TMVOA Highlights

Dear Members,

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful spring weather.

The board and staff of the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association want to take this opportunity to highlight our sincere commitment to keeping our members informed and educated on important items facing our community. During a Special Board meeting earlier this year to reexamine the organization’s strategic roadmap, the discussions yielded clear alignment that our most important mission and responsibility is to honorably and impartially represent our members and to provide open and unbiased communications and education on items affecting our community.

That said, TMVOA is prioritizing initiatives which expand our communication and interaction with members and promote an inclusive and collaborative relationship with all member classes (residential, commercial, lodging and mountain special member).

A key element of this plan will be emails that feature highlights of important topics facing our community and region. Our primary goal is ensuring that the information we share is what you need and want to know as members of the Owners Association.

Most recently, four topics receiving a lot of attention in our community include:

Moratorium of Subdivision and Rezoning of Single Family Lots

The Town of Mountain Village Town Council recently approved an emergency ordinance establishing a moratorium prohibiting the further subdivision of single family lots to create additional lots and the transfer of additional density onto a single family lot. The Town held a public work-session during the May Town Council Meeting and will continue to engage property owners on this matter until the ordinance is set to expire on August 1, 2016. To ensure your opinions are heard, you can attend one of the upcoming Town Council Meetings on June 16 and July 21, or email Town Council members to share your feedback.

Town Hall Subarea Planning

In an effort to promote well-planned and high-quality development scenarios for the Town Hall Subarea, the three primary property owners (TMVOA, Town of Mountain Village and Telluride Ski and Golf) are partnering to carefully evaluate the most appropriate uses for this area of our Town. The subarea is an important location encompassing the Market, Town government buildings, post office, gondola access, and the parking structure. The Subarea Taskforce will be contracting with an outside firm experienced in land planning, landscape architecture, development, and public outreach and involvement; to date the Taskforce has received four submissions from the open Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process. The committee is currently reviewing the submissions to determine which firms will be interviewed. Key objectives for this project include:

– Understanding development options

– Gaining alignment on strategy for gathering owner and resident input on their vision for Mountain Village

– Gaining consensus among the primary land owners about their intentions for their parcels so decisions, for projects that likely will be launched at different times, can be made that will not negatively impact infrastructure or the overall plan for the Town Hall Subarea

Telluride Medical Center

There have been continued discussions since 2008 about moving the Telluride Medical Center (TMC) from the Town of Telluride to a larger building to meet our growing community’s needs. After considering several locations, the board of the Telluride Hospital District (THD) voted to locate the new facility in Mountain Village on a parcel of land located behind the Mountain Village Market and Town Hall building (Town Hall Subarea).

The Town of Mountain Village initially submitted a wetlands application for this site in February 2015 and later conveyed the land at no cost to the THD on June 29, 2015. Given the location of this parcel, this will be an important element considered in the overall Town Hall Subarea Planning project.

We are preparing an information sheet, with input from the THD and the Town of Mountain Village on the proposed facility – what it is and what it isn’t, as well as some of the benefits and drawbacks of the new facility and its new location and will email that to you later this month. In the meantime, here are a few of the details:

o The current facility is located at 500 W. Pacific Ave., Telluride, in a 10,000 square feet remodeled house

o The board of the THD, which governs the TMC, has said a new facility is needed so it can expand to meet growing demand for services

o The vision for the new facility would consist of a 40,000 square-foot building with a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation

o Parking for the facility is planned for the Mountain Village Gondola Parking Garage

o A helipad for the facility is planned for the top level of the garage

o The hospital district is currently working through the wetlands permitting process with the Army Corps of Engineers

o A satellite clinic in the Town of Telluride is also proposed

o While the THD plans to fund as much of the total cost as possible, from philanthropy and THD reserves, if that is not sufficient TMD may have to ask voters to pass a bond issue, which would be paid for by property taxes

o There have been a number of concerns raised about the proposed site, including issues regarding the wetlands parcel, parking, size of the building and potential impact of helicopter traffic on the operation of the gondola

Regional Transportation Authority

With an objective of enhancing local transportation services and improving state and federal grant opportunities, Mountain Village, Telluride, and San Miguel County have been meeting monthly to discuss the opportunity to form the San Miguel Regional Transportation Authority, also known as SMART.

According to the three government entities, SMART would address public transportation issues in the area including providing new bus or shuttle service to affordable and workforce housing, trail maintenance and linkage, parking, long-term gondola investing, and expanded regional transportation.

In May, the government entities released the results of a phone survey of 200 registered voters in the R-1 School District who are likely to vote in this year’s November election. The poll, which was conducted by Keating Research, was designed to gauge support for formation of a regional transportation authority. It’s important to note that second-home owners were not polled as they are not eligible R-1 voters; therefore their views are not reflected in the survey. The full poll results are available here.

A quick summary of the poll shows:

o When asked if San Miguel County is heading in the right direction or wrong direction, 3-of-4 say right direction (73%), compared to only 13% that say wrong direction

o An overwhelming majority (80%) of voters say they support the formation of the San Miguel County Regional Transportation Authority also known as SMART transit, with only 11% opposed to it

o SMART transit receives strong majority support across all key voter groups in San Miguel County: women (85% support) and men (76% support); younger voters, age 18-49 (83% support) and older voters, age 50+ (77% support); registered Democrats (84% support), independents (76% support) and Republicans (79% support)

o According to those polled, the most important part of SMART transit is new bus or shuttle service to affordable and workforce housing, while parking infrastructure, trail maintenance and linkage, and expanded regional transportation are also important

o Voters show similarly strong support for funding SMART transit with a sales tax or a property tax: 73% support a one-quarter of one percent increase in the San Miguel County sales tax rate to fund SMART transit – which is a sales tax increase of 25 cents on a $100 purchase; 72% support a one mill increase in the San Miguel County property tax rate to fund SMART transit – which is a property tax increase of $8 per $100,000 in assessed value for a residential home

o Investing in the Telluride-Mountain Village gondola is vital: 81% support saving a portion of the SMART transit funding to pay for capital improvements and operations and maintenance of the gondola after 2027, while 15% oppose. 85% agree that the towns of Mountain Village, Telluride and San Miguel County should reach a decision soon on how to pay for the gondola, so the gondola will continue after 2027, while 12% oppose.

If the two Towns and the County are able to reach consensus and sign an intergovernmental agreement, SMART will likely be on this November’s ballot. This would involve two ballot questions: one for the formation of SMART and one for funding. Ultimately, both ballot measures require approval by the voters for SMART to pass. Of key importance is that Mountain Village second-home owners are allowed to vote on the ballot measure related to funding.

We will keep you updated on these items, as well as new developments that impact our community. In the meantime, we encourage you to reach out to us with any questions, concerns or ideas you have. Your input is valued and appreciated.

Sincerely,
Anton Benitez, Executive Director
Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association

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Posted on June 3, 2016 in Archived CEO Blogs