The
NE Development is proposing a mix of one- and two-bedroom rental units, a clubhouse, an outdoor pool, a small-business center, a bus stop and a bicycle parking area. The developer is also planning to build an extension of Escalante Drive.
In February, the Durango City Council will review subdivision plans and a request to annex the land.
The developer hopes to break ground in April and finish at the end of 2018.
NE Development and other property owners are expected to pay for the extension of Escalante Drive. The road may cost about $2.4 million. An underpass for the Animas River Trail is planned.
Jim Abbey, a neighbor, raised concerns about a drainage pipe planned to serve the development, Escalante Drive and water draining from across the highway.
Survey stakes were being placed just feet from his property Tuesday afternoon.
“I am sure there has got to be other possibilities of routing the storm water discharge line,” he said.
The city has a 50-foot easement to build a 3-foot pipe, and it likely does not to be right behind anyone’s home, Community Development Director Kevin Hall said.
The drainage pipe will be buried, and the land will be revegetated. But the project has not been designed yet, he said.
Commissioner Joe Lewandowski asked if anything would be done to filter water before it flows into the river.
The city will build a settling pond or similar measure near the Animas River, said Steve Winters an engineer with Russell Planning and Engineering.
“It is going to look like a little wetland down there if we do it right,” he said.
Lewandowski added a requirement for the developer to maintain its own storm water drainage structures before it was approved.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
