{"id":1317687,"date":"2020-01-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=992615"},"modified":"2020-01-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T07:00:00","slug":"basalt-council-finds-growth-potential-staggering-in-proposed-master-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/basalt-council-finds-growth-potential-staggering-in-proposed-master-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Basalt council finds growth potential \u2018staggering\u2019 in proposed master plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Basalt Mountain looms over the town of Basalt as the sun starts to set Tuesday. The town is working on a master plan update to plot future growth and the vision to get there.<\/strong>
Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Basalt Town Council members said last night they find growth projections for the town \u201cstaggering\u201d under scenarios in a proposed master plan.<\/p>\n

They made it clear during a first glance there are a lot of refinements that will be required to the plan, which essentially serves as a blueprint for the town\u2019s future and guidance for developers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got really good feedback from the community about growth, but when you start adding up those numbers, that can potentially can be grown, it\u2019s staggering, and I\u2019m not going to support that,\u201d Councilman Gary Tennenbaum said. \u201cI didn\u2019t support it in 2007, to have that much, and I\u2019m not going to support it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Town consultants, staff and the Basalt Planning and Zoning Commission have been working since April on an update to the 2007 master plan. The process involved assessing the number of existing residences, the number that can be built under existing zoning or that are already approved, and projections on undeveloped, unplanned property. The consultants held public meetings and asked residents to offer advice on the density they would like to see on key parcels.<\/p>\n

\n
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\u201cI didn\u2019t support it in 2007, to have that much, and I\u2019m not going to support it now.\u201d \u2014 Councilman Gary Tennenbaum<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Basalt has 1,754 existing units. Under the draft master plan, the total number of units could range from 3,197 under a \u201clower density\u201d option and 3,521 under a \u201cmax density\u201d option. The planning commission recommended a middle scenario.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe growth numbers are kind of staggering,\u201d said Councilman Ryan Slack.<\/p>\n

Councilman Bill Infante said the council needs plenty of time in future meetings to work through issues with the planning commission and consultants.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t enough (time on Tuesday) for me to defend this product that proposes a doubling of the number of housing units in our town, and we as council are going to have to defend this master plan, which is proposing a very significant increase even under the modest density formula,\u201d Infante said.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Katie Schwoerer said a doubling of residential units would result in a tripling or more of Basalt\u2019s population. The town needs to look at the implications for schools, streets and services, she said.<\/p>\n

Mayor Jacque Whitsitt said the analysis should include the impact on Highway 82.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are already problems in the midvalley, and we\u2019re going to make it worse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Whitsitt suggested the master plan might not be completed by the time the municipal election is held on April 7 and several seats potentially turn over. She will be off the board because of term limits. Three council seats are also up for grabs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot left to go,\u201d Whitsitt said of the master plan process.<\/p>\n

Tennenbaum also sounded the alarm about midvalley growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am worried about what we\u2019re going to see in the midvalley,\u201d he said. \u201cWillits is not done. The Tree Farm (Ace Lane\u2019s project) is just getting going. That whole area is going to get much larger, more crowded, much more dense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the council started its deliberations, planning commission member Rob Leavitt expressed dissatisfaction at how the master plan process was going. He contended people who attended open houses were given a choice of selecting density or sprawl on key parcels. Density will win every time because no one likes sprawl, he said.<\/p>\n

Leavitt said it was a false choice. The process should have given people a chance to support less density.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t support the plan as it is because I don\u2019t think we asked the right questions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Jennifer Riffle said concern about the density of future development is valid. In addition, she said, the proposed master plan lacks the aspirational vision that everyone wanted at the start of the process. The aspirational aspect, she said, is what made their \u201cfaces light up\u201d at the start.<\/p>\n

The council, planning commission, consultants and staff will meet in future meetings to try to capture that magic.<\/p>\n

scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Basalt Mountain looms over the town of Basalt as the sun starts to set Tuesday. The town is working on a master plan update to plot future growth and the vision to get there.Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times Basalt Town Council members said last night they find growth projections for the town \u201cstaggering\u201d under scenarios in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1317687","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 15:15:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1317687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317687\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1317687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1317687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1317687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}