FAQs

The land — Diamond Ridge — is off Last Dollar Road just north of the Telluride Regional Airport on Deep Creek Mesa and consists of three parcels totaling 105 acres. San Miguel County and the Town of Telluride intend to use a portion of the overall acreage for affordable housing while maintaining significant amounts of open space. The project will be phased over several years but the purchase of the land in June of 2022 was a key first step.

The Diamond Ridge property was acquired as a land-banking opportunity to allow for a deed-restricted housing development similar to Lawson Hill’s residential portion, Two Rivers, and San Bernardo. The land acquisition is intended to allow the development of a vibrant and affordable neighborhood for local workers and families within a reasonable commute to our major employment centers, while preserving much of the land as open space.

On March 28, 2022, San Miguel County and the Town of Telluride announced their partnership in acquiring the 105 acres jointly to build housing. While this is not the first time the County and Town have partnered on a regional housing project, this partnership is a result of the strong and consistent message from the regional community that housing working residents and families affordably within the Telluride region is a top priority.

Previously zoned as Forestry-Agricultural (F), the San Miguel County Board of County Commissioners voted to rezone a portion of the parcel as Community Housing (CH) on May 18, 2022. CH is a new zoning classification, one that allows for greater density specifically for affordable housing projects.

The Board of County Commissioners read more than 1,000 pages in the packet and heard nearly three hours of public comment before rendering its rezoning decision in a public hearing held on May 18, 2022. The rezoning decision by the Board of County Commissioners followed the recommendation to rezone the Diamond Ridge Property by the San Miguel County Planning Commission on April 21, 2022.  

The current F Zone District allows three private residences to be constructed on the property. Rezoning a portion of 105-acre property to the CH Zone District will create the opportunity to provide meaningful community housing in the future.  Once a portion of the property is zoned to CH, specific site plans will be developed for subsequent review by the County. These plans would identify infrastructure improvements, road and lot layouts, transit connections, trails, open space areas, and other details.

A collective of Deep Creek landowners and residents filed a lawsuit in district court in June 2022 that named San Miguel County, the Town of Telluride, and others, challenging the County's decision to rezone the Diamond Ridge parcel.

On December 21, 2022, the San Miguel County District Court reversed the San Miguel County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) rezoning of the 39-acre portion of the 105-acre Diamond Ridge Property, citing that one of the county commissioners had been involved in communications regarding the project that should have resulted in their recusal from the rezoning decision. In addition, the District Court took issue with the May 2022 BOCC decision because it found that the Diamond Ridge rezoning was not reasonably consistent with the County’s comprehensive master plan, although this portion of the Court’s ruling is subject to a limited motion to reconsider that is currently pending with the District Court.   

Separately, the District Court ruled in favor of San Miguel County, establishing that the County properly created the Community Housing Zone District. The Court stated that the Plaintiffs were not entitled to a heightened standard of review and did not establish that the creation of the new Community Housing Zone District infringed on or violated any fundamental constitutional rights.  In an earlier order, the District Court also ruled in favor of the Town and County finding that private covenants placed on the Diamond Ridge Property were not enforceable against governmental entities that own public property.

The plaintiffs listed on the civil cover sheet include: 

• Pamela M. Bennett
• Donald S. Bennett
• Deep Creek #1, LLC
• Deep Creek #7, LLC
• Deep Creek #8, LLC
• Deep Creek #10, LLC
• Deep Creek #11, LLC
• Deep Creek #12, LLC
• James F. Lucarelli
• Virginia F. Lucarelli
• Erik R. Aura
• Frances M. Aura
• Jennifer Lee Barker 2006 Trust
• Angela I. Farrar
• James W. Farrar
• Stacy Prescott
• Michael Zerangue
• Morgan and Sarah Smith Family Trust of 2000 as amended
• Lisa Henson Revocable Trust
• Molen-Golden Ledge, LLC
• Midland IRA Inc. FBO Johnson Lynda #673801
• Michael J. Harvey
• Deborah L. Harvey
• Nicholas G. Farkouh
• Caroline S. Farkouh
• Bernard J. King Revocable Living Trust dated 1992
• Dirk A. de Pagter Living Trust Dated April 6, 1992
• Patrice M. de Pagter Living Trust Dated April 6, 1992
• Jamey Schuler
• Shelley Schuler
• David W. Lavender
• Karen C. Lavender
• M.D.C.M. Homeowners Company
• Deep Creek Ranches Homeowners Association
• Golden Ledge Homeowners Company
• H. Charles Price
• Jessie H. Price

No. The Town and County will continue to work to deliver high-quality, affordable community housing on Diamond Ridge.

Funds for the $7.21 million acquisition of the Diamond Ridge property included 50 percent funding from the Town of Telluride’s General Reserve Fund, which remains healthy in the 2024 budget, and 50 percent funding from San Miguel County coming from Federal ARPA and County reserves. While the acquisition of the Diamond Ridge property was not predicated upon the grant being awarded, the State funds would have expedited planning and development and ultimately decreased the cost of housing at Diamond Ridge that would go to working locals.

According to DOLA, due to months of delays caused by litigation against the Diamond Ridge Project and the recent executive order D 2023 014 issued by Governor Jared Polis to speed DOLA’s process for awarding housing grant funds, DOLA officials felt obligated to reallocate the $5 million grant funds to other affordable housing projects that are ready to proceed. 

While DOLA officials emphasized their regrets that the Diamond Ridge housing funds would need to be re-dispersed to other communities in need, they voiced their support for the Diamond Ridge initiative and, in writing, encouraged the Town and County to apply for State funds for the project in the future. 

The grant award remains in place and the terms and conditions remain the same while the County and Town determine next steps.

The County and Town foresee a revised plan with no more than 240 high-quality housing units built on the parcels, which aligns with a separate limit agreed to by the Town and the Idarado Mining Company, joint owner of certain water rights with the Town, for the Town to provide treated municipal water to the Diamond Ridge Property. Units have been discussed as single-family and duplex, with no apartments.

As part of the grant’s requirement, 50% of the units constructed shall be restricted to occupancy by households with an Area Median Income (AMI) of 120% or below. In 2022, the 120% AMI level for a 3-person household in San Miguel County was $103,320.

The initial timeline estimated project completion in late 2024. As the project is currently delayed by the December 21 ruling, the timeline is uncertain until the County’s reconsideration process is complete, and a subsequent rezoning application is approved.

The County has filed for reconsideration by the Court and Town will await the next court decision.

When possible, the project will move to an RFP to pursue a feasibility study surrounding density, infrastructure, wildlife impacts, traffic, and other considerations. The Town and County will then bring the study findings to the public and engage in a period of public forums to gather input and answer questions.

The Town of Telluride and San Miguel County remain committed to transparently planning the thoughtful, balanced future use of the Diamond Ridge parcel and seeking opportunities to continue our work together with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.