ROARING FORK BROADCASTING COMPANY
A development firm that is seeking approval for a reworked 577-home private golf community located in the hills southeast of Glenwood Springs received a chilly reception from its neighbors Thursday morning.
The executive team from Georgia-based Storied Development met with about 65 people at the Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley campus to outline their plans for Spring Valley Ranch. Mark Enderle, a partner in the firm, explained that he “hates” the existing approvals that are in place for the sprawling 6,000-acre property centered north of the intersection of County Road 114 (Spring Valley Road) and County Road 115 (Red Canyon Road).
Storied Development has an option to buy the property that will be exercised only if its amended development plan is approved by the Garfield County Commissioners.
“The reason I’m here is I’m not going to close on it until I’m sure I can do it,” Enderle told the crowd.
His firm submitted an amended plan that clusters residential development, doubles the open space, closes some land for the intended benefit of wildlife, creates breaks to reduce wildfire risk and adds 58 units of affordable housing and 17 units of worker housing for ranch employees. Garfield County is just starting its review of the massive project. The county Planning and Zoning Commission likely will begin meetings this summer.
Stories Development has been hosting gatherings with small groups of neighbors, although Thursday’s “went viral” and attracted many more people than invited, according to Kathleen Wanatowicz, who owns a local public relations firm that is helping Storied Development. Enderle said his team wants to understand the concerns of neighbors and residents of Garfield County at large.
“Clearly water, traffic and wildlife are the three big things,” Enderle said.
He wants to hear concerns and see if his firm can address them. Realistically, not everybody is going to be happy, he acknowledged.
“At some level, there’s going to be some of us that don’t agree,” he said.
That became apparent about 15 minutes into the meeting. In somewhat of a free-flowing conversation, numerous residents expressed concerns that tapping an aquifer for water will affect the wells of the neighboring low-density developments surrounding the ranch. Several speakers expressed concerns that they will be forced to dig deeper wells if they don’t go dry outright because of the ranch’s intensive water use. Enderle said Storied Development will have its local consultants dive into an extensive study of the aquifer connections.
Some audience members also expressed concern about how deer, elk and other wildlife will fare with the development on both sides of Red Canyon Road. “(Colorado Parks and Wildlife) would just as soon it stays as it is,” Enderle acknowledged. But since that is unlikely to happen, it is advising Storied Development on its plan to create 1,110 acres of “wildlife habitat reserves” that would be closed to humans during winters and spring reproduction.
But the biggest complaint expressed by neighbors was the effect on their quality of life from such a large project. The Spring Valley area is one of the last remaining rustic, low-density areas in the Roaring Fork Valley. Some people are unsettled at the prospect of hundreds of high-end homes getting constructed in their neck of the woods.
“People are already talking about leaving,” said Jon Caughlin, the owner of a home near Spring Valley Ranch.
He asked why the development has to feature so many homes and such high-end homes. “It’s not Aspen. We don’t want that here and that’s exactly what you’re proposing,” Caughlin said.
Enderle was unapologetic about Storied Development’s focus on high-end development. Spring Valley Ranch’s plan calls for an 18-hole golf course, a nine-hole “short course,” a clubhouse, a small, private ski hill on southwest-facing slopes and about 20 miles of trails with limited public access.
“We’re lifestyle developers, we’re not subdivision developers,” Enderle said. The company is currently working on projects in Park City, Utah; Nashville, Tennessee; and the Hill Country of central Texas.
Audience member Clayton Smith said the low-density area of Spring Valley doesn’t have the infrastructure to absorb the ranch’s 577 homes. The application said a traffic study showed the ranch will generate 5,703 trips per average on weekdays at build-out. Smith and others expressed concern that many of the homeowners will use Red Canyon Road, a gravel route chiseled into a hillside that Garfield County hasn’t attempted to improve because of the landscape challenges. Enderle said the county and the Colorado Department of Transportation will require Storied Development to undertake significant improvements to Spring Valley Road, including widening traffic lanes, adding shoulders and improving its intersection with Highway 82 at Thunder River Market.
Even so, audience members said the Spring Valley Ranch development will spike use of Red Canyon Road, or cause Garfield County to put in restrictions on use when it cannot be properly maintained.
Residents expressed concern that adding 577 homes will drastically increase the complications of evacuation in case of wildfires, which the area is prone to. One accident on the mountain roads will create bottlenecks with potentially deadly consequences.
“It’s generally a high-end experience,” he said of the projects.
At Spring Valley, the development will include houses priced at $5 million to $6 million on 10-acre lots that sell for $2 million.
Audience members snickered at the idea of south-facing ski slopes and questioned the need for another private golf course in Garfield County.
“It’s really not viable without a golf course,” Enderle said. “That’s what they pay us for.”
Another impact on quality of life will be extended years of construction. The ranch will be developed in seven phases, with sales of lots of each phase stretching out over 18 months and construction of homes taking even longer.
Spring Valley Ranch was approved by Garfield County in 2007 and received amendments as recently as 2017. It has vested rights until 2032 for 577 residences in a layout that covers more of the land and reduces the open space. Enderle made it clear his firm won’t pursue the development as approved, although another developer could. At the least, he said, the landowner could carve the ranch into 130 lots of 35 acres with minimal review under Colorado land-use rules.
“This is an extraordinary piece of property. It’s not going to stay fallow,” Enderle said.