Receding shoreline of Lake Dillon reveals part of Summit County’s railroad history

#Summit County #Colorado

Summit Daily

The receding shoreline of Lake Dillon uncovered an important part of Summit County's railroad history: the remains of the railroad facilities at Dickey, located at the southern end of the reservoir.

In the early 1880s, two railroads fought for the mining business of the county. The Denver, Rio Grande, under the leadership of William Jackson Palmer, entered the county from Leadville, traversed the Tenmile Canyon, passed through Frisco and headed to Dillon. The Denver, South Park & Pacific, with Sidney Dillon as president, crossed South Park to Como, climbed to Boreas Pass (11,481 feet), descended to Breckenridge by September 1882, and followed the Blue River north to Dillon, by December 1882. (Yes, the town of Dillon was named for Sidney Dillon.) At Dillon, the DSP&P intended to turn west toward Frisco and follow the Tenmile Creek through the canyon, eventually tapping the mines of Leadville.

Those designing the route revised the plans so that the main and branch lines would meet at a place about three miles south of Dillon and two miles east of Frisco called Placer Junction, but later renamed Dickey (9004 feet). By doing so, the railroad saved four miles of track and shortened the distance to Leadville. The main line returned to the original survey in the Tenmile Canyon.

Dickey became an important coal and water supply station for the engines. By stopping at Dickey for fuel and water, the trains could carry a maximum of goods/ore rather than carrying the coal and water needed to reach a distant fueling station. Dickey had a well and huge water tank with a 47,500-gallon capacity. The railroad constructed a depot, an engine house to repair engines and rolling stock, a section house where train maintenance crews lived, a tool house, a water pumping station and well house, several homes and cabins for railroad employees and their families, and a wye. The wye, used most often by helper engines, allowed trains to change directions. Those returning to Como or Leadville used the wye extensively.

The unique double-sided coal docks, built in 1902 at a cost of $4,397.82, replaced the older style docks that required shoveling the coal twice — from the gondola cars into the coal bins and again into the engine tender. With the newer-style coal docks, the men shoveled only once — from the gondola cars into the bins. The coal dropped by gravity into the tender.

The last scheduled train passed through Dicky in 1937, when the railroad discontinued service. A few remained living in Dickey until the mid-1960s when the water from the reservoir forced them to leave. Since then, the town of Dickey has been covered by water. But in 2003, in the midst of a drought, members of the Denver, South Park & Pacific Historical Society had the opportunity to explore the town site.

Members commented that they first saw few remainders of the town. Later, as they walked "the ground, the foundations of all the major structures began to emerge," wrote Bob Schoppe, long-time president of the DSP&P Historical Society. He continued: "We decided to visit the site a week later better prepared with maps and photos, and thus were able to document the locations of nearly every structure on the ICC map. The wye was very much in evidence, as were the foundations of the depot, engine house, water tank, pump house, well, section house, tool house and some of the surrounding cabins. Less in evidence were the coal bins and coal dock, but there were large amounts of coal fragments and residue right where they should be. One surprise was a wooden culvert on the main (line) to Frisco beyond the wye that was not only still in place but once again (temporarily) functioning! Since no one had been to Dickey since the '60s, metal was everywhere. (One member) found a journal box cover with the retaining chain still attached. While (the group) thoroughly enjoyed this first-time-in-45-years chance to visit Dickey, we didn't realize at the time just how special this window of opportunity was."

Two weeks later, water covered the site.

In October and November 2012, drought again exposed the Dickey site. Bill Fountain visited the site and found the same things as in 2003.

This year's dry summer has uncovered the site once more. When Fountain explored the site, he found things much as they had been in 2012. He and Rich Skovlin, an expert on the history of the county, brought photographs to compare "then" and "now." They found footprints of buildings, pieces of bottles, rail spikes and connectors, coal chunks and the cement foundation of the water tower.

To visit the Dickey town site, park in the lot at the southern end of Lake Dillon at Farmer's Korner. Do not follow the old roadbed but follow the trail to the right of the sign, through grass to the dry lake bed. At that location, you will see what those who, like Fountain, live in Hawaii call a "black sand beach." Of course, here it is tiny bits of coal that came from the locomotives' smoke stacks.

Do not remove any of the artifacts. Take photographs only. Leave the artifacts for others to see and enjoy.

Summit Daily Link

Wolf Creek to open 2018-19 Colorado ski season on Saturday

#Colorado

Summit Daily

It appears for the first time in years neither Arapahoe Basin Ski Area nor Loveland Ski Area will be the first Colorado ski area to open the state's ski season.

