Bayfield could get dozens more homes as two new developments received initial approvals on Tuesday from the town board.
The first is Mustang Crossing. Owner J-Bar Development presented a sketch plan on Tuesday requesting to subdivide 35 acres into 85 lots of single-family homes east of Mesa Meadows, which is already one of the larger subdivisions in town.
Instead of a park in the development, the developer proposed donating 10.5 acres of land around the subdivision to create a walking trail, along with a possible pocket park and detention ponds for stormwater.
The idea for a trail spurred a discussion about requiring open space in new developments, which isn’t required under the town’s land-use code. Dove Ranch, a subdivision on the north side of Bayfield, was supposed to have a park, but the developer never put one in. Then the subdivision’s homeowner association went defunct, leaving neighborhood landscaping and trees that need maintenance.
“The town gets calls on maintaining Dove Ranch trees,” said Town Manager Katie Sickles. “I say they’re not town trees.”
Trustee David Black said one of his concerns about having a walking path circling Mustang Crossing is that it won’t be maintained, and it will revert to weeds.
Mayor Pro Tem Kristin Dallison said she likes the trail idea, noting that Bayfield has several existing parks for residents to use, but not many walking trails.
Five residents wrote letters with concerns about the approval: Brian and Julie Blanchard, who live nearby; Marion and Alan Tone, who own an adjoining ranch property; and Bayfield resident Kat Katsos.
Speaking on Tuesday night, Katsos questioned whether the town has enough water to serve the new subdivision. She also said shrink-swell issues have affected her foundation in the Dove Ranch subdivision, so she wants the town to ensure soil mitigation is done in the Mustang Crossing subdivision if the geological soil survey recommends doing so.
“If they recommend it, then the town should seriously consider including that in a subdivision development improvement agreement,” she said.
The Blanchards requested a park in the neighborhood and said there is an aging sewer connection serving that side of Bayfield.
The Tones oppose the annexation for several reasons, according to a letter submitted to Sickles, including water use, consent from ditch companies and a buffer zone around a current BP gas line easement in the subdivision.
The Tones also noted the subdivision will be near working ranches and farms. They requested that Colorado’s Right to Farm Statute be included in the annexation agreement and the HOA conditions.
There also has been little or no outreach to project neighbors, Marion Tone wrote.
The town “has rushed to speed this project through at warp speed, for reasons never made clear to the community,” she said.
Several reports will be required from the developer when a preliminary plan is submitted, Community Development Director Nicol Killian wrote in her report to the trustees. These include a traffic impact report, road plans, draining report, geotechnical report, utilities and landscaping.
The board voted 7-0 to approve the sketch plan.
Another subdivision, Bayfield East, is an even larger development on 45 acres with commercial use as well as a mix of single-family and multifamily homes. The number of lots has not yet been decided.
The development is needed in Bayfield, said Derek McCoy, a representative for the owners, noting there is currently only one house for sale in town limits listed in the MLS realty system.
Bayfield East requested an amendment to the town’s comprehensive plan so it could move forward with a proposed annexation into town limits. It is located east of town limits and north of U.S. Highway 160, an area that hasn’t been developed, in part because there is no road north from the highway leading into the development area.
The proposal includes planned sites for a new grocery store and hotel.
The only comments submitted about the project were from the attorney from the Los Pinos Ditch Co.
The town board voted 6-0 to approve amending the town’s comprehensive plan to allow the project to move forward into the annexation process, as well as sketch plan approval. Trustee Brenna Morlan abstained from the vote.
At the end of the meeting, Sickles said a street from the highway into the subdivision has long been needed, but starting the intersection planning process with the Colorado Department of Transportation has been a sticking point.
Now that developers and the Bayfield School District have paid fees to build the road, she said the town can proceed with the application to construct the intersection.
Board members nodded in approval.
An earlier version of this story erred in saying Bayfield resident Kat Katsos said soils are sinking in other developments in town. She was speaking about soil issues affecting only her home in the Dove Ranch subdivision.
