Discussion about proposed changes to the Montezuma County land use code dominated the Mancos Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, particularly changes that would remove restrictions for development.
After hearing from residents Tuesday at a public hearing, the Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners said it would continue to consider reducing the minimum acreage for a single residence and adjoining accessory dwelling unit from 3 acres to 1 acre for anywhere in the county outside the Dolores River valley.
The minimum of 3 acres was established to control building density and protect water quality.
Tom Weaver of Weaver Cattle, a longtime rancher whose family has been in the Mancos Valley since 1904, sent a letter to county Commissioner Larry Don Suckla opposing the minimum acreage reduction this week.
Weaver has the second water right on the West Mancos River, and in recent years his ranch subordinated its water right to the town of Mancos because Jackson Gulch Reservoir was critically low.
“There is not enough drinking and household-use water in critical water short years to go around for all the development we have now,” Weaver wrote in the letter. “Creating smaller lots in the Mancos Valley will only add to the problem.”
He encouraged Mancos trustees to draft a resolution delineating a boundary around the Mancos Water Conservancy District, which would keep the 3-acre minimum.
The 3-acre minimum predates the county land use code, Weaver said.
The Board of Trustees passed a motion to draft the resolution and will work with Weaver on the language. The rancher donated his time to help draft it.
“I’m about as done as a box of rocks,” Weaver said.
Mancos Mayor Queenie Barz said she was shocked by the county commissioners’ public hearing on the land use code. The commissioners say the proposed change was meant to support affordable housing for workers from Telluride and Durango, but they can’t control the pricing of the developments.
“Houses for $325,000 is not affordable for workers in Montezuma County and won’t keep our local kids here,” Barz said.
Trustee Cindy Simpson, who has worked in land use for 15 years, said affordable housing is “nice to throw into sound bites,” but to make housing affordable, it “has to be put into writing.”
Commissioners have stated they were unable to control pricing for new housing.
County commissioners suggested drilling for wells or damming the Mancos River to provide water for the new developments.
“You can drill for a well, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to hit water,” Barz said. “And we are in a drought.”
Trustee Brent McWhirter also said he was disappointed in the commissioners’ attempt to push through changes to the land use code that would have a big impact on the Mancos community.
“They did a lot more talking than listening when they came to speak with us,” McWhirter said. “But we should not be the subordinates – this is our water as well.”
Suckla said Mancos needed to think about how it plans to ensure water availability for residents, because development is inevitable.
But Mancos has worked on several projects in recent years to increase water storage and production.
In 2015, the town installed a 430,000-gallon water storage tank. The town is also expected to complete a $2.8 million construction project next year to replace the existing 330,000-gallon storage tank and upgrade the water plant.
Additionally, the town has spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last few years to upgrade and improve our distribution and collection lines within town limits,” Town Administrator Heather Alvarez wrote in an email to the county commission.
Suckla suggested Mancos put a dam on its river, but Weaver said that was not possible.
There is already a dam on the river for Jackson Gulch Reservoir, and water levels in the reservoir have still been low.
“That’s how in touch the Mancos commissioner is with the town of Mancos,” Weaver said, referring to Suckla.
Montezuma County Planning and Zoning Board member Haley Saunders said commissioners don’t know how many houses a code change would bring, or what the internet infrastructure to support the new housing would look like.
“There’s not enough information, it’s not the right time,” Saunders said.
The next Board of County Commissioners meeting on the proposed changes to the land use code will take place Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 1:30 p.m.
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