Steamboat Springs City Council approved an initial step for the Yampa Valley Housing Authority’s Mid Valley project, allowing work on the land along U.S. Highway 40 to start this year.

The unanimous approval allows the housing authority to obtain a grade and fill permit and start preparing the site for construction on the 234-unit development next year.

The next step for Mid Valley, which includes a development plan and another preliminary plat, is currently being reviewed by the city, with public hearings expected in May.

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The Mid Valley property was purchased by the housing authority in 2021 with an anonymous donation from the same unnamed person who donated $24 million that summer to purchase the Brown Ranch.

In public comment, Bud Romberg, who sits on the board of the adjacent Young Tracks Preschool, said he was concerned that the development would only have one access.

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“There’s already a problem with traffic at that point,” Romberg said. “We hope that when you go through this in the development stage, that you will look at having at least another egress or access to this particular piece of property.”

The plat approved does allow for Mid Valley Drive to eventually be a through road to Mount Werner Road by granting a blanket easement on the south side of the property, though the city would need to get more easements through land that is not within city limits.

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This road extension is identified in city plans for the area, though it may be a while before it is ever constructed. After council approved the plat, Romberg said that he didn’t think that additional road would solve traffic congestion in the roundabout in the area, if it is ever built. Romberg also admitted that there isn’t another logical spot for a second access to the parcel.

“We hope that you will look at that closely,” Romberg told council.

Council member Dakotah McGinlay asked a question about parking for the development, fearing there may not be enough depicted on a graphic of the layout for Mid Valley that shows four buildings and 234 units that will be targeted at middle income residents between 80% and 150% the area median income.

Senior planner Kelly Douglas said that parking was not being considered for this plat, and that would be considered as part of the development plan that staff is reviewing. “We’re reviewing parking and units proposed,” Douglas said. “Certainly all development and the parking for it will come before you for review.”