Eagle County commissioners give final plat approval to large West End project in Edwards

The Eagle County Board of Commissioners — without Commissioner Matt Scherr — gave final approval Tuesday to the West End Development in Edwards.

The approval includes a disputed part of the plan that will run a sewer line through the county-owned Eagle River Preserve open space. While the developers in hearings in the summer of 2024 represented that no construction would take place in the open space, which is adjacent to the West End property, the staff report indicates that construction drawings show an extension of an existing sewer main within the Eagle River Preserve property. That main is in an existing easement, according to county documents. The final plat application includes a re-vegetation plan for the line extension.

According to the report, “The Eagle River Water and Sanitation District has indicated that the proposed alignment for the extension (of the sewer main) is their preferred alignment,” and that an extension will be required to serve future development to the west.

Additionally, the developers have stated that other options would be “sub-optimal,” both for the development and the district.

But resident Bob Warner said he took “great exception” to the developers’ claim that the sewer line can’t be built on West End property.

Support Local Journalism

Donate

“This is done all the time,” Warner said, asking that the application be tabled until a solution could be found.

Edwards resident Kara Heide, a former director of the Eagle Valley Land Trust, which controls the conservation easement on the preserve, said she has copies of emails showing that the easement for the sewer line was extinguished in 2009.

Current Eagle Valley Land Trust Executive Director Jessica Foulis said the easement in question prohibits the extension of a sewer line, adding that any excavation would be a violation of the current conservation easement. The Land Trust will take “all necessary steps, including legal action,” to prevent excavation for the sewer line, Foulis said.

But Jim Telling of the ownership group, Edwards West End EW Investor LLC, noted that the sewer line in the final plat document is the water and sanitation district’s preferred alignment. And, Telling added, county officials have said the easements on the final plat documents are valid, and that revegetation of the construction area would enhance the area.

“We relied on those easements,” Telling said, noting the extension was part of the commissioners’ approval in September of 2024.

Make staying informed the easiest part of your day.

Sign up for daily or weekly newsletters at VailDaily.com/newsletter

During the commissioners’ deliberations, Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney said the advice the board has received from county attorneys is that the easement is in place.

“What’s before us is a good project,” McQueeney said.