A rockslide closed I-70 westbound near the No Name rest area for over three hours Saturday afternoon. 

CDOT Regional Communications Manager Lisa Schwantes said she was notified of the incident, just east of Glenwood Springs at mile marker 119, around 2:15 p.m.

Westbound traffic was being stopped at Dotsero as maintenance crews cleared rocks and debris from the roadway.       

No serious injuries were reported as a result of Saturday’s rockslide according to Schwantes. However, a semi-truck required towing and rocks scattered along the interstate were large enough to require a front-end loader, Schwantes said.

I-70 westbound reopened at around 5:20 p.m.

In the immediate area of the rockslide, I-70 westbound was limited to one lane and CDOT urged motorists to use caution.

Saturday’s rockslide was the first of the season to cause an interstate closure, Schwantes said.

Editor’s note: The weather isn’t making it easy for many folks to get a print copy of Friday’s paper, so we’ve made the e-edition free to access today. Go here to read Friday’s paper.

Roaring Fork School District has canceled school Friday in anticipation of continued adverse weather.

All after-school and extracurricular activities are also canceled, although Glenwood Springs High School’s girls swim team had already left for an event in Grand Junction and would still compete.

In a statement Thursday night, district public information officer Kelsy Been said early reports point to unsafe road conditions continuing Friday.

“Although we do not usually make snow day decisions this early, we’ve received earlier than usual reports from road and highway plowing operations departments of expected unsafe and hazardous road conditions,” Been writes. “Any decision to cancel school is based on student and staff safety.”

Go here to read Roaring Fork School District’s policy on cancellations.

In addition:

• Colorado Mountain College’s Glenwood Center, Spring Valley, Carbondale, Rifle and Leadville campuses will be closed Friday for the entire day. The Aspen campus remains open. Central Services in Glenwood is closed. For more information, call the CMC Rifle snow line at 625-6990 or the CMC Spring Valley/Glenwood Center snow line at 947-8153.
• Glenwood Springs City Hall will open at 10 a.m. Friday, instead of 8. The Community Center will open at 6 a.m. for normal business hours.

• Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is closed Friday. Friday Afternoon Club is canceled.
• Interstate 70 westbound from Golden to the Eisenhower Tunnel is closed. No alternate routes are available, and CDOT strongly recommends people don’t travel during today’s storm.

A winter weather advisory from the National Weather Service remains in effect until 5 p.m. Friday, with up to 8 inches of snow expected Thursday night and up to 4 more inches expected Friday morning.

Garfield School District 16 schools in Parachute are not canceled for Friday, and Friday is a normal off day for Garfield Re-2 schools.

Call 511 for the most up-to-date road conditions.

Smoke from a planned fire will be visible in the Roaring Fork and Crystal valleys on Wednesday, according to a news release from the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit. 

The Avalanche Creek Prescribed Fire, marked for seven miles south of Carbondale, will see firefighters burn up to 400 acres on White River National Forest lands above Filoha Meadows to reduce dense vegetation and other fuels. The practice is meant to improve wildlife habitat by stimulating new vegetation growth and lowering the risk from large wildfires, according to the release. 

“Fire is as much a part of these landscapes on the White River National Forest as the plants and animals,” Aspen-Sopris District Ranger Jennifer Schuller said in the release. “Prescribed fires are carefully planned fires we use when conditions are moderate to bring fire’s natural benefits to an area.”   

Firefighters will be closely monitoring conditions and will only ignite the fire if conditions are good for a safe, effective burn and good smoke dispersal to minimize smoke impacts to surrounding communities, according to the release. The smoke will be visible from Carbondale, Basalt and El Jebel. 

“Smoke should dissipate during the day but may remain on the valley floors as temperatures drop,” the release states, with a note that “Prescribed fire smoke may affect your health.” 

The Avalanche Creek Prescribed Fire is a coordinated effort funded in part by Colorado Parks and Wildlife with in-kind support from Carbondale and Rural Fire Protection District and Pitkin County, according to the release. 

Fire managers have developed a detailed prescribed fire plan and obtained smoke permits from the State of Colorado. For more information, visit: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/wood-smoke-and-health. 

Spring is here, which means dormant plants are beginning to bloom, new seedlings are sprouting out of the ground, and hibernating animals can be spotted waking up and roaming around. Enjoy some of the Post Independent’s snapshots of nature in early spring.