On Wednesday — in the wake of a massive early season storm that dumped about 12 inches of snow at Wolf Creek Ski Area's summit elevation of 11,904 feet — Wolf Creek announced it plans to start spinning its chairs on Saturday.

The Durango Herald first reported the news. In the Durango Herald article, Elesha Goad, ticket office supervisor for Wolf Creek Ski Area, said the mountain is also reporting 8 inches of snow at the ski area's mid-mountain. As a result, Wolf Creek will open Saturday and Sunday, though the ski area is still deciding what portions of the mountain will be open and what the price of admission will be.

Over at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, A-Basin's director of marketing and communications, Leigh Hierholzer, said via email on Wednesday morning that the ski area has yet to formalize an officially announced opening date. That said, the ski area has referred to a "budgeted opening date" of Oct. 19 since A-Basin closed down its lifts last June.

"We have no update as of now on the opening date," Hierholzer wrote.

A-Basin's chief operating officer Alan Henceroth wrote on his blog Wednesday that the ski area's snowmakers had two consecutive nights of "big" snowmaking.

"We hope to keep the snowmaking system running all day," Henceroth continued. "If we are really lucky, maybe we can run it all day (Thursday) also. So while we had previously run the system a few times, that was practice and training and maybe a little bit of snowmaking. This session is the real deal."

Over at Loveland, snowmaking operations have continued in full at the ski area at the Continental Divide since it commenced on Monday.

Last season, A-Basin opened on Oct. 13 while Loveland opened on Oct. 20. Breckenridge Ski Resort and Keystone Resort plan to open this year on Nov. 9 while Copper Mountain Resort is targeting an opening date of Nov. 16.

Summit Daily Link

Following Breckenridge’s lead, Silverthorne ready to regulate short-term rentals

#Silverthorne #Colorado

Summit Daily

Silverthorne looks like it's done treating short-term rentals like any other business. A draft ordinance proposes a new type of business license for the properties, along with some additional requirements, like requiring they come with "a responsible agent" to address complaints.

If anything sounds familiar here, it's likely because Silverthorne's efforts to better regulate the short-term rental industry read much like Breckenridge's rules and regulations, which the town updated earlier this summer. Silverthorne Town Council began formal discussions about how the town might better manage the impacts of short-term rentals in July, though a countywide push to reign in the booming industry has been in the works for much longer.

Following July's discussions, Silverthorne town staff issued a public survey and held open houses to help gauge public opinion. With that, council met twice again last month to continue hashing out the details. All that work is now showing up on Silverthorne's agenda, with council expected to vote on the proposed changes Wednesday.

According to a memo to town council, Silverthorne officials are trying to strike a delicate balance between preserving individual property rights and protecting the interest of neighbors, guests and the overall community from the impacts of short-term rentals.

"I think there's an acknowledgement that we're in a resort community … and a lot of our guests are looking for that type of lodging," Silverthorne town manager Ryan Hyland said of the discussions. "So there was an understanding that they are filling a need for our visitors, but how do we balance that with maintaining community and enforcing the codes?"

The proposed changes exempt hotels, motels, lodges, bed and breakfasts, and any rentals operating under long-term leases from the new rules. In short, short-term rentals are defined as lodging accommodations leased out for a term of less than 30 consecutive days.

One of Silverthorne's proposed new rules would force each short-term rental to secure an individual business license, rather than allowing a person or company to hold one license for all the properties they manage.

Like Breckenridge already does, Silverthorne also aims to ensure compliance by requiring the rentals post their corresponding business license numbers in all their advertisements. This would help the town identify the owners who either fail or refuse to secure the proper licensing and remit sales and lodging taxes back to the town.

Like Breckenridge, Silverthorne is also looking to mandate short-term rentals have a designated "responsible agent," or someone who can respond to "the issue that was subject of the complaint" with a one-hour time frame.

Per the proposed ordinance, the agent must be willing to address any issues arising from the property 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Complaints would be phoned into a centralized call center.

"All the towns and county are working together with a third party to set up a call center so that it will be easy for anyone that lives in or stays in Summit County to call one number and start the (complaint) process," said Laura Kennedy, Silverthorne's director of finance.

When Breckenridge passed its latest update to its rules for short-term rentals, which included similar language about a responsible agent addressing complaints, most of the criticism was directed at the one-hour window to address complaints. Unlike Breckenridge, though, Silverthorne is considering cutting that window in half between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., which is more closely in line with what Vail currently does. Still, that could change as Silverthorne Town Council takes up the proposal.

"Between first and second reading, (council) can continue to modify this," Kennedy explained.

