Discovery Land Company has submitted permitting applications to the Routt County Planning Department with plans to develop a private ski resort along with hundreds of luxury homes.

According to the county, eight separate applications have been submitted for approval, ranging from a document requesting permission to run a gondola at what is proposed to be a private ski area to applications asking for zone changes and for permission to construct indoor and outdoor recreational facilities.

The applications are expected to become available on Routt County’s website. Once the county review process is complete, applications will be scheduled for public hearings. Hearing dates are expected to be listed under the application status on the county’s website.

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Founded in 1994 by Michael Meldman, Discovery Land Company operates 35 exclusive private real estate and recreational clubs across the U.S. and the globe and employs roughly 6,000 people. The properties include, most notably, the Yellowstone Club in Montana, along with clubs in the Caribbean, Italy, Dubai and Portugal.

According to documents released by Discovery following the company’s submission of its applications to the county, the proposed development, consisting of 613 residential homes including a mix of single-family homes, townhouses and condominiums, will be constructed across approximately 5,059 acres.

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According to Discovery, total taxable assessed property value for the development is expected to come in at roughly $307.8 million. Total property tax revenues from the project are projected to bring in about $29 million annually.

Discovery has also said the project will bring a cellular phone tower to the area, “to improve both emergency services and regular cell-service communications in the Stagecoach area.”

“Stagecoach Mountain Ranch is committed to contributing to the (Oak Creek Fire District) and will assist in developing a fire substation at the mountain to provide faster response times and a higher level of service,” according to a Discovery news release.

Discovery had initially signaled it would submit applications in September but delayed as staff worked to file documents that fit recently introduced county zoning and subdivision regulations, according to Kyle Collins, Discovery’s vice president of architecture and planning.

Collins said Thursday he and his team met with county officials in March 2023 and presented plans to submit a planned unit development to the county.

“They made it clear; we could definitely make a (planned unit development application) but it may be to your benefit to wait,” said Collins.

The initial set of plans submitted by Discovery on Wednesday does not include a proposal to construct a golf course, which has been a point of contention from members of the Stagecoach community who are concerned with the impact a golf course might have on local water quality.

“It is a big issue and we feel it is a big issue, too, about potential water quality issues given its relationship to the reservoir, so we definitely are going to move forward with the project but we are going to hold off on that component until we are 100% confident, which we are, in order to demonstrate to the public that we have done golf courses in other environmentally sensitive areas,” said Collins.

“We didn’t feel like we were at a position to submit that element of the application yet, we just decided to move forward with the ski mountain first,” he added.

Beyond potential future development of a golf course, community members are generally concerned over the impact of the overall development on the Stagecoach area.

Adam Fernley has resided in Stagecoach for 26 years and, like many in the area, is opposed to the Discovery plans due to his concerns regarding the development’s impact on the local community.

“I still feel like it is just not right for them to come and invade someone’s little slice of mountain paradise and try to take it over forcefully and the ripple-effect changes, the mental anxiety and discontent, and just dividing the existing community,” Fernley said Thursday.

“I still look at them as invaders of our little mystical Morrison Creek valley,” he added. “It is just not right to try to just plunk down an elitist private club in an area that is supposedly a housing expansion zone for the Yampa Valley and Routt County and for the Steamboat area.”