Posted by: Erin Eddy
March 06, 2009
Written By Christopher Pike
County commissioners rejected a landowner's bid to amend Land Use Code zoning standards.
The code amendment, had it passed, would have enabled the property owner next to Eagle Hill Ranch subdivision north of Ridgway to split his land into three lots, matching the density in Eagle Hill.
Commissioners said Monday they accepted the Ouray County Planning Commission's reasoning in its recommendation of denial last Nov. 18. The commission's report noted that the new language, as presented by the applicant, could result in the rezoning of property "even if the adjacent parcel's current zoning does not match."
The P&Z also declared that should the code amendment become law, a parcel anywhere in the county "could be rezoned to historical zoning densities that no longer exist, or ... granted density that has been done away with."
Applicant Steve Jordon owns a 21.83-acre parcel next to Eagle Hill Ranch. Jordon invoked several sections within the LUC, beginning last May, to subdividie his parcel into three lots. He had argued that his parcel could be subdivided since it is surrounded "on all sides by developments of greater density that which is being proposed."
Jordon's representative, Robert Savath, said the only reason his client was pursuing this process was because there is "no other way under the current code to address this application." Savath was reminded by BOCC Chairman Heidi Albritton, however, that future recourse was available for Jordon to split the parcel into two lots as allowed by Section 17 of the code.
Commissioner Keith Meinert said the request was significant in that it would have broadened the ability of future county commissioners to make code changes. Those may have expanded the use of zoning changes to increase density and decrease the lot size.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Doctors office in Ouray
February 20, 2009
Written By: Samantha Tisdel Wright
Posted By: Erin Eddy
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
After doing without for several years, Ouray is poised to get its own medical center once again. Ouray Family Medicine will open its doors at 824 Main Street in mid-March.
"We've been scratching our heads thinking about it for years," said Dr. David Olson, a family practice physician who with his wife and nurse practitioner Shirley Olson, will be running the clinic. "The time just seemed right."
Once the decision to open a practice had been made, it took the Olsons a little longer to find the right place. Buying their own building was not an option, so when the current location, which used to house the hair salon Shea Studio, became available, "...We were like, 'Yeah, baby... it's perfect,' David laughed.
The location wasn't dialed in until December. Since then, there's been some serious remodeling going on, to transform the once chic salon into a medical clinic with a reception desk and waiting area, three exam rooms, a trauma/x-ray room, office space and more.
An open area up front will double as a waiting room for patients and their families, and an after-hours theater and lecture area, where guest lecturers will be invited to give talks from time to time, the Olsons said.
Shirley, who has been an RN for 15 years, has spent the past few years completing her master's degree to become a family nurse practitioner, training which she anticipates completing in May. She has recently been working at a women's health clinic in Montrose.
"I like primary care more than accute care, because you're working toward enhancing a person's overall health," she said.
David, who received his medical education at Northwestern University in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, and completed his family practice residency at Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver, has been practicing family medicine since 1980 at the age of 25.
He formerly had small private family practices in Denver and Michigan. This past year, he's worked at a family practice in Montrose.
It's work that he's well-suited to. "Family physicians are in short supply," he noted. "They have the hardest job, they make the least money, they have to know the most."
The Olsons, who moved to Ouray in 2004, intend to flesh out their offerings by bringing in specialists on a rotating basis.
Shirley herself is currently obtaining certification training as a foot care specialist. "And we recently obtained our aesthetic medicine credentials and will likely offer Botox injections and chemical peels initially, and perhaps other aesthetic procedures later," Olson said.
In addition to his time in family practice, David spent a considerable period of time in high-level medical management. "I wanted to have a bigger effect; I wasn't happy with the way medicine was administered," he explained. "I was ready for something new." Now, he has come full circle, back to family medicine.
"We are committed to living in Ouray for the rest of our lives," he said. "And you can't be a medical director in Ouray." But there's certainly a need here for a medical clinic, a need which he and Shirley are now poised to fill. Together, they envision creating a family practice in Ouray that can care for all of the town's citizens, from birth on up.
The Olsons also look forward to creating an ultra-modern "micro" practice, incorporating the latest developments in medical practices that have been made possible by the Internet.
"We will have an interactive web page where patients can log in or fill in their demographics, and make or change an appointment," David explained. Patients, once they are logged in, can also securely e-mail David and Shirley questions and information about their medical backgrounds. All records will be kept electronically.
"The 'micro' model is very hands-on, and can dramatically decrease administrative fees," Shirley explained. "You might often have one of us answering the phone." And yes, the Olsons will do house calls.
"A micro-practice is the perfect model for us," Shirley added. "Our style is to spend more time with each patient. That's the way medicine should be practiced."