As communities nationwide continue to recover from the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts in Garfield County are no exception. Garfield Re-2 and Roaring Fork school districts have been on the forefront, addressing fluctuating student attendance rates with a variety of strategies and initiatives aimed at bringing students back to the classroom.

In the Garfield Re-2 district, attendance rates plummeted during the pandemic, falling from an average of 95% to 86% during the 2020-2021 school year, as the district implemented a mix of in-person and remote learning. However, through increased interventions, these rates have gradually improved to 90% in 2021-2022 and 92% in 2022-2023. Currently, the district reports a rate of 94%, according to Garfield Re-2 Assistant Superintendent Lisa Pierce. The average attendance rate in the state is 90.8%, according to data from the Colorado Department of Education.

Garfield Re-2’s approach to improving attendance includes vigilant monitoring and engaging with families at multiple stages of absenteeism.

“Families receive letters after eight absences, and at 12 absences, parents and the student are invited to meet with school administration to create an attendance support plan,” Pierce said. “Most of the time, we see attendance improve and don’t have to go any further.”

For cases where absenteeism persists, the district introduced the Student Attendance Review Board this year, incorporating a broader community response to address underlying issues.

“If interventions don’t work, we bring our community partners because at that point, we need more ways to remove barriers for families,” Pierce added. “This has been really successful.”

Roaring Fork, meanwhile, maintains a steadier attendance rate, bolstered by its distinct set of strategies which emphasize early intervention and continual support.

Roaring Fork has maintained a more stable attendance rate. The current attendance rate is approximately 93.5%, an improvement from the previous year’s 90.9%. Since 2018, attendance has hovered between 90.8% and 93.5%, according to RFSD Chief Academic Officer Stacey Park. The district avoids punitive measures and instead focuses on early intervention and support to prevent absences.

“We believe in taking a proactive, wraparound approach to support kids and families if they’re missing school,” Park noted. “We try to intervene early, not waiting until a student has a concerning amount of absences.”

Both districts highlight the critical role of regular attendance in not just academic success but also in preventing future educational setbacks.

“If a student misses two days a month, by the time they graduate they will have missed one full year,” Pierce highlighted. “That really affects our parents. When they see that number, they realize they’ve got to get their kids to school.”

This realization is further echoed in RFSD’s strategy, which involves constant communication to address the specific needs of students and their families.

“We don’t just wait for problems to escalate. We reach out early if a student starts missing school,” Park emphasized. “We try to understand the root cause of absences, whether they’re medical, emotional or otherwise, and address them directly.”

Both districts have also recognized the importance of community involvement in ensuring student attendance. Garfield Re-2 has seen positive outcomes from involving community partners in their interventions, while Roaring Fork relies on the efforts of school-based staff and liaisons to maintain communication with families.

“It’s important for us to tackle any attendance issues that we see within our district,” Pierce said. “Showing up and being attentive is how you learn and grow, and that’s what we want for all of our students.”

As attendance rates continue to be a priority for both RFSD and the Garfield Re-2 school districts, Park and Pierce both said that their respective districts will continue to implement plans to increase attendance throughout their schools.

“One of the things that we want to see is how our efforts in addressing attendance this year has paid off,” Park said. “We are going to monitor what has worked and what hasn’t and continue to build awareness.”

Marc Katz is a retired entrepreneur who lives part-time in Durango, Colorado, a town of 19,000 people who all seem to love the outdoors. You can’t have too many parks, he believes, because the demand seems inexhaustible.

The way he tells it, when he bought the 1,680 acres adjacent to town, he thought it would be a fantastic place for a rural park that included biking and hiking trails and a centralized set of soccer fields.  He quickly learned it was “naïve” to think park development would be uncomplicated or quick.

What he started in 2014 has now become a whopper of a park that someday may prepare mountain bikers for the Olympics. Katz, though, only had experience working in the private sector, as CEO of a credit card payments company.

The $14 million parcel he bought once hosted a coal mine and gravel pit, and it sits atop a steep mesa above the town. Planning for the new park turned into a nine-year effort that involved countless meetings with city and county officials. Then there were road trips to innovative park projects, notably those around Bentonville, Arkansas.

As one of its goals, Katz’s project includes an 80-acre “outdoor mountain bike stadium,” a BMX track and community events center, which would make Durango the king of U.S. mountain biking.

“We anticipate the 2028 US Olympic Mountain bike team training at the park,” said Gaige Sippy, a board member of the Durango Mesa Foundation that’s carrying out Katz’s vision.