Silverthorne's proposed ordinance would also allow for an alternate agent in the event the primary agent cannot be reached. The agent need not be the owner, but it would be the owner's duty to keep this information up to date with the town.

Additionally, Silverthorne is also looking to establish a formal complaint-escalation process, along with a system for monitoring short-term rentals, enforcing violations and assessing penalties.

The town's finance director would have the authority to revoke an owner's license should the director determine a rental has racked up three or more formal complaints within a 12-month period. Owners may appeal any revocations, but if upheld, it could prevent that owner from obtaining another short-term rental license for the violating property for at least two years or until a change in ownership.

Beyond that, Silverthorne's proposed ordinance speaks to public safety, inspections and a new fee structure that's supposed to recoup the town's cost for administering the program, among other things.

Council is expected to vote on the proposed changes on first reading Wednesday. If passed again on second reading, they would take effect in the next 30 days. The goal, however, is to have all short-term rentals in Silverthorne kicked over to the new business licenses by Jan. 1, Hyland said. He emphasized that any regulations approved by council are completely separate from any rules imposed by homeowner associations.

Summit Daily Link

Dillon moves forward with mixed-use urgent care facility and housing

#Dillon #Colorado

Summit Daily

The Dillon Town Council continued its recent push for further development and economic revitalization at last Tuesday's regular meeting, approving a new development plan for the Dillon Urgent Care and Residences.

The incoming facility — to be located at 956 W. Anemone Trail, near the Dillon Dam Brewery — will serve as a mixed-use facility meant to address community needs in workforce housing and affordable, extended-hours medical care. The development will also tear down and replace the existing building on the property, providing a new piece of mountain architecture on an otherwise run-down patch of land.

"I think the current lot would be considered to be blighted," said Kerstin Anderson, marketing and communications director for Dillon. "As we hear all the time in the community options for healthcare, especially discounted options and alternative hours, are seen as a big need in the community. And I think we believe that more options and competition is good for an industry. This will help provide more lower-cost options."

The keystone piece of the project is a single-story, 5,000 square foot mixed-use urgent care and imaging medical facility, which includes three deed restricted residential units for its employees. The medical office is anticipated to bring affordable alternatives to emergency room services to Dillon and the surrounding areas.

The office will provide advanced imaging that includes CAT scans, ultrasound X-ray and MRI services at substantially lower costs than the current alternatives in the area.

In addition to cheaper and more convenient medical care, the facility will also boast extended hours and will be open 365 days a year, regardless of weather.

The three deed restricted apartments will serve as dedicated workforce housing in perpetuity. They will be offered first to employees of the clinic, then to residents working more than 30 hours a week in Dillon, and finally to the greater Summit County workforce.

Attached to the mixed-use building will be a three-story, nearly 25,000-square-foot multi-family residential building. Dubbed The Residences at Anemone Ridge, the adjoined structure will offer a total of 18 new units for sale: six three-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom units between 1,200 and 1,500 square feet. The residences will be built above a parking garage designed to retain the traffic from both residents and visitors to the medical office.

The Residences will also serve as a means to subsidize the costs of the urgent care facility for the owner, Dr. Nizar Assi, a long-time Summit County resident.

The urgent care center is one of two new medical facilities likely to make its way to Dillon in the coming years. In August a coalition of health care providers — Vail-Summit Orthopaedics, the Steadman Clinic, Vail Health and Howard Head Sports Medicine — announced their plans to build an 80-100,000-square-foot facility for orthopedic surgery.

Additionally, the facility could also include an urgent care center and physical therapy services. Though still in its infancy, the facility is tentatively pegged for a five-acre parcel adjacent to the Dillon Ridge Marketplace.

Despite some similarities, the approval of the Dillon Urgent Care and Residences isn't expected to have an adverse affect on the potential of a new orthopedic surgery center.

"We're still anticipating that they'll submit an application," said Anderson, referring to the Dillon Ridge partners. "I think they're presenting something pretty specialized in terms of orthopedic surgery, and their urgent care will have more of a traditional care model. I think that providing these services gives people more options, and keeps people here locally instead of in Denver because competition forces lower prices. It will also provide more high paying jobs, which is good for our community's resiliency."

For the town, the move also represents a tangible shift in its philosophy surrounding development. After years of essentially no new private construction in the area, major projects seem to be popping up with regularity. Aside from the urgent care center and attached residences, the town is also anticipating the arrival of the Hilton Homewood Suites next year and the Uptown 240 condominium complex in 2020.

"The new project has a level of architectural design that is going to really clean up that blighted lot," said Anderson. "It will also help to bring more density, whether it be locals or just heads in beds, that really helps to support our businesses."

