[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6586498,"mediaKeyId","5489982-c6f500d2dade32d8076d9606a7985b89","parentId",5489982,"title","Public and caucus representatives press county on CDUs, TDRs and mapping as draft Vision 2050 raises housing questions","audioSeconds",543,"startMs",60000,"endMs",603000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5489982-c6f500d2dade32d8076d9606a7985b89&start=60&end=603","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5489982-c6f500d2dade32d8076d9606a7985b89/thumbnail_60000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6586498/Pitkin-County/Colorado/Public-and-caucus-representatives-press-county-on-CDUs-TDRs-and-mapping-as-draft-Vision-2050-raises-housing-questions","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6586498-c1ca3a428f42742ca4cbeaeb6e312009/orig.mp4?Expires=1775219482&Signature=P5KtuFN16hBfNM0BvhZirfNM0M4sxMRt-ZoclZAboSlOMrhsmSvgcwmaRTnrSJ5-fUnIx6qYEo3wFPo74eklewq7UvowsH5I1o4lBPv0hj8sCmqfn16AhJMRai7SwGXMzOGc~sXSnwG2XPl1ET1iNr8TyA5wuFvo5j9yHBpNefvWwAVwYQcFK-ZjatLu3CVF6WEJovdCI23X6YNML7OnGlpvwMf~CKfzYKyzp9ljYcnJ9xXwnq450R-IgaJUsQjJv8Wgi4mrmz~yX3s37pCX7cEnxtaSXX3MOFvWzVl-hEycKyvUvEm1H4x~mwCEq3~5njSgfWiIZO2f6K6zYlwDAg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Pitkin County","date","2025-07-29T06:00:16Z","article","Public commenters and caucus representatives used the joint Vision 2050 workshop to press Pitkin County staff for clearer rules on Community Dwelling Units (CDUs), Transfer of Development Rights (TDRs) and caucus-area mapping.

Jamie Gull, who identified himself as born in Aspen and now living in Los Angeles, told the meeting his family hopes to return to the valley but cannot afford local housing. He asked staff to support increasing the maximum CDU size on appropriate lots from the county’s current limit to 1,500 square feet. “The current limitation of a thousand square feet is maybe workable, but barely,” Gull said. He urged allowing detached CDUs and enclosed garages on lots that can accommodate a larger unit.

A parent who spoke with Gull supported the request and noted their East Side lot could easily accommodate a larger CDU if the code allowed it to be detached. Gull and the accompanying speakers said increasing CDU capacity and allowing detached units would broaden options for working professionals who cannot fit into existing employee housing categories.

Caucus representatives raised separate but related concerns. Melanie Buckholtz, Frying Pan caucus area representative, said she believes a recent revision removed previously stated caps on maximum floor area in chapter 3 of the land use code and on the caucus overlay map and asked staff to identify whether that was an error. \"I believe that I have identified an error in both the land use code and on the mapping of our caucus area,\" Buckholtz said, asking for a staff review.

Marcela, a caucus representative who spoke at length, pressed staff to produce a future land-use map for caucus areas and said some caucus master plans lack clear parcel-level mapping. Staff replied they do not plan a county-wide parcel-by-parcel future land-use map but will produce a mapping product that indicates character zones and will retain or incorporate caucus-area maps where they exist.

Several Planning & Zoning board members and other participants emphasized enforcement and program integrity. One work-group member said enforcement is a major problem for occupancy limits and other restrictions tied to CDUs and similar units and urged that any expansion of CDU allowances include enforceable occupancy provisions. Another participant asked for clearer exposition of residential TDRs and the mechanics of how TDRs would be used to allow additional floor area above baseline caps.

County staff acknowledged those concerns and said the draft plan calls for incentives and code changes to encourage smaller homes and to use TDRs as a rural-preservation tool, but that detailed code language and enforcement mechanisms will be worked out during forthcoming Planning & Zoning sessions and public hearings.

