The Routt County Planning Department has officially accepted applications submitted by Discovery Land Co. for the Stagecoach Mountain Ranch development, launching a formal review period for the proposed 6,100-acre private ski area, according to Alan Goldich, the county’s senior planner.

The county accepted the 11 applications on Wednesday, Sept. 10, before the planning department sent out referrals to “interested internal and external agencies,” including Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District, the U.S. Forest Service, the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Bureau of Land Management, among others, Goldich said.

The relevant agencies will submit comments on the proposed development. The planning department then will submit a “corrections letter” to the applicants. Applicants will then submit new documents to address issues raised in the corrections letter. 

While the applicants are identified as Steamboat Sponsor LLC and SMV Stagecoach Ski Mountain LLC on the various applications, Discovery Land Company is the developer behind the proposal.

In addition to a private ski area, Discovery’s Stagecoach Mountain Ranch development plan proposes 613 luxury homes and 137 workforce housing units. Ninety-five of the workforce housing units will be deemed affordable housing and will be made available to the general public, exceeding the county’s minimum requirement of 82 affordable housing units, said Kyle Collins, Discovery Land Company’s vice president of architecture and planning. 

“Then, we go through that process again with more referrals that go out, and once we are done with that — all of those reviews and everything has been addressed or we’ve agreed to disagree on some things — we will schedule hearings with the Planning Commission and the Board of County Commissioners,” said Goldich, who added that the county has hired outside consultants to help facilitate the review process.

According to the planning department’s page on Stagecoach Mountain Ranch, public hearings are tentatively slated for early 2026. Collins said in an interview that the hearings could begin as soon as January. 

The planning department’s page also notes that on Sept. 10, public notices were mailed to all property owners whose property lines are within 200 feet of the project boundaries. Several yellow notice signs were also posted at various project sites. 

Collins said that while additional information has been added to the applications since their original submission in December, there have been “no substantial changes.”

Discovery’s plan for Stagecoach also includes a private equestrian center on the Stetson Ranch portion of the property; an indoor recreation center with a pool, basketball courts, pickleball and tennis courts; along with a clubhouse and an outdoor recreation complex.

Further, the plan proposes a 12,000-square foot spa and wellness building, retail and food venues, two large ski mountain lodges (16,000 square feet and 44,000 square feet), three “day lodges” (6,000 square feet each), and two smaller “comfort stations,” as well as a 14-acre community park adjacent to a community marketplace. 

The community park would also feature green space, “which could be utilized for any types of community events — fairs, festivals, farmers markets, community gardens, those types of things,” said Collins. The plan also includes a two-pump gas station and an amphitheater.

Developers also propose a dedicated parking area to serve regional commuters and to provide parking near a proposed trailhead, as the plan calls for access to over 750 acres of landlocked BLM land for trail use.

Collins named infrastructure improvements, historic restoration, a secondary emergency route and the addition of a cell tower as additional community benefits that would result from the development moving forward. 

He also emphasized that community benefits outlined within the plan were not suggestions that Discovery “came up with,” but are requirements set forth in the 2017 Stagecoach Community Plan. 

At full buildout — expected to take approximately 15 years — Stagecoach Mountain Ranch proposes to employ around 250 full-time employees and 500 part-time employees, according to projections available on Discovery’s website for the proposed development.

Collins said that out of the the property’s approximately 6,100 acres, only 12% will be developed — the remaining 88% will be kept as “functional open space,” which would include ski runs and trails, among other recreational uses.

“Right now, we’re proposing new conservation easements on areas that are not going to be developed on-site,” said Collins. “We’re basically putting our development on a smaller portion of the property and preserving the open space areas around it.”

The Stagecoach Mountain Ranch development has drawn mixed reactions from community members. A group of residents formed a “Save Stagecoach” opposition group last summer and have been meeting regularly since then.

In a Steamboat Pilot & Today article in June, Stagecoach resident Jennifer Button said the primary goal of the group is to “educate the public about what this development truly is, and how it is not part of our community — it is 100% a private billionaire compound.”

Button said some of the group’s top concerns are around water quality impacts, wildlife impacts, traffic during the planned 10 to 15 years of construction, light pollution, impacts to property values and homeowners insurance for surrounding neighborhoods, as well as the infrastructure needed to support the population increase.

“It’s a city they are trying to dump in the middle of a community,” Button said in June.

Collins said that public outreach efforts conducted by Discovery since the applications were originally submitted in December aren’t “so much to sell the community on the project,” but rather to clarify misinformation around the project “so that people make informed decisions on what’s really being proposed.”

Goldich encourages members of the public to stay engaged and check back frequently with the planning department’s web page to see “what, if any, changes are being made.” Updates on the Stagecoach Mountain Ranch development application process can be viewed at co.routt.co.us/1023/Stagecoach-Mountain-Ranch. 

To submit public comment on the development ahead of the public hearings expected to take place early next year, visit tinyurl.com/4w89vm42 or email PlanningDept@co.routt.co.us.