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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018.11.07 OSTB-BOCC_Joint Minutes S MINUTES OPEN SPACE AND TRAILS BOARD and BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS JOINT MEETING Nov. 7, 2018 Third Street Center 520 S. Third St., Carbondale OSTB Present: Graeme Means Howie Mallory Amy Barrow Michael Kinsley Wayne Ives Dist. 1 Dist. 2 Dist. 3 Dist. 4 Dist. 5 Chair Staff Present: Gary Tennenbaum, Dale Will, Janet Urquhart, Jessie Young, Jon Peacock, John Ely BOCC Present: Patti Clapper(chair), Rachel Richards, Steven Child, George Newman, Greg Poschman Media Present: Amy Gab/John Masters, GrassRoots TV; Scott Condon, The Aspen Times; Andre Salvail, Aspen Daily News Public Present: Approximately 65 individuals were present at the start of the public hearing. Patti Clapper called the BOCC meeting to order at approximately 1 p.m. Graeme Means called the OSTB meeting to order at 1:16 p.m. Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail Plan Gary Tennenbaum introduced the trail plan as the culmination of a two-year planning process that began with the Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail's inclusion on the governor's Colorado's 16 list of statewide trail projects. The trail was, however, the subject of the Crested Butte to Carbondale Trail Feasibility Study commissioned by the West Elk Historic and Scenic Byway Steering Committee in 2004. The current proposed plan is a vision for what could be constructed; its actual development will take at least a decade, Tennenbaum said. The plan sets in motion the first phase of the trail, between Redstone and McClure Pass. That segment will require CDOT review for portions of the trail within the Hwy. 133 right-of-way and federal NEPA review for portions of the trail within the White River National Forest. Those reviews must be completed before funding can be approved to construct anything, he said. All phases of the proposed trail can stand alone, if the entire trail is not constructed, Tennenbaum said. North of Redstone, the trail plan makes no recommendation on an alignment for seven of the 10 trail segments, he said. Those alignments will be chosen through a future public process if construction of any of the segments is pursued. Tennenbaum noted the trail plan has spawned biodiversity projects, proposed streambank restoration and other initiatives that are not directly related to the trail. Those efforts are included as action items within the trail plan. 11/07/2018 OSTB/BOCC Joint Meeting Page 1 of 10 Michael Kinsley asked why no highway alignment was provided as an option for the McClure Pass segment. The plan recommends an off-highway alignment, but the highway alignment will be examined as an alternative through the NEPA process, Tennenbaum said. NEPA will review the recommended off-highway alignment, a highway alignment, a no-build alternative and possibly a hybrid of alternatives, according to Tennenbaum. The NEPA scoping process allows the public to provide input into what is considered, said Rachel Richards. Graeme Means said the county should be able to adjust the order in which trail segments are built. The plan has that flexibility, Tennenbaum said. Greg Poschman asked how a proposed Watershed Biodiversity Study fits with the trail plan. The study will provide data that informs decisions on all trails in the county, including the Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail, Tennenbaum said. The trail corridor in the Crystal Valley has already been studied as part of the trail planning, he added. The watershed study is expected to be finished before any trail construction begins. If the study produces new information regarding the proposed trail corridor, it can be considered, he said. Steve Child asked how the CDOT review compares to NEPA. CDOT does not conduct an alternatives analysis, Tennenbaum said. It determines the feasibility of what is proposed and what needs to occur to permit the trail from a highway perspective, he said. The CDOT review will take as long as NEPA (about 2 years). NEPA could be finished in January-March 2021, Tennenbaum said. The county will fund the NEPA review, he added. Public hearing Greame Means called upon individuals who had signed up to give public comment during the hearing. Comments were limited to 5 minutes per person. John Emerick, Crystal Valley resident—While the existing Bear Creek and McClure Pass trails are open and used year-round, use of the routes is light. The routes are within wildlife-sensitive areas, he said. The Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail should be routed along the highway in those segments. The trail plan would gain more public support if a trail is not proposed on the off-highway alignments at Bear Creek and McClure Pass, he said. Doris Downey, Crystal Valley resident—Residents in subdivisions