A large residential development just south of Purgatory Resort is winding its way through the La Plata County planning process.
The proposed “Village at Silverpick” would sit along U.S. Highway 550, and encircle the residential community of Silverpick, right at the base of Hermosa Cliffs.
The conceptual development plan includes about 242 residential units with a variety of housing types on about 131 acres. The project would be developed in six phases over five to seven years.
It would include about 90 acres of open space, and a trail network open to the public.
The property is owned by the Thomas Trust LLC, registered in Florida to Alan Thomas. The conceptual development plans were submitted by Justin Piche, a Houston-based land investor and Buck Rizvi, a Wyoming-based land investor.
Silverpick community members have criticized the development as too large, taking too long to complete and voiced concerns about the lack of additional infrastructure that would be built to accommodate the growth.
More than 10 residents criticized the plan as being too large and unwieldy to match the character of the small, 41-unit residential area near the base of Purgatory in the public comments submitted to the county and during Thursday’s neighborhood meeting run by the Community Development Department.
Residents were also concerned about the projected increase in traffic along an access road to the community.
As of now, the plan has the main access road as the same one already in place for the Silverpick community.
The developer’s average daily traffic calculations predict a 550% increase on the driveway leading into Silverpick.
“A residential driveway would effectively become a thoroughfare – followed by years of construction traffic, heavy equipment, and disruption. Children cross that driveway. Families walk it daily,” Silverpick resident Michael Shea said in a written comment to the county. “It was never designed for this magnitude of use.”
At Thursday’s meeting, one of the developers told Silverpick residents that an agreement with Purgatory Resort to put in a secondary access area in the location of the trail behind the Nugget Bar and Grill had officially been secured. That would be included in the third phase of development.
The developer will update the conceptual design plan to address those concerns, as required by the county planning process, said Lynn Hyde, community development director. Whether residents are satisfied with that is another issue altogether, she said.
The Board of County Commissioners must approve the finalized conceptual plan before more detailed planning work begins on phase 1.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
