Silverthorne parcel annexation up for discussion

SILVERTHORNE — Silverthorne will hold a public forum at Silverthorne’s town council meeting Wednesday to discuss annexation and rezoning of the Smith Ranch parcel, purchased in December to land-bank for a future affordable-housing development.

“Since we own the property, we want to bring it into our jurisdiction,” said Mark Leidal, community-development director of Silverthorne.

Council members hope to annex and zone the land quickly, despite remaining hesitant to commit to a building project. The plan to annex the land officially won’t be approved until its second review at the town’s Jan. 28 meeting.

The final purchase cost was $3.5 million for the 51-acre property that is slated to be developed into a local’s neighborhood some time in the next decade.

In mid-November, the town council approved spending up to $3.7 million to buy the property. The measure was approved as an emergency ordinance to save the town from $18,000 in monthly holding rights and interest fees after negotiations fell through with Compass Homes to annex and develop the property.

“I think it’s the best thing we’ve done in recent Silverthorne history,” councilwoman Peggy Long said at the time.

The Silverthorne town council also will review final approval at Wednesday’s meeting for adoption of the 2006 international building codes.

Despite agreeing to adopt the international codes, the town council failed to jump on the bandwagon with an initiative already adopted by Frisco, Breckenridge and the county by rejecting a sustainable-building code last month that focuses on energy conservation.

Too many restrictions on multi-unit construction and unanswered questions about the logistics of managing the code made members of the council nervous, so they decided to shelve the code discussion for six months.



Caitlin Row can be reached at (970) 668-4633 or at crow@summitdaily.com.