{"id":24610,"date":"2024-12-03T01:13:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T08:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-neighborhood-approved-for-development-off-road-h-in-cortez\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:57:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:57:21","slug":"new-neighborhood-approved-for-development-off-road-h-in-cortez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-neighborhood-approved-for-development-off-road-h-in-cortez\/","title":{"rendered":"New neighborhood approved for development off Road H in Cortez"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Montezuma County Board of County Commissioner\u2019s approved the development of a neighborhood off Road H in Cortez after strong opposition from neighboring properties. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved the development of an eight-lot subdivision off Road H in Cortez at their meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 26 despite opposition from neighbors.<\/p>\n

The lots will be divided from roughly 36 acres, creating 3.5 to 4.5 acre parcels with a manufactured home on each one.<\/p>\n

The decision had been postponed a week to give the commissioners time to read through letters of opposition from neighboring properties, who voiced their concerns when the proposal was first brought to the board on Nov. 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason these people bought here was for the beauty and seclusion of our road,\u201d said Bill Akers, the first neighbor to speak at the Nov. 19 meeting.<\/p>\n

Seven more followed Akers and spoke during public comment that day; he said he hoped their united opposition \u201cwill weigh heavily in our favor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt complies with the land use code,\u201d Commissioner Jim Candelaria said at the most recent meeting, when the proposal passed.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, we had a continuation so we could review all the packets, and we\u2019ve read them all. I didn\u2019t see anything in there that I read that we didn\u2019t already discuss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Desert Mesa Estates LLC., the company that proposed the project, said they plan to divide the land and create the neighborhood over time. They first got their proposal approved by Planning & Zoning under two conditions:<\/p>\n

That there\u2019d only be one home developed per lot and<\/div>\n
The dirt road leading to the property would be upgraded.<\/div>\n

The company obliged, and it passed Planning and Zoning 4-1.<\/p>\n

In fact, in its business plan, Desert Mesa Estates described itself as \u201ca real estate development company focused on creating a community out of a property with road and water problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The bumpy, damaged road that will be upgraded before any homes are brought in. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The opportunity to improve access was a major point Rachel Comisky, one of four members of the development company, brought up at the Board of County Commissioners meeting.<\/p>\n

Comisky recognized the \u201croad is really terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said her parents live there and they\u2019ve tried to sell the property, but their efforts have been unsuccessful because of the road and the lack of water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis (the neighborhood) is our plan to mitigate those two issues,\u201d Comisky said.<\/p>\n

With the revenue the project will generate, they\u2019ll upgrade the water line, which will allow for extra water taps for people to buy, she said.<\/p>\n

And before they do anything, they\u2019ll upgrade the road by widening it, raising its center to improve drainage and put in bar ditches and six culverts, too.<\/p>\n

One community member spoke in favor of the development, citing the road upgrades as a major benefit.<\/p>\n

The owner of Bright Star Campground, Robin Smith, said the subdivision that will border her property will \u201cbe detrimental to my established rural and compliant business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like others opposed, Smith cited the area\u2019s rural character; developing a neighborhood there threatens the quiet and the beautiful views of Mesa Verde National Park and the night sky, the opposition said.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the commissioners, Troy Jaskowski, another opposed neighbor, went a step further in citing the Montezuma County Land Use Code.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt violates Section 1201 \u2026 which states that the main objective is \u2018to protect the rural character of the County through the enactment of development regulations appropriate for rural areas.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaskowski also cited Section 4101, which is meant to \u201cconserve the value of the land.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cManufactured homes decrease in value over time,\u201d Jaskowski said.<\/p>\n

Another community member called the development a \u201cmobile home park,\u201d and Candelaria and Camisky were quick to correct that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a subdivision with manufactured housing,\u201d Candelaria said.<\/p>\n

Camisky confirmed that, and said the homes will be \u201cconnected to land\u201d with foundations. \u201cThey\u2019re not mobile homes,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re the stick-built manufactured homes, so they\u2019re to the stick-built code. And they\u2019re not small, they\u2019re good size homes, you know, 2,000 square feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The development company projects the homes will go for anywhere between $400,000 to $600,000, depending on the size of the home the buyer chooses, and whether they want a garage or car port added to it, according to Desert Mesa Estates\u2019 business plan.<\/p>\n

All of the developments will have water, electric and a septic system. And they\u2019ll sell and build one at a time, thus mitigating someone\u2019s concerns of a \u201cdeserted neighborhood across the street\u201d if the homes don\u2019t sell.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could be a three to five- year project. It\u2019s not going to be a stream of eight homes coming in,\u201d Comisky said.<\/p>\n

Light pollution was another major concern, since Mesa Verde is a certified International Dark Sky Park.<\/p>\n

Plus, the couple who owns the campsite next door said it will be \u201cdetrimental\u201d to their business, as it\u2019s likely to \u201cobstruct the view of the stars, the view of the mountains, and the beautiful view we came here for,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Comisky assured the commissioners they will direct the lighting down and not toward residents, as to avoid being \u201ca nuisance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the county approved the proposal, Desert Mesa Estates LLC will start with renovating the road and water infrastructure, and then build the first home.<\/p>\n

\"Another
Another view of the area where an eight-lot neighborhood will be developed off Road H in Cortez. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

proposal was met with resistance from neighbors, but ultimately passed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-24610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24610"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78605,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24610\/revisions\/78605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24610"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=24610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}