#Breckenridge #Colorado
Breckenridge Town Council members will determine the fate of the controversial East Peak 8 hotel development at their meeting Tuesday, Feb. 25. The project was approved Jan. 7 by the Breckenridge Planning Commission, but on Jan. 14, the project was called up by council for review.
The original proposal for the hotel project first was presented in October 2018. The project is proposed to include 49 condominiums, 137 guest rooms, a restaurant and bar, a pool and spa, and ski lockers, among other amenities. A club membership program that would provide up to 150 people with day-use access to certain hotel facilities, including parking, was introduced in October 2019. Drainage improvements and infrastructure also were proposed for the Cucumber Gulch Preventative Management Area.
A call-up by council is rare when it comes to planning matters, according to Breckenridge Community Development Director Mark Truckey. However, council members had questions about the development, specifically in regard to parking, traffic and the club membership aspect that was introduced later in the planning process.
“I’m a little concerned with the impacts it will have on parking,” council member Wendy Wolfe said about the club membership piece at the Jan. 14 Town Council work session.
The project was scheduled to be presented to council Jan. 28 but was pushed to Feb. 25 at the request of the developer, Lionheart-LH Mountain Ventures. It asked to push the hearing so it could conduct a traffic study on Ski Hill Road to determine the impacts of the proposed club.
The issue will be brought up in the council work session from 4:30-5 p.m. as well as at the regular meeting as a planning agenda item. The regular meeting begins at 7 p.m. Town of Breckenridge spokeswoman Haley Littleton said there will be an opportunity for public comment during the regular meeting. Littleton said written comments submitted to the town also will be shared.
“Letters and correspondence submitted to the town are made part of the record, supplied to council for review and supplied to the applicant,” Littleton wrote in an email.
The traffic report, which was reviewed by a third party, is included in the meeting agenda packet as part of the 433-page Town Council staff report regarding the development. The packet includes the submitted letters as well as the update from the applicant that “proposes to limit the initial offering of club memberships” to 90 with incremental increases over time. A maximum 150 memberships could be offered “if certain thresholds are met.”
The traffic study segment of the packet includes the following note:
“Based on the current traffic study, it was determined that 72 additional parking spaces could be added to the project area (adding to the current 333 stalls) above the applied 1.2% annual traffic volume growth, which would still allow acceptable traffic operations of the intersection in the peak days of the peak season in 2040.”
The study uses club density calculations, which makes one membership equal to one lodging room for density purposes.
“Based off of the proposed unit count of 214 overnight units and the applicant’s desire to sell up to 150 memberships, 41.2% of the selected amenity space should be attributed to the private club and the remaining 59.8% should be attributed to overnight guests,” the study reported.
On Tuesday, council members are expected to approve, deny or request changes to the application.
Courtesy Summit Daily.
