By Tom Darnell
September 9, 2008, 11:45 am

The Durango Planning Commission’s July 29, 2008 recommendation to approve annexation of the Twin Buttes development can be seen as a “win” for the project’s investors, but it also is an indication of how developers looking at Durango will be treated by “no growth” advocates in the future, and how rich people will be the only ones who can afford to live here.

A packed City Council chamber awaited the Commission’s decision in the meeting which began with Greg Hoch, Director of the City’s Planning Department, stating that his office was aware of 27 conditions placed on the developer of the 584-acre, 595-home project west of town. He then said his department was open to more conditions which the commission or city council might want to place on developer Eric Flora.

The Planning Commission, led by members Jerry Swingle and Peter Tregillus, proceeded to consider doing just that. A lot of their questions  -- traffic impacts, the effects of the development on wildlife, inclusion of affordable housing, construction of utility infrastructure, compliance with Durango’s comprehensive plan, enforcement and maintenance of the pre-construction conditions, fees to pay for all the amenities (open space, trails, sustainability, even day care) -- had been asked in prior meetings. So, while it may appear that the gathered mass was getting a tremendous amount of new and interesting information in the answers given by city staff and the developer, these were actually the same questions with new versions of the same answers.

One of the key questions about this development is, “When you create all these amenities and public access to open space, who will maintain, oversee and enforce compliance and pay for the many committees and city staff needed?” This factor could neutralize the “affordable housing” component of the development.

Commissioner Swingle tried a novel approach by asking the developer if he could build far fewer homes and create less of a footprint on the environment. It was pointed out to him that the cost and size of the infrastructure needed would be the same with either size.

Swingle kept asking about Durango’s traffic intersections being overburdened by growth anticipated in the 2007 Comprehensive Plan. It was pointed out that Ewing Mesa, used in the city’s 2003 Traffic Impact Study, was going to be built on 35-acre tracts and not become 2,000 homes.

It was also pointed out that La Plata County will experience natural growth, because people want to live here, and that the intersections will be used even if Twin Buttes was not being built. The developer added that the systematic design and analysis of the project would lessen future traffic and transportation issues using alternate methods of transportation and interconnectivity with Durango.

In response to a question about making Twin Buttes denser because of the need for affordable homes, project architect David Barrett said developers wanted to create a vibrant, living community and that the density was based on the rational carrying capacity of this specific land. The density of the project was based on facts related to wildlife and open space and, he said, there was a healthy balance.

Commissioner Tregillus’s questions seemed to revolve around his experience with transportation issues. He urged the developer to start working on matching funds from the government to subsidize public transportation to and from Twin Buttes. In answer to a specific question, he said he wanted the developer to get into the transportation business.

It was pointed out that this public function is not normally performed by private enterprise, but by local government entities.  Commissioner Lewandowski opined that our local geography was a great gift in that it would force us to focus new transportation experiments in certain corridors.

Commissioner Swingle wondered if, with approval of Twin Buttes, wouldn’t the city really be enabling another 1,000 housing units as the land next to this project would be developed as well? Director Hoch said that any new development there would need to meet all the same conditions that Twin Buttes was required to meet.

Tregillus’s statement, “Let’s make the dream real” for those needing affordable housing is hard to fathom when he and Swingle want more and more conditions placed on housing developers. Such actions make the cost of housing in Durango more expensive, and it punctures the dream for the middle and working classes.

It puts Durango on a course of becoming a place where only a select few can live. We are probably already there with the latest study showing that 75 percent of Durango families can’t afford to own homes here.

The Twin Buttes process does not bode well for the prospects of low cost housing in Durango. It almost makes it a fantasy. Some form of subsidized housing will be the norm. No growth advocates have found a sophisticated way to stop growth for only those who have very deep pockets.  They should be congratulated for their victory, but what will be the cost to our community?  Printer Friendly Version

On September 22, 2008, at 10:18 am, Original Durangotang wrote:

The question is why the present citizens of the City of Durango should subsidize this development and the developers?

Why should present water users’ water rates almost double in the past decade to pay for this growth?

If the developers want to proceed, fine that is their business. But there is NO REASON this development should be annexed into the City.

I need to correct that statement. There is a reason, a good reason. The City taxpayers will subsidize the development and make it cheaper to the developers.

One simple question to anyone in Durango:  Do you think the City did a good job of snow removal last winter? Do you think the City should take on more roads?

Durango doesn't need to grow. It has reached its natural geographic limits. It doesn't need to enlarge its water supply. Or it's sewage system. It doesn't need to makes its taxpayers subsidize these developments.

Just say NO to Annexation!