West Montrose residents weigh in on growth

Matt Hildner

Daily Press Writer

MONTROSE — Staring at a growth rate that could double the county’s population by 2030 and the possibility of revamped county subdivision regulations, West Montrose residents met to talk about growth last night at the Oak Grove Elementary School Gymnasium.

The meeting was the handiwork of the West Montrose Community Group Committee, represented at the meeting by Lana Kinsey, Daralyn Lozen and Randy McBride. The group spent almost a year looking into growth issues, especially as they relate to one of the county’s most densely populated areas outside of Montrose city limits.

“The purpose of tonight’s meeting is to raise your awareness to what’s going on in West Montrose,” Kinsey said at the opening of the meeting.

After touching on a prediction made a couple of weeks ago that said Montrose could grow to 70,000 people in the next 20 years, Kinsey reviewed the county’s current efforts to revise its subdivision regulations.

The draft of the regulation unveiled at a Montrose County Planning Commission meeting Oct. 27 would create a rural residential zone. The new zone would require, among other things, a minimum lot size of three acres, while general residential zones, which allow manufactured housing and duplexes, would be reserved for properties with sewer access.

The area’s sewer service will also be facing issues according to McBride, who although he was not there in an official capacity, serves as president of the Board of Directors of the West Montrose Sanitation District.

“We’re under a different time pressure than the rest of the county,” he said.

The district’s growth rate is bringing closer the day when state law will require the agency to begin expansion plans. A couple of years ago, the district assumed that day would be 20 years away. Now, McBride said, it could be as soon as 11 years down the road.

Kinsey also hoped the group would express their concerns about how growth affected the quality of life in the area, however hard that might be to define.

“It means different things to each of us,” she said, “but we would still like to reach some kind of consensus.”

The wide range of views on growth made that a tricky task.

Steve Baker called for the county commissioners to put a moratorium on growth to allow the planning process to catch up.

“I think the commissioners need to stand up and say you won’t permit because you don’t have the resources,” Baker said.

One person in the audience, who the Daily Press failed to identify, called the idea of a moratorium “baloney.”

“You can’t put a moratorium on growth, you need to plan for it,” he said.

Dick Baker (no relation to Steve) said that although it may not be possible to put a moratorium on growth, he would like to see something done to slow it down.

He would like to see something done to make the area the pedestrian-friendly place that he and his wife used to be able to enjoy on their daily walks.

“As we plan I would really like to see us slow it down,” he said, adding that bike and walking trails should be included in future plans.

A number of residents at the meeting voiced the concern that the West Montrose needed another access into the city other than Colo. 90 to downtown and Chipeta Road.

The concern for roads was shortly followed by a question about impact fees.

The county, fresh off last week’s defeat of a ballot measure that would have funded road maintenance, may not have much room to implement impact fees, according to Montrose County Commissioner Allan Belt.

“It sounds really simple to say ‘OK developer, you’re going to pay for this,” Belt said. He added, however, that were the county to implement impact fees, it would soon hit the revenue ceiling mandated by the state Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

Without picking sides, Belt also said that anyone advocating impact fees should be prepared to do battle.

“When I say (impact fees) in front of the realtors and the folks downtown, they come unglued,” he said.

Kinsey closed the meeting with some advice.

“It really is important that you get out and attend those meetings,” she said. “These developers are following the rules. If you don’t like them, you need to get active and change them.”

Contact Matt Hildner via e-mail at matth@montrosepress.com