Planning panel backs Telluride Airport wetland permit with conditions after consultant briefings

San Miguel County planning commissioners voted May 8 to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners approve a wetland special use permit for the Telluride Regional Airport's proposed south-side hangar and taxi-lane work, after staff and the airport's consultants described site-specific wetland mapping, mitigation measures and construction controls.

Planning staffer John (last name not specified in the transcript) told the commission the airport proposed about 35.1 acres of improvements on airport property, including new airfield pavement and hangars. Two wetlands were identified: a mapped wetland the county labeled "Wetland 1" and ‘‘Wetland 2'''the east feature that lies near the proposed Taxi Lane B. The application identified a compensatory wetland mitigation site and a non-wetland water body; staff said no direct impacts to mapped wetland boundaries were anticipated for the proposed work but noted construction intersects the 100-foot wetland buffer zone.

"No end impacts are anticipated within map wetland boundaries or within the compensatory wetland mitigation site. That's important," John told commissioners while reviewing consultant drawings and the supplemental materials submitted April 23 by SWCA Environmental Consultants on behalf of the Telluride Regional Airport Authority.

SWCA wetland scientist Michael Perkins, the applicant's consultant, told the commission the detention-basin features now supporting wetlands are hydrology-limited and that engineered stormwater runoff from new hard surfaces could actually increase hydrology at those basins. Perkins said that increase could allow more wetland vegetation to establish. "The project would not have an adverse effect," he said, adding that the existing basins provide sediment-settling and flow-control functions that would continue with the proposed mitigation and BMPs.

Staff and the applicant described the measures proposed to reduce construction impacts: construction fencing and erosion-control logs to prevent equipment intrusions, organic-filter barriers along the length of the mitigation site to retain sediment, and riprap underlain by filter fabric and fronted by gabion baskets on the down-slope side of Taxi Lane B to provide long-term slope stability and reduce sediment runoff. John noted the east wetland had a 21.62-foot buffer measured to a particular feature but that grading and slope work effectively increase the separation between Taxi Lane B and the wetland to nearly 63 feet in the area of concern.

Commissioners and applicants discussed specifics and sequencing. Airport manager Kenny (last name not transcribed) and engineers said the gabion baskets and riprap are intended primarily for slope stability and to prevent erosion from sheet flow. The engineering team said the gabion and riprap sizes are driven by FAA stormwater criteria and modeled storm events; they also said the project will require a stormwater pollution prevention plan and that contractors will install erosion controls and straw wattles between the work area and wetland during earthwork. Commissioners asked that those erosion-control and revegetation measures be in place early in the construction sequence and that revegetation reach an acceptable establishment rate before temporary controls are removed.

The commission heard comments and a written addendum from the Meadows at Deep Creek Mesa HOA; the HOA requested review steps and suggested limiting access from the south-side service road. Planning staff said those concerns will be recorded and considered during later development-permit review; staff also noted that a separate development permit (administrative review) will be required for grading, paving and building work and that the wetland permit, if approved, allows the county to address wetlands and buffer issues prior to the development-permit stage.

Commission action and conditions: the commission moved to recommend county approval of the wetland special use permit, finding that (a) the application meets the county's wetland-area standards and (b) proposed work is primarily in a buffer zone and, with conditions, is not likely to adversely affect adjacent wetlands. The motion included a condition that the applicant comply with written representations and BMPs in the April 23 supplement and that the county receive construction-sequencing information and documentation that erosion-control measures (for example, organic-filter barriers and straw wattles) are installed and maintained until revegetation reaches a required establishment threshold. The commission recorded a unanimous recommendation in favor of approval by the commissioners present.

Why this matters: the county code requires a special-use review for development within 100 feet of a mapped wetland boundary. The permit recommendation and the associated conditions are intended to allow the airport to proceed to the development-permit stage while preserving county oversight of construction sequencing, erosion control and revegetation to protect wetland function.

Ending: staff said the wetland SUP recommendation will go to the Board of County Commissioners; planning staff gave a target timeline that board review would follow the planning commission recommendation and other pending steps in the county process.