Storied Development LLC (Storied) has applied for an amendment for the approved planned unit development for the Spring Valley Ranch (PUD) development with Garfield County.

Storied is a land development firm that focuses on developing private residential communities in the United States, the Caribbean and Mexico. The current PUD for Spring Valley was approved in 2008 for 577 residential units, an 18-hole golf course, a short course, and numerous other amenities.

Storied is under contract to purchase the Spring Valley Ranch property, which is located north of Carbondale. 

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“Spring Valley Ranch has a PUD in place and this development has been planned for years. Some of the early plans date back to the 1980s. The most recent approval is the 2008 plan. Right now all the zoning is based on the 2008 PUD. It has sat dormant for several years. There hasn’t really been a development team in place to embrace this project and create a long-term vision for it,” said Kathleen Wanatowicz, the local outreach coordinator for the project. 

According to Storied, the details of the new PUD proposal include:

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• Consolidate the land plan and reduce the average lot size, reducing roads, and clustering homesites into phased neighborhoods.

• Increase dedicated open space to 3,249 acres, representing over 55% of the total property. This is achieved by downsizing and clustering the homesites and by reducing the size of the irrigated golf course by nearly 50%. Benefits include: 700 acres of public open space including 15-20 miles of hiking and biking trails and 1,100 acres of elk and deer habitat reserve.

• A total of 13% of the project will be deed-restricted affordable housing, and 58 of the 75 affordable housing units will be available to qualified Garfield County residents with 70-110% AMI.

• A General Store located at the corner of CR 114 and CR 115.

• Construction of a full-time, staffed fire station with EMS serving Spring Valley area residents.

• Wildfire mitigation plans and ongoing wildfire readiness measures.

• The creation of a 2% Real Estate Transfer Fee that will generate new funding in the area annually.

• Phased road improvements, including the intersection at SH-82 and CR-114 and reconstruction of CR-114 to meet county standards.

The difference is stark when comparing the 2008 PUD with the new proposed PUD, developer representatives explained. 

“Everything in what we call the upper bench were 10-25 acre home sites that had only well and septic. You can see that there is no dedicated open space either. What we did is ask, how can (we) consolidate some of this to create corridors and open space and wildlife refuges?” said Aaron Smith, the National Marketing Director for Storied. 

Smith said that the new proposed PUD has the same number of units as the previous plan, but has reduced the lot size to 2-4 acres, freeing up open spaces for wildlife and recreational trails. The golf course has been reduced by 50% as well, to be less of a demand on the land and to make room for affordable housing, a general store and a sales office. 

By reducing the lot sizes, Smith said that all residential units will be able to have water systems in place, enabling the lots to be off of well and septic.  

Storied will continue its community outreach efforts to get feedback from the public. Concerns expressed by some so far include the project’s focus on high-end housing and not including more affordable or deed-restricted housing. Another concern is the additional water use that this project would pull. Community members expressed worry that the strain of tapping a new aquifer could have unintended consequences on water demand in an already water-tight market. That is on top of the proposed construction, including road construction and traffic congestion, which will directly impact those already living in the area.

The developers said that this would be a long-term project and an investment that would be built up over 10-15 years. Over the next few months, Storied sees its PUD proposal going to the Garfield County Planning Commission and the Board of County Commissioners, who will review the PUD Amendment application. Depending upon BOCC approval, the Spring Valley Ranch project would start its Preliminary Plan review afterward. Storied expects this process to be completed in 2025-2026 and at the very earliest, the first phase of construction would be slated to begin in 2026 or 2027.