south of Redstone are thrilled that phase one of the trail plan will provide a safe bicycle/pedestrian connection with the Town of Redstone, she said. It will also be a recreational amenity for Redstone residents. Downey also complimented the Open Space and Trails staff for its professionalism and the trail planning process. Connie Knuth, Crystal Valley resident—The cost estimates for the trail are not an honest representation of all the costs, including the purchase of private property, wildlife mitigation, construction of parking lots and other facilities, she said. She offered the Open Space purchase of a parcel within Crystal River Country Estates as an example. She encouraged inclusion of all the true costs in the plan. (It was later noted by Rachel Richards that the property purchased by the county in Crystal River Country Estates stood on its own for its open space values and that the county already held a trail easement across it.) 11/07/2018 OSTB/BOCC Joint Meeting Page 2 of 10 Jennifer Craig—If the community values wildlife and wildlife habitat, it should do all it can to protect it, she said. The Crystal River provides a buffer between Hwy. 133 and habitat east of the river. The trail should be built along the highway to maintain that buffer. The community should not compromise wildlife to benefit recreation, she said. Craig said she has never felt that local residents lack a trail or trailhead within 10 minutes of their homes (a goal of the Colorado's 16 initiative). Bill Hanks, Crystal Valley resident—He said he is glad to hear the planning of future trail phases will engage stakeholder groups. The trail has tremendous ramifications for the rural character of the Crystal Valley, he said, and noted few members of the county's boards and staff are residents of the Crystal Valley. He suggested the first phase of the trail, between Redstone and McClure Pass, be divided into two projects. He said the existing Crystal Trail is a sustainable,practical addition to the valley and advocated that CDOT evaluate the remainder of a valleywide trail within the highway right-of-way. Ron Phaneuf, Crystal Valley resident—He said he is a staunch supporter of the proposed trail, which he predicted will have a positive economic benefit and improve quality of life and safety in the valley. He called the highway the major impact to wildlife, citing wildlife fatalities on the road. The trail would mostly fall within the highway's 100-meter zone of influence regardless of which alignment is chosen. The incremental impact from the trail would be small, compared to the highway, he said. The trail would connect the three subdivisions south of Redstone with Redstone. The existing McClure Pass and Bear Creek trails are ideal for the proposed trail, he said. Mountain bikers ride the old pass route now, he added. Chuck Malloy, Prince Creek Road resident—He thanked the county for building the Bull Pen parking and Prince Creek Trail and said he supports building a trail in the Crystal Valley on the former railroad grade. It is the most scenic, safest and least expensive alignment, he said. Wildlife will quickly adapt to a trail there; residents in the valley will have a harder time but will come to embrace the trail, he said. Malloy said he is confused by Two Shoes Ranch's support of the Prince Creek trail system and opposition to the Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail. He thanked Two Shoes for its support of the Prince Creek system and urged them to be consistent. Wildlife studies are all biased, he said. Yellowstone National Park is a wildlife study that has been going on for more than a century, he said. The park works for the wildlife and more than 2 million visitors annually, he said. He urged the county to build a recreation path up the Crystal Valley(Attachment A). Darryl Fuller, Garfield County resident on the Crystal River—He read a portion of his prepared, written remarks (Attachment B), saying trails "done right" can create invaluable connections and enhance public investment in the protection the landscape. He urged the county to recognize the positive impacts the trail can have. He said people have many ways to reduce their impact on wildlife, including decisions about where they live and drive, whether they own pets and other factors. Connection to the land can create a sense of stewardship, he said. The Crystal Valley needs more stewards—more people who are willing to examine and make changes to their own individual impacts, he said. Fuller said people almost never balk at the "astronomical"price of roadway projects and said investment in the trail pales when compared to ongoing roadway 11/07/2018 OSTB/BOCC Joint Meeting Page 3 of 10 investments. The trail is an investment in linking communities via human-powered travel, he said. Jeff Bier, Redstone resident—He said he supports the trail and acknowledged