Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort on Tuesday won permission from La Plata County commissioners to subdivide lots at Purgatory Village, a step toward future development.

The subdivided parcels are near the Gelande parking lot, used for overflow parking on busy days.

The resort’s master plan calls for a 90-unit townhome development and a lodge on the parcels adjacent to U.S. Highway 550, resort CEO Gary Derck said.

“It hasn’t changed since the original master plan” passed in 2002, Derck said.

Derck shrugged when asked about the timeline for the projects.

“We’re just subdividing the land,” he said. “There’s nothing on the books right now.”

A 90-unit townhome project would be a major new development for the resort and for the area’s real estate market. No members of the public spoke about the project at Tuesday’s meeting.

After some discussion, commissioners unanimously approved subdividing the parcels. The project itself, if DMR moves forward, would have to return to the Board of County Commissioners for another round of approvals.

“It is designed to be an efficient process,” county planner Daniel Murray said. “We will have an opportunity to look at these developments more specifically.”

Derck envisions the resort’s buses driving directly from the Gelande parking lot to Purgatory Drive. That would address a concern of the Colorado Department of Transportation, which long has advocated for an access road connecting the two areas. Such an access road would eliminate the need for the resort’s buses to drive short trips on U.S. Highway 550.

Derck said any new road would avoid a wetland in the area.

“To come through the wetland would not be appropriate,” he said.

cslothower@durangoherald.com