Meeting Summary
The Estes Forward Comprehensive Plan EstesForward_ComprehensivePlan_Final.pdf - Google Drive, made final in December 2022, is a collaborative report made by Town of Estes Park and Larimer County. It is intended to guide the day-to-day and long-range decisions that affect the Estes Valley into the future. The plan addresses topics pertinent to the Town of Estes Park, the rural unincorporated areas, as well as areas of mutual interest. There is grant money to implement the plan.
Watershed Coalition group was selected for this project. The Committee brought up a couple of concerns about the plan. Before getting into the plan details, Advisory member Linda Moray-offered feedback, “I have a problem with it being “woke.” However, during the meeting, she didn’t provide evidence of “woke”, leading to a conclusion that the perspective was unfounded.
Water supplies: Estes Valley is well dependent and there are not any statewide or county-wide regulation of private wells. This issue was not mentioned in the plan. David Converse noted that we need “to prepare a water master plan and to work on conserving water. And to me, that's something that's going to be an increasing problem in our valley.”
Short-term rentals: Within the plan is item` H1.F. “Continue to limit short-term rental of residential units, within the limits of the Town’s authority, and consider reducing the number of short-term rentals to encourage more long-term rental units for housing “ There is an ongoing Federal lawsuit about revocation of short-term rental licenses. Ms. Moray said that “the ruling from this lawsuit could upend planning and outcomes for the committee. The whole thing about long term rentals is so that our workforce housing would have not affordable housing, but affordable rentals. And that's been the argument that's been one of the main arguments all along is that we need people to work in our schools. We need police officers.”
Meeting Notes
Call to Order
Roll Call
Present
David Converse
Rex Poggenpohl (Chair)
Linda Moak (her last meeting today)
Scott Stewart
Rebecca Everette
Not present
Michael Kennedy
Drew Webb
David Converse (secretary)
Adoption of Agenda
Approval of Minutes
April 20, 2023
May 18, 2023
Communication Items
BCC updates
STR regulations - implementation update
Staff updates: New Planning Manager, Jenny Askmaker (sp?)
Updates from EVPAC members: Feedback on the Ride the Rockies event June11. The rockslide happened after the bikes went by
Public Comment Regarding Other Relevant Land Use Matters Not on the Agenda or Future Proposals
Consent Item(s)
Estes Pines Resort Lodge Cottage, File No. 23-ZONE3447. Now in accommodation Zone.
Passed unanimously
Discussion Item(s)
Estes Forward Comprehensive Plan December 2022 (final version) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_GVZeromBMEwxBc36FruvDQpD5mSwtGf/view
Explored ideas for future meeting with Rob Levitt. Rebecca asking for joint session.
Watershed Coalition group https://www.evwatershed.org/ are interested in the ecology of the area as well as watershed
Scott went through the proposed plan and found high value actions proposed
Plan has grant money and has consultants for implementation
Regarding water: Estes Valley is well dependent and there is not any statewide or county-wide regulation of wells
Scott suggested committee members to divide the items proposed and create a priority list
Linda addressed item H1.F. “Continue limit to short-term rental of residential units, within the limits of the Town’s authority, and consider reducing the number of short-term rentals to encourage more long-term rental units for housing “
She shared that there is a Federal lawsuit about revocation of short-term rental licenses. She finds it disconcerting about the lawsuit as it could upend planning and outcomes for the committee
Upcoming Meeting Topics
New committee member recruitment
Power company maintenance along power line
County master water plan
Comments