concerns about the alignment of the trail, including the concerns about wildlife. He said many residents in the Crystal Valley own dogs and that they are one of the biggest impacts on wildlife. He displayed a series of photos that he said were taken about 20 years ago. The photos showed two dogs at the entrance to a Crystal Valley subdivision taking down an elk in the snow. Dogs are of greater concern than the trail in terms of wildlife impacts, he said. Dixie Jacobs Luke, Ragged Mountains (Gunnison County) resident— She asked if the trail is really necessary, questioning whether the region really needs more tourists and if the trail and the additional people it would draw would really be an improvement to the valley. There are plenty of opportunities for recreation already, she said. Tom Newland, Basalt resident representing himself and Two Shoes Ranch—He thanked the county for revisions that have been made to the plan, but also questioned the plan's use of the Basalt-Old Snowmass Trail on Holland Hills roads as representative of how a shared subdivision road and trail would work in the Crystal Valley. Roads in Holland Hills are wide and paved, with good sight lines. Subdivision roads in the Crystal Valley are one lane wide, gravel and have limited sight lines (Attachment C), he said. The road in Seven Oaks would require widening, clearing and resurfacing—something many Seven Oaks residents do not want, he said. He also questioned the development projections contained in the plan and asked what is the projected rate of that growth. He said gates on bridges would be inadequate to regulate trail use and that the bridges would create riparian impacts. The gates would do nothing to stop access to a trail on Alignment B from subdivision roads and private driveways, he said. He questioned the county's stance that it would not maintain a trail on the highway during the winter and said the plan needs to recognize that demands on trail use will change. Given the timeline of trail development, placing emphasis on the cost of the trail is premature, he added. Innovations may change costs that are currently just engineered guesses. He also said national statistics show over 70 percent of bicyclists prefer to use roads or road shoulders while the remaining 30 percent were split between sidewalks and bike paths. For a recreational rider on a bike path, the average trip is 10.4 miles and takes a little over an hour. The existing Crystal Trail is more than sufficient for the normal recreational user, he said. Bill Spence, Carbondale resident—He voiced support for the trail as a safe way to ride a bicycle in the Crystal Valley and said the plan would allow trail users to appreciate the history of the valley. The most thorough wildlife study in the valley was done as part of the trail plan, he said, and he called the recommendations contained in the plan thorough and complete. He said it would be "silly"to spend money on a trail along the highway rather than use the off-highway alignment. He also advocated jump-starting completion of the trail between Carbondale and Redstone. Will Roush, executive director of Wilderness Workshop—He thanked the county for a thorough process and said the trail plan contains important management actions to help wildlife in the Crystal Valley and beyond. He suggested the federal (NEPA) review of the Redstone to McClure 11/07/2018 OSTB/BOCC Joint Meeting Page 4 of 10 Pass segment consider more alternatives than just the alignments included in the plan and a no- build alternative. He asked that the plan reflect funding for enforcement throughout the life of the trail. He also suggested a seasonal dog closure on the McClure Pass segment, similar to what is proposed for the Bear Creek segment. He asked that the plan recognize the important habitat in the Avalanche and Janeway South segments and include only an Alignment A alternative in those stretches. He also suggested that the plan make it more clear that the segments north of Redstone require future approvals by the Open Space Board and Board of County Commissioners. He recommended that Colorado Parks and Wildlife be involved as closely as possible in the NEPA reviews. Gideon Kaufman, Two Shoes Ranch representative—He said he is pleased Alignment B is no longer to be considered for the Janeway South, Perham and Filoha Meadows segments. He advocated adding Janeway North to the segments where only Alignment A will be considered. Wildlife mapping shows both Janeway areas are important, he said. The opportunities for riparian habitat and river function enhancements on Janeway North and South together was "powerfully demonstrated" in a short drone flight that produced a video; the footage was not permitted to be shown during the public hearing, he said. He asked that future segments be based on good science, saying the plan fails to take into account studies that have been