Maddie Vincent/Snowmass Sun
Roughly 20 locals gathered near the Snowmass Town Park tennis courts Aug. 26 for the council site visit to the proposed Coffey Place development area.
As determined at the last regular meeting, the five Town Council members met for a public walk-through of the areas where 17 deed-restricted housing units are planned along Stallion Circle.
Each proposed Coffey Place unit was staked out for the Aug. 26 visit, showing where the corners of the homes and their property lines would be. There also were story poles up to show the tallest points of each unit.
At the Aug. 19 regular meeting, several locals living in the Rodeo Place neighborhood, adjacent to the proposed Coffey Place housing, expressed concerns to council about how the new units would impact what they see as an already tightly packed neighborhood.
Council members expressed density concerns as well, along with worries related to land use and ownership, leading them to decide on a Coffey Place site visit to see exactly where the new homes would sit within the existing Stallion Circle neighborhood.
But before Betsy Crum, town housing director; Julie Ann Woods, town-planning director; and a handful of architects led council and the public on the walking tour, town officials made clear this was only a site visit — meaning no side conversations between council and the public, or even between council members, were allowed.
Council was told to just use “sight” for the “site” tour and could ask questions if needed, but were to save all discussion for the next regular Monday meeting.
For roughly an hour, council and locals surveyed each of the proposed Coffey Place sites. Attendees used a bike path to get to the units, which are planned in areas where brushy overgrowth and tall grasses grow now.
Crum, Woods and the architects aimed to help site visitors visualize where the Coffey units would be beyond the stakes and story poles by handing out a thick packet of detailed sketches of each unit in the three proposed development areas.
The first is along a hillside near the entrance of the Rodeo Place subdivision where an open space area is now, the second adjacent to both the Town Park tennis courts and the Brush Creek wetland area, and the third on the northeast portion of the former Seven Star land parcel, also adjacent to a hillside and the Brush Creek wetland.
Units are expected to cost between roughly $550,000 and $866,000, and to include more parking and storage space than the existing Rodeo Place homes.
After council and locals were led through each development area, the site tour concluded. Council members commended Crum, Woods and the architects for setting up Coffey Place visuals.
Locals were encouraged to bring their observations, questions and concerns to the next regular board meeting Thursday, where council will continue discussing the proposed Coffey Place housing project.
Town officials said the stakes and story poles for each planned Coffey Place unit will remain up for public viewing until the Sept. 3 meeting.
This story was originally published in the Aug. 28 edition of the Snowmass Sun. The weekly newspaper hits newsstands every Wednesday and can be found online at SnowmassSun.com.