During this week’s regular meeting, the Basalt Town Council held second readings and public hearings for two new residential developments, voting to continue the hearing for one and approving the final plan for the other.
The first application discussed was for the special review of a mixed-use residential and commercial storage development at 555 Basalt Ave. in Basalt’s Southside neighborhood. After a lengthy period of public comment and discussion among council members, the applicant requested that the hearing be continued to integrate changes requested during the meeting. The council approved the request to continue the second reading to Sept. 8 by a vote of 4-2. Conversely, the council approved the final PUD for the 64-unit Black Mountain development at 431 Emma Road by a vote of 5-1.
This was not the first time the application for the proposed development at 555 Basalt Ave. has been subject to debate. The first reading of the application had been continued four times since it initially came before the council on March 24. It was only by a vote of 4-3 on Aug. 11 when the application moved forward. Since that meeting, the applicant’s renewed proposal factored in several requests, including adhering to the town’s dark skies exterior lighting standards, that the planned development be suitable for solar energy and that for the first 30 years the commercial spaces prioritize community-serving businesses.
As of Aug. 25, the proposed development at 555 Basalt Ave. included 42 commercial storage units, 30 residential units, 12 live-work units and two community serving commercial spaces. A total of 64% of the units would be deed-restricted. Furthermore, the applicant would contribute $345,000 for the improvement of Fiou Lane and Cody Lane, two streets adjacent to the development that would need to be expanded in order to support the increased density.
Many residents of the Southside neighborhood offered comments. The majority of commenters were explicitly against the development, primarily citing an existing traffic problem in the area they said would be exacerbated and result in a public safety risk.
After the period of public comment, the applicant argued that the traffic resulting from the use of the commercial storage units would be less than that generated by more residential units or other types of business, and that the application in its current state reflects a priority to offer more housing opportunities than what is minimally necessary.
While Mayor David Knight and Councilors Rick Stevens, Angele Dupre-Butchart and Hannah Berman voted to approve the applicant’s request for a continuation, Councilors Angela Anderson and Greg Shaffran voted against it. Councilor Elyse Hottel was absent from the meeting.
With regard to the comparatively less-contested Black Mountain development, Basalt Town Council approved the final PUD, which included a short list of changes compared to the application presented on July 28, from the town’s ability to buy down deed-restricted properties within the development to the applicant’s $700,000 community benefit contribution to be paid prior to the issuance of the first building permit to miscellaneous items regarding irrigation, landscaping and drainage.
The development will be located at 431 Emma Road, west of the Basalt Library, and will include 64 dwelling units, 12 commercial lodging cabins and an open space with trail connectivity along the Roaring Fork river. Fifty-percent of the residential units will be deed-restricted, and 20 of the units will be prioritized for purchase by locals as part of the development’s First Tracks program.
All but one of the councilors present voted to approve the PUD, with the exception of Shaffran, who argued that the First Tracks program was not as sufficient for meeting the need for affordable housing as outright deed-restriction.
The approval of the final PUD for the Black Mountain represents one of the final steps in the development application process since a sketch plan for the project first came before the council in 2023.