Eagle County agrees to purchase 4-acre Edwards parcel, but has no firm plans for the property

A piece of land in Edwards adjacent to the Eagle River will soon be owned by the people of Eagle County.

The Eagle County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement Tuesday to purchase a roughly 4-acre parcel called the “River House” property. The land is on the north side of U.S. Highway 6, and just west of the western portion of the Eagle River Village mobile home park. The purchase price is set at $3.8 million, but owner Kit Williams has agreed to donate $600,000 of that amount back to the county.

The land, along with a small home on the site, is now being used for equipment storage. The lease for that use will be terminated before Aug. 15, the deadline for closing.

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At this point, there isn’t a defined use for the property.

One local resident emailed the Vail Daily with concerns about the prospect of more housing in the area without adding more streets or other infrastructure.

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Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney said “the rumors are ahead of us” in terms of plans for the property.

Commissioner Matt Scherr noted he’d heard a rumor of a potential future recreation center on the site.

At this point, the prospects for most projects are “Maybe, but who knows?,” Scherr said.

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Still, a recreation center was once seen as a possibility for the property, Scherr noted, adding that the prospects for the property are “very exciting.”

One likely addition to the land is a park, which Williams said he’d like named for his late wife. Wiliams noted that one previous idea for the property included 80 housing units. But a park is “more beautiful,” he said.

County Finance Director Jill Klosterman said she expects the county over the summer will hold public input sessions for the future of the parcel.

“We really don’t know what the future of this property might be,” Klosterman said. “We’re excited to have the community weigh in.”