contacted at 970-641-1414 or will@gunnisontimes.com)