URA projects kick off second year with intersection replacement
By Brandon Gee (Contact) - Reporter Steambaot Pilot & TODAY
Friday, April 25, 2008
Steamboat Springs — City officials hope replacing the intersection of Mount Werner Circle and Après Ski Way with a roundabout will improve traffic flow and make the area safer for cyclists and pedestrians. Work on the intersection began Monday and will continue through mid-September. “This intersection showed from a traffic analysis that it needed some control,” said Joe Kracum, the city’s coordinator for public improvement projects at the base of the Steamboat Ski Area.
Kracum said the intersection is difficult for motorists who want to turn left off Après Ski Way onto Mount Werner Circle and is not pedestrian friendly. Kracum said adding control to an intersection means one of two options: traffic lights or a roundabout.
“There wasn’t too much favor for a traffic light,” Kracum said.
The finished product will include new sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes and ramps, street lighting and drainage improvements. The city also hopes the project will create more of a village feel around the ski base since roundabouts force vehicles to slow down.
Derick Duckels of construction contractor Duckels Construction added that the new intersection will be flatter and much safer than an intersection that currently requires motorists on Après Ski Way to come to a complete stop on a steep hill, which can be problematic in winter.
The Steamboat Springs Redevelopment Authority, an urban renewal authority created in 2005 by the Steamboat Springs City Council, is funding the $2.2 million project. The project will require the closure of Après Ski Way near the intersection for about three weeks. There will be as many as 30 workers on the site at certain times, Duckels said. Work is allowed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, but Duckels said work usually will wrap up by 5 or 6 p.m.
“Saturdays are few and far between and only when no special events are going on,” he said.
The scheduled completion date for the project is Sept. 15. Kracum and Duckels said they expect the project to be less invasive and problematic than the URA’s first project last year on Ski Time Square Drive.
“The conflicts here are about a tenth of what they were,” Duckels said.
When construction workers hit utility lines in unexpected locations last year, a costly Internet outage drew the ire of area businesses.
Similar interruptions should be expected this summer, but Deputy City Manager Wendy DuBord said efforts are being made to keep them to a minimum. Also, DuBord said the city will increase utility capacity while the intersection is torn up.
“We’ve made a concerted effort to make sure the utility companies are really involved,” DuBord said. “We’re going to put a lot of additional pipe in the ground so we don’t have to cut the pavement again for quite some time.”
Jay Gallagher, general manager of Mount Werner Water and Sanitation District, said one water valve and one fire hydrant will be replaced as part of the project, resulting in one or two short service outages.
District Engineer Richard Buccino said units on the north side of Eagle Ridge Drive — such as Eagle Ridge Lodge & Townhomes, Evergreens Townhomes and the east part of Stonewood Townhomes — will be affected.
“Those, we think, are going to be out of water for less than half a day’s time,” Buccino said.
“Generally, the contractor will put tags on people’s doors to let people know about the outage,” Gallagher added.
Kracum said water is the only utility that workers plan to disturb this summer, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be unexpected conflicts.
“As we know from last year, you never know what you’re going to find when you get underground,” he said.
Phone messages left Thursday with Comcast and Yampa Valley Electric Association were not returned.
Far from worrying about the potential side effects construction could have on his business this summer, Market on the Mountain owner Bill Stuart is thrilled with all the hungry customers laboring at his doorstep. Construction of One Steamboat Place also is under way, and Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. is expected to take on construction projects this summer.
“It is actually really good for us because summers are slow for us,” Stuart said. “Construction and Triple Crown are the major part of our summer business.”
The city’s construction team is holding weekly construction meetings at 8:30 a.m. Fridays at the Snowflower Condominiums. For more information about the project, call Kracum at 871-7077.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Century 21 Ski Town Associates. I am happy to help...
WEB: www.SteamboatDream.com
E-MAIL: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
CELL:(970)846-1086
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
TDR - Transfer of Development Rights
Routt County considers home-size limits, development rights program
By Brandon Gee (Contact) - Reporter Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Steamboat Springs — Routt County officials are considering a range of new land-use policies aimed at preserving rural character in the face of development.
At a joint meeting of the Routt County Board of Commissioners and Routt County Planning Commission last week, officials discussed implementing a transfer of development rights program and limiting the size of houses in the county, among other topics. A transfer of development rights, or TDR, program would allow the owner of land designated as a “sending area” to sell his or her development rights to the owner of land designated as a “receiving area.” The program would give county officials a tool to move density to areas they find more desirable while also protecting areas they would rather not see developed. Planning Director Chad Phillips said areas the county might be interested in protecting include viewsheds, critical wildlife habitat and active agriculture operations.