Summit Daily Link

Breckenridge considers new designs on McCain property

#Breckenridge #Colorado

Summit Daily

Heavily dredge-mined in the early 1900s, the reclaimed McCain property between Coyne Valley Road and the Fairview Boulevard roundabout represents one of the few remaining large-scale, undeveloped properties in Summit County and perhaps the last such site for Breckenridge. What exactly will become of the 128 acres of town-owned land along Highway 9 remains a work in progress, though there's no shortage of ideas.

"The chance to have a meaningful dialogue about probably the last large piece of property in the town of Breckenridge is really important," Breckenridge planning commissioner Steve Gerard said at last week's commission meeting. "When this gets built out, we're pretty much done."

The meeting was designed to allow the general public to get a feel for the newly proposed master plan for the McCain property and offer feedback. While the planning commission took public comments, the commissioners will only give a recommendation to town council, which has final say.

Interest in the future of the property was evident in the number of people who attended Tuesday's planning commission meeting and how closely they followed town staff's presentation, many with printed copies of the newly proposed master plan in hand.

The Blue River splits the McCain property south to north on the western edge. The town bought the land for $1 million in 2000 and most of the rock piles have since been removed, leaving it ripe for development.

The master plan, which guides those developments, was last updated in 2015 and Breckenridge officials are looking to adjust it again as they seek to accommodate a land swap with the Summit School District — as well as penciling in some other changes.

Some pieces of the McCain property are spoken for. A solar garden occupies 2.7 acres near the center, the town's new water-treatment plant is under construction at the northeast corner and Summit County's recycling drop-off center sits on the opposite end. The 10 acres of land designated for the land swap is about the right size for an elementary school, though town staff say the district has no plans to build one there at this time.

"What it is, it's a land-banking move on (the district's) part, so there could be some other type of school facility there, but I don't know what that might be," said Peter Grosshuesch, the town's director of planning and community development, as he answered questions about the trade during the meeting.

In return for giving the district land at McCain, Breckenridge would secure a similar-sized property by Block 11, another town-owned parcel directly to the south of the McCain property that is encumbered by several easements and ideal for a surface parking lot. The town can move skier parking off the McCain property to Block 11, which will help satisfy the town's existing agreement with Breckenridge Ski Resort to provide 500 skier parking spaces in town.

In addition to accommodating the land swap, the proposed master plan would remove a planned expansion of the solar garden, fill in a perviously planned reservoir, consolidate snow storage areas and adjust some of the tracts originally designated for housing and open space. The amount of open space would be reduced from 78.5 acres to 44.6 acres, or about 34 percent of the entire property, in the updated plan. For some people, that doesn't appear to be enough.

"What happened to the open space, guys?" asked Lee Edwards of the planning commissioners, noticing a 23-acre tract of land designated strictly for open space in 2015 has been reset as 19.9 acres slated for housing, recreation and open space in the proposed update.

"Leave it open space," he said to a round of applause from the audience.

Shortly afterward another Breckenridge homeowner asked if the town intends to fill a small pond on the McCain property, and staff said they do.

"That's a bummer," the man replied, saying that hundreds of geese and ducks flock there over the winter and the pond is great for trout fishing.

Another woman inquired about the possibility of a field house on the property, as there have been whispers that some people in town would like to see an indoor athletic facility there, but that too is not in the newly proposed plan.

"Never say never, but it's not currently being discussed," staff told the woman.

Identifying himself as a representative of The Peak School, Art Albin addressed the room when he said the private school based out of Frisco is looking to expand sometime in the not-too-distant future and he hoped Breckenridge would keep The Peak School in mind at McCain.

"In fact, we're looking for school sites that might be an alternative to building on our existing location," Albin said. "We have a little bit of land available on Main Street in Frisco, but we're trying to keep our options open."

In many ways, so is the town.

Summit Daily Link

‘Floyd’s of Leadville’ team will be based in Canada

#Colorado

Summit Daily

Floyd Landis is using money he earned by taking down Lance Armstrong to start his own cycling team.

The man whose own doping saga cost him the 2006 Tour de France title and eventually helped expose Armstrong's cheating says he's building a developmental team for 2019 that will be based out of Canada — though its name pays homage to the High Country of Colorado.

He says this is his way of trying to rebuild trust inside a cycling community that has viewed him skeptically since he lied about taking performance enhancers in a much-publicized hearing in 2007.

"That's the main motivation of the whole thing," said Landis, who owns and operates the "Floyd's of Leadville" CBD products shop in Leadville. "A lot of things were said about me, and a lot was justified. A lot was PR from people who didn't like the fact I exposed (the doping). One of the main arguments was, 'He ran out of money and that's why he did it.' It was never the case. But there's no way to disprove that, and if people don't believe me now, there's nothing I can do about it."