conducted previously and the "strong feelings" of CPW wildlife officers. The findings of the biodiversity study that will be undertaken should be the cornerstone of future trail planning. He addressed segments of the trail where use of Alignment B is proposed and offered photos that offer a different perspective of those segments from what is depicted in the plan(Attachment D). The alternate perspectives should be considered, he said. He also said the plan's proposed habitat and riparian enhancements are a positive step,but fall short compared to the funding proposed to be devoted to the trail. He said many Crystal Valley residents felt left out of the trail planning process if they did not favor the trail. He noted a memorandum presented to the boards does not name the Crystal Caucus as a partner in the planning process. It should have a partner role, along with other organizations, as planning continues, he said. There are many new challenges facing wildlife today, he said, naming drones, e-bikes and fat-tire bikes among them. Population growth of humans and dogs will continue to challenge the survival of wildlife in the Crystal Valley, he said. The BOCC and Open Space Board should champion and protect wildlife as a priority, he said. Multiple options should be considered in the NEPA review, he added, and the county should hold itself to the standards of a NEPA when the trail is located on county property. He urged adoption of the plan by the "new"BOCC, after its newly elected member is seated in January. William Draper—He said he assessed four areas along the route as part of a CMC conservation biology class and concluded the Janeway North, Avalanche, Bear Creek and McClure segments all provide important habitat. Human impacts should be concentrated in already disturbed areas, he said; advocating the trail remain in the highway corridor through all four of the segments. Ruth Harrison, Aspen— She said she is against all trail options,unless there is a safety issue with people walking on the road. She also said the valley doesn't need more people; Open Space and Trails has too much money; trails are being added all over the place; you can't go anywhere now without running into someone; Open Space and Trails is an oxymoron(it's more like rural development); if a person wants to go to Crested Butte, they can go to Maroon Lake and hike; if 11/07/2018 OSTB/BOCC Joint Meeting Page 5 of 10 the trail was free to construct, she still wouldn't support it; and the project should be put to a vote. Peter Martin, Redstone—He thanked the county for holding the meeting in Carbondale. Martha Moran, Carbondale—A former Forest Service recreation planner and biological scientist, she said she remembers first looking at the possibilities for a Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail alignment in 2002 with Tom Newland. She credited the county for looking at the big picture,but phasing the trail in small increments to make it possible. She advocating a trail on Alignment B because it is most sustainable. She predicted the project will be a"legacy trail" and said she believes in seasonal closures. Chuck Downey, Crystal Valley resident—He said he wants to recognize the work of the county staff and boards and called what they have accomplished impressive. He said he supports the entire trail and, regarding the first phase, the trail belongs off the highway at Bear Creek and McClure, he said. He said he uses the existing trails on both segments year-round and said wildlife sightings there are rare. The trail won't just be for bicyclists, but everybody, he added. Delia Malone, Crystal Valley resident—She identified herself as an ecologist and said Colorado is full of roads and trails, making it difficult to find blank spaces on a map. When wildlife is displaced, it does not go somewhere else, it dies, she said. Wildlife populations are in decline and it is not about dogs, but humans invading wildlife habitat. She said she supports putting money toward wildlife resiliency and restoring habitat, and called for keeping the trail in the highway right-of-way. When we fragment the landscape, we degrade the landscape that supports wildlife, she said. Kate Hudson, Crystal Valley resident—Alignment A is not the highway alternative,but rather the west bank of the Crystal River alternative, she said. In many places, there is no buffer between the highway and the river. No environmental review of potential bridges and bridge locations, and their impacts, has yet been done, she said. She urged the county not to box itself in with a piecemeal approach to trail development that winds up requiring multiple bridges to connect the pieces. She urged commissioners to consider the no-action alternative and not approve the trail plan until the project's impacts on the river and bridge locations are evaluated. Diane Madigan, Crystal Valley resident—She said