Congestion pricing in the Mountain West?

The debate on how to improve the traffic situation on I-70 from Denver into the mountains continues in the Senate Transportation Committee meeting room today as bills from opposite sides of the legislative aisle get consideration.

Although the two bills are sponsored by Sens. Chris Romer, D-Denver, and Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, it is worth noting that they are both proposing road or congestion pricing for the I-70 corridor. They disagree on the details of how such a framework would operate and how revenues might be re-invested, but the foundation of their proposals seem to cross political ideology -- use market forces to manage an increasingly scare resource (otherwise known as road capacity).

There may be a number of reasons these proposals are on the committee table now rather than after groups such as the I-70 Coalition have made their recommendations, but that's a reality of the legislative process. Nevertheless, the combination of successful congestion pricing programs in London and Stockholm and the proposals for similar programs in New York City and San Francisco make the idea a powerful one that will likely become a part of the package for I-70 regardless of the outcome of the Romer and McElhany bills this year.

The reality of decreasing transportation funding from gas taxes, increasing construction costs, and limited geography is making congestion pricing an increasingly viable tool to manage traffic and congestion in communities and on highways.

As Gordon Price, transportation Planner and former City Councilor in Vancouver, has commented, "congestion turns out to be an inevitable consequence when the private sector produces and unlimited number of vehicles and expects the public sector to spend limited resources to build an unlimited amount of space for them to run on."

Put another way, the age of "freeways" is drawing to a close in the Mountain West.

Economies collide with nature

The natural resource based economy that dominated the Western Slope of Colorado for so many years is making a come back.

As Jason Blevins writes in the Sunday Denver Post, mining is coming back to a number of communities due to increasing demand and prices for precious minerals like molybdenum.

If the recent natural gas boom in Garfield County offers any crystal ball, more Western Slope communities are due increasing revenues, stressed infrastructure, a quick disappearance of affordable housing, and a shortage of workers.

The natural amenity and natural resource economy are colliding and the only thing they have in common is a reliance on nature.

Housing prices continue upward

The national housing market may be stagnant, but housing in the mountains continues on an upward trajectory. According to a recent article in the Aspen Times, the average price for a three-bedroom home jumped, often substainally, throughout the region in 2006.

Basalt: $694,880 (up 21%)

Carbondale: $476,000 (up 4%)

Glenwood Springs: $383,932 (up 21%)

Rifle: $231,851 (up 14%)

The median income for a four person household in Garfield County was $62,300 in 2005.

Garfield County joins billionaires club

Garfield County joined the billionaires club in 2006 as the volume of all real estate sales in the county topped $1 billion for the first time last year. The $1.04 billion in total sales for 2006 was an increase of 22 percent over the 2005 mark and growth of 137 percent from 2003.

The oil and gas boom in western Garfield County is driving the real estate development boom in western Garfield County. An estimated $75 million of the $1 billion in commercial and residential sales in Garfield County occurred in Rifle last year.

Meanwhile, Pitkin County has remained above the $1 billion level in annual sales volume for each of the last four years. Sales volume topped $2 billion in 2005 and soared to $2.64 billion last year.

Read Scott Condon's full article ...

Win-Win transportation solutions

Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute has just released a report on transportation programs and policy reforms that can support environmental, social, and economic goals - a triple bottom line. As he comments in the introduction,

People often assume that environmental, social and economic goals conflict. For example, policies to reduce climate change emissions and programs to improve accessibility for disadvantaged people are often opposed on grounds that they are costly and harmful to the economy. But such conflicts can be avoided. Some strategies that support environmental and social objectives also benefit the economy.

This paper identifies more than a dozen such strategies, which we call Win-Win Transportation Solutions. These are cost-effective, technically feasible policy reforms and programs that help solve transport problems by improving transport options and correcting market distortions that result in economically excessive motor vehicle travel. These are considered “no regrets” strategies because they are justified even if the severity of environmental and social risks is uncertain.

Read the full report . . .

