Salida to look at development plan revisions

The South Ark Neighborhood is part of the former Vandaveer Ranch, which the city purchased in 2004 for the water rights and future development. The property has been through multiple development plans, with the last being in 2016. 

Almquist said a lot has changed since that last plan, with about half of the property being sold off, leaving about 100 acres, of which 50 to 60 is land that can be developed. He said previous planning efforts had very limited technical analyses on topography, hydrology and soil studies, which needed to be redone.

The plan will be run by Studio Seed, a consulting group with professionals from around Colorado, including Salida.

The city will host a public input meeting on the plan from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at the Salida SteamPlant ballroom, 220 W. Sackett Ave. Almquist said light snacks and refreshments, including a cash bar, will be provided, along with child supervision and activities for children 1-year-old or older and walking.

To learn more about the plan, go to www.tinyurl.com/39bwjrzc.

On the topic of the future land use code, Almquist said they were making tweaks to the city’s future land use map, or FLUM, and the land use code. 

He said his department is looking at a few new zone districts, some very small changes to the residential zones, changes in density, minimum lot sizes and height.

“Our goal is to strike a balance between retaining small-town character while meeting housing and business needs and controlling infrastructure and preventing sprawl,” Almquist said.

During the presentation on transfer of development rights, Almquist presented a slide with an explanation from the Center for Land Use Education, which said, “Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) is a voluntary, incentive-based program that allows landowners to sell development rights from their land to a developer or other interested party, who then can use these rights to increase the density of development at another designated location. While the seller of development rights still owns the land and can continue using it, an easement is placed on the property that prevents further development. A TDR program protects land resources at the same time providing additional income to both the landowner and the holder of the development rights.”

Almquist, along with Miles Cottom, assistant Chaffee County attorney, said this was a project the city and county may work on together.

Thirteen counties and communities already use TDRs, including Crested Butte, Gunnison County, Summit County and Boulder County.

Some of the benefits of using TDRs, Almqust said, are protection of valuable rural lands, like agricultural, wildlife corridors and habitats, water features and resources and scenic view sheds.

He also said the overall costs to the community can be reduced, as the city won’t need to build, expand or maintain infrastructure like roads and water utilities, reducing overall traffic, as more people live within the city, which would also cut down on pollution on vehicles.

Council members indicated they were interested in considering implementing a transfer of development rights program, although Mayor Dan Shore wrapped the meeting by saying, “I think we need to be really careful around using the example of Boulder County. My sense is that if we did a poll of citizens, I don’t think there would be anybody saying, ‘We want to be more like Boulder County, or Aspen.’ I’m just looking at this a little bit through the political lens.”

Regular meeting

During discussion on the consent agenda at the Salida City Council meeting Tuesday, Councilman Harald Kasper made a comment about a hangar ground lease agreement at Salida Airport at Harriet Alexander Field.

The airport is owned and operated in a partnership between the city and the county, with representatives of both on the airport board.

There are several hangars at the airport that are leased out. 

Passing the consent agenda would have approved a lease for a hanger of 4,900 square feet at $0.2111 per square foot, or $1,034.39 per year.

“I do have a comment and it’s a pretty principled comment, and it’s not a request to change anything,” Kasper said. “The lease agreement, I looked at the price and I realized it’s very inexpensive. If you are rich enough to own a plane, you can lease 5,000 square feet for $1,000 a year. I know, probably, the price is decided upon how other airports handle it. It’s just a general acknowledgment that we live in a socialist country supporting the rich.”

In old business, council unanimously approved a pair of ordinances and a pair of resolutions to approve the Lundberg/Castro annexation at 601 and 745 Scott St.

The first ordinance approved the annexation, while the second set the zoning on the two properties as high-density residential. There was no public comment.

The first resolution approved the findings of fact, determinations and conclusions on the two properties, while the second approved the annexation agreement between the city and the property owners.

In new business, council unanimously approved a resolution supporting an application for the State of Colorado Innovative Housing Development Incentives Grant Program. 

This is a one-time grant “designed to promote the development of affordable housing that is driven by community benefits and that focuses on critical housing needs as identified by the city,” City Administrator Drew Nelson said in a memo to the council. “The application is intended to fund the predevelopment costs, estimated in the amount of $650,000. The City currently has been funded in the amount of $100,000 from the Boettcher Foundation for this project, which can be used as the City’s local match of 20 percent, or $130,000. Other funders could include the Gates Foundation and other similar nonprofits.”