The meeting closed with staff asking caucus representatives to participate in upcoming outreach and to share the story map and survey with their constituents so the county can collect community input during the draft-plan review period.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Planning and Zoning Commissioner Vision 2050 Work session 07 22 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Public speakers and caucus representatives asked the county to clarify CDU rules and to consider policy changes including larger CDU sizes; caucus leaders also raised mapping and floor-area cap concerns and urged stronger enforcement and clearer Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) guidance.","taxTitle","Pitkin County, Colorado","taxId",27807,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6586500,"County staff say large homes drive disproportionate economic, traffic and emissions impacts; propose performance standards",669,1704000,2373000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5489982-c6f500d2dade32d8076d9606a7985b89&start=1704&end=2373","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5489982-c6f500d2dade32d8076d9606a7985b89/thumbnail_1704000.jpg","/articles/6586500/Pitkin-County/Colorado/County-staff-say-large-homes-drive-disproportionate-economic-traffic-and-emissions-impacts-propose-performance-standards","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6586500-77c8f002a23d659bba82031f17b893ec/orig.mp4?Expires=1775219481&Signature=C~iH0R5b-9EQLYCr-GJjypQWsNmEyM0wiE-W8nx85n0sRI2wx~VwIrom3sNHBurf6RztwTHYHRLW9IJ-vgOfMu0AcDe49QG23uFZlKp3k-7EDedGQLg~Le-SlXVTR7XYRhJd4AottoAOdOoUziCfthXK3McBuIN1ce7gI745NoLFrX66zXpmWzo0crDseeLXouMH3Jw5zAeuxSFdOCznFkb6YmvrM5AshJYwdxEypfJX5lx9h2XE6zjqwNhF1INKFem03a-XKY4OHmeLiGkchGUoQUYZHw4NBgKc393e4YS3VgNoRrVNCIDSsxbbfGqmLORwVkpy05Yver-49svsfQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Pitkin County planning staff presented finalized intensity studies at a joint Planning & Zoning and Vision 2050 work session that quantify how very large homes contribute to economic, transportation and climate impacts in unincorporated areas.

\"Large homes do have a disproportionate impact on job generation,\" Cara (staff presenter) said, summarizing the county's economic, transportation and climate white papers. She told the group large homes (defined by staff as those above 5,750 square feet) account for a disproportionate share of job-generation and construction activity, and that some construction reporting has shifted downstream to neighboring counties even while work continues in Pitkin County.

Staff summarized key findings from three analyses:
- Economic: Staff said homes above the 5,750-square-foot threshold represent a sizeable share of construction-generated job activity despite being a minority of housing units. Cara told the board the studies estimated large homes make up about 14% of single-family homes in unincorporated Pitkin County but generate more jobs than the remaining 86% of homes.
- Transportation: The presentation said service-related trips and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) grow markedly with house size. \"Large homes represent close to 15% of the housing stock, but they account for 20% of all residential trips and 25% of all residential VMTs,\" Cara said. Staff said the largest homes also generate more and longer service-provider trips (for gardeners, housekeepers, deliveries and recreational services).
- Climate/energy: Staff reported they analyzed post-meter electricity and natural gas records (with utility partners) and found building emissions concentrated in larger houses. Cara said in county data a 10,000-square-foot home can use roughly 26 times the energy of a 1,000-square-foot home. Brian Hannigan of Holy Cross Energy and county staff provided utility data for the analysis.

Staff framed those findings as a rationale for draft policy changes aimed at reducing rural-area intensity. The staff presentation highlighted several policy directions under consideration: establishing stronger residential energy performance standards and electrification incentives; adopting tiered development standards that scale with house size; and reducing maximum allowable floor area in rural areas (staff noted an earlier CGAC-recommended threshold of 9,250 square feet and said a further step to 8,750 for areas outside the urban growth boundary remains under discussion).

\"This is how that recommendation from the CGAC is moving into draft policy,\" a staff presenter said, describing how the growth committee's emphasis on performance standards informed the plan draft. Staff also said they will study embodied carbon incentives for new construction and explore siting approaches for renewable energy infrastructure.