Surprise! Health costs rise faster than pay

There doesn't seem to be any commodity that people's pay can keep up with these days. Add Health care to the list. Although the rate of increase has slip to less than double digits increases over the last few years, health costs have still almost doubled (82.2%) since since 2000. Workers wages increased a paltry 15%.

Anyway you count the numbers, the results ain't pretty for workers. Read Will Shanley's article in the Denver Post . . .

Health care costs in Colorado have jumped 82.2 percent since 2000, more than five times the earnings increase for workers.
For family health coverage, the average annual premium paid by workers and employers rose to $12,386 in 2006, up from $6,797 in 2000.

Meanwhile, worker wages statewide grew by 15 percent, or $3,947, to a median of $30,337 per year.

Those findings were reported Monday in the study "Premiums Versus Paychecks: A Growing Burden for Colorado's Workers." Families USA, a health care advocacy group based in New York, prepared the report.

Carbondale aims to be renewable energy Mecca

While the western portion of Garfield County is booming with oil and gas development, and the associated environmental impacts, the eastern end of the county is looking in a different direction for energy production.

Carbondale Question 2F on the Nov. 7 ballot will ask voters to allow the town of Carbondale to issue up to $1.8 million in Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) to construct and operate two large-scale solar systems.

The proposed systems would provide about 250 kilowatts (KW) of power. One of the systems would be the largest solar system in western Colorado.

Voting "yes" on 2F will increase the town's debt, but will not raise local taxes. Revenue from the solar systems will pay off the bonds over the next 20 years. And, under a provision of the 2005 Energy Incentives Tax Act, the interest on the CREBs will be paid by the U.S. Government.

Carbondale trustees unanimously decided to pursue the CREBs after the town's advisory environmental board produced the Carbondale Energy Plan earlier this year. The plan outlines specific ways Carbondale can reduce its contribution to global warming.

The CREBs will fund two separate solar projects, one for 50 kilowatts (KW) and one for 200 KW. The 50 KW system will be located at the Carbondale Elementary School (the town is in negotiations with the school district to purchase the property) or the new recreation center and the larger system will be located either at Colorado Rocky Mountain School or at the town's Roaring Fork water plant.

Read full article by Gina Guarascio . . .

Meanwhile Boulder considers a Carbon Tax . . .

Multi-family affordable development opens in Steamboat

Fox Creek is a new development in Steamboat Springs containing 30 deed-restricted, affordable housing condominiums, designed for families and homeowners with low to moderate incomes.

The ribbon-cutting marked the culmination of three years of work by the Yampa Valley Housing Authority, which planned, managed and spearheaded funding for the $6 million development.

Most Fox Creek residents will close on the purchase of their new homes later this month. Most of the units at Fox Creek have two bedrooms and two bathrooms. With grant assistance, all homebuyers will pay less than $200,000.

Read the full article in the Steamboat Pilot . . .

The Small-Mart Revolution

When Michael Shuman presented at Healthy Mountain Communities', 1st State of the Valley Symposium in 2003, he presented an alternative approach to economic development that focused on local ownership and import substitution (LOIS) rather than the export model so common today.

Now he has completed The Small-Mart Revolution, which details the reasons why 'local' is working across the U.S.

As the publisher summarizes, The Small-Mart Revolution:

• Shows exactly why locally owned businesses are far more beneficial to their communities than massive chains like Wal-Mart


• Outlines specific strategies small and home-based businesses are using to successfully outcompete the world's largest companies


• Advises consumers, investors, policymakers, and organizers on how they can support the the local entrepreneurs who contribute to their communities

Read more or order the book . . .

From 'Edge of Hell' to Luxury homes in El Jebel

The village that began as affordable housing for workers at Ruedi Reservoir and the Fryingpan-Arkansas water diversion project is now the site of Shadowrock, a high-end townhouse project where prices will start at almost $600,000.

A powerhouse real estate development and acquisition firm from Dallas is building the first phase of the 100-townhouse project.

In the past, some observers snidely referred to El Jebel as "edge of hell." Now it is home to several top restaurants, a collection of shops and service providers, a bowling alley and theater. Willits developer Michael Lipkin is completing the first building in what will be a 10-block town center with numerous more shops and restaurants.

