Eminent domain on the table as Steamboat pursues Core Trail expansion | SteamboatToday.com

News News | Oct 31, 2024

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Steamboat Springs City Council members have given the green light for city attorneys to pursue legal action should it be needed to obtain easements in pursuit of completing a planned westward expansion of the Yampa River Core Trail.

The city began designing the entire West Steamboat Trail Project in 2021 and produced a sequenced design formed into three phases with an end goal to add 2.4 miles of trail to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety conditions in the area west of downtown beyond city limits.

Fully funded in 2024, construction of the first section of the project would see the trail extended from Snow Bowl Plaza to Sleepy Bear Mobile Home Park along the south side of U.S. Highway 40, but an anticipated start date for the work at the beginning of the year was delayed.

Public Works Director Jon Snyder told council members at their meeting Tuesday that the city is hoping to go out for bid for the first phase of the project “sooner rather than later,” but the holdup was linked to the need to obtain a strip of land owned by the Williams Family Partnership across from Snow Bowl Steamboat.

Estimated to cost roughly $5 million, funding for the first phase of the project includes grants awarded from the Colorado Department of Transportation, Routt County and Yampa Valley Electric Association.

“Phase 1 is fully funded right now but we are held up in the easement acquisition phase with the property in question,” said Snyder.

The city has secured easements on two properties, including an August deal made with the owners of Sleepy Bear Mobile Home Park agreed to sell a section of land covering 126-square-feet to the city for $1,390, and is working toward finalized easement agreements with four landowners needed to complete the first two phases of the project.

Snyder said last week that easements for the second and third phases the project would require an agreement with the housing authority, which has already indicated support for the work but only if the prior phases of the project are completed.

Another agreement, with Steamboat Springs KOA Holiday, is also outstanding.

As a deal to purchase land owned by the Williams Family Partnership — one of the four remaining easement deals needed — remains in limbo, City Assistant Attorney Jennifer Bock said last week that council’s clearance to pursue eminent domain filings in Routt County District Court did not mean negotiations with the Williams Family Partnership were “at an impasse right now.”

“We have had a virtual meeting with the property owner and the property owner’s attorney,” said Bock. “We outlined terms we are comfortable with; they have countered but we are not sure if we are going to get there and that is why we are here before you tonight.”

The assistant attorney said the plan for the city was to “move forward on parallel tracks” with a push to settle a negotiated agreement with property owners as necessary. She said council’s approval for the legal action was needed, “in case those (negotiations) stall out and we have to petition district court.”

“We can continue to negotiate even after we go to court. These things often settle before trial,” added Bock. “We have conveyed that to the attorney for the owners, that we just have a deadline, so ultimately if we need to go to court, we will go to court.”

The ultimate goal of the planned project is to extend the city’s Core Trail to connect with the Yampa Valley Housing Authority’s Brown Ranch property.

The second phase of the planned trail development would see an underpass section built below U.S. 40 to connect to the Overlook Park subdivision on the north side of the highway.

Snyder noted last week the project’s second phase is fully funded in the city’s 2025 budget, which council members have approved, with an estimated cost of roughly $6 million — a figure supported with grant funding from various entities including $2 million awarded to the city in August from the state’s Department of Local Affairs.

The third phase of the project, which is not yet funded, would build out the trail through the housing authority’s property at Brown Ranch and make connections to the Steamboat II and Silver Spur neighborhoods.

But when that work might begin, and how it would be funded, is unknown.

Council members ultimately voted 5-0 at their meeting last week to allow city attorneys to pursue eminent domain filings in Routt County District Court if the action is needed to push the project forward to complete its first phase.

Following the vote, Councilor Amy Dickson thanked city staff for their years-long effort to see the project forward.

“We know the need for safe access for pedestrians and those on bicycles accessing the west side of town,” Dickson said.

“This is really important for what we are envisioning for the west side of town, so I support this resolution,” she added.

City Council President Gail Garey recused herself from the discussion due to her husband, an attorney, being involved in the negotiations with the city. Garey said Thursday she did not know who her husband’s client was. Council member Dakotah McGinlay was not present to vote at the meeting.

Trevor Ballantyne is the city government and housing reporter. To reach him, call 970-871-4254 or email him at [email protected].

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