HomeMy WebLinkAboutJay Merriam DVM,MS_DEC-25Dear Commissioners Samson, Jankovsky and Will
I am writing with deep concern about the proposed large-scale development,
HARVEST ROARING FORK, at the Cattle Creek Confluence, where Cattle Creek meets the
Roaring Fork River. This area is one of the last intact open spaces along the river and is vital
not only to Garfield County, but to the health and sustainability of the entire Roaring Fork
Valley — including Pitkin and Eagle Counties. I am president of the Teller Springs HOA,
directly across the river from this potential festering abscess on our already crowded
landscape. As I write I am watching a herd of elk graze happily there. We (21 homeowners)
at Teller Springs HOA have already placed 32+ acres into conservation with AVLT and it is a
winter dwell for the herd as well, allowing access to cross the river and a place to rest,
calve and survive.
This proposed project should not move forward:
Thousands of new vehicle trips would overwhelm Highway 82 and local roads,
requiring new traffic lights and stretching emergency response capacity. This puts residents
at greater risk. The proposed “Michigan U=Turn concept would slow rush hours to a crawl.
Taxpayers are being asked to fund all traffic modifications.
The Roaring Fork watershed is already under strain. A large development without
robust stormwater safeguards would increase runoff, pollution, and sediment, degrading
water quality for communities downstream. The demands placed on groundwater and
commercially available water would devastate our riparian habitat. The presence of 2-3000
homes there is untenable. The air above and around the site is already so toxic from the
unabated discharge of fumes from the asphalt plant (unknown exact type of VOCs because
we have been unable to get the county to monitor and identify) that pays so little tax and
always wants more working hours. Digging and placing a sewer pipe across our Gold Medal
river is an act of environmental suicide.
The proposed density — 1,500 residential units, up to 450 ADU’s, a hotel, and
commercial space on 283 acres — is fundamentally incompatible with existing zoning and
with the valley’s rural identity. The developers have conveniently omitted real numbers,
asking only for a new PUD with actuals to be discussed at some future date.It’s a bait and
switch technique.
The proposal does not account for the strain on schools, fire protection, EMS, and
utilities. This leaves existing taxpayers and communities to absorb the costs of growth.
They advertise “redefining luxury” while touting a vague number and price for “affordable”
housing units. The announcement of 2 child care facilities, again of undefined size and
scope, is certainly a ruse and should not even be part of the discussion.
The confluence is a rich ecological corridor, home to bald eagles, herons, elk, deer,
foxes, trout, and migratory birds. Development of this scale would fragment critical habitat
and disrupt migration and breeding grounds. The developers boast about river access while
they have NONE per existing Conservation Documents. They also include already
conserved open space as counting toward their own… not possible.
I respectfully urge you to reject this development and to protect the Cattle Creek
Confluence for current and future generations.
Jay
Jay Merriam DVM,MS
Teller Springs HOA, President
1800 County Rd. 109
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601
508-498-0347