Human-bear conflicts spike in Summit County as August, September totals double last year’s reports

 #breckenridge #colorado #breckenridgerealestate

Human-bear interactions have increased in Area 9, which includes Summit County, according to a new report from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. 

Rachael Gonzales, public information officer with Parks and Wildlife, said human-bear conflict reports in Summit County doubled when comparing combined August and September totals from 2021 to 2022, a rise from 12 to 24 respectively. When looking at the same time frame, 1,571 bear conflicts were reported across the state. Parks and Wildlife officials say that’s a significant increase from 2021, when there were only 887 statewide.

Local totals for conflicts are rising at a higher rate in Summit County than across the state.

The county has had 65 human-bear conflict reports between April 1 and Sept. 30, which is up from 44 reports in the same time period last year, a 47% increase. Across the state, Parks and Wildlife received 3,614 conflict reports from April 1 through Oct. 1, an increase from the 3,155 reports over the same timeframe the last year, which is an increase by about 15%.

For the full story click here

Skiers, riders take 1st turns of the season at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area’s opening day

 #breckenridge #colorado #coloradorealtor

The 2022-23 ski and ride season has descended upon Summit County. There may have only been one lift and ski run open for Arapahoe Basin Ski Area’s opening day on Sunday, Oct. 23, but that did not hinder people’s stoke for the start of the season.

Despite the Black Mountain Express not opening until 8:30 a.m., around a hundred people had already packed the lift line corrals eager to be on one of the first chairs of the Colorado ski season. 

People from all over the county and the state had been up since the wee hours of Sunday morning. In the case of Breckenridge’s Nate “Nate Dogggg” Nadler and his crew made up of Tom “Trailer Tom” Miller, Anthony “Ant” Ugalde and Chad Otterstrom, the group had been at the base of A-Basin since Thursday, Oct. 20.

For the full story click here

A closer look at Kindred Resort, Keystone’s new $300 million development

 #keystone #colorado #breckenridge #coloradorealtor

A digital rendering of the up and coming Kindred Resort, currently under construction, shows the development from an aerial view. The development is predicted to open in 2025.

The Keystone community will soon be host to a new lodging development, taking up a little over 4 acres and costing over $300 million.

Called the Kindred Resort, this lodging development will be a Keystone destination for visitors and skiers alike. While it will be new to the Keystone community, plans for this development have been around for over 25 years. 

The developers 

Now on its fourth developer, Kindred is in the hands of the Kindred Development Team, led by Shervin (Shevy) Rashidi, Ryan Geller and Scott Russell, who are now eight years into the project. 

After the last developer dropped the project, Rashidi said Vail Resorts personally reached out to ask if he could pull Kindred off.  

“It is a very big project,” Rashidi said. “When we first were approached, truthfully, I thought it was maybe too much for us to take on. But nine years later, working every day for no money,  I’m glad we did it.” 

Rashidi said he was inspired by the beauty of Keystone Valley, a Summit County asset he believes is often overlooked. From horseback riding, to hiking, to mountain biking, and with Arapahoe Basin just down the road, Rashidi said he hopes Kindred “will remind everyone how special we are.”

For the full story click here

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News

Summit County officials make decision on short-term rental caps

 #breckenridge #colorado #breckenridgerealtor

The Summit County Courthouse

In May, the Summit Board of County Commissioners approved a nine-month moratorium that halted short-term rental licenses in neighborhood zones, which is set to expire in February 2023. 

Shortly after, the county announced that it would use that time to establish a short-term rental regulation system. They wanted to find a community-based solution, so the county created a timeline of meetings, forums and hearings throughout the summer and fall. 

Now five months and many meetings later, the county is one step closer. The commissioners and the planning department agreed that caps will most likely be a part of short-term rental regulations, according to discussion from the commissioners’ work session on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

Though nothing is official yet, the conversation on Tuesday indicated that caps will be used, said Summit Planning Department Senior Planner, Jessica Potter.

The decision was agreed upon after commissioners reviewed suggestions made by planning commissions from each of the four Summit County basins. The Ten Mile, Snake River, Upper Blue and Lower Blue basins had planning commissions that looked at public input, commissioner goals and data from the county’s short-term rental questionnaire. 

