Routt County officials are reviewing a revised set of plans proposing to locate trailers in Stagecoach to provide temporary housing for Oak Creek firefighters and construction workers needed for a planned luxury resort in the area.

The Oak Creek Fire Protection District purchased the trailers, which were previously owned by mining companies, in October 2021 for roughly $400,000 with the goal of using them to house seasonal wildland firefighters. The temporary trailer housing plans faltered, however, after the fire district entered into an agreement with a local ranch owner and had the living quarters delivered without obtaining the necessary permitting from the county.

Under threat of legal action from the county, Oak Creek Fire Chief Brady Glauthier engaged Discovery Land Company and its partner, local realtor Chris Wittemyer, to relocate the units to a property at Stagecoach owned by Wittemyer.

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Wittemyer is partnering with Discovery on the real estate company’s plans to develop roughly 700 luxury homes, a private ski area and golf course among other amenities on 6,000 acres of land in Stagecoach. The project is referred to as Stagecoach Mountain Ranch.

The agreement between the fire district and Discovery saw the county initially grant administrative approval for the trailers to be moved to and stored at their current location near Routt County Road 212 and Stagecoach Drive before the applicants submitted a formal application in April to request temporary occupancy approval for the trailers. The April application stated the two trailers would provide 28 housing units for a period of three years with the units split for use between Oak Creek Fire personnel and construction workers hired by Discovery to work on various phases of the planned project.

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In July, Routt County’s planning department sent a letter citing requests for clarification, comments and issues regarding the application. Specifically, the letter asked that construction workers hired by Discovery not occupy the trailers unless “specific projects are approved” and suggested a condition that, “in the event of any partial approval, (e.g. only one of the two user groups is approved, or fewer residents are approved), the remainder of the trailers shall be removed.”

According to a revised narrative submitted to the county’s planning department Sept. 20, the application states 18 of the 28 bedrooms would be designated for Oak Creek fire personnel with the remaining 10 available for Discovery construction workers. The change means both trailers would be required to meet the fire district’s stated demand with or without Stagecoach Mountain Ranch employees using them.

Chief Glauthier said Thursday that he was not “the one putting the plan together” but the change in the number of units needed for the department was made “because we might need more firefighters.”

As a location for a more permanent housing solution is sought, Glauthier said the district is renting apartments to house its structure fire personnel but is not able to provide living arrangements for any of its seasonal wildland crew.

“I have a couple of guys who are also structure trained staying at the station here in Stagecoach, and I have guys who have rented their own places out and about,” he said.

Apparently taking the lead on putting the application together, officials with Discovery hope the temporary housing setup will provide living space for construction workers in the early phase of its planned development.

“Our plan, while these (temporary) trailers are in place, is to build a portion of the required employee housing early in the first stage of the project so that they can be occupied by employees when the (temporary) trailers are removed,” Discovery’s Vice President of Architecture and Planning Kyle Phillips said.

While Discovery has made its resort development intentions known at community meetings and through filings made to local water districts, the company has yet to submit a formal application for any portion of its project. As a result, Routt County Planner Michael Fitz said a permit approval would include conditions whereby no construction workers would be able to occupy a unit at the property until Stagecoach Mountain Ranch or Discovery receives approval for a project that requires their presence.

Given the lack of clarity over the need for Discovery to house construction workers for the development, Fitz noted that county staff felt more comfortable with the fire district’s adjusted need for 18 units rather than 14.

“The fire district did change its request a little bit so they would actually end up using both buildings — one of them fully and one of them kind of half and then the other half of that building would be used for Stagecoach Mountain Ranch employees if that was to be done,” he said.

“Stagecoach Mountain Ranch is applying with them as one of the user groups, but we don’t know if they are going to have any project,” added Fitz. “Obviously, we don’t want to approve something if there is no known project that it is going to go in for. To solve that, we are going to condition it so that those employees cannot move in until they actually get approval.”

The county planner said Wednesday the applicants for the temporary housing permit have submitted all required documents including a statement of commitment for service from the Morrison Water and Sanitation District.

The two 54-by-83-foot trailers will occupy approximately 35,000 square feet on the property, according to the revised planning materials, and the buildout will include 38 parking spaces and an area to park to firefighter personnel carrier vehicles to transport members of the district’s wildland crew. The materials also call for an existing “informal” driveway on the property to be widened to 20 feet and for a temporary curb to be cut into County Road 212. The enhancements would be removed prior to the permit’s expiration.

Fitz said various department staff will review the updated materials before Routt County Commissioners ultimately decide if the application should be approved and if additional conditions are needed. In the meantime, Stagecoach residents like Mickie Hunter say they are concerned not only over the perceived impact that the trailers would have on the neighborhood but also over its connection to Discovery’s plans for a private resort.

“It’s a family neighborhood — single-family homes, kids, a school bus stop right there. Who would want a man camp right next to where they live? I don’t think Mr. Wittemyer would,” said Hunter. “No one that I have spoken with in our neighborhood wants this here and they are angry that it was brought in the way it was brought in.”

Hunter said the project’s optics have been troubling from the beginning when the trailers were moved to the Stagecoach property and seemingly tucked out of sight “before the application was submitted for anything.”

She also pointed to the initial application’s narrative, which said the housing units would be split evenly among the fire district and Discovery employees.

“The (county) said you can only keep the units for the firefighters, so now they are saying we need more for the firefighters so they can keep all these units,” said Hunter. “It’s clear what they are doing, we are not dumb.”

Wittemeyer said he understood residents’ frustrations but that the temporary housing was important for the fire district’s housing needs and, potentially, for those of construction workers hired by Discovery.

“Obviously, trailers are not the prettiest form of housing, but we have put it in a place where it is very shielded and out of view, and we expect that the people who live there will be law-abiding and not some sort of a threat or a menace to the neighborhood,” said Wittemeyer.

Wittemeyer added that he did not know why the adjustment in the number of units needed for the fire district was made.

“That was coming from the fire chief — so ask him about that,” he said. “That is 100% his determination.”

“There’s really not an ideal place that would satisfy everyone on this, but it needed to be a place where there was access to water and sewer,” he said. “I think that the demand and need for firefighter housing and workforce housing is unquestionably there.”