The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Tim Zink, general manager for the 681-acre Three Springs development in Durango, talks about the site April 10. "It took us a long time to get gas, water and other improvements installed," he said. "You don't understand the amount of money that's underneath this dirt."

Tim Zink, general manager of the 681-acre Three Springs development that was annexed into Durango in 2004, talks about the annexation process in a conference room on the site April 10. "We basically had to prove our case that this was going to be a good thing for the city of Durango," he said.

Durango senior planner Tim McHarg says the city’s Three Spring development, annexed in 2004, got a significant boost from a new hospital and commercial district that already were on the site and spurred the community’s growth.

Tim Zink, of the Three Springs development in Durango, uses a model of the site to explain its new urbanism planning style, which is designed to reduce off-site car trips with pedestrian-friendly features, parks, commercial districts and other features.

Durango Planning Director Greg Hoch says he felt “political pressure” from city officials to approve the 681-acre Three Springs development in 2004.