Written By: Samantha Tisdel Wright
Posted By: Erin Eddy
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
After doing without for several years, Ouray is poised to get its own medical center once again. Ouray Family Medicine will open its doors at 824 Main Street in mid-March.
"We've been scratching our heads thinking about it for years," said Dr. David Olson, a family practice physician who with his wife and nurse practitioner Shirley Olson, will be running the clinic. "The time just seemed right."
Once the decision to open a practice had been made, it took the Olsons a little longer to find the right place. Buying their own building was not an option, so when the current location, which used to house the hair salon Shea Studio, became available, "...We were like, 'Yeah, baby... it's perfect,' David laughed.
The location wasn't dialed in until December. Since then, there's been some serious remodeling going on, to transform the once chic salon into a medical clinic with a reception desk and waiting area, three exam rooms, a trauma/x-ray room, office space and more.
An open area up front will double as a waiting room for patients and their families, and an after-hours theater and lecture area, where guest lecturers will be invited to give talks from time to time, the Olsons said.
Shirley, who has been an RN for 15 years, has spent the past few years completing her master's degree to become a family nurse practitioner, training which she anticipates completing in May. She has recently been working at a women's health clinic in Montrose.
"I like primary care more than accute care, because you're working toward enhancing a person's overall health," she said.
David, who received his medical education at Northwestern University in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, and completed his family practice residency at Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver, has been practicing family medicine since 1980 at the age of 25.
He formerly had small private family practices in Denver and Michigan. This past year, he's worked at a family practice in Montrose.
It's work that he's well-suited to. "Family physicians are in short supply," he noted. "They have the hardest job, they make the least money, they have to know the most."
The Olsons, who moved to Ouray in 2004, intend to flesh out their offerings by bringing in specialists on a rotating basis.
Shirley herself is currently obtaining certification training as a foot care specialist. "And we recently obtained our aesthetic medicine credentials and will likely offer Botox injections and chemical peels initially, and perhaps other aesthetic procedures later," Olson said.
In addition to his time in family practice, David spent a considerable period of time in high-level medical management. "I wanted to have a bigger effect; I wasn't happy with the way medicine was administered," he explained. "I was ready for something new." Now, he has come full circle, back to family medicine.
"We are committed to living in Ouray for the rest of our lives," he said. "And you can't be a medical director in Ouray." But there's certainly a need here for a medical clinic, a need which he and Shirley are now poised to fill. Together, they envision creating a family practice in Ouray that can care for all of the town's citizens, from birth on up.
The Olsons also look forward to creating an ultra-modern "micro" practice, incorporating the latest developments in medical practices that have been made possible by the Internet.
"We will have an interactive web page where patients can log in or fill in their demographics, and make or change an appointment," David explained. Patients, once they are logged in, can also securely e-mail David and Shirley questions and information about their medical backgrounds. All records will be kept electronically.
"The 'micro' model is very hands-on, and can dramatically decrease administrative fees," Shirley explained. "You might often have one of us answering the phone." And yes, the Olsons will do house calls.
"A micro-practice is the perfect model for us," Shirley added. "Our style is to spend more time with each patient. That's the way medicine should be practiced."
Friday, February 13, 2009
La Capella in Telluride
Posted by Erin Eddy
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
Written by: Seth Cagin
Nine years and a reported $200 million later, there is a major new hotel in the Telluride region.
The Capella Telluride was scheduled to open its doors today to fanfare, high hopes, and, it is safe to say, some measure of relief as well. The opening of the Capella could be deemed to be the region’s very own economic stimulus. But as is true of President Obama’s national stimulus plan, there is no way to know in advance how well it will work.
The road from conception to completion of the largest construction project ever undertaken in the Telluride region was not only long and expensive, but fraught with peril, including an arduous approvals process that saw numerous compromises with respect to the structure’s mass, scale and design and more than a few occasions when it looked like it would never break ground.
Today’s grand opening could be taken as evidence that long-range community planning can sometimes yield a result. But it remains to be seen whether the economic impact will be all that has been hoped. That is true particularly since the Capella opens its doors in the midst of a deep and possibly deepening local, national and global economic slump.
The most recent data provided by the Telluride Visitors Bureau are not encouraging. Hotel occupancy in the Telluride region was down 17.5 percent in January compared to last January, with revenue per available room down by an even more impressive 30 percent, due to falling room rates. Advance bookings for the next six months are down by a whopping 32 percent compared to last year at this time, with only one bit of hopeful datum: in January, 18.6 percent more visitors booked their accommodations in the same month they planned to arrive compared to last January.
That last statistic suggests an opportunity for recovery ahead, and one that a sparkling, new, full-service hotel like the Capella might help to realize. Bookings at the Capella for the rest of this ski season are encouraging, the hotel’s general manager John Volponi said this week, and the summer looks strong, particularly around major festivals. As an example, this year’s bigger Gay Ski Week, which starts Feb. 21, has booked rooms and has scheduled a number of events at the Capella.
