Eagle County will let residents weigh in on Edwards River Park plan amendments at June 18 hearing

It takes time to go through even “minor” changes to a plan that will bring 440 new housing units to Edwards. So a second hearing, on June 18, is needed to hear public comment about the amended Edwards River Park plan.

The Eagle County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday heard the details of those changes to the plan for Edwards River Park. The project, about a mile west of the intersection of U.S. Highway 6 and the Edwards Spur Road on the site of a former gravel mine, was originally approved in 2021.

Tuesday’s session was scheduled for three hours, from 4-7 p.m. It turned out that was enough time for presentations by the applicant, Aptitude Development, and the county staff, followed by questions from the commissioners.

But Board Chair Jeanne McQueeney said she wanted to have all public comment covered in one session. Given that a number of the several dozen people in attendance raised their hands when McQueeney asked who wanted to give their opinions on the application, that meant public comment would surely last well into the evening.

While public comment will be delayed until June 18, the ground rules laid down by Matt Peterson, the assistant county Attorney, at the beginning of the meeting will remain in place.

Support Local Journalism

Donate

Peterson noted that the issue up for discussion is amendments to an already-approved project. That means the project itself — including matters of density and traffic — isn’t up for debate. The changes to approved project design elements will be matters for comment, Peterson said.

Those design elements include moving some of the buildings around in the already-approved building envelopes. Another change includes eliminating almost all of the originally approved commercial space. Instead, the project proposes using that space for a 10,000 square foot space for the Family Learning Center. That facility is now at the St. Clare of Assisi Campus just west of the proposed site, but has lost its lease. River Park owners have offered to lease space to the Family Learning Center for $1 per year.

Another change is moving two of the buildings closer together, and changing the proposed design of the buildings, which will have a mix of flat and pitched roofs. The original plan’s buildings all had flat roofs

One of the questions is whether the buildings will exceed 35 feet from the surface of Highway 6.

Responding to questions from Commissioner Matt Scherr about apparent discrepancies between the original plan and the current plan regarding building heights, project architect Todd Meckley said his firm used exact locations of Highway 6 where it is as it passes the buildings, noting there’s a 20-foot difference between what actually exists and what was approved.

Jared Hutter of Aptitude Development, the applicant, told the commissioners that when designing the buildings, his team started with the limit of no more than 35 feet above Highway 6.

“We started there and worked backwards,” Hutter said.

And, Hutter added, as the highway declines in elevation, so do the tops of the buildings.

The commissioners will probably have more questions during their deliberations following public comment on June 18.