Letter: River Park plan is too big, too tall
Following the May 13 meeting on the amended River Park proposal in Edwards, I urge the County Commissioners to reconsider the scale, height, and infrastructure impact of this development, especially its effect on U.S. Highway 6 and the roundabout.
The proposed building height — over 80 feet from the lowest slope to the roof ridge — ignores the site’s existing topography. Why hasn’t the roofline been designed to step down to match the grade? At the Highway 6 entrance, the ridge is about 35 feet above finish grade, according to the architect. Why not use that as a height limit throughout?
No HOA in the valley would allow such massing on a sloped site without requiring the roofline to follow adjacent grades. This plan ignores that standard, clearly to preserve unit count. The result is a design driven by the developer’s bottom line, not context-sensitive planning.
More troubling is the lack of meaningful scrutiny from the commissioners. After 2.5 hours of discussion, it was clear there’s a gap in architectural and planning knowledge among decision-makers.
The traffic study presented was dense, overly technical, and hard to follow, raising serious questions about how the added volume will affect already-strained roads. Where is the digestible, public-facing analysis?
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The public process has also been deeply flawed. Reading a 70-page report aloud is inefficient and disrespectful. None of the attendees got to speak. If transparency matters, that must change.
This isn’t a “Not In My Backyard” issue. We support affordable housing. But this plan is excessive. Instead of 440 units, a scaled-down version — perhaps half — would better suit the community and infrastructure.
We ask our commissioners to lead with vision and responsibility.
Mark Scully
Edwards