Among the opportunities the Capella should afford the region is the possibility of booking more groups utilizing the adjacent Telluride Conference Center. With the addition of the Capella, Mountain Village now offers a far larger assortment of rooms suitable for hosting groups, and, of possibly even greater importance, there are now break-out meeting rooms at the Capella for groups that use the conference center as their primary venue.
“The group market is extremely challenging right now for not only destination markets but all conference markets,” Scott McQuade, CEO of the Telluride Visitors Bureau said this week, explaining that corporate travel has been severely cut back due to the economy. “But there is hope on the horizon,” McQuade added. “We are already seeing both large and small groups book for 2010 and the Capella has certainly been of primary interest for many of these group leaders. The Capella has also helped the group effort in giving customers more options, and the destination the ability to accommodate larger groups.”
Once a Muddy Parking Lot
The Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association, then called Mountain Village Metro Services, quietly acquired the bulk of the property now occupied by the Capella in the fall of 2000, precisely with the objective of ensuring it would be developed as a hotel, and that it would incorporate other needed community amenities, and would not be developed as condominiums. Then, as today, there was a concern, expressed at that time by Telluride Ski and Golf Co. CEO Ron Allred and expressed today by current Telski CEO Dave Riley, that creating bedbase is essential to the region’s economic sustainability. But the last remaining sites in Mountain Village and Telluride that were suitable for hotel development were being developed instead as condominiums, which generally have a far lower occupancy rate than hotel rooms do.
Metro Services subsequently entered into an agreement with Robert Levine, who developed the adjacent Inn at Lost Creek, to take on the project. There were then hundreds of hours of public meetings to hammer out details of the project, specifically how big it would be and what it would include.
Twice in 2004, as the project neared final approval, Mountain Village voters rejected arguments that the project was too big, first defeating a measure (with 73 percent opposed) that would have restricted the town council’s ability to award height variances and the second defeating a measure (80 percent opposed) that would have overturned the town council’s final approval of the project. The project also survived a legal challenge from the developer of the neighboring Franz Klammer Lodge.
After all of that, what was long a muddy parking lot at the center of the Mountain Village Center, and was once the location for trailers where lift tickets were sold and skis and boots were rented, is today a complex of two large structures containing 100 hotel rooms, 48 condominiums, two restaurants, a ballroom, a spa, new retail space, an underground parking garage, and an ice rink in a new public plaza.
The Capella Telluride is the first Capella hotel to open in the United States, the American flagship of a new international luxury brand founded by Horst Schulze, the legendary founder of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel chain. Capella hotels will be less formal than Ritz-Carltons, somewhat smaller in size, and will deliver an even more highly personalized level of service, Schulze has decreed.
For example, each Capella guest will have the use of a “personal assistant,” who will first contact them even before they arrive to determine the guests’ interests and to begin making arrangements for their stay. Rather than a grand public lobby, the hotel has a “living room,” whose access is restricted to hotel guests, where the personal assistants maintain their desks. The two restaurants, Onyx, featuring fine dining, and the Suede Bar, with a more casual menu, are open to the public.
New staff was busily training this week, as an army of construction workers scurried about to meet the deadline for today’s opening, with Schulze, who began his career as a waiter in his native Germany, on hand to personally lend a hand. The hotel has a staff of about 100 people, about half of them recruited locally, Volponi said.
“It’s all about service,” Volponi said, and indeed this reporter and a photographer were greeted warmly as we toured the facilities. “‘We, the service professionals of Capella place our guests at the center of everything we do,’” Volponi added, quoting an excerpt from the company’s “service training” that is reviewed with all employees.
“I think that sums up our philosophy. The significant idea that is emphasized over and over again in our training is that we provide ‘warm and caring service.’”
The Capella Telluride is offering an introductory rate of $295 this winter and for much of next summer. In an interview a year ago, admittedly before the scale of the current economic downturn was clear, Schulze expressed confidence that the Capella would be successful within three years, building that success on his philosophy emphasizing guest, employee and owner satisfaction, and commitment to community.
The hope expressed by Schulze then and by Volponi this week is that the Capella will someday be as strongly identified with Telluride as the Little Nell is with Aspen, the Sonnenalp is with Vail, and the Hyatt Regency is with Beaver Creek.
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
Written by: Seth Cagin
Nine years and a reported $200 million later, there is a major new hotel in the Telluride region.
The Capella Telluride was scheduled to open its doors today to fanfare, high hopes, and, it is safe to say, some measure of relief as well. The opening of the Capella could be deemed to be the region’s very own economic stimulus. But as is true of President Obama’s national stimulus plan, there is no way to know in advance how well it will work.
