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December
18, 2001
By Jim Mimiaga
Journal Staff Writer
The initial tee-off for a private golfing resort planned at Stoner hit the fairway Monday when it gained a conditional commercial permit from the Montezuma County
Commission.
The commissioners approved a lengthy high-impact permit for the Stoner Creek Preserve with an addendum outlining strict water-quality-control measures.
The multi-million-dollar, 400-acre project is split by the Dolores River, 15 miles north of Dolores. The plan includes a private 18-hole golf course, room for eight private luxury homes, construction of 10 large guest cabins, a maintenance shed and a major expansion of the current Stoner Lodge.
The course’s placement along the Dolores River, the county’s main water source, prompted the commission to require a comprehensive water-quality plan. Citizens’ and commissioners’ concerns voiced at the fourth public hearing on the matter were added. But some calls for stricter testing were left out, and the water-monitoring plan could dissolve after five years.
Following an independent review of the preserve’s water-monitoring plan and a few adjustments, the commissioners said they felt comfortable with it.
“Water quality was our top concern and this plan’s parameters are commendable,” said Commissioner Gene Story.
But the approved permit is conditional on a pending Planned Unit Development zone designation from the county. And it is contingent on the developer’s first obtaining and then complying with, applicable state and federal permits.
The course still needs permits from the Colorado Department of Transportation, Army Corps of Engineers, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“This is the first stage,” Story said. “Down the road during the PUD process we will be addressing septic, golf-course design, river channeling and how far back the course is from the river.”
The county’s permit contingencies enforce state and federal requirements, Story said. So, for instance, he said, “if it’s in violation of the federal Clean Water Act, then it would be in violation with us as well.”
County water-engineer consultant Steve Harris recommended two changes that were approved. Two groundwater wells will be repositioned further onto the golf course and away from the river so that they better represent aquifer conditions.
A total of seven testing stations will be installed — three on the surface of the river, and four within the golf course to test groundwater.
Also, at Harris’s recommendation, the fire flows were reduced to fit with the limited resources of the Dolores Fire District. The preserve initially wanted 1,000 gallons per minute in on-line pressure, but the amount is not practical for the amount of homes and structures planned. Installing indoor fire sprinklers could reduce fire hazard by 50 percent, he said.
It was noted that the septic system for the planned cabins and an expanded lodge would exceed 2,000 gallons per minute, and therefore fall under the purview of the Colorado Department of Public Health. County planning regulations stipulating closed septic systems also apply.
Commissioner Kelly Wilson required soil-testing at three sites on the course to establish baseline data that could then be compared with later soil tests.
At the suggestion of water-quality advocate Dave Wuchert, the commission included a provision that immediate water-testing would take place in the event of an accidental spill of fuel, golf-course fertilizers and chemicals.
Developers and their water specialists emphasized their belief that pollution from the course would be unlikely.
“Studies show golf courses with the best management practices we will use don’t have problems. We’re 100 percent sure there will not be a problem; it would be highly unusual,” said Peter Jamar, an investor and head promoter for the preserve.
Those practices include tight regulations on where fertilizer is dispersed, how much will be used and what action should be taken if the amount is too much. Water samples will be tested twice per year, once during low flows and once at high flows. An independent lab agreed to by the county and golf course will conduct the tests, which will be made public.
Pat Kantor, chair of Citizens for Accountability and Responsibility, asked that potential golf-course disasters, and their specific mitigation solutions, be identified in the plan.
“More specifics are needed on the types of anticipated problems and then what the plans are to solve them,” she said.
“That is hard to specify because the action is a function of the problem observed,” responded John Jones, the preserve’s water consultant.
Problems at the course are minimized due to the controlled application and engineered drainage and storage of chemicals and fertilizers, Jones said.
Still, “accidents can happen,” Wuchert said. He suggested bi-weekly water-monitoring to better identify any pollution increases, and their sources, as they occur. But the request was not considered, and developers said it would be too cost-prohibitive.
The preserve also agreed to send water-quality data to the county as they come in, in addition to yearly, so the public can be made aware immediately of any accidents or problems that may be occurring.
“We need to know of problems as soon as possible rather than wait for the report at the end of the year,” Wilson said.
If after five years there are no problems then preserve managers may request that the county allow the monitoring to be scaled back or eliminated.
“It will cost us $20,000 per year and we would rather spend that on community projects,” Jamar said.
Kantor said she had concerns because it could takes five years or more for the cumulative effects of golf-course wastes to show up in water tests.
“We won’t necessarily know what the impacts are, we don’t know who will be commissioners in five years or if any of us will be around to make sure it is protected,” Kantor said. “That is the lifeblood of the county, and the monitoring should always continue.”
However, the phase-out language was left in.
Next is the beginning of the course design work. A PUD will be applied for in July 2002. The opening is expected by the summer of 2005.
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