Planners should deny Lower Verzuh Ranch subdivision

Editor:

We, as residents of Gunnison County, strongly urge the Gunnison County Planning Commission, and if it becomes necessary, the Board of County Commissioners, to: 

Deny the Lower Verzuh Ranch subdivision sketch plan for the following reasons:

1. The North Valley is already financially and environmentally straining to meet the transportation, school, medical, recreational, water and sewer, and other needs generated by the thousands of units already built, and there are more than 1,500 lots and units approved but not yet built.  The cumulative impacts of the proposed development would result in a violation of the provisions of LUR Sec.10-103.
2. The proposal would add 433 new houses and units (or more than 1,000 new residents and service users) to the area north of Round Mountain.
3. The proposal for 256 of the lots being ¼ to 3 acres in size is sprawled instead of densely situated as required by the LUR  Sec.10-103.C.3.b.4.
4. The development is not pedestrian friendly because of the large lot sizes, which encourage more motor vehicle use.  In addition, the proposed bus stop contains only 40 parking spaces, which would accommodate less than 1/10 of the units. The additional traffic generated could require at least one additional lane on Highway 135 into Crested Butte, and this cost should not be borne by existing taxpayers.  LUR Sec.12-103.F.2.b.
5. It has not been shown that the proposed number of essential housing units would even meet the housing needs of the construction and service people required to build and permanently maintain the subdivision who would be forced to commute.
6. The proposed subdivision is very likely to significantly disturb an existing elk migration corridor in violation of the provisions of LUR Sec.11-106.

The Lower Verzuh application was hurriedly filed before the North Valley Corridor Plan was begun.  It does not meet the LUR requirements to avoid creating the negative cumulative impacts mentioned above and others such as impacts to river health and adjacent ranching operations.  If the sketch plan is approved, the public will be denied the ability to truly know all the impacts and harm to the environment and social fabric of the Upper East River Valley it would cause because we will not have the knowledge about to be gathered during the North Valley Corridor Plan.

Jim Starr

John Hess

Tim Szurgot

Andrew Arell

Sue Navy

Steve Moore