The road from conception to completion of the largest construction project ever undertaken in the Telluride region was not only long and expensive, but fraught with peril, including an arduous approvals process that saw numerous compromises with respect to the structure’s mass, scale and design and more than a few occasions when it looked like it would never break ground.
Today’s grand opening could be taken as evidence that long-range community planning can sometimes yield a result. But it remains to be seen whether the economic impact will be all that has been hoped. That is true particularly since the Capella opens its doors in the midst of a deep and possibly deepening local, national and global economic slump.
The most recent data provided by the Telluride Visitors Bureau are not encouraging. Hotel occupancy in the Telluride region was down 17.5 percent in January compared to last January, with revenue per available room down by an even more impressive 30 percent, due to falling room rates. Advance bookings for the next six months are down by a whopping 32 percent compared to last year at this time, with only one bit of hopeful datum: in January, 18.6 percent more visitors booked their accommodations in the same month they planned to arrive compared to last January.
That last statistic suggests an opportunity for recovery ahead, and one that a sparkling, new, full-service hotel like the Capella might help to realize. Bookings at the Capella for the rest of this ski season are encouraging, the hotel’s general manager John Volponi said this week, and the summer looks strong, particularly around major festivals. As an example, this year’s bigger Gay Ski Week, which starts Feb. 21, has booked rooms and has scheduled a number of events at the Capella.
Among the opportunities the Capella should afford the region is the possibility of booking more groups utilizing the adjacent Telluride Conference Center. With the addition of the Capella, Mountain Village now offers a far larger assortment of rooms suitable for hosting groups, and, of possibly even greater importance, there are now break-out meeting rooms at the Capella for groups that use the conference center as their primary venue.
“The group market is extremely challenging right now for not only destination markets but all conference markets,” Scott McQuade, CEO of the Telluride Visitors Bureau said this week, explaining that corporate travel has been severely cut back due to the economy. “But there is hope on the horizon,” McQuade added. “We are already seeing both large and small groups book for 2010 and the Capella has certainly been of primary interest for many of these group leaders. The Capella has also helped the group effort in giving customers more options, and the destination the ability to accommodate larger groups.”
Once a Muddy Parking Lot
The Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association, then called Mountain Village Metro Services, quietly acquired the bulk of the property now occupied by the Capella in the fall of 2000, precisely with the objective of ensuring it would be developed as a hotel, and that it would incorporate other needed community amenities, and would not be developed as condominiums. Then, as today, there was a concern, expressed at that time by Telluride Ski and Golf Co. CEO Ron Allred and expressed today by current Telski CEO Dave Riley, that creating bedbase is essential to the region’s economic sustainability. But the last remaining sites in Mountain Village and Telluride that were suitable for hotel development were being developed instead as condominiums, which generally have a far lower occupancy rate than hotel rooms do.
Metro Services subsequently entered into an agreement with Robert Levine, who developed the adjacent Inn at Lost Creek, to take on the project. There were then hundreds of hours of public meetings to hammer out details of the project, specifically how big it would be and what it would include.
Twice in 2004, as the project neared final approval, Mountain Village voters rejected arguments that the project was too big, first defeating a measure (with 73 percent opposed) that would have restricted the town council’s ability to award height variances and the second defeating a measure (80 percent opposed) that would have overturned the town council’s final approval of the project. The project also survived a legal challenge from the developer of the neighboring Franz Klammer Lodge.
After all of that, what was long a muddy parking lot at the center of the Mountain Village Center, and was once the location for trailers where lift tickets were sold and skis and boots were rented, is today a complex of two large structures containing 100 hotel rooms, 48 condominiums, two restaurants, a ballroom, a spa, new retail space, an underground parking garage, and an ice rink in a new public plaza.
The Capella Telluride is the first Capella hotel to open in the United States, the American flagship of a new international luxury brand founded by Horst Schulze, the legendary founder of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel chain. Capella hotels will be less formal than Ritz-Carltons, somewhat smaller in size, and will deliver an even more highly personalized level of service, Schulze has decreed.
For example, each Capella guest will have the use of a “personal assistant,” who will first contact them even before they arrive to determine the guests’ interests and to begin making arrangements for their stay. Rather than a grand public lobby, the hotel has a “living room,” whose access is restricted to hotel guests, where the personal assistants maintain their desks. The two restaurants, Onyx, featuring fine dining, and the Suede Bar, with a more casual menu, are open to the public.
New staff was busily training this week, as an army of construction workers scurried about to meet the deadline for today’s opening, with Schulze, who began his career as a waiter in his native Germany, on hand to personally lend a hand. The hotel has a staff of about 100 people, about half of them recruited locally, Volponi said.
“It’s all about service,” Volponi said, and indeed this reporter and a photographer were greeted warmly as we toured the facilities. “‘We, the service professionals of Capella place our guests at the center of everything we do,’” Volponi added, quoting an excerpt from the company’s “service training” that is reviewed with all employees.
