Gunnison Rising

A Master Land Use Plan (Master Plan) was initially submitted to the City in December 2006. After a charette in May 2007, the Master Plan was amended. Since the charette, the Master Plan has been updated per meetings with the Planning Commission and other governmental agencies. An updated Master Plan has been provided with this report (Figure 6). A summary of the changes to the Master Plan from the initial formal submittal made in May 2007 include the following:

North of Highway 50

• Development, residential and commercial, has been limited to south of the Contour Trail.
• Area north of Contour Trail has been designated Open Space (420-acres).
• Off-site trail connection has been provided.
• A 10-acre Elementary School site has been provided.
• Density of the Residential land use has been revised from .25-2 DU/AC to 2-5 DU/AC.
• Proposed roads through the Park/Open Space and irrigation ditch have been minimized.
• Trail access along the eastern boundary has been provided from the Contour Trail to the proposed trail system along the irrigation ditch.
• Per Fox Higgins’ recommendation at the May 4^th charette, two additional access points have been provided onto Highway 50 since this will be an extension of urban development of the City of Gunnison.
• Georgia Avenue connection has been eliminated.
• Virginia Avenue/College Avenue connection has been illustrated with a traffic-calming round-about.

South of Highway 50

• Business & Research Park land use at the eastern most portion of this area has been renamed to Business & Industrial Park.
• The acreage of the Business Industrial Park land use on the east side of the site has been increased.
• A possible Pioneer Museum expansion area has been included within the western Business & Research Park.
• The Equestrian Meadow acreage has been increased.
• The Western Pavilion Equestrian Center acreage has been decreased.
• A 3-acre Open Space area has been provided west of the Western Pavilion Equestrian Center and southwest of the Equestrian Meadow.
• The Recreational Resort acreage has been decreased and has been located west of the existing land form along Highway 50. This land use area encompasses the existing residence. The number of recreational units has been revised to 500.
• The Residential land use has been renamed to Single Family Residential. The acreage has been decreased and the land use is located east of the existing land form.
• A 44-acre Open Space land use area has been identified south of the Single-Family Residential land use. 
• A 6-acre Open Space land use has been identified which encompasses the existing land form along Highway 50.
• A 2-acre Buffer has been provided between the Single Family Residential land use and Commercial land use.
• Trail connection has been provided west to Jorgensen Park.
• The area of land to be acquired by the Bureau of Reclamation as Open Space has been increased to 442-acres of land.
• The area east of the land formation (6-acres Open Space) is proposed to be placed into Developing Resource Zone, a holding zone, which contains approximately 231-acres.
• A 7-acre single-family residential parcel with an existing recorded 60’ access easement has been carved out along the southern boundary. 

In addition to an updated Master Plan, the Context/Existing Conditions Map (Figure 2) and Composite Analysis (Figure 5) have been updated. Change to the Context/Existing Conditions Map includes providing a correct project boundary. Changes to the Composite Analysis include updating the “Preservation and Open Space Development” areas to reflect the increase in Open Space within Gunnison Rising North, north of the Contour Trail, and the increase in land to be acquired by the Bureau of Reclamation. A Phasing Plan (Figure 8) for Gunnison Rising has also been provided.

An Annexation Petition request was submitted to the City of Gunnison for the Gunnison Rising development in 2006. This Annexation Petition refers to the Gunnison Rising development as the “Tomichi Creek Corridor Annexation.” As part of this Annexation Petition, approximately 369-acres of land were identified on the initial Land Use Plan as “U.S. Federal Government” land was included in the Petition. As a part of the updated Master Plan, this area to be acquired by the Bureau of Reclamation has been identified on the updated Master Plan as “Open Space (Bureau of Reclamation)” and has been increased in area to approximately 442-acres of land.

The 73-acres of land difference was an error that was made in the preparation of the initial Annexation Plat. In addition, there are 7-acres of land located along the southern boundary of the land to be acquired by the Bureau of Reclamation that are not owned by Gunnison Valley Partners that have been illustrated on the updated Master Plan. This 7-acre parcel of land is owned by others and requested to be included as part of the Annexation Petition. This parcel is accessed via a recorded 60’ access easement which extends from Highway 50 and across Tomichi Creek as illustrated.

There has been discussion amongst City officials regarding the annexation of the entire 1741-acres currently represented on the updated Master Plan for Gunnison Rising, including the 442-acres of Open Space to be acquired by the Bureau of Reclamation, or annex only 1299-acres of land, which excludes Bureau of Reclamation Open Space land. A Master Plan showing the exclusion of the 442-acres of land can be seen in Figure 7. We believe that there are benefits to annexation of the entire 1741-acres of land. Should City officials decide against annexation of the 442-acres of Bureau of Reclamation land, the required amount of Open Space necessary for the Gunnison Rising development will not be affected. An Open Space analysis has been provided elsewhere in this Section.

It is the preference of Gunnison Valley Partners that a revised Annexation Petition and Plat be submitted to the City of Gunnison reflecting what is illustrated on the currently revised master plan.