During this week’s meeting, the Basalt Town Council held a reading and public hearing for a preliminary PUD for a residential development at 431 Emma Road. The applicant, Jadwin Park LLC, seeks to construct 64 dwelling units and 12 commercial-lodging cabins.
The site for the proposed development is a nine-acre parcel located between Highway 82 and the Roaring Fork River, just half a mile west of the Basalt Post Office. The property, bisected by the Eagle-Pitkin county line, currently contains a single family residence and a mobile home. The property has also been used by the Town of Basalt as a lay-down area for the construction equipment used for the Midland Streetscape Update.
The council approved the sketch plan for the development in 2024, identifying that the development was consistent with Basalt’s 2020 Master Plan. Since then, the plan has changed so as not to include the initially proposed “glamping pads.” Dwelling units range from apartments in four main buildings to duplex townhomes. The 12 river cabins, all freestanding, are planned to function as hotel rooms. In addition, the development will feature four acres of open space designed not to disturb important wetlands and riparian habitat.
The proposed development exceeds Basalt’s inclusionary housing requirements that 20% of the residential units be deed restricted. The project proposes that 50% (32 of 64) of the residential units be deed restricted, which will also be offered to a priority list of local employers including Roaring Fork Fire Rescue Authority, Roaring Fork School District and Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club.
In addition to the significant quantity of deed-restricted offerings, Jadwin Park LLC has also proposed for 20 free-market units to be considered what it calls “first-track” units. As proposed, these units would be subject to a deed restriction requiring that, for the first 90 days, sales be offered exclusively to individuals who have lived between Aspen and Glenwood Springs for at least one year prior to purchasing the unit.
Mayor David Knight asked if it would be possible to apply a restriction to the free-market units such that they would not be able to be used as short-term rental properties.
“That just puts further upward pressure on prices as people continue to shop for properties they can use as short-term rentals around our neighborhoods,” Knight said. “We just can’t build another neighborhood where people can do that.”
While other councilors supported the idea of restricting short-term rental usage, others also acknowledged that restricting the free-market units would endanger the financing necessary to build the many other deed-restricted units. Without collective agreement, the council did not ask for short-term rental restrictions on the free-market units.
The council unanimously approved the application with an amendment to the first-tracks program to include residents from Aspen to Parachute and, at the request of Councilor Hannah Berman, compost be added to the utility plan.
In other news…
CPW, in tandem with local sheriffs and Roaring Fork Fire Rescue, decided to close the Basalt Shooting Range in light of worsening fire conditions. Public Works and the Basalt Police Department reminded citizens that there are no campfires, fireworks or smoking outdoors under current restrictions.
Additionally, the Town of Basalt has not received any recent reports of sightings of the juvenile mountain lion seen around town last month.
Along Two Rivers Road, Pitkin County will continue enhancing Basalt’s whitewater park, beginning new construction in September. Remaining improvements to the park include seating areas, improved off-street parking, ADA improvements and the addition of restroom and changing room facilities at the parking lot.
Pitkin County presented plans to complete these streamside improvements in May of 2024, hoping to complete the project by the end of the year. The county now plans to complete the remaining improvements between this fall and early spring.