“I think that sums up our philosophy. The significant idea that is emphasized over and over again in our training is that we provide ‘warm and caring service.’”
The Capella Telluride is offering an introductory rate of $295 this winter and for much of next summer. In an interview a year ago, admittedly before the scale of the current economic downturn was clear, Schulze expressed confidence that the Capella would be successful within three years, building that success on his philosophy emphasizing guest, employee and owner satisfaction, and commitment to community.
The hope expressed by Schulze then and by Volponi this week is that the Capella will someday be as strongly identified with Telluride as the Little Nell is with Aspen, the Sonnenalp is with Vail, and the Hyatt Regency is with Beaver Creek.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Ouray Real Estate Values
Written by: David Mullings
Posted by: Erin Eddy
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
We're in a super bad recession, and if the local real estate market isn't in the tank, it's at least within spitting distance. According to recent sales trends, that house on the corner, and yours, isn't worth what it was a couple of years ago. And yet we're told to expect our property tax bills to be much the same for 2009, with some possibly even higher. Yep. Nobody ever said life was fair. There's an explanation for this, of course.
County Assessor Susie Mayfield reported on the property taxing situation in January to the Board of County Commissioners. Her office conducts biennial (in odd-numbered years) re-valuations of real property, which together with mil levies, determine the amount of property tax due. The 2009 valuations, Mayfield said, are based on valuations from all of 2007 and the first half of 2008. Remember those good ol' days, when the fundamentals of the economy were strong? And the "get-anybody-in-a-home, regardless" theme permeated the banking and real estate industries.
Here in Ouray County, property values haven't fallen as much as in many parts of the country. Some sellers, in fact, are holding firm on their asking prices, willing and able to wait out the downturn, which inevitably will reverse. But in the meantime, we're stuck with a taxation situation where the level of taxes lags the reality of market conditions. The silver lining on the horizon comes in two years, when whatever decline we're witnessing locally will be reflected after the Assessor's Office finishes its next re-valuation process in the middle of 2010, taking into account market activity for this year.
Prudently, county commissioners advised Mayfield to explain as best her office can to property owners how the valuation process works. This is especially vital coming on the heels of the confusion and "do-over" that occurred the last time, in 2007. Then, drastically higher commercial valuations raised the ire of many merchants and resulted in a second valuation. Meanwhile, property owners and others roll with the punches of the shattered economy as best they can, hoping to scratch by until we come out of it. Despite the tough times, a "glass half-full" approach to the conditions reveals some bright points.
First, the correction in housing prices could enable some families to afford to get in the market. Second, with corporate layoffs in the big cities and the general state of crisis, lifestyle changes and a retreat to a beautiful little mountain area might be attractive to a whole lot of people across the country. The desirability of Ouray County as a place to visit and live will withstand even these times.
Posted by: Erin Eddy
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
We're in a super bad recession, and if the local real estate market isn't in the tank, it's at least within spitting distance. According to recent sales trends, that house on the corner, and yours, isn't worth what it was a couple of years ago. And yet we're told to expect our property tax bills to be much the same for 2009, with some possibly even higher. Yep. Nobody ever said life was fair. There's an explanation for this, of course.
County Assessor Susie Mayfield reported on the property taxing situation in January to the Board of County Commissioners. Her office conducts biennial (in odd-numbered years) re-valuations of real property, which together with mil levies, determine the amount of property tax due. The 2009 valuations, Mayfield said, are based on valuations from all of 2007 and the first half of 2008. Remember those good ol' days, when the fundamentals of the economy were strong? And the "get-anybody-in-a-home, regardless" theme permeated the banking and real estate industries.
Here in Ouray County, property values haven't fallen as much as in many parts of the country. Some sellers, in fact, are holding firm on their asking prices, willing and able to wait out the downturn, which inevitably will reverse. But in the meantime, we're stuck with a taxation situation where the level of taxes lags the reality of market conditions. The silver lining on the horizon comes in two years, when whatever decline we're witnessing locally will be reflected after the Assessor's Office finishes its next re-valuation process in the middle of 2010, taking into account market activity for this year.
Prudently, county commissioners advised Mayfield to explain as best her office can to property owners how the valuation process works. This is especially vital coming on the heels of the confusion and "do-over" that occurred the last time, in 2007. Then, drastically higher commercial valuations raised the ire of many merchants and resulted in a second valuation. Meanwhile, property owners and others roll with the punches of the shattered economy as best they can, hoping to scratch by until we come out of it. Despite the tough times, a "glass half-full" approach to the conditions reveals some bright points.
