West Thorn is problematic 

Editor:

So after the second meeting with the consultants with the West Thorn group here’s what I’ve learned: 92% of the units will be rentals. Only 37 out of the 457 units will be available for purchase. There was just a bipartisan bill passed in both the House and Senate targeting this type of “build to rent” residential development by private equity. It limits private equity’s ability to control the housing market with these build to rent developments. The disguise of wanting to help with housing, West Thorn’s proposal is an attempt to control the rental market in Gunnison. I encourage everyone to inform themselves of the negative impacts of build to rent developments. Don’t buy into the BS that they are trying to sell us. 

They’ve proposed 659 parking spaces. Only one per unit, leaving 200 spaces situated within the city’s right-of-way. From the plans it appears that all additional parking will be along Gunnison Ave and Thornton Way. Offsite. So it’s likely if there’s more than one person living in your unit, you’ll be parking away from your rental. This will be an interesting situation during the winters. It doesn’t look like there’s any on-street parking within the site. If people come to visit, not sure where they’ll park. Their current layout of high density units and a daycare along Gunnison Avenue will undoubtedly be a huge impact to the surrounding neighborhood. I suggested that all large buildings and daycare be located along Thornton Way for better access to the main thoroughfares. Also having smaller buildings on the north and west boundaries is more appropriate for the neighborhood. It’s still just too many units.

I asked for a breakdown of units (single family, multi-family etc) that information wasn’t available. Road widths were also not available. Out of the 457 units only 37 will be available for purchase, no deed restricted or affordable units proposed, just market rate. I asked if there would be short term rentals and said it’s possible, but they wouldn’t elaborate. Remember they are selling this project as “Transformative.” 

Since this was the second meeting I attended and there were only 4 of us who showed up to their 11am meeting, I asked why they aren’t holding meetings in the evening at a public space so that more of the working community can give feedback. After some excuses and anecdotal reasons why they chose this way, it’s clear that they just want as few people offering feedback as possible. During the sketch plan submittal their consultant even remarked that their approach to community involvement wasn’t normal. I wonder why?

They don’t seem to be interested in the impacts off site or community. They claim 80% or approximately 3,600 daily traffic trips will be using Fifth Street and west New York Avenue to access Highway 50. According to the West Gunnison Neighborhood Plan, 95% of traffic leaving the west side of Gunnison is heading north and east. One of the goals outlined in the Comprehensive Plan is a 20% reduction in aggregate greenhouse gas emissions. This is also a major pedestrian route with a narrow right-of-way and no plans to update access. This developer doesn’t seem to be very interested in paying their way for the necessary infrastructure that will be needed to make the development integrate into the community. To date, they don’t have a completed traffic study to answer these questions. So will us taxpayers have to foot the bill for adding sidewalks and improving intersections to handle increased traffic?

Building more than 450 units at the furthest point in Gunnison away from Crested Butte isn’t responsible for our environment and air quality. Build to rent development doesn’t create community. It’s more like a giant motel. They want to add a circulator bus in Gunnison adding more noise and pollution. Who’s paying for it? Putting a heavy weight of the need for housing, shouldn’t overshadow the problems that this development will create. Simply put, they are proposing too many units in a place with terrible access, no matter what the zoning permits.

Dave Kozlowski

West Gunnison