Sippy knows cycling. He was the longtime director of the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. Every Memorial Day weekend, the race pits a tourist train against several thousand bikers, who usually win.

Cycling is anchored deep in Durango, with a vigorous youth and adult program involving hundreds of participants. Still, said Moira Compton, who runs Katz’s foundation as executive director, “this is a big lift for Durango. But so was Purgatory Ski Resort and our local Chapman Ski Hill.”

Sippy agreed. “Those same people who fought the rec center now say, ‘It’s too small.’ This is the biggest philanthropic endeavor for Durango times-ten,” Sippy said. “Sometimes I feel like a snake oil salesman, selling something that won’t be fully realized for 20 years.”

But the hard work isn’t on his plate. “That’s Moira’s job,” he said, as Compton wrangles meetings and talks to residents about what they want in the new park.

Compton said planning includes leaving “big open space” for what the community might want in 10-20 and even 40 years. “If you told me that the Klunker bikes we made in our garages in Crested Butte would become an Olympic sport, I’d have said, ‘impossible.'”

For today’s users, Katz said, “We know we need adaptive sports trails (hand-bike trails), and we need a dozen ball fields in one place for state tournaments. We also need camping, from primitive to RV hook-ups to go with it.”

“Don’t forget frisbee golf,” he added, and “dedicated walking trails” for the many locals who don’t bike or find interactions with mountain bikers intimidating.

“They (bikers) just move so fast,” agreed 77-year-old Dave Stiller, an avid walker.

To get things moving, Durango Mesa Park opened last fall with a series of demonstration trails with banked corners, table-top jumps and unlike other area trails, traffic goes in only one direction and e-bikes are permitted.

The biking community was ecstatic. Sippy said. “We just had to get something going. It was time to get shovels in the ground.”

If there’s grumbling, it’s about housing.

Durango, like many mountain towns, is housing constrained. “Three developers put (Katz’s) land under contract and then passed on developing. The infrastructure costs were over $100 million,” said Sippy.

“This, though, is a rural park,” said Compton. “We don’t have to build sidewalks or streetlights.” Sippy added that if the town moved its ballfields and BMX track to the park and the county moved its fairground, “it would open up land in the town for housing.”

But the county backed out of building their fairgrounds in the park. “It was a setback,” Compton said. “We’re leaving the option open if they want to reconsider.”

As Sippy put it, “Someone rarely hands you a huge chunk of land next to town and the money to build a giant park for the community. This is a big opportunity for Durango.”

“And it’s our job not to screw it up,” said Compton.

Dave Marston lives in Durango and is the publisher of Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West.

Thank-you from Trent Goscha Memorial Tournament

This year’s Trent Goscha Memorial Tournament at RFHS was, thanks to our wonderful community, another big success. Although the weather got a little ornery causing the championship game to be snowed out, the six teams provided the crowd with many great innings of baseball. The teams were polite and gracious, and played their hearts out in every type of spring weather. 

Trent’s family would like to congratulate GJ Central on their win and would like to thank all the teams, including the Rams and the Demons, for their great sportsmanship and efforts on the field. 

We would also like to thank all of the great individuals and businesses who donated goods and services to our raffle and to make the tournament a success: Marty Madsen & Crista Barlow, RFHS; Glen Jammaron, Alpine Bank; Chris & Tami Broadhurst, R&A Enterprises; Stacey James, Gran Farnum Printing; Ryan Hudson, Rifle High School FFA; and Bob Richardson & the amazing umpires who brought a high level of class and respect to each game. 

We’d also like to give a special thanks to Pastor Doug Self for blessing the tournament through prayer and for reminding us that God deserves all the glory for the safety and success of each of the players and those who traveled so far to support them. Marty, Alicia, Tristan, & Lane Cheney also helped us every day and we are so grateful. We thank everyone who came out to support our local teams and the Goscha family; it is always the highlight of our year to see you and to talk about Trent with the folks who loved him and miss his mischievous grin just like we do. His spirit was definitely present throughout the tournament. 

Please join us for the RFHS senior game on May 11 when we will draw the raffle winners and present the Trent Goscha Spirit award in the amount of $2700 to a deserving Ram player. Trent loved his community so much and every year we are reminded how much his community loved him. Thank you for continuing to support our family and local high school sports; Trent would be so proud. See you next year.

Jayme Goscha and the family of Trent Goscha, Glenwood Springs

Bear-proof trash cans should be mandatory

Last year the City of Glenwood Springs implemented a mandatory trash pick policy for the households within the city limits. I agreed with this plan, it was going to bring in one trash company to service the city. It reduces the truck traffic and would encourage residents to recycle more, that was going to be included. 

