Commissioners require annual inspections and tighter access controls at Telluride Airport quarry operations

San Miguel County commissioners unanimously directed changes to the Telluride Regional Airport's mining special-use permit on Dec. 17 after extended public comment from nearby homeowners and a planning-staff review.

Planning staff briefed the board on a triannual review of the mining SUP (BOCC resolution 2011-4), focusing on several conditions: completion and use of the tunnel road for quarry access, hours and physical securing of the South Service Road, limits on truck trips (condition 7: no more than 15 large-haul round trips/week and 30 small-vehicle trips/week), and annual inspections including HOA participation (condition 12). Staff reported the tunnel itself has been constructed but the tunnel roadway is not completed or surfaced and is currently unsafe for heavy haul trucks; the airport anticipates improving the tunnel roadway when phase 2 hangar work begins (target 2027). Staff noted the quarry operator is currently meeting haul limits and that reclamation activities are underway with an anticipated end of quarry operations by Dec. 31, 2030.

Neighbors and HOA representatives said enforcement has been inconsistent: chain posts intended to lock the service road were inoperable at times, annual inspections were not consistently held, and recent construction work increased truck traffic and disturbance. Meadows/Deep Creek and Golden Ledge HOA leaders asked that (1) the county require annual inspections with HOA participation, (2) quarry traffic be limited to the tunnel road once that road is safe for heavy trucks, and (3) the county ensure consistent securing of the service road during restricted hours.

Airport leaders acknowledged the neighbors' concerns, said the airport began re-installing the chain and monitoring access this month, noted the operator uses cameras and operational observation to track traffic, and repeated the airport's plan to make the tunnel roadway a priority as part of the South Side development (target 2027). Airport chair Denise Scanlon and representative Kenny Mainpot said the airport has been staging aircraft on the South Side without deplaning passengers there and pledged to improve access control; Mainpot said staff had begun the chain work and "I personally have been doing it the last 2 nights".

After a short recess for staff to draft motion language, commissioners amended condition 23 to require annual inspections with a report to the BOCC following each inspection, directed the applicant to ensure the service road is secured during restricted hours (allowing installation of a gate or other secure traffic-control device without a formal SUP amendment), and reiterated that the applicant must conduct annual inspections with neighbors and planning staff under condition 12. The motion also noted that some SUP conditions had not been consistently followed in the past but found that with the listed clarifications and direction the Telluride Regional Airport Authority (TRAA) would comply going forward. The motion passed unanimously.

Next steps: planning staff will prepare a formal resolution implementing the language adopted on the record, and the BOCC asked for future staff reports on compliance and inspection results.