First, the correction in housing prices could enable some families to afford to get in the market. Second, with corporate layoffs in the big cities and the general state of crisis, lifestyle changes and a retreat to a beautiful little mountain area might be attractive to a whole lot of people across the country. The desirability of Ouray County as a place to visit and live will withstand even these times.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Ouray Real Estate Values
Written by: Christopher Pike - Ouray County News
Posted by: Erin Eddy - Ouray Realty and Investments
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
January 28, 2009
OURAY — Despite plummeting real estate prices in many parts of the nation, property taxes in Ouray County will likely remain the same, some may see an increase.
So said Ouray County Assessor Susie Mayfield in a recent report to the Board of County Commissioners. "Tax bills will show a slight increase because the values did not change," said Mayfield.
Mayfield told commissioners that property notices will be mailed the first week of May and assessed valuations will reflect values through June 30, 2008.
Mayfield said reasons for no anticipated declines are due to a combination of a more stable mortgage economy in this area, and the time frame when the valuations are conducted. She said Ouray County joins most counties throughout the Western Slope who report that property values are not expected to decrease, partly due to the fact that the Western Slope does not have the same level of foreclosures like the Front Range counties, which has been large in scope and well publicized.
"Mesa County is not seeing a drop in sales prices, and until that is shown, there won't be a reduction in assessed valuation there either," Mayfield said. "All of the Western Slope counties want to put together press releases in the form of an informational campaign notifying those land owners that their real property values will not decrease. We're all seeing the same trends."
Revaluations are made every odd year, and Mayfield, and some declines in value may be reflected through June 30, 2010, when her department finishes its next review process. At that time there could be data as evidence of declining values beginning with the tumultuous period beginning in last year's third quarter, when the nationwide banking credit crash occurred.
Another reason that some valuations will be less in certain communities is because some mil levies have changed. Mayfield explained that the mil levy varies when some communities or government districts are subject to the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR). Mayfield said under TABOR, a mil levy cannot increase without a vote.
Mayfield said last week that the Assessor's office does not make valuations based upon an individual property, but rather a "mass appraisal as part of our data analysis."
She explained that Log Hill Mesa property values may vary, for example, depending upon whether the lot or the residence is located on the edge of the escarpment or in the interior of the mesa.
Commissioner Keith Meinert jokingly encouraged Mayfield to make a mass mailing, (and) "do anything we can do to explain the voodoo calculations that you all go through and that people should not anticipate seeing a reduction in property values and may even see an increase."
For information go to the Assessor's Office link on the county website (www.ouraycountyco.gov).
Posted by: Erin Eddy - Ouray Realty and Investments
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
January 28, 2009
OURAY — Despite plummeting real estate prices in many parts of the nation, property taxes in Ouray County will likely remain the same, some may see an increase.
So said Ouray County Assessor Susie Mayfield in a recent report to the Board of County Commissioners. "Tax bills will show a slight increase because the values did not change," said Mayfield.
Mayfield told commissioners that property notices will be mailed the first week of May and assessed valuations will reflect values through June 30, 2008.
Mayfield said reasons for no anticipated declines are due to a combination of a more stable mortgage economy in this area, and the time frame when the valuations are conducted. She said Ouray County joins most counties throughout the Western Slope who report that property values are not expected to decrease, partly due to the fact that the Western Slope does not have the same level of foreclosures like the Front Range counties, which has been large in scope and well publicized.
"Mesa County is not seeing a drop in sales prices, and until that is shown, there won't be a reduction in assessed valuation there either," Mayfield said. "All of the Western Slope counties want to put together press releases in the form of an informational campaign notifying those land owners that their real property values will not decrease. We're all seeing the same trends."
Revaluations are made every odd year, and Mayfield, and some declines in value may be reflected through June 30, 2010, when her department finishes its next review process. At that time there could be data as evidence of declining values beginning with the tumultuous period beginning in last year's third quarter, when the nationwide banking credit crash occurred.
Another reason that some valuations will be less in certain communities is because some mil levies have changed. Mayfield explained that the mil levy varies when some communities or government districts are subject to the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR). Mayfield said under TABOR, a mil levy cannot increase without a vote.
Mayfield said last week that the Assessor's office does not make valuations based upon an individual property, but rather a "mass appraisal as part of our data analysis."
She explained that Log Hill Mesa property values may vary, for example, depending upon whether the lot or the residence is located on the edge of the escarpment or in the interior of the mesa.
Commissioner Keith Meinert jokingly encouraged Mayfield to make a mass mailing, (and) "do anything we can do to explain the voodoo calculations that you all go through and that people should not anticipate seeing a reduction in property values and may even see an increase."
For information go to the Assessor's Office link on the county website (www.ouraycountyco.gov).
Friday, January 16, 2009
Ouray Ice Festival
ICE FESTIVAL – Spectators crowded the viewing decks during Saturday’s ice climbing competition in Ouray.
Mouse’s Chocolates was packed Saturday afternoon during the Ouray Ice Festival. The Variety Store was deserted.
