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Beaver Creek Planning Commission denies apartment‑hotel request for Birch Hill Hotel, 3–1
Summary
The Beaver Creek Planning Commission voted 3–1 to deny PC26‑2, a conditional‑use request by Beaver Creek Lodging LLC to allow apartment‑hotel use at 3845 Germany Lane, citing a disproportionate number of police dispatches linked to the property despite applicant claims of improved management and reduced incidents.
The Beaver Creek Planning Commission voted 3–1 on June 2026 to deny a conditional‑use application (PC26‑2) that would have allowed an apartment‑hotel use at the Birch Hill Hotel, 3845 Germany Lane.
The motion to deny was made by Commissioner Fountain and carried with Commissioners Fountain, Usher and Meyer voting in favor and Commissioner Palumbo dissenting. The commission said it based its decision on the statutory conditional‑use standard (158.171), finding that the applicant had not met criterion B — that the proposed use would not have a substantial and detrimental effect on surrounding properties.
Attorney David Montgomery, representing Beaver Creek Lodging LLC, told the commission the application offered two alternatives: full conversion of the existing 102‑room structure to an apartment‑hotel, or a hybrid model that would cap the number of apartment units based on a sliding scale tied to the site's 106 parking spaces. Montgomery said the applicant submitted a package of proposed conditions and exhibits, and emphasized the property's long history as an extended‑stay facility.
Applicant principal Anup Patel described his hospitality background and said his ownership and management teams operate extended‑stay properties nationwide. Patel told commissioners the model provides long‑term, kitchenette‑equipped units that can serve as lower‑cost housing alternatives, and said on‑site management and a third‑party management firm have reduced incident rates.
Area manager Nick Martin and on‑site general manager Elizabeth ("Liz") Mayberry described operations and the guest mix, saying roughly 25–35% of current guests stay beyond six months. They presented internal incident logs and a guest‑ID/ban system they say reduced police responses, and asked the commission to discount proactive police patrols and business‑check entries when evaluating the property's police‑call history.
City planner Randy Briquette told the commission the staff report and police dispatch data show Birch Hill has historically generated a disproportionate share of dispatch calls relative to the city's other eight hotels, even though calls have trended downward in recent years. Briquette also noted a new licensing ordinance effective in April that requires hotels to obtain a license, maintain 24‑hour on‑site staffing, and limits guest room occupancy to 182 days in a rolling 12‑month period; he said that licensing does not substitute for the conditional‑use review.
Commissioners spent more than an hour questioning applicants and staff about occupancy figures (applicants reported 25–35% long‑term; staff earlier cited 38–45% in December), the difference between dispatch calls and officer‑initiated reports, the applicant's recordkeeping, the operational difference between transient guests and long‑term residents, and whether the hybrid parking/occupancy model would mitigate off‑site impacts. The applicant offered to restripe the lot or reduce stall widths to create additional spaces under certain conditions.
Commissioner Fountain, in offering the motion to deny, said the record still showed Birch Hill as a clear outlier on police dispatches and that the commission could not conclude the proposal would avoid a substantial and detrimental effect on surrounding properties. Commissioner Palumbo dissented, saying she accepted that calls have decreased and that the record did not clearly tie higher dispatch counts to the apartment‑hotel designation specifically.
Because the commission denied the conditional use, the property's hotel rooms remain subject to the city's license rules, including the 182‑day limit for guest rooms; the applicant may appeal the planning commission decision to city council.
The commission proceeded to other business after the vote, approving two wall signs for a Keller Williams tenant (PUD03‑2 minor modification) and appointing the commission vice chair as the planning commission representative on the city's Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) housing board. The meeting adjourned thereafter.
