By Gail Binkly

The developers of a large subdivision east of Cortez are trying to back out of their promise to give $75,000 toward the construction of a new fire substation near their property.

Cedar Mesa Ranches, the biggest subdivision approved in the county so far, will ultimately include approximately 140 lots on 2,000 acres of pinon-juniper country north of the Mesa Verde park entrance on U.S. Highway 160.

When the subdivision was approved by the county commissioners on Sept. 8, 1998, one of the developers, Dan Dattola, agreed to deed a half-acre of land to the Mancos Fire Protection District and to provide a $75,000 letter of credit toward the construction of a new substation.

Now, however, officials with the Redstone Land Company, Inc., have changed their minds.

In a letter to the county commissioners dated Nov. 9, Redstone attorneys Kelly McCabe and Hazen Brown wrote that the company is formally requesting the cancellation of a $75,000 letter of credit Redstone gave to the county.

"Redstone certainly does not deny that it expressly agreed to the letter of credit in order to obtain subdivision approval," the letter stated, "however, we must at this time demand that this inappropriate and illegal condition be removed in accordance with Colorado law."

The letter also stated that failure to comply with the demand within 30 days would "leave us with no alternative but to initiate appropriate action."

On Monday, however, the commissioners voted 3-0 to reject Redstone’s request.

The disagreement exemplifies the difficulty local governments have in handling residential growth in the face of confusing and sometimes contradictory state laws.

For instance, the state legislature has expressly banned impact fees (development charges usually levied on a per-lot basis) for school districts, but allows them for roads. The issue of impact fees for special districts such as fire, library and recreation districts has not been addressed and remains a gray area.

Mancos Fire Chief Lyle Cox and Charlie Mitchell, president of the fire-district board, had insisted that Cedar Mesa Ranches constitutes such a fire hazard that a new substation would be necessary to serve it. It lies on the eastern boundary of the Mancos fire district 7 miles from the firehouse, and response time from Mancos would be lengthy, particularly for the houses farthest from the highway, they argued.

"The area is identified by the (district) as an extreme fire hazard because of the following," Cox wrote in a letter to the commissioners in July 1998. "Area receives more lightning strikes than any other; undergrowth has not been grazed by livestock in many years; timber is flash-fire type of growth."

The subdivision, when filled up, would be almost one-third the population of the remainder of the entire district, Cox wrote.

The fire officials wanted Redstone to build a new substation to their specifications, but the developers balked at that and agreed instead to donate a half-acre and provide $75,000 for the fire district to use.

"We have no problem allocating the $75,000," Dattola told the commissioners on Sept. 8, 1998.

At their meeting that day, the commissioners voted to accept the letter of credit, which is from the Litchfield Financial Corporation and expires on Sept. 8, 2000, to be put in a trust fund for the fire district. They then granted final approval to the Cedar Mesa Ranches plat.

However, the developers have since decided that the $75,000 requirement was unfair, attorney McCabe said Friday.

"They’re not denying they agreed to do it," he said, "they’re saying it was an illegal requirement and not enforceable and they should essentially be given back their letter of credit."

Redstone does not object to deeding the half-acre of land, he said, but so far the deed has not been executed or recorded because of the ongoing dispute.

The county has not required any other subdivision to provide for a new fire substation, he said, and has no specific regulations addressing the issue.

Furthermore, the developers don’t believe the new substation would be used much, at least in the near future, McCabe said, as only a couple of homes have been built at the subdivision so far.

"Redstone believes, at this point at least, it’s not necessary that there be a fire substation there," he said. "They are concerned that, if it was there, it wouldn’t be manned, so somebody would have to travel out from Mancos to the substation in the event of a need, so it wouldn’t really assist in terms of emergency-response time.

"There may be a point in the future that they believe it would be appropriate, but if that occurs, the increase in taxes (from the new homes) should be sufficient to sustain construction (of a new substation).

"I think the bottom line, really, is not so much that it’s not a good thing and something that may be appropriate, it’s Redstone’s position that it’s just unfair to choose to apply this to them and not to any other subdivision in Montezuma County. The county would have to require other subdivisions to pay their proportionate share and not just pick one and say, ‘Because you’re larger, you need to pay all the expense.’ "

The county’s position, however, is that Redstone freely agreed to the arrangement.

County Administrator Tom Weaver said Friday that the county is still waiting to receive its deed for the half-acre of land but that it expects the substation to be built.

"We’re still planning to go ahead with the substation," he said.

Cox likewise maintained that a new substation is definitely needed at the site.

"When you’ve got a subdivision that large, you’ve definitely got to have a substation," he said.