For the complete story click here

Real Estate Update

 #breckenridge #colorado #breckenridgerealtor

September Sales:  The chart above reflects the residential sales in September 2022 compared to September 2021. ​ Year-To-Date Sales: The average sold price is up 20% to $1,336,000. The percent of the list to sold price average through the 3rd quarter is 100%. The number of residential sales is down 37%, and the total number of properties under contract as we ended September was down 37%.​​ Residential Sales: View as a PDF the above chart for residential sales. Condominium Sales: View as a PDF the above chart for residential sales. Single Family Home Sales: View as a PDF the above chart for residential sales. Detailed Graphs & Statistics Below Market Statistic Details: History of Sales & Average Sold Prices 2004 - 2021, Condominium Sales by Town, Single Family Home Sales by Town, Residential Sales by Town,  Nancy Yearout Broker Associate RE/MAX Properties of the Summit 970-485-0293 nancy@buyinbreckenridge.com Website: buyinbreckenridge.com RE/MAX Properties of the Summit - 2 Offices in Summit County, CO: Frisco & Breckenridge.  ​Source: Sold Data from SAR MLS.  Stats pulled on 10/4/22. *SAR MLS Data  Sales 1/1 - 9/30. *Residential Sales (home, Condo, Townhome & Duplex),  Change is Year over Year 2022 vs 2021. **The information contained herein  s based on information provided by others. Accordingly, we make no guarantee of its accuracy and suggest you make an independent inquiry of any matters you regard as important. Each office is independently owned and operated.

Camp Hale monument declaration could renew attention on restoration plan

#breckenridge #colorado #coloradorealestate

The Oct. 12 designation of Camp Hale  may refocus efforts at a restoration plan for the area.

The plan has been around since 2015, drafted by a large stakeholder group including Eagle County, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Forest Foundation and local residents. The plan contains a number of recommendations, including:

• Restoring more than 340 acres of wetlands, which were filled in when the 10th Mountain Division’s training site was built in the 1940s.

• Restoring roughly 5 miles of the Eagle River back to its original, meandering course. The river was put into a straight channel when Camp Hale was built.

• Interpretive historic signs and kiosks at several locations in the area.

For the complete story click here

Everybody and their dog is passing short term rental caps

 #breckenridge #colorado #breckenridgerealestate

In the past six months or so almost every town in Summit County and Summit County itself has passed some sort of cap on short term rentals.

I believe this is a shortsighted trend.

The latest to enter the short term rental cap game is Silverthorne.

The town has discussed some potential overlay zones that would have different limits for short-term rentals. Preliminary discussions have focused on splitting the town into three areas. Area 1 consists of most of the town and its neighborhoods, and there would be a limit of 10% of units being short-term rentals. 

Area 2 contains most of the downtown area as well as parts of the Blue River area, and there would be 50% availability to short-term rent. Area 3 contains the town’s deed-restricted housing, such as Smith Ranch. Because of deed restrictions, no short-term rentals are allowed. Under this concept, another 400 units would be allowed to have short-term rental licenses in Silverthorne.

Council members agreed that further discussion was needed before any formal direction is given to town staff.

“The interest is pretty clear in which way to go,” Town Council member Erin Young said. “And so we’re going to have people ask, ‘All right, well, your community said this. What are you going to do right to address what you’ve heard?’”

Multi-agency coordination made President Biden’s ‘historic’ Camp Hale visit possible

 #breckenridge #colorado #coloradorealestate

It’s not every day that the president pays a visit to Colorado’s High Country.

While Joe Biden’s whirlwind trip — from the airport in Gypsum up to Camp Hale via motorcade and then back onto Air Force One before flying off to California — brought the Secret Service, White House staff and numerous people to town from Washington D.C., many local individuals, businesses, agencies and organizations made it a reality.

From the smallest details like finding tables and chairs to preparing the Eagle County Regional Airport tarmac for Air Force One, working seamlessly behind the scenes were members of Eagle County law enforcement, U.S. Forest Service employees, Beaver Creek Resort and Nova Guides staff as well as many local residents.

The logistics of the presidential visit are comparable to that of putting together an instant command team for emergency events like wildfires — at least according to David Boyd, the public affairs officer for the White River National Forest.

“That same structure works for these kinds of complicated events where you need logistics and you need information and you need the planning people that put it all together and all those sorts of things,” Boyd said, adding that the positions were more logistics-heavy and different than what they would be in the event of a fire.

For the full story click here

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Summit’s ski areas give updates as they begin preparing for the upcoming season

 #breckenridge #colorado #breckenridgerealestate

Over the last few weeks, Summit County has been a sight to behold. Although the county is still painted with gold and yellow leaves, many are excited as they glance up at the snowy peaks of the Tenmile Range and surrounding mountains.

When compared to historical records, Summit County has not seen as much natural snow, but temperatures have begun to dip low enough for most of the county’s ski areas to start the process of making snow to build up their snowpack.

Out of the four ski resorts in Summit County, three have started to make snow ahead of the 2022-23 ski season.