the trail planning process has been transparent and science-based. She appreciates the studies that have been done. She said she walked Avalanche Creek Road frequently last winter and was surprised by the number of dog violations she witnessed. Putting the trail on Alignment B in the Avalanche segment, as well as Janeway South and the Narrows segments, will result in dog violations in a pristine area, she predicted. She advised keeping the trail on the highway in the three segments. Gretchen Straub, Crystal Valley resident— She said she wishes there had been a public vote on the trail project at the outset. Just because people want a trail doesn't mean it should be built, she said. Humans have already invaded surrounding wildlife habitat and she said she opposes putting a trail into this pristine area. Habitat that still remains needs to be protected, she said. 11/07/2018 OSTB/BOCC Joint Meeting Page 6 of 10 Mike Pritchard, representing the Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association—He thanked the county boards and staff and said the trail plan respects the difficulties ahead. He predicted the completed trail will be a huge benefit for Colorado and said RFMBA has offered to help maintain the trail south of Redstone. David Johnson, Redstone—If the county builds the trail, it will need to build a wall to keep people out, he said, suggesting the money could be better spent on the protection of wild places. He said he has lost faith in the Board of County Commissioners, which ignored CPW and the Crystal Caucus in approving a bike trail development in Coal Basin. Open Space and Trails manipulated the trail planning process from the beginning by offering trail alternatives on alignments A and B but failing to offer a no-trail option, he said. There is too much to lose and not enough to gain; the trail project should be put on the back burner, he said. Jim Schmidt, mayor of Crested Butte—He said the Town of Crested Butte supports the efforts made by Pitkin County on the trail and called the trail plan a starting point for future processes to plan the trail (Attachment E). John Hoffmann, co-chair of the West Elk Historic and Scenic Byway Steering Committee—He recalled that Tom Newland laid out the Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail route on behalf of the committee (2004 Crested Butte to Carbondale Trail Feasibility Study). He said we are lucky to have an alignment that doesn't require development(Alignment B) as the grade is already in place. He said wildlife uses trails, too, and that the only time humans bother wildlife is when they hunt the animals. Elk, deer and bears still come around despite homes, dogs and lights at night, he said. If we want to protect wildlife, we should stop hunting it, he said. Michael Yerman, Community Development director for the Town of Crested Butte—He said the town appreciates the effort that Pitkin County has put into the trail plan. Lani Kitching, Carbondale— She said she is now serving on a Natural Resource Planning Committee for Garfield County and asked that the committee be kept informed as the trail effort proceeds. Open Space and Trails Board deliberations Graeme Means closed the public hearing and initiated board discussion of the plan. Michael Kinsley proposed adding language to the cost section of the trail plan to indicate that credible engineering sources have estimated the cost of trail construction at roughly half of the price estimated in the plan for Alignment A. He said he doesn't want to institutionalize the expectation that Alignment A will cost $100 million or have trail planning default to Alignment B because Alignment A appears too expensive. The cost could change greatly depending on what type of trail is built, including its width and surface, Graeme Means said, calling the costs in the plan very preliminary. Gary Tennenbaum offered this additional language: "Costs have been shown to be lower in other studies. When segments are being planned in the future, the actual engineered costs of Alignment A will be obtained during the public process." Other board members agreed. 11/07/2018 OSTB/BOCC Joint Meeting Page 7 of 10 Howie Mallory suggested language be added to the plan that acknowledges the Crystal Valley's apprehension about increased tourism. The county shouldn't be silent regarding potential impacts from increased activity and population, he said. Tennenbaum and Jon Peacock suggested language from the county's Strategic Plan be added to the beginning of the trail plan. The county's decision making should reflect the core values that are stated in the Strategic Plan, Mallory said. The board agreed with the proposed additional language. Graeme Means said a lot of legitimate concerns were expressed during the two-year process that led to the trail plan and that the plan has evolved remarkably as a result of public input. The project has