Commissioners and work-group members asked for clarification on metrics, enforcement and how policy changes would interact with tools such as Transfer of Development Rights (TDRs) and caucus-area caps. Staff said the draft plan will be followed by detailed code amendments and implementation steps that will be developed in Planning & Zoning work sessions and public hearings. The presentation and the underlying intensity studies will be part of the record guiding those code amendments.","Pitkin County staff presented finalized intensity studies showing that very large homes account for a disproportionate share of construction activity, service trips, VMT and building emissions, and outlined draft policies including maximum-floor-area limits, tiered development standards and stronger energy performance goals.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6586504,"Pitkin County staff release draft Vision 2050 comprehensive plan and outline public review process",6255,606000,6861000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5489982-c6f500d2dade32d8076d9606a7985b89&start=606&end=6861","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5489982-c6f500d2dade32d8076d9606a7985b89/thumbnail_606000.jpg","/articles/6586504/Pitkin-County/Colorado/Pitkin-County-staff-release-draft-Vision-2050-comprehensive-plan-and-outline-public-review-process","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6586504-654b1b4b80758b967b154019d2bca94d/orig.mp4?Expires=1775219481&Signature=cogsfoPuxZ4eXI9FTBvNIdcnGpp1YTLiZTKFs7TOuZvTktum3wmN2bibiIf38Im9bjRmegNyHyGaovxg3xrRaf2MZXZAtrqKMjOqa7i2rAu8nZKTlOvlAz9eIlMkFsW25t2d32tET6z6Y1c9w9V-4bUCijvifUbCLs~IQe~wamiJLMgo3VJbdRB69zfWAOiej7wFiiBwqIzpsYoZAw4XYMNaNBgOV61QQjTTk4MRxb233HhLJoziSpn9tEHLHzJDYt4PsY13Tajro~1ubtiEgcz5TGhSDTk1utUsV6H5NO1dquRcaPFWaLai5mWs72pOjYCBn0ZsP2SCQk~i~z-utg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Pitkin County planning staff told a joint meeting of the Planning & Zoning Board and the Vision 2050 work group that they have released a draft Vision 2050 comprehensive plan and will begin a months-long public review and adoption process.

The draft plan “is a draft plan that is many years in the making,” Miles Graham, facilitator for the Vision 2050 work group, told the assembled commissioners, caucus representatives and community members. Staff said the review will include public open houses, an online story map and a community survey, a series of Planning & Zoning work sessions in September and October, and subsequent public hearings before the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) ahead of final adoption.

The draft plan updates the county’s long-range guidance and will be followed by code changes, staff said. Suzanne Wolf, Pitkin County community development director, told the group the plan’s adoption will be followed by amendments to the land use code and to building and energy codes as part of an implementation package.

Staff emphasized the plan is advisory: Ellen Susano, long-range planning manager, said the document draws in more topics than earlier master plans, such as transportation, water and community health, and will inform—but not automatically change—zoning. “The focus of development, first and foremost, remains within the urban growth boundary,” Susano said.

Several caucus representatives asked for clearer mapping in the draft. Marcela (last name not specified), a caucus representative who spoke repeatedly during the meeting, and Melanie Buckholtz, Frying Pan caucus area representative, both pressed staff to confirm whether the plan will include a parcel-by-parcel future land-use map. Staff responded that they do not intend to produce a traditional parcel-by-parcel future land-use map for the entire county because of scale and workload, but that they will produce a mapping product to illustrate character zones and will carry forward existing caucus-area maps where they already exist.

Buckholtz said she had located what she believes are errors in the land use code and in the caucus overlay mapping for the Frying Pan Valley and asked staff to review chapter 3 of the land use code and the overlay maps. “I believe that I have identified an error in both the land use code and on the mapping of our caucus area,” Buckholtz said, asking staff to follow up and clarify whether an intended cap on maximum allowable floor area had been removed in error.

Staff repeatedly told the group there is no current staff proposal to change the county’s urban growth boundary. County staff also said they plan a mapping exercise as part of the upcoming community outreach and that they will share materials in advance with the work group. The team encouraged caucus representatives to help direct constituents to the story map and survey and said in-person pop-ups and other outreach would begin as materials go live.

The presentation also described the plan’s history, noting the BOCC declared a climate emergency in 2019 and that a community growth advisory committee (CGAC) produced recommendations that informed the draft. Staff said the draft ties those values to technical analyses and that these analyses will help guide the code updates that follow adoption.

The county asked stakeholders and caucus representatives to review the draft and engage in the scheduled outreach events; staff said additional work sessions with Planning & Zoning will flesh out chapters and the implementation plan before the plan returns to the BOCC for adoption consideration.","County planning staff presented the draft Vision 2050 comprehensive plan to the Planning & Zoning Board and Vision 2050 work group, explained next steps for community engagement and code follow-up, and addressed caucus concerns about mapping and future land-use graphics.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Public and caucus representatives press county on CDUs, TDRs and mapping as draft Vision 2050 raises housing questions

County staff say large homes drive disproportionate economic, traffic and emissions impacts; propose performance standards

Pitkin County staff release draft Vision 2050 comprehensive plan and outline public review process