Workshop SummaryOn September 14th and 15th, 2023, a community design workshop was held at the Crested Butte Center for the Arts. Building upon the Sketch Plan approval, the workshop set out to refine the project vision and guiding principles into actionable parameters for development of the Preliminary Plan. Livability was a key discussion, with activities focused on both defining indoor and outdoor livability and considering quantifiable standards that will physically enable livable spaces at Whetstone. A second workshop goal was to discuss trade-offs between project values to understand expectations related to streets, trail connections, architectural design, and green building practices. Participants represented a diverse set of values that were insightful and influential in drafting the neighborhood plan updates. Some of the values that have translated into the plan changes include enhancements to accessibility, both indoors and outdoors; programmable multi-use spaces; private patios and gardens; parking and snow storage management practices; and unit floor plans favoring functional storage space. Plan updates are outlined in detail below. Neighborhood Plan UpdatesThanks to the input from the workshop, the team has developed changes to the Neighborhood Plan that refine the concept from Sketch Plan. What has changed:
What has remained the same:
The following graphic illustrates these changes and the focus on livability in Whetstone, which centers on affordability, stability, and sense of community. Infrastructure and Annexation Update The Town of Crested Butte and the County continue to discuss the opportunity of an extension of the Town utilities (water and wastewater) to Whetstone. Ongoing work on those topics include:
In other related news, the County’s consultant team for the Crested Butte to Crested Butte South multimodal trail plan will be presenting the final design plans for the selected alignment to the Sustainable Tourism & Outdoor Recreation Committee (STOR) on December 21, 2023 at 2:00pm. In addition, the County is working with a different consultant team, Mead & Hunt, to develop the design plans for the Brush Creek Road and Highway 135 roundabout intersection. Those plans are expected to be finalized by March 2024. As part of that work the County anticipates applying for a federal RAISE grant to support the implementation of the project. Next Steps
Developer Selection After a robust selection process, Gunnison County is moving forward with negotiations with Servitas as the development partner for the Whetstone Community Housing project. Servitas is a minority and woman-owned Limited Liability Corporation. Servitas was selected based on their alignment with the goals and guiding principles for Whetstone, and the financial strength and experience of their team. Servitas was established in 2001 and is a well-capitalized private company providing a full scope of real estate services. With 56 employees and a national reach, Servitas has successfully undertaken housing projects of all sizes across the U.S. Servitas specializes in Public Private Partnerships. Servitas has delivered and is currently developing more than 20,000 beds in a variety of types, from three-story wood-frame walkup buildings to nine-story concrete and steel high-rises. Reasons for selecting the Servitas team as the development partner for Whetstone include:
The community also provided positive feedback on the Servitas team during the developer open house in Crested Butte on May 10th, 2023. During this meeting, each of the five shortlisted development teams presented their proposed approach for Whetstone, then community members were able to ask questions directly of the development teams in an open house format and to provide feedback to the County team via an online form. 83% of survey respondents indicated that the Servitas team would be a good fit or somewhat a good fit for the community, while none of the survey respondents said that Servitas would not be a good fit, as illustrated below. All of the community feedback on the shortlisted developers can be found on the project website here.
Annexation Process On June 20, 2023, the Town of Crested Butte’s Town Council held a work session on the non-financial elements of the potential annexation of Whetstone. As a follow up to this discussion, the Town of Crested Butte has developed a survey to understand community sentiment around annexation of this affordable community into the town boundaries. Annexation is a process that would amend the town boundaries to include the Whetstone parcel thus bringing service and other town resources to the community. Currently the Town and County are weighing the pros/cons of a potential annexation including costs, benefits, and most importantly timing of a potential annexation. We would appreciate community stakeholders and supporters of Whetstone to provide feedback as well. Our project has great momentum and community support, and the project team desires to continue that momentum in order to get housing built as soon as possible for the many people who are currently rent burdened and experiencing stress related to housing costs and lack of supply. We feel this is a balancing act that requires swift action to design and build a project as quickly as possible while minimizing extra costs and delays. At the same time, the Town is considering providing utilities to Whetstone, which provides an enormous benefit to the project. The County and the selected developer, Servitas, support annexation at some point but believe that it is critical that the project be allowed to complete the County’s review and permit process and begin construction. The County believes that once construction is substantially complete that would be an appropriate time for annexation; however annexation sooner may cause delays that could threaten the viability of the project. For more information about the County process, please contact John Cattles at [email protected]. The Town has designed a survey specifically asking about non-fiscal impacts of annexation and exploring community sentiment around design, building code, and other considerations. If you would like to express your thoughts about annexation, please participate in the Town’s survey which is available here; it will be open until July 31, 2023. There will also be another Council meeting on August 21, which you can attend in-person or virtually. Thank you to those of you who continue to be involved in and support this important community project. We are looking forward to working with the Servitas team to make Whetstone become a reality. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Marine ([email protected]) if you have any questions or feedback or want to learn about these processes. After nearly two years of planning, engagement, and careful design, the Sketch Plan for the Whetstone Community Housing project was unanimously approved by the Gunnison County Board of Commissioners in February 2023. Since then, the project team has been working with the Town of Crested Butte on utilities and seeking qualified development partners to support the next phase of work. Currently, five development teams are shortlisted and invited to refine their proposals and present them to the public and the project team.
Thank you to all community members who were able to attend the open house on May 10th, 2023 at the Center for the Arts in Crested Butte. During this meeting, each of the development teams presented their proposed approach for Whetstone, and community members were able to ask questions directly to the development teams in an open house format and provide feedback to the County team via an online form. Please click on the links below to listen to the May 10th open house and to access each development team's presentations, and the community feedback summary: We are inviting the community to join us for developer presentations and an open house on May 10th, 2023, 5:30 at the Center for the Arts, 606 S. 6th Street, Crested Butte. During this meeting, each of the development teams will present their proposed approach for Whetstone, followed by an open house format where community members can ask questions directly of the development teams and provide feedback to the County team.
The schedule for the evening is as follows:
After the open house, community members will be invited to provide feedback. The community’s input will be provided to the developer selection committee.
Please click here to read the article.
Please click here to read the article.
The sketch plan submittal is the first step in the Gunnison County Land Use Resolution (LUR) process for Major Impact Projects. It is a culmination of planning and design work that began in 2019 and includes significant public and stakeholder input. The sketch plan was also sent out by Gunnison County to ten agencies for them to review and provide comments. In parallel to the review process, the team will conduct a comprehensive request for proposals (RFP) process to identify an affordable housing development partner or partners for the project. The County anticipates working through Preliminary Plan requirements in partnership with the selected development partner(s) that would be responsible for constructing the infrastructure and building the attainable housing community at Whetstone.
Any questions or comments ahead of the Public Hearing can be directed to the project team. Please reach out to Marine ([email protected]) if you have any questions, feedback, or desire to get involved with this important community project.
The Whetstone Project Team. We are pleased to announce that the project team has submitted the sketch plan for the Whetstone Community project, for review by the Gunnison County Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners. Thank you to all community members and stakeholders who have informed the Whetstone sketch plan as it now stands. Throughout the process, the design team has been referring back to our project guiding principles:
More information and the full submittal package is available here and on Gunnison County’s Permit Database webpage (under Project # LUC-22-00049). The team will be presenting the project to the Gunnison County Planning Commission in October; exact date(s) and format for the meeting(s) will be communicated when available.
Please reach out to Marine ([email protected]) if you have any questions. The Whetstone Project Team. Article published in LIV Crested Butte Magazine, Summer 2022, Vol. 4 Issue 1Click on the image below to view and download the article.
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