Parking, traffic, and parks: Concerns over Eagle’s 113-unit housing proposal

A 2019 agreement is the latest sticking point in the West Eagle housing proposal.

During a Tuesday discussion of Eagle County’s proposal for a 113-unit workforce housing development, council members wondered why county officials are still balking at conveying the land the Eagle River Park sits on to the town.

County Resiliency Director Tori Franks, who’s representing the county in the public discussions with the town, told council members the county’s preference is to pay the town’s required park land dedication in cash. Dedicating the river park land to the town would make a complicated project more complicated, she said.

Franks said the Eagle County Board of Commissioners is “committed” to having the conversation about the river park outside the discussions about West Eagle.

“We’ve been having this conversation for five-and-a-half years,” Council Member Nick Sunday said, adding that town taxpayers put $7.5 million into creating the park.

Support Local Journalism

Donate

Council Member Bryan Woods added that a similar problem with a private developer “would be the end of the discussion.”

Eagle County Manager Jeff Shroll attended the meeting, and said he’d negotiated with five different town managers over the years.

Shroll said that all three county commissioners and all seven council members have never sat down for a discussion of conveying the parcel to the town.

“The distrust is both ways,” Shroll said.

But, he added, “That can go away fairly quickly.” And, he added, “It’s your park — you paid for it.”

That issue, along with the question of how many of the 113 units may be subject to the town’s Real Estate Transfer Assessment, will be subjects of a special Nov. 19 meeting.

In addition to those issues, some residents have lingering concerns about the project.

Resident Debbie Comerford said she’s still concerned about parking and snow removal at the project.

Fellow resident Devin Duval said he’s concerned about consistency regarding building height in the development compared to the surrounding neighborhood. Duval and other residents also worried about adding more traffic to Grand Avenue, which already carries much of the town’s traffic, as well as from Gypsum and the Eagle County Regional Airport.

Mayor Scott Turnipseed asked Franks about a part of the development agreement granting the town the right to buy three units at the county’s cost.

Current estimates put the cost of the project at nearly $100 million, with the county subsidizing the project to make it affordable to buyers. If the town buys the units at cost, that could cost the town nearly $1 million per unit.

That language “could use a little refinement,” Turnipseed said. Turnipseed also encouraged Franks and the design team to look into lowering the roof structures on some of the buildings before the Nov. 19 meeting.

Grimmer said continuing discussions with the county will require the town to “listen carefully” to residents. Grimmer acknowledged that putting a new neighborhood into a currently vacant area of town may come as something of a shock to some neighbors.

“We need to make it so it can be the best it can be,” Grimmer said.