During this week’s meeting, Basalt Town Council continued a hearing for an application to build a split commercial storage and residential development at 555 Basalt Avenue for a third time. The project has proven to be a tough sell over the past several months.
The council also made moves toward the development of its portfolio of municipal properties, holding hearings for the acquisition and annexation of municipal land for a new public services building.
The contested application for the development at 555 Basalt Avenue was first presented to the council by MREH LLC on March 24 as a plan to develop 54 commercial storage units and 47 residential units. Due to objections by councilors, including that the project in its current state did not serve community needs for affordable housing and that the commercial storage aspect of the plan would have the unintended consequence of increased traffic in the area, the first reading of this plan has been continued several times — first to April 28 and then to June 9.
The plan presented to council this week has changed to include a reduction in the quantity of commercial storage and residential units to 42 and 30, respectively, and the addition of 12 live/
work units and two community-
serving commercial spaces. Fifty-percent of the residential units have been designated as deed restricted. Furthermore, much of the development has been prioritized for the usage of Basalt residents and workers.
The applicant proposed that six of these live/work units be deed-restricted, while the other six be part of a “locals” program and offered to Basalt residents and business owners exclusively for the first 90 days on the market. In addition, the applicant proposed that 18 of the storage units be offered for sale as art studios or business incubator spaces for the first 120 days.
Several councilors argued that the “locals” proposal was insufficient in its current form.
“That model has been used before unsuccessfully,” Councilor Elyse Hottel said. “It needs to be marketed early and often so that people understand what it is and what the value is.”
Hottel added that other projects approved by the council have included a tiered approach to what kind of worker or resident in the Roaring Fork Valley is prioritized to purchase certain properties, rather than just Basalt residents. Councilor Greg Shaffran and Mayor David Knight also emphasized that purchase prioritization should be offered at every resale in perpetuity.
Several Basalt residents came forth during the period for public comment to argue that the development was overall unfriendly to the surrounding residential and industrial neighborhood. Residents argued that the development would increase the vehicle traffic in a neighborhood which is already overburdened, especially by travel to and from Basalt High School. It was argued that this increased traffic would reduce local parking and pose a safety hazard to residents.
Another heavily contested point of the project has been its adjacency to Fiou Lane, which is a one-way road that has been viewed as insufficient in its current state for the level of use proposed by the development.
“The locals program and similar programs where there’s an initial offering period, I generally feel are inadequate for preserving workforce housing,” Knight said. “They just turn into free-market housing, so there has to be something more binding in the long run.”
The council has opted to continue the first reading a third time, pushing another review out to Aug. 11.
In terms of developing its own municipal properties, the council has approved the annexation of two parcels of land for the development of its combined Public Works and Police Department building.
The Town is also hosting an open house on the site at 20526 Highway 82, off of Original Road, at which participants can meet the development team, ask questions and offer feedback on the plan. The open house will be held Monday, July 20 from 5 to 7pm.