Fresh off news of Discovery Land Company submitting planning applications for the development of hundreds of luxury homes and a private ski resort in Stagecoach, another separate proposal is also on the table that, if approved, would see the construction of roughly 200 housing units in the same area.

The proposed development, referred to as the “Tailwaters” project, is being planned for a roughly 89-acre parcel located east of County Road 18A and to the south of Stagecoach Reservoir.

On Thursday, the county’s planning department sent notice of two public hearings scheduled for the Tailwaters project. The first public hearing, in front of the county’s planning commission, is set for 6 p.m. Dec. 19 at the Historic Routt County Courthouse.

---

---

The second hearing is scheduled to take place in front of the Board of County Commissioners at 9:35 a.m. Jan. 21.

The Tailwaters property was purchased for roughly $1.12 million by Edwards-based Saltbox Custom Homes Inc. from the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association in November 2022.

---

---

The land was then transferred from Saltbox to Tailwaters at Stagecoach LLC in April 2023, but the ownership group remains the same.

Minturn-based Contour Design Collective is representing the Tailwaters ownership group through its application process with the county, according to the planning documents.

Tim McGuire, a principal of Contour Design, the company representing the developers in the application process, referred questions to Nick Salter, the owner of Saltbox and member of the Tailwaters at Stagecoach ownership group. Salter said the idea for the development came about just over a year ago.

“My original plan with this development was for the community, starting in the lower price point for a resort town. That was my main goal with the development, for locals, not a second homeowner,” said Salter on Monday.

The Tailwaters application seeks approval to develop a mix of 200 residential units along with a small neighborhood commercial area and necessary infrastructure developments needed to accommodate the plans.

According to the Tailwaters application documents, available on the Routt County website, the proposed commercial zone included in the application would encompass just over 4 acres of the property and would include a “neighborhood marketplace to fulfill needs of the entire Stagecoach community” and “could include” park space, a retail market, a childcare facility and five “live/work” units.

The larger, residential component of the plans are anticipated to include approximately 156 single-family and duplex lots located on just under 36 acres and built over seven phases.

Lot sizes for 24 single-family homes would range from one-quarter of an acre or larger. Sixty-six lots are planned to host single-family homes ranging from approximately 6,500-8,700 square feet, and 33 duplex lots would contain 66 units, according to the application.

Forty multi-family townhome units are also proposed for lots spanning 2.3 acres. Salter said the units would not be deed-restricted and would be for sale at market rate.

In addition to the commercial and residential components, the project would also require developers to contribute to required infrastructure upgrades for the area that would include coordination with the Morrison Creek Water District.

According to an updated commitment letter from the water district for the developers of the proposed Tailwaters development, sent Sept. 24 to Salter, construction of a water tower needed to serve the area is estimated to run $2.5 million, with developers required to cover 36% of the cost.

Salter and his development group also provided a copy of a memorandum of understanding with the Oak Creek Fire District to commit money for equipment and infrastructure improvements for the fire district.

In the copy of the MOU between the developers and the fire district displayed on the county website, the “maximum contribution” from the Tailwaters owners is blacked out.

Oak Creek Fire Protection District Chief Brady Glauthier could not be reached for comment on what the maximum contribution might be.

According to documents posted to the Routt County website, the application for the Tailwaters subdivision development began with a submission prior to the county’s unified development code adoption in July. In recent months, the developers have gone back and forth with the county planning department over elements of the proposal that have been deemed incomplete.

For example, Tailwaters developers have yet to receive approval from Colorado Parks and Wildlife for a wildlife mitigation plan centered on management of the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse lekking area in the vicinity of the proposed development.

Although public hearings now are scheduled for the project, Routt County Senior Planner Alan Goldich said Monday he wasn’t sure if the hearings would proceed given the missing elements of the plan.

“They really pushed for (the public hearing dates), and we told them, yes we will go ahead and schedule those, but please be aware that if we don’t have all the information we need by Wednesday of this week, it is going to get tabled,” said Goldich.

“I would not be surprised if it does get tabled,” he added.

Connection to Discovery Land Company?

The Tailwaters property is located adjacent to where Discovery Land Company has indicated it would apply for a permit to construct a golf course as part of its planned Stagecoach Mountain Ranch club.

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 Dec. 5, the proposed Stagecoach Mountain Ranch development consists of 613 residential homes including a mix of single-family homes, townhouses and condominiums, to be constructed across approximately 5,059 acres.

Salter said Monday that he has spoken with local realtor Chris Wittemyer, who is partnering with Discovery on their Stagecoach plans, but hasn’t spoken directly or coordinated with any Discovery representative about how the proposed Tailwaters residential development might fit with Discovery’s plans.

“It was just kind of odd timing, honestly, it wasn’t until we were almost done completely without engineering when I first caught wind of this potential development with Discovery,” said Salter.

“I could see with that size of development there is going to be a massive number of employees, so I could definitely see it is going to lend to that, for sure,” he added.

Kyle Collins, Discovery’s vice president of architecture and planning, said Monday he had, in fact, spoken with Salter within the last year “to compare notes” on the separate development plans, but those talks centered on the needed water infrastructure development to support the projects.

“The costs associated with the infrastructure is really what it comes down to, and I think that is what Tailwaters was really concerned about and making sure our projects were kind of moving in parallel, so I think the cost-sharing is really what makes sense, so I think we could do that,” Collins said Monday.

Collins said he recalled speaking with Salter about the units proposed in the Tailwaters project, “particularly his rental units,” but that he “never had a specific conversation with him specific to utilizing his units — but that is not to say that we wouldn’t.”

Under the county’s new unified development code adopted in July, Discovery is required to construct employee housing units as part of its proposal, and Collins said the availability of any units at the Tailwaters development, if proposed, would not change that.

“We will have to build them pursuant to code,” he added.