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EDITORIAL: The Prodigal Son of Downtown Development |
Bill Hudson | 5/15/08
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The Pagosa Springs Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended approval of a sketch plan for one of the largest commercial and residential projects in Pagosa history — an expansion of the Springs Resort over an additional 30 acres of riverside property on the heart of downtown Pagosa Springs.
That approval brings to mind the biblical story of the prodigal son.
 In that famous parable, a landowner’s son leaves his family behind and runs off with his share of the inheritance, which he proceeds to squander on wine and women. When he eventually burns through his cash and falls upon hard times, he realizes that the best move would be to return home and ask his father’s forgiveness. When he shows up, his father welcomes him with open arms and throws a big feast in the son’s honor.
The father’s second son, who stayed home and helped tend to the farm while the prodigal son was out in the world living it up, complains to the father, “Why have you never thrown a feast in MY honor? I was here all this time, following your orders and doing the right thing.”
The second son, in our Pagosa story, is developer David Brown, who — despite his unpopularity with some town residents — has not only consistently striven to match his development plans to the Town’s new Comprehensive Plan and Downtown Master Plan — he has, in fact, encouraged and supported the development of those two plans. Brown’s approach has reflected his idea that consistent, well-thought-out planning will make Pagosa Springs more attractive, and will ultimately increase property values and community viability.
Sticking to the plan — especially, sticking to a constantly changing plan, as the Town went through its Comprehensive Plan process and then its Downtown Master Plan process — has not been easy for Brown, nor has it been convenient or financially profitable, so far.
When Brown’s Bootjack Management Company presented its plans for a boutique hotel on Pagosa Street, the Planning Commission and the Town Council both held long discussions about whether to allow the hotel an extra couple of feet of height, above the current town-wide height limitation.
The Springs Resort proposal, which includes at least one 65-foot-high hotel — twice the height of any nearby building on Hot Springs Boulevard — and which basically throws the Town’s previously approved plan for the Hot Springs Boulevard neighborhood out the window — was embraced by the Planning Commission on Tuesday without any discussion to speak of.
The prodigal son has returned, and the Town is ready to throw him a feast.
The fact of the matter is that the owners of the Springs Resort property have consistently been treated with kid gloves, and allowed to plan pretty much anything they have wanted, without any attempt by the Town staff, Planning Commission, or Council to require architectural consistency with the rest of downtown Pagosa Springs. Although the Comprehensive Plan for the entire community asks that new development be “compatible with existing development,” the Springs Resort developers have never been asked to show any consistency with surrounding buildings. They have ignored the height limits that control everyone else in town and have planned a development that, in its initial sketches, looks more like Disneyland than like an extension of downtown Pagosa Springs.
That said, I must agree with the Planning Commission and the Town Council that the development contains some excellent ideas. The developers intend the whole development to embrace “green building” concepts in a manner not yet seen in Pagosa. They intend to use xeriscape landscaping to cut down on irrigation requirements. They are embracing mixed use, to help encourage a more pedestrian friendly environment.
As some readers will recall, I have been calling for a re-examination of the Town’s height ordinance for the past couple of years, to allow our downtown to grow its density and focus growth in our urban areas. I have no real issue with a 65-foot-high hotel with a view of the San Juan River. I have no issue with creative parking schemes, or with mixed use buildings, or any other methods to increase downtown density in an attractive manner.
The Springs Resort concept is thoroughly modern and up-to-date, and deserves a round of applause.
But I do have an issue with every other property owner in Pagosa Springs being controlled by a Comprehensive Plan and a Downtown Master Plan — both of which entailed months and years of community input — while one single property owner can do anything he pleases, without any chance for the community to have input into the planning.
It is well and good to encourage development of our property resources, especially in a time of economic stress. But the Town needs to decide if community planning is a beneficial thing — and if it is, then hold everyone to the same standards of planning.
To treat the Springs Resort as a development “outside the plan” is unfair to everyone else. If we are going to throw regulation out the window, then let’s do the same for all — not just for the prodigal son.
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