Dear Editor:
“I do not care about Pagosa West Development because it does not involve me, she said.” Think again, M’am!!
All of Pagosa Springs residents should want to know plans for 99 acres of mixed use prime real estate by developer, David Dragoo at the juncture of South Pagosa and Hyw 160 (Main Street). Trust destroyed by a lack of information, transparency, and engagement with the community is not easily restored and should make us all concerned about what is being hidden. Troubling questions remain. How critical will be increased travel congestion at traffic light on northwest corner of South Pagosa at Highway 160 affecting Timber Ridge Ranch and Pagosa Lakes Ranch residents who lack reasonable egress alternatives to down town or out of town, along with Medical Center and its services to Pagosa Springs residents. (Reference other unanswered concerns clearly articulated in Pagosa Sun, October 15th edition of letters to the editor by Weitzel.)
Untrue: “Pagosa West representatives have engaged with neighboring businesses and residential areas to listen to their concerns and desires. Feedback from these discussions has been incorporated into the development strategy while fully complying with existing zoning and land entitlements.”
True: Two meetings on August 19th and 21st, 2025 were presented by Pagosa West architect, Brad Ash. At the beginning of each meeting, CDC Director Emily Lashbrooke requested that the audience not ask questions verbally, but submit them in writing and she would forward them to the developer to be answered. To date, no one has received an answer. So, there has been no dialogue directly between the developers and the neighboring residential neighborhoods.
The meeting notice stated that the experts would not be available at the meeting, When asked who were the experts, the answer was “the developers”, who from all indications were in attendance at the meeting via Zoom, and if so, would have been able to engage with the audience and directly answer questions.
Folks, we all should be concerned by obscurity of truth, failure to respond to questions, and game playing, by the developer, David Dragoo, and other involved parties. Trust is the basis of a strong community.
Perhaps answers by developer David Dragoo will be forthcoming at the upcoming meeting called by Planning Commission for October 28, 2025, 5:30 pm, 551 Hot Springs Blvd. All Pagosans urged to care and attend.
Virginia Baxt