We were given a choice of packages that may best suit individual household needs. Our household generates very little trash, so we choose the economy package that was offered. However, there is was added charge for a bear proof trash can. With our small trash can, the added charge was not too much more, but for to others I spoke with that require larger cans, it was much more.

As the trash cans started arriving into our neighborhood, I noticed how many people don’t have bear proof trash cans. I, along with many of my neighbors in my alley already had bear proof cans, because we have quite the bear problem. My can was larger than the one I had coming, and the City said I could use it but they would charge me for the size. 

In the last few weeks, I have cleaned up multiple bags of trash in my alley near my house already, and I have to clean it up because it’s near or in my yard. 

Since this is mandatory, and is billed automatically to your utility bill, bear proof trash cans should be included in all the packages since this has been and will continue to be become a bigger problem.

Patty Grace, Glenwood Springs

Volunteers play a key role in the healing presence and culture of Valley View health care system. The need for volunteers is great, and the rewards are even greater. To that end, Valley View is currently accepting applications for junior volunteers.

Junior volunteering is an opportunity for young people to learn to work with others in a healthcare setting while making the needs of others a priority. If a junior volunteer is accepted, they will gain valuable skills in caring for others, and community service hours to note for scholarship and college applications.

According to a press release, volunteer opportunities at Valley View include information desks, acute care, physical therapy, gift shop, Threads of Love, musical volunteers, day surgery, endoscopy, Family Birthplace, Roaring Fork Family Practice, valet and special events and projects. 

In order to participate in the junior volunteer program, you must be 15 years of age, an interview must be completed with the volunteer coordinator, read and sign the Parent/Student Commitment and Professional Appearance Guidelines, submit two references from non-relatives, and provide a copy of your immunization records on the day of the TB test and drug screening.

Applications must be received by May 6, 2024, the press release stated.

For additional questions and application materials, please contact the Valley View volunteer department at 970-384-6653 or email volunteers@vvh.org.

Glenwood Springs, Aspen, Carbondale, and Spring Valley students to graduate together

Graduates from Colorado Mountain College’s Roaring Fork Valley campuses in Glenwood Springs, Aspen, Carbondale, and Spring Valley will participate in three commencement ceremonies at CMC Spring Valley on May 3 and 4, according to a CMC press release. 

Collegewide, 12 ceremonies total will be held at 11 locations throughout the CMC region on May 3, 4 and 6 to celebrate the accomplishments of the college’s graduating class of 2024, a press release stated.

Reflecting CMC’s range of educational offerings, students will receive bachelor’s and associate degrees, certificates of occupational proficiency, high school equivalency, general education, adult high school, and workforce diplomas. Additionally, regional high school students in CMC’s concurrent enrollment program will walk alongside graduates to receive their college-level certificates and degrees. 

According to the press release, the three commencement ceremonies at CMC’s Spring Valley campus will recognize the achievements of Roaring Fork Valley students. 

The Colorado Law Enforcement Training Academy (CLETA) will lead off the ceremonies at the Spring Valley campus with its commencement at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 3. Aspen Police Chief Kim Feber will give the keynote address. 

Feber has 27 years of experience in rural, suburban, and state law enforcement, and was appointed Aspen’s police chief in April 2023. Feber earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration from Columbia College in Missouri before starting her career with the Littleton Police Department in 1989 as a patrol officer. She progressed to detective, investigations sergeant, investigations commander and investigations/support services division chief. Her most recent position before moving to Aspen was serving with the Stirling (Colorado) Police Department, the release stated.

The general commencement ceremony at noon, Saturday, May 4 will include graduates from the Glenwood Springs, Aspen, Carbondale, and Spring Valley campuses. Mario Carrera, former chief executive officer of Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy and Research Organization, and former chief revenue officer of Entravision, will give the keynote address. 

As a media and marketing communications professional with over 20 years of experience, Carrera has a passion for strengthen Colorado’s Latino community and voice, and empowering Latinos through leadership development, advocacy, and policy research. 

No one in Carrera’s family spoke English when they immigrated to the United States from Mexico when he was 9 years old. Eight years later, Carrera was awarded a full scholarship to Harvard University. 

With his work at CLLARO and Entravision, Carrera has been recognized with multiple awards and honors for his professional and community contributions, including 14 Emmys and the Hispanic Heritage Award from the Denver Broncos and the NFL. 