Read the full article in the Aspen Times . . .

It's boomtime in 'Bondale

Carbondale has more develoment in the pipeline than debating the pros and cons of the Crystal River Marketplace. A flurry of new construction of retail, commercial, industrial and residential developments is either already approved, going through development review or nearly ready to do so.

Some of the projects inlcude:

• American National Bank is planning to move to the corner of Dolores Way and Hwy 133 next to the site where the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority plans to build a new park-and-ride lot.


• Farther up the highway, the in the old Sopris Shopping Plaza, once home to the town's only grocery store, Circle Super, and soon to be old the Paint Store location is to be torn down and replaced with what town officials expect to be a two-story, mixed-use building.


• In the downtown area itself, right next to Town Hall, the new Carbondale Recreation Center is expected to start going up next year on property now occupied by a parking lot and a small house and yard along Colorado Avenue between Fourth and Sixth streets.


• Across Colorado Avenue, developers Ed Podolak and Bill Smith are planning to build another mixed-use, three-story building next to the Thunder River Theater building. It is to be similar to the one they built earlier at the corner of Fourth and Colorado.


• On a vacant lot at the corner of Main and Fourth, formerly owned by Dale Eubank but now owned by an investment group led by architect Charles Cunniffe, town officials are expecting another two-story, mixed-use project, possibly by next summer. And next door, another former Eubank property, European Antiques, is about to get a second story, according to the building's owners.


• Across Fourth Street, the old Mountain Aire apartment complex, now owned by developer Don Ensign, is to be demolished and replaced by a three-story mixed-use project, with retail and residential on the ground floor and residential above.


• Farther east along Main Street, the old yellow wood frame house next to Miser's Mercantile disappeared recently, torn down in a matter of hours, to make way for yet another mixed-use project.


• Heading south along Highway 133, 52 homes are planned for the Kator Grove subdivision. Next door, at Cerise Park, another 40 homes are anticipated once annexation is complete and the developers submit their plans.


• Ongoing construction of the new Roaring Fork High School, the adjacent Carbondale & Rural Volunteer Fire Department training facility and the Crystal River Elementary School.


• The Colorado Department of Transportation to start work next year on the intersection of Highways 133 and 82, and a new Highway 133 bridge across the Roaring Fork River at the north end of town.

The the development is not likely to end soon, according to Town Manager Tom Baker, explaining that as the baby boom generation retires and seeks nice places to spend its declining years, Carbondale seems to be at the top of many lists.


Read the full article in the Aspen Times . . .

New Castle is booming

Another small town on the Western Slope is booming.

The town of New Castle, 10 miles west of Glenwood Springs along the I-70 corridor, is growing and it's expected to more than double in size when all of the current platted land is developed. The town currently has around 1,300 residential units within town limits. With four subdivisions now in development, that number will increase to approximately 3,740 if it reaches full build-out.

The subdivisions include:

• Castle Valley - 1,400 total units, 620 built or currently under construction.


• Lakota Canyon - 827 total units, approximately 90 built or currently under construction, half of the land is already platted.


• River Park - Approximately 150 units when complete


• Castle Ridge - 67 total units, 12 currently built or under construction.

According to Steve Rippy, former town administrator and current community development consultant for New Castle, the town is experiencing little strain on the water and waste water facilities because the town began expanding the facilities to accommodate the anticipated growth in 1999 and 2001.

The $1.2 million final phase is scheduled to begin around mid-September. This upgrade is an efficiency upgrade to the clarification system that returns solids back into the aerobic system for further breakdown. The addition of an automated grit removal system will increase the efficiency of the filtration system by mechanically removing solids before they reach the plant.

Expansions of the water plant started in 2001 with the addition of three water filtration units. Another filtration unit will be added to the plant this winter - the third upgrade in a six-year plan is scheduled to conclude in 2007.

Read the full article in the Post Independent . . .