For the full story click here

Vail is opening two high-altitude bars sculpted out of ice and snow

 #breckenridge #colorado #breckenridgerealtor

The original Ice Bar atop Vail Mountain made an appearance in 1965 during the resort’s third season. Vail is reviving the concept this winter with two ice bars, one at Eagle’s Nest and the other at Wildwood. Vail is marking its 60th anniversary in December.

This time, the ski patrol won’t be able to raid the booze stash.

Bringing back an amenity last seen when the Beatles were big, Vail will entice skiers and snowboarders with two “ice bars” high on the mountain this season. Sculpted out of ice and snow, the party spots will have full bars with limited food menus, and seating will be available.

Menu selections are still to be determined. Mountain managers are hoping to have the ice bars in place when Vail celebrates its 60th anniversary in December.

There are conflicting versions of how the first Ice Bar came to be, but both agree that Vail pioneer Bill Whiteford built the original in February of 1965, Vail’s third season. Skiers could drop in for pizza, hot pastrami, milkshakes, crêpes and, of course, booze. Legend has it that ski patrollers would drop in at the end of their shifts for a drink as well.

“They didn’t have anything to lock up the booze with,” said Vail spokesman John Plack. “When patrollers were done with their sweep at the end of the day, they’d sneak behind the pile of snow and take a shot on their way down.”

Courtesy of the Summit Daily and Denver Post.

President Biden to visit Colorado to designate Camp Hale as a national monument

 #breckenridge #colorado #breckenridgerealestate

From left, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper gather at Camp Hale Aug. 16. The group is supportive of the creation of a new national monument in the area, which hosted some 14,000 ski troops during WWII.

President Joe Biden will travel to Colorado next week to designate Camp Hale as a national monument, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times,

An administration official has confirmed the trip, according to the Los Angeles Times, though it is unclear which areas of the state the president will be visiting. The Los Angeles Times also reported that officials are working out the logistics of getting the president to Camp Hale, writing that “such a trip would likely require Biden to fly to Eagle County Regional Airport on Air Force One and then take Marine One to the site itself.”

For the full story click here

As winter resort opening days approach, the 10-day forecast shows more snow on the way for Summit County

 #breckenridge #colorado #breckenridgerealtor

As ski areas across Colorado inch closer to opening day, snow showers continue to dust mountain peaks, and weather professionals say more inches could be on the way.

Longer-range forecasts from OpenSnow, an organization that tracks snow and weather conditions across the United States, report several inches of snowfall for ski areas in and around Summit County in the coming days.

Within the next six to 10 days, Keystone Resort, Breckenridge Ski Resort and Copper Mountain Resort are predicted to get 2 inches of snow on Wednesday, Oct. 12. In that same period of time, Loveland Ski Area is looking at 5 inches over the next 10 days, and Arapahoe Basin Ski Area is predicted to have 4 inches of snow fall on its peaks. 

Farther west and north, expectations are lower. At Vail, the six- to 10-day outlook predicts 1 inch, and the same amount is expected for Aspen Mountain. Winter Park is expected to get about 1 inch, and Steamboat Ski Resort is not expected to have significant snow in the next 10 days. 

“For this week, Oct. 3-7, wet-bulb temperatures will be borderline at the highest mountains that typically make snow in October — A-Basin, Copper, Keystone (and) Loveland,” Joel Gratz, founding OpenSnow meteorologist, said in a forecast. “While I am not expecting a lot of efficient snowmaking, maybe some of these mountains will fire up their snowmaking systems for brief periods.”

For the full story click here

Summit County’s adoptable pets for the week of Oct. 2

 #breckenridge #colorado #coloradorealestate

Mittens

Call the shelter at 970-668-3230 with questions. The most recent list of animals available for adoption can be found on the shelter’s website Here

Summit County real estate sales totaled about $30.7M for the third week of July

 #breckenridge #colorado #breckenridgerealtor

Real estate transactions in Summit County total about $30.7 million across 26 sales that took place from July 18-22.

For the complete list click here

Short-term rental cap in Frisco passes on first reading

 #frisco #colorado #coloradorealtor

Frisco Town Council voted to approve the first reading of a short-term rental regulation in the town. 

The ordinance would cap licenses at 25% of the residential housing stock, allowing a maximum of 900 licenses in Frisco. Property owners that already have licenses would not be affected, and Frisco reports that about 22% of the current housing stock has a license. As of Sept. 26, that is 805 licenses.

The ordinance includes an exemption for properties that are under construction or under contract before Oct. 11, and it includes exemptions to allow an active license to transfer under certain circumstances.

Kate Marrone, who owns property in Frisco, said that she believes there should not be any limits on short-term licensing in town and that restrictions take away the rights of property owners. Marrone said that she does not believe that short-term rentals negatively affect local workforce housing because they are two different kinds of properties.

For the complete story click here