land use code<\/a> could create zoning problems if the building was damaged or destroyed. Carll\u2019s request for a code amendment led to a heated discussion among the board members.<\/p>\nAlong with Jeremy Christensen, the real estate agent who listed her property this year, Carll presented the board with a letter detailing the history of her building, located on 235 N. Main St. It was built in 1935 as a single-family residence, and it is still listed as a residence on the Montezuma County Assessor\u2019s website, even though Carll said it has been a mixed-use property and home to several businesses since she bought it in 2005. The 200 block of Main Street has been a part of the town\u2019s commercial district since the 1970s, and the land use code only allows new buildings in that area to be used for commercial or mixed-use purposes.<\/p>\n
Interim Town Administrator Heather Alvarez said that\u2019s a problem for anyone in the district whose home burns down and has to be rebuilt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our commercial district, you are not allowed to have single family residential (properties),\u201d Alvarez said. \u201cAll those older homes \u2026 if something happens to those at any time since the zone changed \u2026 there\u2019s no mechanism to allow them to be rebuilt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carll said she wasn\u2019t aware of those rules until June, when she was about to sign over the property to a buyer. The prospective buyer, a new Fort Lewis College professor, was denied a loan because of the rule.<\/p>\n
The sale has now been put on hold, she said. The would-be buyer and his family are renting the house, but she said they would rather buy it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my hands would be tied if I had to go back and try to sell it commercially,\u201d Carll said. \u201cAfter the big fire and everything, nobody wants a new business here that I know of.\u201d<\/p>\n
The buyer, Anthony Carton, read a prepared statement to the board asking for a change to the land use code.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife and I were attracted to Mancos, as opposed to our other option, Bayfield, because there seems to be a centralized downtown, and it seems like a very walkable place,\u201d he said. \u201cThis type of a change to the commercial zone could also reinforce those types of attractive items to people like myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Section 16-21-10 of the land use code does allow single-family residences to be rebuilt in the highway business district near U.S. Highway 160. Alvarez suggested the problem could be resolved by changing that section of the code to include the commercial district.<\/p>\n
Chairwoman Regina Roberts said she was concerned that changing the code would open the door for residential properties to move into strictly commercial districts. She questioned whether Carton had any plan to start a home-based business, which would make the building a mixed-use property again. Board member Perry Lewis, whose own home is in the commercial district, strongly disagreed with her concerns and said her questions were irrelevant.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue is not how he\u2019s going to use his house,\u201d he said. \u201cThe issue is whether he can rebuild his house if it burns down.\u201d<\/p>\n
The discussion turned into a heated argument between Lewis and Roberts that continued to flare up occasionally throughout the rest of the meeting. Alexander Costen, who was serving on the board for the first time after his appointment on Aug. 9, said he supported changing the code.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t buy anything that I couldn\u2019t rebuild,\u201d he said. \u201cIf it\u2019s as simple as, \u2018Can they rebuild their house?\u2019 then I don\u2019t see the issue with saying, \u2018Yes, you can rebuild your house.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts maintained that the change could cause problems over the long term, but ultimately the board agreed to let Alvarez bring the issue before the town council for further discussion. After the meeting, Alvarez said she planned to put it on the council\u2019s Sept. 13 agenda. But she also said it would take multiple public hearings for the change to take effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a several-month process,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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