Dear Editor and Community,
Do you live in Chaffee county for the wide-open spaces, low density, beautiful views, and rural lifestyle? If you do, then your lifestyle is at risk from aggressive expansion plans by the City of Salida that [in my opinion] will turn Chaffee County into another overcrowded, high-cost, high-traffic, high-hassle mountain community.
How can this happen? Through annexation that allows the city to push urban sprawl deep into Chaffee County. These legal procedures allow the city and county to assist developers with building high-density residential zones in your rural backyard.
For proof, you need to look no further than the city’s most recent proposed annexation of a property on CR 140 (Airport Road). This is a 5.3-acre lot that is primarily surrounded by rural county homes and does not border the city limits. By jerry-rigging the annexation rules, the city is annexing a county road to “connect” this lot to the city and then proposing residential density that is up to 60 times higher than adjacent lots. Yes, 60 times higher. With a straight face, the city and county claim that this development is compatible with the surrounding community. Moreover, the city, with the help of the county, has plans to expand deeper into Chaffee County.
How can they do this? Well, the state annexation laws are favorable to cities that want to expand into county areas. But moreover, the city and county have a joint working agreement for annexation and development. Depending on how the county decides to enforce and apply this agreement, they can either allow for aggressive and high-density annexation or decide to side with the actual residents of the county and help preserve their rural lifestyles.
I and my neighbors know firsthand how this process works. We submitted a petition signed by over 100 of our neighbors opposing both the annexation of this 5.3 acre property and more importantly the massive increase in density. The density proposed is something that is more appropriate for downtown Denver than rural Chaffee county.
These 100 signatories represent the vast majority of people who live near the proposed development. When submitted, we received no outreach from the city or the county. Their lack of response indicated to us that neither was interested in what residents want, only what the developer wants. As elected representatives, their job is to listen to what the community wants, not the narrow interests of a few monied developers. If you can’t rely on zoning to preserve the nature of your community, then what good is it? This project is as far from compatible with the community as could be, so if it’s allowed, then basically anything is allowed.
If you are concerned about Chaffee County and the area surrounding Salida turning into another unlivable, overcrowded mountain town, then you need to contact the county commissioners and let them know you want them to fight to preserve the rural lifestyle you cherish. You can contact the commissioners via email here: https://www.chaffeecounty.org/Commissioners
If we don’t fight to preserve the County, then the City will continue to leapfrog and spot zone all over the county with high density, expensive, and poorly planned housing developments.
Charlie Farrell
Salida, CO
I don’t know. Development happens. No development is perfect. It’s better to have concentrated planned development rather than sprawl.
Thank you for this well written letter. What Salida is doing with the annexation process is no different then what the Town of Poncha Springs did with a “flag Pole” annexation to acquire the Friend Ranch property on County Road 210. That was in roughly 2005. That was over 300 acres and if the golf course, club house, and homes and condos had been completed the development would have been larger then the town of Poncha. Bankruptcy saved County Road 210 but the threat is still present with the current property owner now planning another development. No one on County 210 knows what that plan is because nothing has been submitted to Poncha. Once a annexation is completed the threat remains for high density development. So try having an entire town dropped in your back yard. Residents on 210 thought we would have support from Salida or even Poncha Springs residents. That voice of opposition never happened.
I have experienced this type of annexation, typically referred to as “flagpole annexation” because a city uses a public right-of-way to annex properties that actually are not contiguous with their own boundaries. So, on a map, there is a long “pole” connecting the main city boundary with the newly-annexed area. This method has been used and abused all along the Front Range for many decades. And, what do you have there? …sprawl, where there once was farm land. I empathize with the writer but the only recourse is civic action by the voters to make their outrage known. (Full disclosure: I don’t live in the immediate area of the annexation and this Letter to the Editor is the first time I’m learning about it)