ICE FESTIVAL – Spectators crowded the viewing decks during Saturday’s ice climbing competition in Ouray.

Mouse’s Chocolates was packed Saturday afternoon during the Ouray Ice Festival. The Variety Store was deserted.

Just how much the annual Ouray Ice Festival helps the town’s winter economy depends on who you talk to, but it’s good overall, said Jennifer Loshaw, director of the Ouray County Resort Association.

“It seemed like the climbers spent a lot more time in town and being part of the community,” she said. “I think it was great. A lot of people came out here with the intention of it being their vacation.”

Loshaw volunteered at the Ouray Ice Park Saturday and said the festival seems to be attracting a wider range of people, from senior citizens to young couples with babies.

The Ice Festival has been a big boost to Ouray’s winter economy, which Loshaw said extends past the festival.

“A lot of people had a lot of questions for me and it seem like a lot of the Chicks with Picks folks are staying all month,” she said.

Even though the festival doesn’t bring the throngs of tourists who come during the summer months, Bob Wilson of Ouray V&S Variety Store said having extra people in town always helps.

“We get some of it, but if you knew the sport, their equipment is so expensive,” he said. “An ice pick can cost from $200 to $600 or $700 so they don’t have a lot to just go out and blow.”

Most sales go to hotels, restaurants and service stations, he said, “but they help us, too.”

Ouray Liquors had a very good weekend during the festival, said Matt Genuit, which was “as good if not better than last year.”

Mayor Bob Risch said he was pleasantly surprised by the turnout.

“We thought it might be down this year, but it turned out to be better than expected, from readings from some of the meals at the Community Center,” he said.

Motels in town were packed, said Maria Ziemba of Best Western Twin Peaks motel.

“We had a couple of cancellations, but somebody else would scoop them up,” she said. “The town was packed and it seems like everybody had a nice time and that’s what it’s all about.”

At the Ouray Victorian Inn, new owner Brian Lisk said he couldn’t draw comparisons to last year, but his hotel was full during the festival.

Business was brisk all weekend at Ouray Mountain Sports, which sells ice climbing equipment, outdoor clothing and supplies, but as an employee said, “We’re in the ice climbing business.”

The Ice Festival also figures in planning for the future, said Joyce Linn, chair of the Community Development Committee, the economic arm of the city council.

Linn said she would like to see the festival last longer, or see a winter carnival begun that would add even more appeal during the winter months.

The true measure of the festival is its long-term impacts, said festival director Erin Eddy.

“I think the biggest thing is the indirect impact of all the media has written about Ouray,” Eddy said. “It brings attention to a little town with an advertising budget of only about $85,000 a year. The more people talk about us, the better the little businesses will do, and that allows a lot of us to continue to live in Ouray.”

Attendance was down slightly from last year, he said, but fundraising during the festival was consistent with past years.

“The money we raised is where it’s always been and that’s really positive,” he said.

Written by: Gus Jarvis – Ouray County Watch

Posted by: Erin Eddy – www.ourayland.com and www.ridgwayland.com

Despite Economy, Property Values Not Expected to Decline

OURAY – With the housing market in shambles, property owners in Ouray County might have hopes that their property value will drop after this year’s state mandated valuation and thus lowering their 2010 property taxes. Ouray County Assessor Susie Mayfield said on Monday that probably won’t be the case.

“A majority of Western Slope counties are expecting them [property values] to stay the same or go up” Mayfield told the Ouray County Commissioners at their meeting on Monday. “The Western Slope has not had major foreclosures like the Eastern Slope counties have had. Because of oil and gas, Mesa County is not seeing a drop is sales prices and neither are any resort communities.”

Mayfield told the commissioners in her report that officials from Western Slope counties are getting together and planning an informational campaign to notify property owners that they shouldn’t expect property values to decrease. Every odd year, county assessors across the state must perform a state mandated revaluation of every property within the county. The revaluation is based on an analysis of market sales during the timeframe of Jan. 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008.