Carrera will also give the keynote address at CMC Rifle’s general commencement ceremony on Friday, May 3. 

All Spring Valley’s ceremonies will be held in the Outdoor Leadership Center and Field House, CMC Spring Valley, 3000 County Road 114, Glenwood Springs.

Visit coloradomtn.edu/graduation for more information. 

After months of being under an El Nino pattern, Colorado and the rest of the U.S. will begin to shift to the inverse, known as La Nina. 

Both terms refer to the change in surface temperature of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America — with El Nino signifying seasonally warmer temperatures and La Nina signifying cooler temperatures that impact the jet stream. Generally speaking, El Nino pushes the jet stream south and can bring more precipitation and cooler temperatures to southern regions while La Nina does the opposite. 

This past winter marked the first in three years to experience an El Nino season. But what impact the pattern had on the Rocky Mountains is harder to tell compared to other parts of the state.

In Breckenridge, for example, the majority of winter and early spring netted above-average precipitation, something that would be associated with a La Nina year, said Kenley Bonner, meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Boulder. November was the only month to see below-normal precipitation, while the rest of the months through March were above normal, Bonner said. Temperature wise, this past winter was warmer than average, according to data collected in Dillon. 

The same can be said for much of the Western Slope. In Grand Junction, monthly average temperatures have hovered around 4 degrees above normal since November, said Lucas Boyer, meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Grand Junction. 

“Time and again it’s proven hard to say, ‘It’s El Nino, it’s going to predict this or that,'” Boyer said of High Country and Western Slope areas. 

Still, in some areas, the trend in snowpack appears to have somewhat followed expectations based on previous El Nino years. 

Ahead of the 2023-24 winter season, OpenSnow meteorologist Sam Collentine predicted that, based on an analysis of past El Nino seasons at Copper Mountain in Summit County, winter snowfall may lag before increasing near the end of the season. 

“It tends to be that the shoulder seasons are above normal, while the winter months are below normal,” Collentine wrote in an Aug. 30 blog post on OpenSnow.com. 

Snowpack in the Blue River Basin, which encompasses all of Summit County, had a slow start to the season, with levels below the 30-year median for much of November through the first half of January. Snowpack climbed afterwards, trending along the 30-year median line for much of February before rising above normal for all of March and the first two weeks of April. 

The same was true for the entirety of the Colorado River Headwaters Basin, which includes some central and northern mountain areas as well as parts of the Western Slope. 

Looking to the rest of 2024, signs point to the return of a La Nina pattern brought on by cooling ocean temperatures. 

According to an April 11 report from the Climate Prediction Center, a transition from El Nino to a neutral system, where ocean temperatures are seasonally normal, is 85% likely to happen between April and June. There is currently a 60% chance that a La Nina system will then develop between June and August. 

Early reports show the transition could make for a hotter, dryer than normal summer across the U.S. 

“As we see the strong La Nina forecast evolve, there’s indications that we get into a dryer than expected seasonal pattern for what we normally expect for our monsoon season for the summer,” Boyer said. “If we don’t have monsoon showers or thunderstorm activity in the afternoon, we typically warm up and our temperatures stay above that climatological warmer mark.”

The reason has to do with the change in the jet stream, with La Nina patterns typically bringing warmer, dryer air from the south upwards. 

A three-month outlook released by the prediction center on April 11 shows Colorado has between a 33% and 50% chance of experiencing above-normal temperatures for May, June and July in various areas. The southwestern portion of the state also has between a 33% and 40% chance of seeing below-normal precipitation during that period, while the northeastern portion has equal chances of seeing above- or below-normal precipitation. 

Meteorologists noted that these predictions are long-term forecasts and that a lot can change in the coming weeks to shift their trajectory. When it comes to the High Country, especially, the correlation between La Nina and weather will be difficult to know. 

“Typically, if we do experience anything from La Nina it is from May to September, and that would favor warmer, dryer conditions in eastern Colorado,” said Bonner with the weather service’s Boulder office.

This story is from SummitDaily.com.

The sponsors of a bill that would have changed the way short-term rentals are taxed in Colorado voluntarily killed the legislation after lawmakers rejected another measure on the same topic last week. 

House Bill 1299 would have offered an alternative plan to the controversial Senate Bill 33, which would have nearly quadrupled property taxes for thousands of short-term rentals in the state. 