“We don’t want density far-flung out in the county,” County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said. “That’s the purpose of a TDR.” Colorado counties including Pitkin, Mesa, Summit, Adams, Boulder and Gunnison have TDR programs, which Routt County officials have been considering for more than a decade. “It has been on our agenda since 1995,” Mitsch Bush said. “It’s just sort of been something that we haven’t quite got to.”
County Commissioner Doug Monger said the most difficult part of starting a TDR program is identifying the receiving areas where landowners can purchase development rights and construct. A county staff report says receiving areas should serve as a transition between urban and rural areas. The commissioners said they would like to see receiving areas as close to municipalities as possible because of their higher density and need for urban services.
Because such areas already have been identified in the West of Steamboat Springs Area Plan, County Commissioner Nancy Stahoviak said the county might test a TDR program in that area before implementing a countywide program. “My hope is we will identify some sending areas for (the west of Steamboat area) and use that as a pilot program,” Stahoviak said.
The county is not as close to adopting policies that would address the growing size of residential units in Routt County. An upward trend in house sizes is raising some eyebrows — Monger said complaints about house sizes are something “we hear … all the time from our residents.”
Phillips said there was disagreement on the subject at last week’s meeting, with some Planning Commission members dead set against any limitation on the size of homes. “It was a mixed conversation,” he said. Officials noted that the county could adopt a policy that doesn’t necessarily forbid houses above a certain size, but does discourage them.
“We realize that there are costs to the taxpayer as we get larger and larger homes,” Mitsch Bush said. “Many communities don’t say, ‘You can’t do it,’ but you have to offset costs to the community. …We’re going to continue exploring these issues to see what the best policies are for Routt County.”
— To reach Brandon Gee, call 871-4210
or e-mail bgee@steamboatpilot.com
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Century 21 Ski Town Associates. I am happy to help...
WEB: www.SteamboatDream.com
E-MAIL: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
CELL:(970)846-1086
By Brandon Gee (Contact) - Reporter Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Steamboat Springs — Routt County officials are considering a range of new land-use policies aimed at preserving rural character in the face of development.
At a joint meeting of the Routt County Board of Commissioners and Routt County Planning Commission last week, officials discussed implementing a transfer of development rights program and limiting the size of houses in the county, among other topics. A transfer of development rights, or TDR, program would allow the owner of land designated as a “sending area” to sell his or her development rights to the owner of land designated as a “receiving area.” The program would give county officials a tool to move density to areas they find more desirable while also protecting areas they would rather not see developed. Planning Director Chad Phillips said areas the county might be interested in protecting include viewsheds, critical wildlife habitat and active agriculture operations.
“We don’t want density far-flung out in the county,” County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said. “That’s the purpose of a TDR.” Colorado counties including Pitkin, Mesa, Summit, Adams, Boulder and Gunnison have TDR programs, which Routt County officials have been considering for more than a decade. “It has been on our agenda since 1995,” Mitsch Bush said. “It’s just sort of been something that we haven’t quite got to.”
County Commissioner Doug Monger said the most difficult part of starting a TDR program is identifying the receiving areas where landowners can purchase development rights and construct. A county staff report says receiving areas should serve as a transition between urban and rural areas. The commissioners said they would like to see receiving areas as close to municipalities as possible because of their higher density and need for urban services.
Because such areas already have been identified in the West of Steamboat Springs Area Plan, County Commissioner Nancy Stahoviak said the county might test a TDR program in that area before implementing a countywide program. “My hope is we will identify some sending areas for (the west of Steamboat area) and use that as a pilot program,” Stahoviak said.
The county is not as close to adopting policies that would address the growing size of residential units in Routt County. An upward trend in house sizes is raising some eyebrows — Monger said complaints about house sizes are something “we hear … all the time from our residents.”
Phillips said there was disagreement on the subject at last week’s meeting, with some Planning Commission members dead set against any limitation on the size of homes. “It was a mixed conversation,” he said. Officials noted that the county could adopt a policy that doesn’t necessarily forbid houses above a certain size, but does discourage them.
“We realize that there are costs to the taxpayer as we get larger and larger homes,” Mitsch Bush said. “Many communities don’t say, ‘You can’t do it,’ but you have to offset costs to the community. …We’re going to continue exploring these issues to see what the best policies are for Routt County.”
— To reach Brandon Gee, call 871-4210
or e-mail bgee@steamboatpilot.com
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Century 21 Ski Town Associates. I am happy to help...
WEB: www.SteamboatDream.com
E-MAIL: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
CELL:(970)846-1086
