During a work session held by the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) on Tuesday, Sept. 8, Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation (PSCDC) Executive Director Emily Lashbrooke spoke about the possibility of establishing a special district for the Cloman industrial park property owners.
Lashbrooke explained that some of the property owners held a meeting recently to “reignite” the idea of a property owners association in order to be able to cover funding for road maintenance, snow plowing, a mailbox cluster “and some other things that they’ve identified.”
Lashbrooke indicated there are 61 properties in the Cloman industrial park and about 25 property owners.
She explained that she was contacted by one of the property owners about the idea and that the first thing to do before spending any money to form the district would be to go to the BoCC and see if it would support the district.
“Part of the reason for the special district is the lack of the pavement in that big circle in Cloman,” she said, indicating that it would cost around $500,000 to pave.
Lashbrooke explained that the “theoretic proposal” is to apply for the next round of the Community Development Block Grant through the Department of Local Affairs for funds to pave the road.
She noted that the assessed value of the Cloman industrial park properties is around $5 million, and if the district were to go to 5 mills, that would generate roughly $27,000 a year.
“That would be a good chunk to do all the crack seal, repaving when needed, snow removal maintenance and all other road management items,” Lashbrooke said, calling it a “win-win situation for the county and Cloman business park because the county’s road and bridge funds are very limited right now and shrinking as we know them to be.”
She mentioned that applying for a grant would cover the “major paving,” and then the district would have funding to maintain the road, “and take this off of the county’s responsibility.”
Lashbrooke also noted that multiple property owners were in attendance at the work session and wanted to be a part of the discussion.
She went on to explain that the PSCDC inherited a greenbelt property in the area several years ago, indicating that it would be a “perfect spot” for a business sign.
Lashbrooke mentioned that the property is “not really utilizable” unless wetlands are relocated, while also noting it could be a good spot for a mailbox cluster.
Lashbrooke explained that, currently, all the property owners in Cloman industrial park have to go to the post office downtown, “and that takes away time that they could be handling issues and problems with their business.”
Lashbrooke claimed that having a mailbox cluster for Cloman industrial park “would actually alleviate some of the traffic there.”
Lashbrooke also noted that she has not spoken with every property owner yet, and that she was bringing the idea forward to “run it by you.”
She added that creating the special district could help the county, and help Cloman property owners “become more self-sufficient and manage their own roads and not have to lean on the county or put requests in and wait until the funding arrives.”
Lashbrooke was joined by one of the property owners, Peter Hurley, who asked if the BoCC was aware of a petition process for a neighborhood to be taken back into the county’s maintenance schedule.
The BoCC indicated it was not aware of such a process.
Commissioner Veronica Medina asked specifically where the mailbox cluster would be located, noting the county has been talking about building a new transfer station in the area.
County Manager Longinos Gonzalez explained that this was the “most appropriate” site proposed for the transfer station.
In response to a question from Commissioner Warren Brown, Lashbrooke explained that the county’s property for a future transfer station is not included in the potential Cloman industrial park special district at this time.
Lashbrooke mentioned that an attorney would be needed in order to draft all the necessary paperwork to form the district, “but why spend all that money if there’s not a palate at the commissioner level?”
Another property owner gave comments on the matter, asking for the county to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in Cloman industrial park, and for the county to do away with its 15 percent landscaping requirement.
“Landscaping seems to be a waste of money and time in the planning process,” he said.
He also claimed that allowing ADUs would be beneficial for the local economy by employers being able to offer rental units at “below market” rates, increasing payroll in the county.
“If they have to go to the open market and find a rental place, that employee may not end up moving here,” he said.
Lashbrooke also explained that creating a special district would require the property owners to develop multiyear service plans, noting there are a lot of “accountable measures that they would all agree to.”
Brown commented that it might be worth the time and effort if creating a special district is a viable option for the business owners that are interested in it.
He added that anytime “we as private citizens are able to take control of our own destiny and our own surroundings for business purposes, I think that is an advantage for our community as a whole.”
Brown offered more comments on the potential transfer station site, explaining that back in May the BoCC had private parties “offer to buy a replacement land for the county.”
Brown indicated that he has not heard a “single word” since then, “but I can tell you it is my intent to put that recycling center right out there on that piece of land if the county does not receive a piece of property that’s acceptable” to do the same thing.
Brown also expressed that the county needs “to have something different than what is going on right now” with its transfer station facility.
“So, I just want to make sure that you are aware of this, and if this degrades the county’s ability to make that decision, then I would probably not support that,” Brown said, adding, “Because we have to take care of the county as a whole. We can’t just look at our own private businesses.”
clayton@pagosasun.com
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