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Developer wants 2009 approval reinstated for Basalt housing project after expansion rejected

Cows graze at the Stott's Mill site north of Basalt High School in fall 2015. A development team wants approvals from 2009 reinstated for a housing project.
Aspen Times file photo |

A proposal for a Basalt housing project is being resurrected for a second time.

The Stott’s Mill project was approved for 110 residences in 2009, but the development team couldn’t build it because of the Great Recession.

Briston Peterson and his partners in MSP1 LLC revived the proposal in 2016 and sought approval for 156 units. The application was denied in February because of a 3-3 deadlock on the council.



Now the developers are asking for a reinstatement of the 2009 approval — with a modest increase in the number of residences to 113. The Basalt Town Council will review the request Tuesday evening.

The project faced opposition in February from some residents of the Southside neighborhood who claimed it would overwhelm the area. Traffic in and out of Southside depends on one ingress and egress. The neighborhood currently has 84 residences, numerous businesses and high school traffic.




Peterson said in February he needed the extra units to make the project’s finances work. His team has been paying for years for an option to buy 18 acres of land from Alice Stott. The site is north of Basalt High School on the east side of Southside Drive.

Councilmen Auden Schendler, Mark Kittle and Bernie Grauer voted to approve the expanded project in February. Mayor Jacque Whitsitt and council members Gary Tennenbaum and Jennifer Riffle were opposed. Whitsitt said at the time she would support the project at the 110-residence level approved in 2009.

The latest proposal includes 23 deed-restricted, price-capped affordable housing units with the possibility of two additional units dedicated to the Roaring Fork School District. As proposed, there will be 19 rental units and four for-sale units or lots. The first priority to purchase the four vacant lots would be given to the school district and Habitat for Humanity.

The Basalt Planning and Zoning Commission asked the development team to consider increasing the number of deed-restricted lots.

The project will have 88 free-market residences, 43 of which will be rental units.

In the big picture, combining the free-market and deed-restricted units, Stott’s Mill will feature 65 multi-family apartments and 48 single-family or duplex lots, according to a memo prepared by the Basalt planning staff.

The project will include two parks, one featuring two outdoor tennis courts, a basketball court and a public bathroom. The developer also will provide a shell site for a day care facility that would be leased at 80 percent of the market rate for midvalley daycares.

The planning commission recommended approval of the project with conditions. The town staff also recommended approval.

Stott’s Mill is scheduled to be reviewed at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers at Basalt Town Hall.

scondon@aspentimes.com