Mining Gypsum: Developers see gold in tiny town west of Vail

Eagle County has exploded in recent years, doubling in population from 1990 to 2000, and reaching an estimated 47,530 people in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Gypsum has mirrored that trend, growing from 1,750 residents in 1990 to more than 5,200 today - and its not finished yet.

The old mining town, 35 miles west of Vail, is home to several major new projects, including:

• The Brightwater Club, which soon will hold 535 single-family homes, a Robert Trent Jones Jr. golf course, 27 acres of lakes and a village that will offer restaurants, a gourmet market, and a fitness center and spa. With homesites starting at $300,000, more than 120 lots have sold to date and 45 more are under contract, totaling more than $80 million in sales. The average Brightwater home ranges from $1.1 million to $2.1 million.


• A 155,000-square-foot Costco store, scheduled to open Oct. 20, expects to draw shoppers from as far as Vail, Aspen and Steamboat Springs. The store will employ 160 people and is expected to generate more than $3 million in annual sales-tax revenues.


• The Tower Center, which includes 475,000 square feet of retail, including at least two big-box stores, 330 housing units and at least one hotel. Tower Center is expected to generate at least $5 million in annual sales-tax revenue for Gypsum.

The town's coffers have been swelling for several years. Gypsum's real estate transfer tax grew from $704,800 in 2004 to $1.48 million last year. Sales-tax revenues grew from $1.46 million in 2004 to $2.33 million last year.

Sales-tax revenue from the new projects will help Gypsum pay off its new $12.2 million recreation center - scheduled to open in November - in less than 10 years.
Read the full article in the Denver Post . . .

Construction dependence a trend in many Mountain counties

Larry Swanson and the folks at the Center for the Rocky Mountain West have put together a interesting chart of construction activity by county. The map above shows areas of the U.S. with relatively high concentrations of construction activity in relation to area personal income. Dark red areas have construction labor earnings of $1.6 million and more for every $20 million in personal income - “very high” concentrations. Medium red areas have construction labor earnings of $1.3 to $1.6 million per $20 million in income (“high” dependencies) - note the group of dark red counties in western Colorado.

See all the associated charts at the Center for the Rocky Mountain West . . .

Optimism about Cdale's Marketplace after design charrette

Citizens reviewing new conceptual plans for the controversial 22 acre Crystal River Marketplace development site were a lot more positive than they have been in a long time.

The "draft conceptual program" has yet to receive the blessing of the town's board of trustees, but even opponents of the development proposals were upbeat about the current planning effort.

The new plan calls for a total of between 160,000 and 175,000 square feet of retail space, including a 60,000-square-foot space for the "anchor" store; between 150 and 175 housing units (15 percent of which must be "affordable" under town codes); three "junior anchors" at about 20,000 square feet apiece, and a mix of commercial and office space scattered around the site.

An earlier proposal, defeated in a referendum in 2003, called for 252,000 square feet of commercial space, anchored by a 125,000-square-foot site for a big-box retailer.

The next public meetings about the Marketplace plans will be a Community Open House, with "completed drawings and economic information," from 6-9 p.m. on July 5. Town trustees and the planning and zoning commission have scheduled a joint meeting to take a first formal look at the plans at 6:30 p.m. on July 19.

The design charrette idea grew out of Carbondale's Economic Road Map process, which has focused on better understanding and directing the town's future toward a more "diverse and sustainable economy."

Read the full article in the Post Independent . . .

Costco in Gypsum?

Costco recently filed a building permit application with the Town of Gypsum for a 159,000-square-foot retail center in the Airport Gateway Commercial Park.

The big-box retailer has been able to slip relatively quietly into Gypsum is because the zoning is already in place at the Airport Gateway Commercial Park. The location is also not right in someone's neighborhood or in an open space entrance to town.

The economic development agreement calls for the town to rebate 38 percent of the sales tax that Costco generates for three years; or until a $4.2 million cap is reached - whichever comes first. If the revenue cap isn't met in three years, the town will rebate 15 percent of the sales tax for an additional two years.

