Colorado residents push back against "ultimatum" issued by developer in Dillon

Much like Boardwalk in Monopoly, the fate of a few plots of land near the Dillon Amphitheatre are hotly contested, as the town prepares for a special election vote on Oct. 1.  

The spot right along Dillon Reservoir is in flux, with the property owner of both the Best Western and the old Arapahoe Cafe in negotiations to sell the land to a developer intending to put together a massive project designed with 200 units, a restaurant, coffee shop, and public park.  

If you need to catch up on the specifics of what the project is, who the developer is, and what they're expecting it to look like, check out the CBS Colorado story from earlier this year.

In the meantime, a question will go out to voters asking them if they approve of the planned development as it stands. The city council previously approved the plan back in March of this year (in a meeting that went well into the next morning.) Still, the public outcry from citizens has been loud enough to bring this vote to the town and provide the city proof of how many people approve of the development, and how many want to see something different. 

Laura Johnson, a local Dillon resident, has taken it upon herself to do some serious research into the issue and has found what she calls a few faults with the design plan (and this assertion is backed up by an attorney in a summary, included below.)

One of the primary being the zoning for the land, the height of the building, and the responsibilities she believes fall on the developer. She said since the project is looking to put a single building across four different plots of land, it eliminates the built-in setbacks the town intended to keep open to make sure views were not obstructed.  

"They have front setbacks, side setbacks, rear setbacks, and most of them are 20 feet," Johnson said. "On this particular parcel because a lot of that street facing so in order for the developer, the developer cannot build one building on these four lots right now and that was overlooked in the summary."

The city confirms the developer has threatened a "by-right" build, claiming he does not need to have approval on the site in order to build, but is trying to work with the city for a solution that benefits everyone. He has said the building could be far less friendly to the town if he did not make their happiness a priority. 

Carolyn Skowyra, Mayor of Dillon, said she believes that's a tactic to push through the current bid. She said the residents of Dillon became disenchanted with the development as the city council continued to have private meetings with the developer and move the project along.  

"At one point the developer said something along the lines of 'I wanted to get this passed by the town council before I got input from the people,' and to me, that's exactly backward," Skowyra said. 

"We should have been getting input from the people all along." 

The vote will be tallied on Oct. 1. Regardless of the outcome, Skowyra said it's hard to tell what could happen. 

"The sky's the limit," Skowyra said, shrugging. "The developer right now is presenting that 'if it's not A, it's Z.' I think Laura's right in what she's saying and what this group is presenting is that there are a lot of options in the middle and the town does have thresholds that need to be met and a process to go through."