Once the revaluations are complete, a Notice of Valuation indicating the change in actual value of a property will be mailed to its owner the first week of May 2009. This new value will be used in the calculation of property taxes owed in January 2010.

“Just because they are just sitting out there on the market, it doesn’t mean their values are going to drop,” she said. “We expect to get some phone calls.”

Mayfield said she is exploring various possibilities for informing taxpayers about this year’s revaluation and what to expect. Commissioner Keith Meinert said it might be worth mailing information to owners in Ouray County to make sure the process is clear.

“If you thought it would be helpful to do a mass mailing, I think it would be worth the expense to get the message out there properly,” Meinert said. “Anything we can do to explain the voodoo calculations that you all go through and that people should not anticipate seeing a reduction in property values and may even see an increase.”

Tax payers in Ouray County can expect the 2008 abstract of assessment and levies in their mailbox in the next few weeks.

Written by: Gus Jarvis of the Ouray County Watch

Posted by: Erin Eddy

www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com

Cornerstone Named Best Private Course by Golf Magazine
Greg Norman Course to Host Senior Tournament

MONTROSE – The unparalleled beauty of Cornerstone’s setting atop the Uncompahgre Plateau is enough to set it apart from other mountain developments. But add to that a Greg Norman-designed golf course and be prepared for national recognition.

The January 2009 issue of Golf Magazine, currently on newsstands, has named Cornerstone the #1 Best New Private Golf Course in the country.

The 7,945-yard, par 72 course was touted by the editors at Golf Magazine as “easily the best high-altitude course in the nation, and quite possibly the world.” They called it Norman’s “finest North American project to date.” This prestigious recognition, which bested Donald Trump’s National Bedminster in New Jersey (#2), comes six months after all 18 holes were opened in July.

“This is something we are certainly proud of,” Head Golf Pro and Golf Manager Sean Tannehill said in an interview last week. “This is a golf course that is designed for everybody. My favorite thing about the course is the possibility of playing a multitude of different approaches, which enables a lot of bump and runs and a lot of great shots.”

The editors at Golf Magazine also made note of the way the course uses the natural landscape: “Purists will appreciate the tough forced carries and greens that often demand run-up approach shots, and the fast greens and shaved surrounds even things up for players of all abilities.”

The course was designed according to Norman’s well-known “least disturbance” philosophy, which curtails massive earth movement, reduces large-scale clearing and takes full advantage of the natural features on the landscape. The course covers more than 300 acres and is designed to provide golfers at all skill levels an enjoyable game.

“When Greg Norman first toured the land on snowmobile, he immediately saw the potential for the golf course and we partnered with him knowing that we had selected the best designer in the business,” said Larry Corsen, senior vice president of Hunt Realty Inc., a privately held real estate investment company, and owner and operator of Cornerstone. “We are thrilled to see our dream of Greg’s talent come to fruition and be recognized as the number one private golf course by Golf Magazine. We are truly honored to be at the top of this revered category of golf course in the United States.”

As if the #1 ranking wasn’t enough, Tannehill said that Cornerstone will be hosting the Colorado Senior Amateur Championship the first week in September.

“For us, it is a great way to get senior competitive players to play our course and to this part of Colorado,” said Tannehill. “All of these championships have always been held out on the Front Range [of Colorado] and it is a great opporunity for us.”

Members of Cornerstone have access to a 20-plus acre practice facility and some of the finest golf professionals and staff in the nation. Mark Wood has consistently been ranked one of the top 50 instructors in the country for the past 10 years, and Kathy Hart-Wood, former LPGA touring pro and also a celebrated top 50 instructor as named by Golf for Women, is director of women’s golf. Cornerstone also recently celebrated the opening of its clubhouse, which includes a casual bar and grill, outdoor dining and the Village Mercantile, featuring a golf pro shop and outfitters’ headquarters.

Written by Gus Jarvis

Posted by:

Erin Eddy

www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com

December 26, 2008

Oh, the curse of the 35-acre parcel. The old ranchers’ saying goes, “to small to farm, too big to mow.”