Just how much the annual Ouray Ice Festival helps the town’s winter economy depends on who you talk to, but it’s good overall, said Jennifer Loshaw, director of the Ouray County Resort Association.
“It seemed like the climbers spent a lot more time in town and being part of the community,” she said. “I think it was great. A lot of people came out here with the intention of it being their vacation.”
Loshaw volunteered at the Ouray Ice Park Saturday and said the festival seems to be attracting a wider range of people, from senior citizens to young couples with babies.
The Ice Festival has been a big boost to Ouray’s winter economy, which Loshaw said extends past the festival.
“A lot of people had a lot of questions for me and it seem like a lot of the Chicks with Picks folks are staying all month,” she said.
Even though the festival doesn’t bring the throngs of tourists who come during the summer months, Bob Wilson of Ouray V&S Variety Store said having extra people in town always helps.
“We get some of it, but if you knew the sport, their equipment is so expensive,” he said. “An ice pick can cost from $200 to $600 or $700 so they don’t have a lot to just go out and blow.”
Most sales go to hotels, restaurants and service stations, he said, “but they help us, too.”
Ouray Liquors had a very good weekend during the festival, said Matt Genuit, which was “as good if not better than last year.”
Mayor Bob Risch said he was pleasantly surprised by the turnout.
“We thought it might be down this year, but it turned out to be better than expected, from readings from some of the meals at the Community Center,” he said.
Motels in town were packed, said Maria Ziemba of Best Western Twin Peaks motel.
“We had a couple of cancellations, but somebody else would scoop them up,” she said. “The town was packed and it seems like everybody had a nice time and that’s what it’s all about.”
At the Ouray Victorian Inn, new owner Brian Lisk said he couldn’t draw comparisons to last year, but his hotel was full during the festival.
Business was brisk all weekend at Ouray Mountain Sports, which sells ice climbing equipment, outdoor clothing and supplies, but as an employee said, “We’re in the ice climbing business.”
The Ice Festival also figures in planning for the future, said Joyce Linn, chair of the Community Development Committee, the economic arm of the city council.
Linn said she would like to see the festival last longer, or see a winter carnival begun that would add even more appeal during the winter months.
The true measure of the festival is its long-term impacts, said festival director Erin Eddy.
“I think the biggest thing is the indirect impact of all the media has written about Ouray,” Eddy said. “It brings attention to a little town with an advertising budget of only about $85,000 a year. The more people talk about us, the better the little businesses will do, and that allows a lot of us to continue to live in Ouray.”
Attendance was down slightly from last year, he said, but fundraising during the festival was consistent with past years.
“The money we raised is where it’s always been and that’s really positive,” he said.
Written by: Gus Jarvis - Ouray County Watch
Posted by: Erin Eddy - www.ourayland.com and www.ridgwayland.com
Mouse’s Chocolates was packed Saturday afternoon during the Ouray Ice Festival. The Variety Store was deserted.
Just how much the annual Ouray Ice Festival helps the town’s winter economy depends on who you talk to, but it’s good overall, said Jennifer Loshaw, director of the Ouray County Resort Association.
“It seemed like the climbers spent a lot more time in town and being part of the community,” she said. “I think it was great. A lot of people came out here with the intention of it being their vacation.”
Loshaw volunteered at the Ouray Ice Park Saturday and said the festival seems to be attracting a wider range of people, from senior citizens to young couples with babies.
The Ice Festival has been a big boost to Ouray’s winter economy, which Loshaw said extends past the festival.
“A lot of people had a lot of questions for me and it seem like a lot of the Chicks with Picks folks are staying all month,” she said.
Even though the festival doesn’t bring the throngs of tourists who come during the summer months, Bob Wilson of Ouray V&S Variety Store said having extra people in town always helps.
“We get some of it, but if you knew the sport, their equipment is so expensive,” he said. “An ice pick can cost from $200 to $600 or $700 so they don’t have a lot to just go out and blow.”
Most sales go to hotels, restaurants and service stations, he said, “but they help us, too.”
Ouray Liquors had a very good weekend during the festival, said Matt Genuit, which was “as good if not better than last year.”
Mayor Bob Risch said he was pleasantly surprised by the turnout.
“We thought it might be down this year, but it turned out to be better than expected, from readings from some of the meals at the Community Center,” he said.
Motels in town were packed, said Maria Ziemba of Best Western Twin Peaks motel.
“We had a couple of cancellations, but somebody else would scoop them up,” she said. “The town was packed and it seems like everybody had a nice time and that’s what it’s all about.”
At the Ouray Victorian Inn, new owner Brian Lisk said he couldn’t draw comparisons to last year, but his hotel was full during the festival.