Three years after losing his doping case, Landis provided key information about his own doping and that of Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service team, all of which led to Armstrong's lifetime ban.

Landis is using part of the proceeds from Armstrong's lawsuit settlement with the government to fund the team. Landis and his legal team split around $2.75 million off the settlement because he brought a whistleblower lawsuit that triggered the case.

Now 42, Landis's Floyd's of Leadville business specializes in marijuana and hemp-based products that are designed to relieve chronic pain.

His company will sponsor the new cycling team, which will take some riders from Silber Pro, a team out of Canada run by former teammate Gord Fraser that is shutting down at the end of this year. The team will also open opportunities for other young riders whose teams were dismantled after losing sponsors.

Landis is well aware his detractors will shake their head at his attempt to get back into the cycling game.

"I don't like ridicule, obviously, and sometimes it looks like I'm looking for it," he said. "I hope I can convince everyone that I'm contrite, I'm living my life, and hopefully they can let it go. Most people in cycling know that any support they can get for the sport is good and helpful. This gives me a chance to show them I can run a good team in an ethical way, and gives me a chance to show I know what I'm doing."

Summit Daily Link

Leaders from the five Summit County ski areas came together to unofficially kick-off the 2018/19 season

#Summit County #Colorado

Summit Daily

Setting an optimistic tone despite a mediocre winter last year, Summit County's five ski resorts unofficially kicked off the 2018-19 ski season with the Summit Chamber of Commerce's annual Chief Operating Officer breakfast. The five COOs gave presentations previewing changes to look forward to at their ski areas this season.

John Buhler, COO of Breckenridge Ski Resort, highlighted in his presentation Breck's new branding campaign, "The Breck Effect," aimed at the 20s/30s demographic and promoting the Breck experience as one with excitement and energy, with "real social connections" and an adventure "bigger than themselves."

Buhler also promoted Breck's high alpine terrain, a new early season entertainment event to take place in November and new restaurant concepts at the resort. Breck has also committed to go "zero net operating footprint" by 2030, which means zero net emissions and zero net impact on forests and habitats.

Finally, Buhler said that Vail Resorts, which owns Breck, supports Summit County Ballot Initiative 1A and urged breakfast attendees to vote in November. All of Summit County's resorts ended their presentations throwing their support behind 1A, a mill levy that would raise $8.8 million for five different areas of need in the county. Breck's opening day is scheduled for Nov. 9.

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area COO Alan Henceroth presented next. Henceroth promised that A-Basin would once again have the longest season of all the resorts, keeping lifts running from October to June. Henceroth also touted A-Basin's new Beavers and Steep Gullies terrain expansion, adding 468 new acres with 34 new runs. A-Basin also underwent a $2 million kitchen renovation and will extend dinner hours into the weekend. The ski area will also open a new small 25- to 30-seat restaurant, "Il Rifiguio," promising a classy dining experience at 12,500 feet.

Henceroth affirmed that A-Basin supported 1A, while highlighting the ski area's own recycling and sustainability efforts that managed to divert 50 percent of waste from landfills to recycling last year. A-Basin also committed itself to going carbon neutral by 2025, emphasizing that climate change is a real and dire threat to the industry.

Loveland Ski Area was represented by COO Rob Goodell. Goodell started his presentation telling the audience that he had just received an OpenSnow app alert which told him that there should be 7 inches of snow in Loveland on Monday. Aside from that tantalizing tease, Goodell announced that Loveland had its second best season last year, despite lower than average snow for most of the season.

Loveland's highlights for the upcoming season include its new partnership with the Powder Alliance, which gives Loveland season pass holders three free midweek days and half-off weekends at any of the Powder Alliance's 18 other resorts, as well as three free days at 16 other partner resorts.

Goodell also unveiled Loveland's newest chairlift, named "Chet's Dream," a name chosen from a web competition in honor of former owner Chet Upham. The high-speed detachable quad lift is expected to be operational by opening day.

Copper Mountain Resort was represented by interim general manager and senior vice president Jesse True, who stepped in for retiring president and general manager Gary Rodgers. True highlighted the many changes going on at Copper, including two new lifts — the new American Eagle, with six-person chairs and the eight-person gondola cabins, and the new American Flyer, which will feature six-person bubble chairs.

Copper is also undergoing a whole lot of construction, with a new entrance monument, revamped parking lots, a new flagship Hyatt hotel, the new Rocky Mountain coaster, and numerous new bar and restaurant options. Copper has also joined the Ikon pass, which gives access to 36 ski areas.