The Town estimated that in Costco's first years of operation, Eagle would get about $230,000 annually in sales tax, and Gypsum would get $350,000 in addition to the sales tax revenues that are committed or rebated.

Costco will pay for traffic lights at Highway 6 and Cooley Mesa Road - estimated cost is $500,000 - and for several hundred linear feet of improvements to Highway 6. Costco will hire 200-300 employees, which will make it the second largest employer in Gypsum. The school district is the biggest employer in the town.

This is the first time Costco has come to a community with less than 150,000 residents. Currently, the closest Costco is in Denver.

Read the full article in the Post Independent . . .
Photo from NY Times article on Costco

Gas Industry Fuels County Coffers

For likely the first time ever, tax revenues from Garfield County's booming natural gas industry made up the bulk of the county's assessed value -- more than monster second-homes, hotels, resorts, and shopping areas combined.Natural gas values made up 55 percent of the county's assessed value in 2005, up from 45 percent the previous year. The increase has brought $16 million more in revenues to county coffers and taxing districts, from $70.7 million in 2004 to $86.7 million last year, a 23 percent increase. Garfield County own revenues increased $7.1 million to $24.2 million.

Residential properties made up just 19 percent of the county's assessed value last year, down from 25 percent in 2004. Commercial properties contributed less, too, from 16 percent in 2004 to 14 percent in 2005.

Read the full article in the Mtn. Business Journal

Be a ski mogul for only $50 million

Sunlight Mountain Resort, just southwest of Glenwood Springs, is for sale and the potential for change to the small ski area and the surrounding area is enormous. Sunlight sits up a windy, close to capacity, two-lane road outside of town . It is one of Colorado's most affordable ski areas, with daily lift tickets that cost $39 this winter, compared with $78 at nearby resorts like Aspen. Although a narrow, rural valley, the land at Sunlight's base is zoned for up to 780 residential units and a retail village (small Snowmass Village anyone?). An adjacent 1,317-acre parcel is also for sale, along with water rights for substantial development.

Sunlight also holds U.S. Forest Service permits that would allow it to add 2,000-plus acres of skiable terrain.The ski area has been owned by a group of 32 investors since 1992. They decided last fall to sell the property instead of investing the more than $10 million needed to update its infrastructure. The listing price is $50 million.

Read the full article

To annex or not to annex? That is the question

More than 1,000 Telluridians(?) took their flowers and chocolate to the polls on Valentine's Day and voted 603-439 not annex but to move toward condemnation and purchase of the Valley Floor at the entrance to town.

The annexation option was to continue into further annexation proceedings with the San Miguel Valley Corporation, the current owner of the 793 acre property. The Telluride Town Council, had unanimously supported a "Yes" vote to continuing negotiations since the preliminary annexation agreement would have preserved 91% of the property in a conservation easement ensuring public access.But the proposal also included development of a parcel along the highway into town and the large meadow would be split in two by 22 multi-million dollars homes - a sore spot with many voters. The community now faces a fundraising effort to purchase the property (recently valued at $48 million) after a valuation trial . Telluride has already raised about half that amount.

Read the full article . . .

Next developer please?

The Bair Chase golf development south of Glenwood Springs has gone belly up again and this time it took a historic barn and elk winter haunt with it. PlainsCapital Bank of Austin, Texas, which holds the deed of trust to the land, has filed for foreclosure and sale of the property.The 280-acre property has been mired incontroversy since it come before the Garfield County Planning Commission as a 500 houses / 18-hole golf course / 700,000 square feet of commercial development PUD. That plan was eventualy denied by the County Commissioners at a late meeting after dozens of citizens had spoken against the project. The property then changed hands to a company the eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The most recent approval for the property included 62 single-family lots and 168 multifamily units surrounding an 18-hole golf course. Earthwork began on the ranch last summer, leveling the historic barn and tearing up the hay field that a couple hundred elk used during the winter, apparently before the permanent financing became permanent. Recently a Bull elk was a seen standing on top of a man-made hill on the property, apperently wondering what is going on.

Read the full article in the Post Independent