Developers and realtors are licking their chops thinking about developing Hillcrest Golf Course into a sea of expensive condos and multimillion dollar home (Feb. 7,
The idea that these homes would be affordable to the average Durango family is laughable. Wealthy people from Denver, Texas and California will move here and buy the homes. Middle and lower income Durangoans will be left out in the cold.
Developing Hillcrest means losing the only affordable golf course for middle and lower income people. Glacier and Dalton are too expensive for the average family. Hillcrest hosted nearly 52,000 rounds of golf last year (the most in decades), and membership sales are up even more in 2021.
Perhaps a new course could be built near Durango, but the cost to develop a new course is $10 million-plus, not even counting the cost of the land. Who would pay for that? Not the developers, and current Hillcrest golfers couldn’t afford to.
Developing Hillcrest would also mean no more cross-country skiing for the hundreds of Durangoans who use the course in winter. A final consequence of building hundreds of housing units at Hillcrest would be horrendous traffic jams on Goeglein, College Drive, Florida Road, E. 8th Ave, and Highway 3.
Do you really want a sea of condos and houses replacing the last large green space in Durango? Please say no to giving Hillcrest to wealthy developers.
Ann EmighDurango