Keystone Resort general manager Geoff Buchheister was the last executive to speak. Buchheister promoted Keystone's family-friendly brand, and that Ski Magazine had declared Keystone to be the top family-friendly ski resort for 2019. Buchheister noted how technology was consuming young people's lives, and Keystone aimed to provide a venue that brought the family together to talk and bond.

Aside from introducing a new surface lift at overrun, a Kidtopia event series aimed at children and other small upgrades, Buchheister unveiled "Emma," an AI assistant app developed by Vail Resorts. Emma will be able to help guests navigate the resort and find dining options and other information to enhance their guest experience.

Emma will be rolled out at Keystone first, and will eventually be used at all Vail Resorts properties.

Summit Daily Link

How to create the perfect home entertainment space

#Colorado

Summit Daily

Can you keep up with technology? Nobody really can, but it may be fun to investigate some of the home upgrades currently available.

"Technology is ever-evolving in our industry, and fast," explains Jay Stein, president of Audio-Visual Solutions out of Breckenridge.

THEATER TIME

As much as media rooms were the focus for television, movies and music in the past decade or so, Stein says it's multi-use spaces that are getting the attention now.

"Think a rec room with a billiards or shuffleboard table, and large motorized 120-inch screen, or even multiple TVs, to watch multiple sports events," Stein shares. "We are actually working on a room transformation right now in which we will have a 75-inch TV in the middle of the wall, with four 40-inch TVs surrounding it, two on each side."

Game day just got a little more exciting.

"With the right equipment," he adds, "we could even matrix them to display one giant image."

Screen and projection technology has also come a long way and is getting some in-home attention.

"Now we can display large, high-resolution video, in rooms that have high ambient light levels," says Stein. "It used to be the norm that you had to make a movie theater room dark to get well-saturated picture with good black levels. But those days are gone."

That being said, there's nothing quite like watching a movie with the family in a dedicated media room with a giant screen. So, as Stein explains, it really depends on a homeowner and the desire of those that will be using the space.

If you do have a home theater, an improvement can begin with more comfortable chairs.

"We even have chairs with motorized recline, and heat and massage," shares Stein.

Newer, higher definition projection systems with brighter images and deeper black levels are also an easy upgrade, he says, as well as adding a streaming device to access Vudu and Netflix.

"Some customers are adding gaming systems to their theater," explains Stein. "And of course, automation to allow you to use an iPad as the remote for easy one-button theater operation. Acoustical treatment can make a once poor sounding room perform better and make dialogue more intelligible."

MORE TECHNOLOGY

The at-home television and movie experience is at the top of its game (although the peak continues to rise), as additional audio and visual technology elements are always changing and improving.

"4K high-resolution video is hot. Dolby Atmos is hot. Movie servers are hot," Stein explains. "Home automation continues to evolve and become more encompassing."

What has become "standard" is homes with automated lights, shades, heating and cooling, surveillance and even door entry — all from a simple iPad app.

"We just install a wall-mounted iPad that has completely wireless charging," shares Stein, "usually in multiple locations."

The iPad magnetically attaches to the wall, and can easily be removed for portable control of all the smart features of the home.

"So that's hot," he says.

Wanting to bring the outside in is also a trend picking up momentum. With new technology, that can mean living rooms that have a door system that opens the room up to a patio or deck. Then add outdoor speakers and TVs and you're ready to roll.

Smaller upgrades can be a big difference. A wireless music streaming system, like Sonos, can easily add music in rooms where it was previously difficult to get wire to, not to mention all the other simple additions that can be implemented.

"A simple wireless stand-alone speaker can easily and inexpensively get your Pandora playlist into the bathroom or home office," Stein says. "4K Apple TV will make the most of a new 4K TV. And a remote control thermostat, like Nest, allows you to control the temperature of your home from afar, or easily create schedules, saving money right out of the box. Things like Google Home and Alexa allow you to integrate smart home technology with voice control, so that's fun."

But as technology continues to evolve, don't forget to appreciate your favorite "vintage" items that may still be useful.

"As we all know, the CD player, and now even DVD player, have gone the way of the cassette tape," Stein explained. "On-demand, streaming of audio and video is where it's at. However, vinyl has made a comeback!"

Summit Daily Link

With $235 million in transactions, August raises roof on Summit County real estate sales

#Summit County #Colorado

Summit Daily

Capping off a blockbuster summer for Summit County's real estate sales was the most active month so far this year.

Summer is always the strongest time of the year for real estate sales in the High Country, but the number of transactions and volume of sales for August absolutely blew the roof off just about everything else on record.

