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Chadwick Estate Villas multifamily project clears Planning Commission objections

Garrett Simon and Meriwether Management Co. are proposing a 10-unit building and a duplex at the Chadwick Estate Villas site.
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The 10-unit condo building proposed for Chadwick Estate Villas was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission on Thursday night by a vote of 5-2.

The development plan for the base area parcel also includes a duplex, but the majority of the discussion Thursday night focused on the 10-unit building.

Audience members who spoke during public comment objected to the amount of parking, the size of the building, its setbacks and its parking garage entrance on Eagle Glen Road.



Members of the Planning Commission also commented on the appearance and design of the building given its size.

“If it’s going to be this big, it shouldn’t be boring,” Planning Commissioner Brian Hanlen said, though he supported the motion to recommend the project.



Planning Commission member Kathi Meyer said she was supporting the motion reluctantly.

“Sometimes a project meets minimum standards for a zone district, and I think this is a case where it’s meeting minimum standards, for me,” Meyer said. “But the rules are the rules, and I can’t just say ‘Well, it’s not good enough.’ We set a bar; we set criteria.”

Meyer and Chairman Jason Lacy said they would not have supported the project was it not for its location directly adjacent to The Atriums at Eagleridge, a large seven-unit complex built in 1986 that predates most of the immediate development and offers units between 2,900 and more than 5,000 square feet.

Planning Commission members Rich Levy and Michael Buckley voted to oppose the project.

Buckley said The Atriums was built in a different era and did not consider it a good comparison for the more recent surrounding development, which includes duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and single-family homes.

Lacy said that despite its age, The Atriums overshadows the neighborhood.

Simon added they would not be having the discussion Thursday about the size of the building if the lot were not adjacent to The Atriums.

Levy said that the building should have a horizontal step back, which would move the facade back from the level below, according to his reading of the city’s code.

In the residential resort zone district where the proposed development sits, multi-family dwellings are a use with criteria, which means they are consistent with the district with some additional criteria, while duplexes and single-family dwellings are conditional uses, which means they have some impacts that need further approval.

“The purpose of the residential resort district is to provide areas for the highest intensity of residential use consistent with a mountain resort community,” according to the city’s community development code.

The project’s architect, Eric Smith, said that the requested front setback variance was to fit the 10-unit building on the lot that tapers to one side and to meet the character of the neighborhood. All of the units along Eagle Glen Road have front setback variances.

To reach Michael Schrantz, call 970-871-4206, email mschrantz@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @MLSchrantz


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