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| Summit Daily |
In terms of the pictures, a preliminary site plan isn't the prettiest thing there is to look at, but it remains an important step and the culmination of an awful lot of work, according to the developer spearheading a massive workforce-housing project in northern Silverthorne.
Approved by town council Wednesday, the first filing of the Smith Ranch residential subdivision preliminary plan sets the stage for the first phase of Silverthorne's newest workforce-housing project, featuring 17 single-family lots and eight duplex lots for a total of 33 new residential units on 8.5 acres at the Smith Ranch properties.
Altogether, the plan is to build more than 200 deed-restricted workforce housing units in the coming years on the 51.5-acre residential portion of the Smith Ranch Property. Another 11 acres is reserved for commercial development.
The homes will come in a wide variety of sizes and price points, including single-family units, duplexes and triplexes, all of which will be owner-occupied by people working in Summit County, according to the town.
Council approved the preliminary planned-unit development, or PUD, for the Smith Ranch neighborhood on March 28 and the minor subdivision and disturbance permits on April 11, creating five developable tracts of land on the Smith Ranch properties.
The next step in the process was Tuesday's filing, which addressed necessary roads, including right-of-ways and easements, while creating a tract of land for the 33 residential units in addition to another tract for the future development of more than two-dozen multi-family townhomes and a chunk of open space coming in at just under an acre.
"Subdivision plats aren't terribly exciting but there's a lot of work that goes into them," said Tim Crane, whose company, Compass Homes, has been selected to lead the project.
In his remarks to the council, Crane referenced numerous studies that must come first, in addition to the planning, landscaping and design work leading up to the preliminary PUD before the initial subdivision filing. The architectural drawings of the homes that everyone enjoys so much, that piece comes later.
Town staff reviewed the developer's latest filing against the preliminary PUD and noted that all town standards are being met by the developer, including lot coverage, setbacks and density, just to name a few.
In fact, it was noted that the homes are actually over-parked, each with a two-car garage and two more spots outside, "which is definitely setting the bar for the rest of the county," said Joe Maglicic of Ten Mile Engineering, a member of the development team. "No one else has that kind of parking."
Town staff did recommend one condition of approval Wednesday concerning mitigating any disturbance to a wetland buffer, but Crane agreed to the condition and assured council it wouldn't be a problem.
According to town staff, no wetlands are to be disturbed during the project, but there will be some necessary grading work in the required 25-foot buffer area bordering the nearby wetlands.
Councilwoman JoAnne Nadalin also asked about the placement of mailboxes, and later Councilman Bob Kieber wanted to know if there had been any efforts to run it by the U.S. Postal Service. Again, Crane assured council it would get done.
Tuesday's preliminary subdivision filing came after more than 120 people attended an open house for the project on April 30, according to town staff, who added it was exciting to see so many people wanting to live at Smith Ranch in Silverthorne.
If everything goes well, crews should be able to start going vertical on the homes sometime around early August. The plan is to continue building through the winter and have the first homes ready in early 2019.
"I know we've been grinding away at this, looking at numbers, designs and dotted lines, but I actually went out to the site a couple weeks ago … and these lots are fabulous," said Councilman Kevin McDonald. "The views, the exposure and the quietness from Highway 9 is just — man, it's going to be a project that we're really proud of; I think so."