For example, August 2017 was an exceptionally strong month for property sales as well, but this August crushed it with the number of transactions, overall sales volume, most expensive sale and number of luxury homes sold all vastly exceeding what they were the same month a year ago.

"It's almost like every month continues to get better," said Dennis Clauer, broker and owner of Real Estate of the Summit, referencing the county's continuously improving statistics for sales volume and value added on Summit County properties.

Records at the Summit County assessor's office show 317 property transactions worth over $235 million in August. Compare that to August 2017, when the assessor had 265 sales for $163 million on file, and it shows just how big the month was for the real estate market, which has been consistently breaking records since emerging from the recession.

According to Slifer Smith and Frampton Real Estate's monthly report, August was the most active month so far this year with 199 residential transactions alone worth $172 million combined.

The month also saw more luxury housing sales — defined as any home sold at or over $1 million — than any other month in Summit County history with 54. It should be noted Slifer Smith and Frampton, like other real estate firms, tracks the market with MLS data, which doesn't always match perfectly with local property records. Still, both are highly reliable methods to track market trends.

It's not terribly hard to track the luxury housing record because the county previously broke it in July. Slifer Smith and Frampton noted in its latest report that one out of every five transactions in Summit County this year has been for a luxury home.

The most expensive housing sale in August was for a 3,729-square-foot, five-bedroom home with 6.5 bathrooms in Breckenridge's Timber Trail subdivision, which went for $4.5 million. However, a little over three acres of grazing land along the Green Mountain Reservoir sold for $6.6 million, marking the month's most expensive property sale.

Additionally, year-to-date residential sales volume is over $800 million for the second time after barely eclipsing $600 million in 2016, according to Slifer Smith and Frampton. Sales volume, residential volume, land transactions and $1 million-plus sales are all up anywhere from 3 to 12 percent.

However, the available inventory remains extremely low with 533 residential property listings and 734 listings for land and residential properties across Summit County, which Slifer Smith and Frampton says is "the lowest in the last decade for September."

Additionally, the number of days the average home spends on the market is at an all-time low while the average sales price and price per square foot are at all-time highs.

Because sales can take a little while to be recorded, Summit's hot summer of housing sales should continue showing up on the monthly sales reports through September before slowing down in October as the county begins to enter one of the slowest times of year for the market. Still, Clauer sees no signs of a slowdown outside regular market trends.

"I don't want to sound like a broken record, but as the Dow Jones Industrial Average approaches the 27,000-point mark, there's been a tremendous amount of wealth created over the last couple years and people are spreading money around (by investing in real estate)," Clauer said, adding that with those profits, more people have the ability to invest in the higher-end market and many sellers, and even buyers, have benefited greatly from that.

Summit Daily Link

Great value condo for sale near Keystone Colorado

#Keystone #Colorado

4 bedroom, 3 bath condo for sale in #Keystone #Colorado for less than $280 per sq.ft.!!!

Located between Keystone's River Course Golf Club & Lake Dillon, this spacious townhome is one in a 16 luxury unit complex. 

Listen to the mountain brook out your front door, enjoy the mountain views out the livingroom's wall of windows & from only 1 of 2, large 15' x 16' decks in the complex!

Extensive common areas with hot tub, sauna, 2 lounges & so much more. Easy access. Great location.

Frisco considers short-term rental ordinance

#Frisco #Colorado

Summit Daily

As the short-term rental industry continues to grow in Summit County, the town of Frisco is looking to join the ever-growing list of mountain towns adding regulations to their town codes. Details surrounding a new short-term rental ordinance emerged at the Frisco Town Council meeting last week, outlining a number of goals and nuisances the town hopes to address with the measure.

The timing of the ordinance is no accident. Conversations surrounding short-term rentals have snowballed in recent years following the industry's emergence as a vital and significant portion of Frisco's tourist economy, rising to combat relative lack of lodging supply and growing demand over recent years. In 2015, short-term rentals made up about 32 percent of Frisco's lodging tax revenues. Today, that number is well over 40 percent and rising.

"I think certainly over the last four to five years the market has grown considerably," said Chad Most, Frisco's revenue specialist. "That doesn't necessarily mean that the number of short-term rentals available in Frisco has increased exponentially, but it certainly has become a much bigger part of our tourism based economy."

But how big a part it should be is the real question. It's unclear exactly how many short-term rental properties are actually in Frisco. According to Most, there are 252 active licenses in the town, 30 of which are umbrella licenses (multiple properties operating under a single license). But there are somewhere between 850-1,000 unique units that advertise as short-term rentals in Frisco, suggesting literally hundreds of property owners are actively non-compliant with current regulations.

