Home

Steamboat Springs — A common complaint about city government is its proclivity for spending taxpayer money on consultants and studies. We haven't been immune from logging similar complaints.

But the Steamboat Springs City Council got it right last week when its members agreed to assemble a negotiating team for the annexation of the proposed Steamboat 700 development. The team, expected to consist of lawyers, city department heads and others, would largely remove council members from the particulars of a complex process.

The city specifically has targeted land use attorney Gerald Dahl to lead the team. City Council President Loui Antonucci said Dahl's firm, Murray, Dahl, Kuechenmeister & Renaud LLP, specializes in annexation law. On Friday, city officials said Dahl has agreed in principle to serve as special counsel on the annexation negotiating team.

As part of the decision to put together a negotiating team, the council also put to rest an essential part of the annexation equation - whether in fact they want to annex Steamboat 700. "Yes" was the unanimous answer, and for good reason.

Annexing Steamboat 700 is important for the city of Steamboat Springs for one overriding reason: the massive residential and commercial development can provide needed housing for our work force. And when we say housing, we mean not only "affordable housing," but also free-market housing that will allow existing city residents to move up from their condos and townhomes to single-family dwellings, or to become first-time Steamboat homebuyers.

Of course, annexing Steamboat 700 also is important for Danny Mulcahy and his development partners for a number of reasons, No. 1 being their ability to build high-density neighborhoods on county land otherwise restricted to 35-acre parcels or land preservation subdivisions.

The city certainly has leverage in the negotiating process - which some officials say could take 18 months or longer - and we've previously stated that city leaders must negotiate a deal that benefits all constituents. But we also believe the approach to the negotiations should be in a spirit of cooperation; there's ample opportunity for both sides to accomplish their goals and reach a mutually beneficial agreement.

We've already seen some of the potential conflicts that will arise during the negotiations, including for whom to provide affordable housing, and in what form. Steamboat 700 has agreed to partner on a study to determine housing needs, and several other studies will provide information relative to water issues, transportation and the economic impact of the proposed development.

These studies are steps in the right direction, as is the assembly of the negotiating team, which we believe the city should pay for. Adding expertise to the process and reducing the amount of politics involved is a wise decision for council members. As Councilwoman Meg Bentley said last week, a negotiating team of experts and city officials would provide help "completely out of the political realm and into the realm of experts." We have no doubt City Council will - and must - remain involved in the annexation. But they've also correctly identified a situation in which outside expertise will make for a more informed, better process.