Senate Bill 33, which was introduced first, would have required any short-term rental used for more than 90 days per year to be subject to the same property tax rate as lodging properties instead of residential units.

House Bill 1299 was introduced in response to that bill and would have allowed homeowners to use their primary and secondary homes as short-term rentals as much as they want and still be taxed under the residential rate. But any additional properties used for those rentals — like third, fourth or fifth homes — would be automatically taxed under the much higher lodging rate.

Colorado’s property tax rate for lodging properties in 2023 was 27.9%. For residential properties, it was set at 6.765%. 

Rep. Shannon Bird, D-Westminster, who was the prime sponsor of House Bill 1299, asked the House Finance Committee to postpone the bill indefinitely Monday afternoon. 

“What might work in Telluride is going to be totally different than what would work in Summit County,” Bird said. “We have to be aware that there are these differences, and I am concerned about a statewide approach.” 

Bird added that the Attorney General’s Office alerted her that the bill could be challenged under the state constitution. 

Bird confirmed last week that she planned to ask the committee to kill the bill after Senate Bill 33 was rejected in its first committee hearing. The sponsor of that bill, Sen. Chris Hansen, D-Denver, attempted to pare it back and instead create a study of the impact of short-term rentals in the state, but even the scaled-back idea didn’t have enough support to pass. Hansen was the only member of the committee to vote in favor of the bill.

Senate Bill 33, which was drafted by an interim committee and introduced on the first day of the session in January, brought wide opposition from AirBnB and VRBO operators. Property owners said the hike in taxes would force them to reduce the number of days they operate short-term rentals or stop them from offering them altogether. Business leaders said that those changes could devastate mountain towns’ tourism economies. 

Though the bills’ demise marks the end of one battle over short-term rentals, it’s likely to continue to play out at the local and state level. Steamboat Springs voters approved a 9% short-term rental tax with the funding to go toward affordable housing in 2022.

Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, and House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, introduced a bill that would allow local governments to give tax cuts to certain property owners, including those who offer long-term rentals as opposed to short-term. In March, Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 2 into law.

The City of Glenwood Springs will be hosting an informational webinar and listening session on proposed zoning changes in preparation for the agenda item’s return to city council on May 16, according to a city news release. 

The webinar will take place from 5-7 p.m. on April 29 over Zoom and the City of Glenwood Springs Facebook page. 

The original proposal for zoning amendments, presented by Senior Planner Watkins Fulk-Gray and Community Development Director Hannah Klausman, was first brought to city council during their Nov. 16 regular session and focused on three major topics: 

• Consideration of allowing duplexes and triplexes in zone districts where they are not currently allowed. Triplexes have since been removed from consideration of the zoning change.
• Consideration of changes to lot standards.  
• Consideration of six changes to the city’s density bonus provisions (resolution, not ordinance). 

The proposal cited the 551 responses received from a community survey on the proposed zoning changes. The survey was available online from Aug. 23-Sept. 20 and was shared through email, the city’s text alert system, on social media and through paper flyers. 

The agenda item received mixed reactions from the 12 residents who gave public comment, though the majority said they felt council should hold off from voting until more residents had sufficient information about the changes. 

City council passed a motion to table the discussions by a 6-1 vote, and have since then reviewed the proposal in a Feb. 15 city council work session. 

The proposal will now officially return before Glenwood Springs City Council, with the goal of providing more information to residents (as requested by public commenters in November) through a city-hosted webinar before the May 16 presentation.

“As our community looks for ways to address our housing needs, we want everyone to understand what the proposed changes are and how they would be applied,” Director of Community and Economic Development Hannah Klausman said in the release. “We hope that everyone who wants to be involved in this decision will attend the live session or watch the recording before the May 16 meeting.” 

The proposed changes to minimum lot standards and the allowance of duplexes by-right (which are currently allowed only by Special Use Permit) would “add options for property owners that are interested in developing or redeveloping their land,” according to the release. 

All are welcome and encouraged to attend the webinar. Information and meeting recordings will be available online at gwsco.info/ZoningReform. 

To submit public comment for city council consideration, residents may email written comments to CityCouncil@cogs.us by May 10 or attend the May 16 City Council meeting. 

Spanish interpretation will be available on the Zoom call and the Spanish-language webinar recording will be available online on April 30. For accessibility accommodations requests, please contact the city at ADAteam@cogs.us or 970-384-6441. 

Zoom Details

Join online at zoom.us/join or call-in to 719-359-4580. The Webinar ID is 841 9556 4598 and the passcode is 81601.