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Carbondale takes up Thompson annexation

John Stroud
Glenwood Springs correspondent
Aspen, CO Colorado

CARBONDALE – Town planning staff is recommending approval of the proposed 10.2-acre Thompson Park annexation and zoning for up to 85 residential units.

Regardless, the project applicant, Frieda Wallison, would like the Carbondale Board of Trustees to make a final decision one way or the other at a special meeting Tuesday, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Carbondale Town Hall.

The staff recommendation comes after multiple meetings in the public hearing before town trustees over the past several months during which numerous details have been ironed out.



Wallison proposes to annex the small section of unincorporated Garfield County along Highway 133, located between the Keator Grove and River Valley Ranch neighborhoods. The area has been known for many years as the “county island.”

The proposal calls for rezoning the site to accommodate between 45 and 85 residential units.




A key provision of the proposal would be the dedication of the historic turn-of-the-20th-century Thompson house to the town for a museum.

The Carbondale Planning and Zoning Commission earlier this year recommended denial of the annexation request, saying the plan failed to meet the so-called “above and beyond” goals included in the town’s comprehensive plan for new annexations.

However, town planning staff now believes those goals have been met through the ongoing negotiations with the town board in recent months.

“The development provides master planning for the ‘county island,’ establishing road, pedestrian/bicycle, utility and park connectivity,” staff wrote in its report to the board for tonight’s discussion.

Other benefits of the plan, according to the staff, include a diversity of housing types, parkland in excess of code requirements, plus the Thompson house dedication.

If approved, and assuming all 85 houses are ultimately built, the project would include 17 income-restricted affordable housing units and 20 units reserved for resident owners.

The plan also calls for more than 2 acres of parkland dedication, more than the 15 percent required by town code.

jstroud@postindependent.com