<body><div>The Basalt Town Council denied a proposed project to turn a steel fabrication warehouse into a mixed-use residential and storage development, closing an over seven-month consideration process.The 5-1 vote came on Tuesday after over two hours of discussion between council members and developers that centered on whether the project’s housing provisions outweighed its potential contribution to traffic congestion.Multiple council members flipped from previous stances of support for the development, attributing their change of mind to constituents’ concerns and new information.“I hope it’s evident that we take the responsibility of deciding future growth and change in Basalt very seriously,” said Councilwoman Angèle Dupré-Butchart, who previously expressed support but ultimately voted to deny the project. “We do our best to consider not just the citizens in the immediate vicinity, but also the greater community at large.” The 3-acre tract of land at 555 Basalt Ave. has for decades housed Myers &amp; Company Architectural Metals, a steel fabrication firm, and has been zoned for industrial use. The property’s owners looked to redevelop the parcel into 30 for-sale residential units, 42 commercial storage units, 12 live-work units and two commercial spaces for businesses that serve the residents. Proponents and opponents of the development alike argued that the property’s close proximity to a Roaring Fork Transportation Authority park-and-ride bus stop off of Highway 82 made it apt for housing.About 27 residents spoke about the project during the public comments portion of the meeting. Fourteen appeared to support the project, while 13 urged that it be denied or delayed.Residents in opposition — several of whom lived in the Southside neighborhood next to the property — said housing, business and retail spaces would worsen traffic congestion on the already busy Cody Lane.“This luxury storage project has become a self-inflicted wound that needs a lot of Band-Aids to make it feel good,” said Brandon Weinstock, a nearby property owner. “At every meeting, the applicant just keeps throwing money at the problems to cover up the flaws. This is a deeply flawed project being repaired in public, and it keeps raising questions nobody has answered.”Over time, the applicants had added contingencies to their application to address the council’s hesitations as they’ve come up, including an option to allow a grocery store to operate in a retail space and a down payment assistance program to buyers.Those contingencies appeared to ultimately work against the project, as council members expressed concern that the proposal had morphed into something too different from what was approved by staff and planning and zoning commissioners nearly a year ago.Mark Blodgett, the project applicant who acquired Myers &amp; Company in 2016 with his wife, Mareike Blodgett, did not immediately respond to requests for comment when contacted through their company’s website.“We’re not trying to take advantage,” Mark Blodgett said. “We’re trying to build a nice project, frankly, that I think is a win-win for many constituencies.”He noted to council members in October that they could have sought to build only storage on the property, which would have fit with its industrial classification, but they instead sought to build a part-residential development that would take advantage of the nearby bus stop.“We’re committed to do our part,” Blodgett said Tuesday. “We didn’t originally have any housing in our project, for example, we added it because of what we heard. It’s made our project more complex and the reviews much more lengthy.”Residents who spoke in support of the project said it provided much-needed housing to Basalt, including nine price-capped, deed-restricted units, and a down payment assistance program. Several business owners said they would have considered using the development’s business spaces and storage units.“As an employer … housing is the hardest part of hiring here,” said Missouri Heights resident and business owner Tony Hirsch. “I see an applicant who has responded to community feedback. I see a project that respects community objectives. I see a project that actually supports small business. I see a project that Basalt needs.”Mayor David Knight expressed concern that the proposal did not meet the town’s minimum affordable housing standards, which mandate that at least 25% of a residential development’s square footage be affordable housing. Whether the development met that benchmark depended on whether the square footage of the affordable housing units was divided by that of the residential and commercial space — which staff calculated would put it at about 16% — or divided the affordable housing units only by the residential portion of the development, which would have met the standard.The language of the city mandate does not specify which calculation to use in a mixed-use project, and the Blodgetts said they were surprised by the interpretation of the minimum that they hadn’t heard before. Repeated traffic concerns were ultimately enough to turn other council members off of the project, despite the developers committing $355,000 to help fund improvements to nearby roads, as well as creating funding avenues for future improvements should the project affect traffic more than expected.Councilwoman Angela Anderson-Ward said that, while she has wanted to approve the project, she had seen too many concerns voiced by Southside residents. She said she felt the town was responsible for not expanding the area’s infrastructure sooner.“You’ve done an amazing job,” Anderson told the developers. “But it’s only because it says in the master plan to make the improvements before the development that I feel beholden to that.”The first reading of the project was continued four times after its introduction in March. Tuesday’s final reading came after two additional continuances.“We picked this application apart so much and requested so many changes,” Dupré-Butchart said. “In the end, it still feels like we're trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.”Councilwoman Elyse Hottel was the lone vote in support of the project. She said she was in favor of the creation of more housing on a historically industrial lot, and she trusted that the developers could have found a way to ensure compliance with the city minimums.Councilwoman Hannah Berman was not present for the vote.drew@aspendailynews.comDrew Shaw is a Report for America corps member covering public lands and other items of interest in Garfield County for the Aspen Daily News.Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the attribution of Brandon Weinstock's quote.</div></body>

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The Basalt Town Council denied a proposed project to turn a steel fabrication warehouse into a mixed-use residential and storage development, closing an over seven-month consideration process. The 5-1 vote came on Tuesday after over two hours of discussion between council members and developers that centered on whether the project’s...

Basalt council denies proposed housing, storage project

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The Basalt Town Council denied a proposed project to turn a steel fabrication warehouse into a mixed-use residential and storage development, closing an ov

Basalt council denies proposed housing, storage project

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