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Steamboat Springs — The owner of Elkins Meadow has an application in to the city to develop the 104-acre parcel with 20 luxury homes, making preservation of the land an unlikely scenario.

Paul Franklin of the Wharton Group in Chicago, which purchased the land from the Elkins family last summer, gave a group of local residents a chance to buy the parcel at cost and preserve it. The group did not meet Franklin's Jan. 9 deadline to purchase the land next to Fish Creek Falls Road for $4 million.

Still, some members of the Friends of Fish Creek Falls Meadow think preservation is not completely out of the question. Kyle Cox, one of the members, said she has not yet ruled out the chance that the group can find the money, though she noted the group's window of opportunity was closing quickly and did miss the deadline.

"I wouldn't say we have given up all hope," Cox said. "Things can always happen."

The application, which already went through the Planning Commission and the City Council in a conceptual review, has been changed somewhat from the original. Both the council and the commission have noted the developer needs to make a better attempt to "cluster" the properties so as to have as little impact on the meadow and the wildlife there as possible.

City Planner Tom Leeson said the application has not changed significantly from when it first came through the city, though he said the developer has attempted to place some restrictions on where and how the property owners build their homes.

"The general layout is more or less the same," Leeson said.

The application is scheduled for a preliminary technical review Feb. 19.

Franklin, who owns property across the road from the meadow, has said in past interviews he thinks the council will be amenable to the new application, which he thinks meets all of the city's codes and plans for the site. He said he does not want to ruin his neighbors' views or the wildlife habitat.

Franklin could be not reached for comment Monday.

The parcel offers exquisite views and contains critical habitat for elk and mule deer herds. The aspen- and conifer-covered hillsides on the property, in addition to the animal habitat, make it one of the most significant sites in the Fish Creek Falls area, according to the city planning department.

The preservation group had hoped, with the help of the Yampa Valley Land Trust and the city, to link a trail system on the property to trails in the federally managed Fish Creek Falls area. The land would have been protected by a conservation easement.

The meadow, owned for many years by the Elkins family, which kept cattle on the property, is used by cross country skiers who are members of the Steamboat Ski Touring and Snow Shoeing Center and is particularly visible on the way to Fish Creek Falls.

Franklin has said he is interested in giving the public access to the meadow on three trails, one of which would be built alongside the road that would run through the development.