This outlines the biggest goal of the ordinance, to try and create a more even playing field for not only more traditional lodging businesses like hotels and bed and breakfasts, but for short-term rental owners who are playing by the rules. The proposed ordinance would seek to address the issue in a couple of ways.

First, the town would eliminate the umbrella license provision, requiring each property to be separately licensed to give the town a more accurate number of how many short-term rentals are in the area. This would also assure that the town has accurate contact information and physical addresses for each short-term rental properties in their database.

Second, the town plans to contract with STR Helper, a third-party short-term rental compliance-tracking firm, to scrub rental websites for non-compliant properties.

"The second piece of the puzzle is that once we require every uniquely advertised unit to have a license, we can contract with a third party compliance firm to help us identify the physical addresses and owners of all of these units so that we can identify units that are not in compliance, and we can communicate directly with those folks to get them into compliance," said Most.

In addition to measures emphasizing compliance, the ordinance would also tackle issues such as reducing nuisance complaints, ensuring guest safety, and collecting data to determine the affect of the short-term rental industry on the community in recent years and into the future.

As part of the town's contract with SRT Helper, the company will operate a hotline where residents can call in to voice complaints regarding noise, parking, trash and other common issues surrounding short-term rentals. Once a complaint is filed, SRT Helper will contact the property's owner to remedy the issue. While the hotline's obvious intent is to resolve complaints, it will also serve as a data collection mechanism for the town to determine how responsive property owners and management companies are to complaints, as well as how quickly they resolve issues. Additionally, the data will help Frisco shed some light on how much of the town's nuisance complaints stem from short-term rentals, as opposed to permanent or part-time residents. In turn, this data will provide the town with a means to address issues like trash and parking more directly in the town code if it becomes necessary.

Guest safety will also be a topic covered in the ordinance. According to Most, a growing concern is delayed response times for emergency services requested by short-term renters who are unfamiliar with their physical address and surrounding neighborhood. The ordinance would include requiring an informational packet for guests, including the physical address, emergency contact information, fire restrictions and even Summit County Alert signup information. The packets would also include good neighbor policies, such as information on parking, trash, recycling and quiet times in neighborhoods.

Finally, the ordinance would seek to determine the impact of the short-term rental market on Frisco, and to find out if there are any means to incentivize property owners to provide long-term rentals in lieu of short-term rentals.

"We simply don't know what the impact of a growing short-term rental market has been or will be on long-term affordable housing for Summit County employees," said Most. "I'm sure we all have some strong opinions about that, but we don't have the objective data to back it up. Is it a pie in the sky dream to think that there are even incentives available to get someone who is currently short-term renting their unit to rent it long term on an affordable basis here in town? It may very well be. But we haven't been able to have a conversation with the entirety of owners. In the end if we can have a conversation with the owners of these 850 or 1,000 units, maybe we will find there are incentives worth pursuing."

As of now, there is no set language in the ordinance. Most said that the town is moving very deliberately on the project, hoping to ingest as much public feedback as possible before moving forward. The town recently put out an online survey on their website to gather input on the ordinance and decided to extend the response deadline indefinitely. Up next is a town council work session on the ordinance, tentatively planned for Oct. 9, though it could be pushed to Oct. 23 depending on timing concerns. The ordinance could be presented for first reading in front of the town council as early as Nov. 13.

"I think the big thing is we're really trying to take this step-by-step," said Most. "We're taking a measured approach and trying to do this right. Balancing everyone's needs is really important to us. We want to be sure that we have all the information necessary for the council to make a decision based as much in fact as possible."

Summit Daily Link

Silverthorne gives 94-unit apartment complex OK on preliminary approval

#Silverthorne #Colorado

Summit Daily

Silverthorne Town Council approved the preliminary site plan for a 94-unit apartment complex along the Blue River, north of the town core, on a 5-1 vote Wednesday.

The River West apartments project is being spearheaded by TG Developers, which has plans to build 56 two-bedroom and 38 studio units spread across 10 two- and three-story buildings on four acres between 890 and 970 Blue River Parkway.

The lone vote against the project came from Councilman Bob Kieber, who gave the development team a tongue lashing for presenting a preliminary site plan that exceeded the town's building height requirements before saying he felt like he could support the project with some changes.

With that, Kieber pushed for a continuance. However, with town staff having recommended that council put seven conditions on the developers before they submit a final site plan — one concerned reducing the heights of some buildings — other council members were more willing to let town staff take it from here. In giving the River West apartments the thumbs up, council members applauded a number of project changes that the developers made from a previous submittal, which council rejected, to Wednesday's preliminary site plan.

Summit Daily Link