Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The Routt County Board of Commissioners reached a compromise with developer Steve Caragol on Tuesday that will allow him to offer secondary dwelling units on 16 lots in the Blacktail Meadows subdivision in Stagecoach that previously were limited to duplex structures.

The change to the subdivision’s zone change and original planning approval would give purchasers the freedom to build a second smaller home in addition to a main home. And they could do that in one of several ways: attached to the main dwelling, as a stand-alone or one that is attached to a detached garage. However, commissioners said the second dwelling unit may not be larger than 800 square feet with one bedroom and in no case could an owner be able to build a single-family home, a detached garage and a detached secondary home.

Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush suggested that the visual and human impacts of the secondary units Caragol sought could be less than the originally permitted duplex homes.

“A duplex could be bigger with more people, more than 2,000 square feet per side,” Mitsch Bush said. “What I look at is the intensity of use.”

Caragol, of Outback Investments, purchased the pre-existing subdivision, which is part of the larger neighborhoods at Young’s Peak neighborhood. He came to the commissioners in February seeking approval to subdivide each of the duplex lots into two smaller lots, allowing a single-family home on each. Caragol reasoned at the time, that the smaller lots would facilitate smaller homes and appeal to first-time buyers on a budget.

But a significant number of the neighbors in Young’s Peak protested that although the original plan did not add more dwelling units to Blacktail Meadows, it would increase the number of free-standing homes and, hence, the appearance of greater density.

The commissioners tabled Caragol’s plans Feb. 12, asking him to return with a compromise that they could consider approving.

Rout County Planner Rebecca Bessey told the commissioners Tuesday that Caragol had relented on his request to have the option of creating two single-family lots out of each duplex lot and now was asking for the ability of future owners to build either a duplex, a single-family home or a single-family home with a detached secondary unit.

“They look like a big garage. The HOA already allows for a detached garage,” Caragol said. There’s not much difference between an accessory unit and a detached garage.”

Neighbor Ann Holmes objected to the flexibility Caragol was asking for, saying design guidelines in the prevailing homeowners association agreement would not permit the detached units.

“Due to the size of these lots, I strongly object to the use of the word detached in this proposal,” Holmes said. “The lots are simply too small. They are against design guidelines and architectural review guidelines.”

To reach Tom Ross, call 970-871-4205 or email tross@SteamboatToday.com