By Siri Olsen
A few months ago, Habitat for Humanity RFV President Gail Schwartz raised the issue of “carrying capacity” in one of her editorial columns in the Aspen Daily News. This is an issue I have been contemplating for the past several years. I am writing this column to encourage a community-wide discussion of the topic, as our population continues to grow.
While I understand the desire for more affordable housing, I am also concerned about over development and severely damaging our quality of life. I do not purport to have easy answers to the affordability issues facing our valley (and all of Colorado), but I do not believe we can build our way out of the situation.
What is the carrying capacity of our combined infrastructure, including: roads, schools, daycare centers, medical facilities, grocery stores, the power grid, law enforcement and, perhaps most critical in the long term, our water supply?
Highway 82 is already dysfunctional at certain times of day; wildlife is killed constantly along the road and we have seen several fatal crashes in recent years. What impact does the gridlocked traffic we already are experiencing have on our air quality?
I do not think we are taking seriously enough the safety concerns from daily traffic on Highway 82, much less the possibility for total gridlock on the roads in the event we need to evacuate due to an emergency — such as a wildfire. Could we find ourselves in a situation like Maui in the event everyone from Carbondale to Glenwood Springs has to evacuate?
Daycare options are quite limited and newborns already have to be put on lengthy waiting lists in hopes of eventually securing a spot. How many more children can the system handle? How is our current student-teacher ratio holding up in our schools?
Our medical system is struggling to handle our current population and in many cases relies on traveling nurses and doctors to provide care. How many more patients can the system safely handle?
How many more customers can our grocery stores handle? Anyone who shops at the Glenwood Springs City Market knows that it is no longer a pleasant shopping experience. Despite heroic efforts by the employees at the Glenwood Springs store, check out is often slow and you regularly have to do it yourself. Shelves are frequently empty or products are in limited supply, and the parking lot can be dangerous.
Do we have enough law enforcement to handle our current population, much less additional growth? Simple issues like speeding on Highway 82 seem to go completely ignored at times. Is this due to a lack of personnel leading to prioritizing more serious issues at the expense of low level issues? At a recent public meeting in Carbondale, we learned there are only two officers on duty during a given shift — is that sufficient?
Do we truly have a collective understanding of our water supply? How many more water/sewer taps can we handle before we find ourselves in a situation like in Arizona — where developments were approved but then halted due to a lack of water?
Regarding the “need” for new housing, I see references to studies indicating we need a certain number of new units. How many units have been built in the last five years to reach that “needed” number? In 2023, I asked the Garfield County Planning Department that very question, but they could not provide an answer and referred me to the census website — which I tried. Unfortunately, the census data at that time was two years out of date, with figures that only ran through 2021.
If we do not know how many units have been built, how can we say we “need” more? Without firm numbers it seems it will be an endlessly moving target. Additionally, how many non-primary residential units should we be adding? Second homeowners put pressure on all the infrastructure and may also utilize their property as rental units. Should we encourage or discourage more of that type of housing?
I know I will be criticized with the phrase that I want to “shut the door behind me.” That is not the genesis of these concerns, however. I truly believe there is a breaking point for the level of growth we can handle and still ensure our own safety, protect our wildlife, ensure conservation of our open spaces and protect our quality of life.
Unfortunately, not everyone who wants to live here or have a second home here (or anywhere in the West) can do so if we wish to protect our limited resources and be proper stewards of our lands. Perhaps we need to pause and grapple with these questions before it is too late and we come to regret the irreversible changes we are making in our valley.
If you are interested in addressing some of these questions in a community setting and evaluating the impacts of growth in the Roaring Fork Valley, please send an email to rfvgrowth@gmail.com