changed from a commuter trail to one that connects neighborhoods. In addition, the plan now includes biodiversity enhancements. The plan has evolved from a bike trail plan to an environmental plan for the Crystal Valley, he said. Means said he would support recommending the plan to the Board of County Commissioners for approval. Wayne Ives also noted the changes in the plan and said that, as a Crystal Valley resident, he shares the concerns other residents have expressed. He said he is optimistic that there will be an opportunity to address concerns as the plan moves forward. For the first phase of the trail, the NEPA process will mean a lot more public involvement and for future phases, Ives said he supports involving stakeholder groups to plan each segment. He said he believes the plan is adaptable and that the cost of Alignment A should not dictate that the trail goes on Alignment B. Amy Barrow said the plan is now a better document because it reflects the public's input. She said she appreciates the phasing approach and the connectivity that the trail will provide. She said she is excited about the biodiversity aspects of the plan. The plan shows it is possible to "connect the dots." The plan allows the county to take up the trail segment by segment and decide if all of the dots should be connected, Barrow said. She voiced support for moving the plan forward. Michael Kinsley said he'd like to recommend that the NEPA review consider all possible trail route alternatives and on the McClure segment, that there be a seasonal dog closure if needed on the McClure segment, that the trail plan explicitly state that an additional board vote is needed to move each phase of the trail forward and that connecting trail segments should be proposed by the residents themselves. He said the board's biodiversity policy requires that the board determine the trail segments do not have a significant impact on biodiversity in order to move them forward. He said he is uncertain about the effects of a trail in the Bear Creek and McClure sections but will advocate the county withdraw its proposed use of Alignment B in those segments if the Watershed Biodiversity Study shows the trail would have significant environmental impacts. He also cautioned against letting the trail project gain such momentum that it proceeds regardless of its impacts. Large projects tend to take on a life of their own when they are developed over years and involve many agencies and individuals, Kinsley said. The projects move forward incrementally until final approval is a given because no one is willing to halt a project that is so far along. Approval tends to happen by default, he said. The board needs to be cautious about how it moves each step of the process forward and not get caught up in momentum that makes the project happen despite impacts that the board wanted to avoid. 11/07/2018 OSTB/BOCC Joint Meeting Page 8 of 10 Howie Mallory agreed the board needs to be mindful of momentum. It is the board's job to make responsible decisions, he said. Mallory noted no one was talking about the disappearing bighorn sheep herd in the Crystal Valley or degradation of the river until the trail planning began. The discussion has been broadened to the Crystal Valley's environmental health, he said. OPEN SPACE AND TRAILS BOARD ACTION Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail Plan Howie Mallory moved to approve the Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail Plan as amended and recommend its approval by the Board of County Commissioners on first reading. Amy Barrow seconded. The motion passed (4-1). Kinsley voted against the motion. Kinsley said he opposed the motion, not because he doesn't think the plan should proceed, but because he wants everyone to remember that somebody said that there is a danger in proceeding. ADJOURN The Open Space and Trails Board meeting of Nov. 7, 2018 adjourned at 4:25 p.m. BOCC ACTION George Newman moved to approve a Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners to Adopt the Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail Plan as amended on first reading and bring it forward for second reading. Rachel Richards seconded. Motion passed(5-0). ADJOURN The Board of County Commissioners meeting of Nov. 7, 2018 adjourned at 5:24 p.m. A video of the meeting is available at: https://pitkincounty.ompnetwork.org/embed/sessions/92926/11-07-2018 joint-ostb-and- bocc-11-07-2018 Approved: Attest: ,_. ... .-,--,2074."--4,-a--..----- F'n - Means, Chair Janet Urquhart ' County Open Space &Trails Board OST Stewardship and Outreach Coordinator ATTACHMENTS Attachment A—Malloy comments Attachment B —Fuller comments Attachment C—Newland photographs 11/07/2018 OSTB/BOCC Joint Meeting Page 9 of 10 Attachment D—Kaufman photographs Attachment E—Schmidt letter Attachment F—Ogilby letter 11/07/2018 OSTB/BOCC Joint Meeting Page 10 of 10