Business was brisk all weekend at Ouray Mountain Sports, which sells ice climbing equipment, outdoor clothing and supplies, but as an employee said, “We’re in the ice climbing business.”
The Ice Festival also figures in planning for the future, said Joyce Linn, chair of the Community Development Committee, the economic arm of the city council.
Linn said she would like to see the festival last longer, or see a winter carnival begun that would add even more appeal during the winter months.
The true measure of the festival is its long-term impacts, said festival director Erin Eddy.
“I think the biggest thing is the indirect impact of all the media has written about Ouray,” Eddy said. “It brings attention to a little town with an advertising budget of only about $85,000 a year. The more people talk about us, the better the little businesses will do, and that allows a lot of us to continue to live in Ouray.”
Attendance was down slightly from last year, he said, but fundraising during the festival was consistent with past years.
“The money we raised is where it’s always been and that’s really positive,” he said.
Written by: Gus Jarvis - Ouray County Watch
Posted by: Erin Eddy - www.ourayland.com and www.ridgwayland.com
Ouray Real Estate Values
Despite Economy, Property Values Not Expected to Decline
OURAY – With the housing market in shambles, property owners in Ouray County might have hopes that their property value will drop after this year’s state mandated valuation and thus lowering their 2010 property taxes. Ouray County Assessor Susie Mayfield said on Monday that probably won’t be the case.
“A majority of Western Slope counties are expecting them [property values] to stay the same or go up” Mayfield told the Ouray County Commissioners at their meeting on Monday. “The Western Slope has not had major foreclosures like the Eastern Slope counties have had. Because of oil and gas, Mesa County is not seeing a drop is sales prices and neither are any resort communities.”
Mayfield told the commissioners in her report that officials from Western Slope counties are getting together and planning an informational campaign to notify property owners that they shouldn’t expect property values to decrease. Every odd year, county assessors across the state must perform a state mandated revaluation of every property within the county. The revaluation is based on an analysis of market sales during the timeframe of Jan. 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008.
Once the revaluations are complete, a Notice of Valuation indicating the change in actual value of a property will be mailed to its owner the first week of May 2009. This new value will be used in the calculation of property taxes owed in January 2010.
“Just because they are just sitting out there on the market, it doesn’t mean their values are going to drop,” she said. “We expect to get some phone calls.”
Mayfield said she is exploring various possibilities for informing taxpayers about this year’s revaluation and what to expect. Commissioner Keith Meinert said it might be worth mailing information to owners in Ouray County to make sure the process is clear.
“If you thought it would be helpful to do a mass mailing, I think it would be worth the expense to get the message out there properly,” Meinert said. “Anything we can do to explain the voodoo calculations that you all go through and that people should not anticipate seeing a reduction in property values and may even see an increase.”
Tax payers in Ouray County can expect the 2008 abstract of assessment and levies in their mailbox in the next few weeks.
Written by: Gus Jarvis of the Ouray County Watch
Posted by: Erin Eddy
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
OURAY – With the housing market in shambles, property owners in Ouray County might have hopes that their property value will drop after this year’s state mandated valuation and thus lowering their 2010 property taxes. Ouray County Assessor Susie Mayfield said on Monday that probably won’t be the case.
“A majority of Western Slope counties are expecting them [property values] to stay the same or go up” Mayfield told the Ouray County Commissioners at their meeting on Monday. “The Western Slope has not had major foreclosures like the Eastern Slope counties have had. Because of oil and gas, Mesa County is not seeing a drop is sales prices and neither are any resort communities.”
Mayfield told the commissioners in her report that officials from Western Slope counties are getting together and planning an informational campaign to notify property owners that they shouldn’t expect property values to decrease. Every odd year, county assessors across the state must perform a state mandated revaluation of every property within the county. The revaluation is based on an analysis of market sales during the timeframe of Jan. 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008.
Once the revaluations are complete, a Notice of Valuation indicating the change in actual value of a property will be mailed to its owner the first week of May 2009. This new value will be used in the calculation of property taxes owed in January 2010.
“Just because they are just sitting out there on the market, it doesn’t mean their values are going to drop,” she said. “We expect to get some phone calls.”
Mayfield said she is exploring various possibilities for informing taxpayers about this year’s revaluation and what to expect. Commissioner Keith Meinert said it might be worth mailing information to owners in Ouray County to make sure the process is clear.
“If you thought it would be helpful to do a mass mailing, I think it would be worth the expense to get the message out there properly,” Meinert said. “Anything we can do to explain the voodoo calculations that you all go through and that people should not anticipate seeing a reduction in property values and may even see an increase.”
Tax payers in Ouray County can expect the 2008 abstract of assessment and levies in their mailbox in the next few weeks.
Written by: Gus Jarvis of the Ouray County Watch
Posted by: Erin Eddy
www.ourayland.com
www.ridgwayland.com
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