Yet 35 is the magic number in Ouray County’s unique and innovative Land Use Code (LUC). In both Valley and Alpine zones, where the LUC discourages development, that is the number of acres where private property owners have the right to construct a home.

The LUC is the companion document to the county’s Master Plan. There, in Section A, the county’s collective goal is “to encourage the continued use of lands for agricultural productivity.” To date, much of that goal has been met; Ouray County’s valued valleys have mostly remained with haying and cattle activities, though a few homes have sprung up at the 35 acre density.

Outgoing County Commissioner Don Batchelder warns that just because the Master Plan aspiration is being met today, that doesn’t mean it won’t be tomorrow.

“… there are a number of factors, economic and personal, facing a number of the smaller ranches in the county’s valleys that indicate agricultural lands are at risk,” writes Batchelder, in a two-page proposal titled “Incentivizing Cluster Development in the Valley Zone Through the Developer Agreement Process.”

At first blush, the proposal seems to have great potential to be a win-win proposition — preventing the break-up of parcels into the undesirable 35s, and giving landowners a means to preserve the considerable value of their land. The proposal deserves a thorough hearing, and if favored by those it affects, implementation.

As Batchelder points out, ranchers are typically a tough sell when it comes to government regulation. As such, to gain buy-in, the new code would have to be fairly straight forward. He proposes:

n The density per housing unit in the Valley Zone be doubled, to 70 acres.

n Ranch owners could cluster houses under a development agreement, as long as 80% of the land remains dedicated to agriculture, and that water rights remain tied to the property.

In all, five amendments to the LUC are proposed, but Batchelder’s solution to the 35-acre dilemma remains simple, and seemingly viable.

Written by: David Mullings

Posted by Erin Eddy

www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com

Written by:

Christopher Pike

December 19, 2008

OURAY — Before he leaves office next month, Don Batchelder wants to address an issue he believes is important for the future of ranching in Ouray County.

The issue: Incentives for the preservation of ranch lands and, in tandem, keeping water rights with those lands in the county.

“The county hasn’t done anything in preserving those facets of the Master Plan,” said Batchelder at Monday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting. “There is potential for losing some of the ranch lands in the valleys, with only the potential for breaking those tracts into 35s.”

Batchelder believes that the Ouray County Master Plan’s goal of “encouraging the continued use of lands for agricultural productivity” will not be met without larger tracts being protected from non-ag uses, including housing development.

“The tendency in land use issues is to assume that what exists is how things will remain. However, there are a number of factors, economic and personal, facing a number of smaller ranches in the county’s valleys that indicate agricultural lands are at risk,” said Batchelder in a two-page white paper titled, “Incentivizing Cluster Development in the Valley Zone through the Development Agreement Process.”

The current code, Batchelder points out, “does nothing” to prevent the subdivision of agricultural land into 35-acre parcels and by state law there is no governmental review of these property divisions. And, he adds, the county’s Land Use Code does nothing to keep water rights in the county.

With land prices being as high as they are, 35-acre parcels have become the target for non-agricultural development, be it straight-ahead commercial, recreational or industrial, Batchelder said. “Ranchers have a saying about 35-acre lots: ‘too small to farm and too big for a lawn’.”

The catch is finding an incentive for property owners to preserve productive ag land without diminishing the land’s value and to keeping land from being separated from water rights, which ultimately results in land being more conducive for subdivision development — not agriculture.

Regulation alone will not suffice, noted Batchelder.

“Ranchers are typically no-nonsense, self-employed business people with distaste for government regulation. The proposal needs to be understandable, simple, straightforward, and not burdened by unnecessary bureaucratic process.”

Batchelder’s proposal will be discussed informally at the BOCC’s Dec. 22 meeting. One key component is to set maximum densities “except for property divided in accordance with a development agreement.” The landowner would have to reciprocate, however, by restricting use of the parcel to agriculture uses, keeping the water rights on the land, and locating any home or homes in a clustered fashion.