Project at a Glance
Location: US Highway 40 between Steamboat Springs and Yampa Valley Regional Airport, 7 miles west of intersection of Elk River Road and Hwy. 40
Total acreage: 245 acres
Number of home sites: 7
Deeded acreage per lot: 35 acres
Price range: $695,000 - $985,000
Total shared open space: 210 acres
School System: Steamboat Springs
Livestock policy: Horses allowed
Outbuildings: 2 per lot in addition to home to be approved by the architectural committee
Amenities: Tree Farm, extensive trail system, biathlon/ cross country course, community pastures managed on a revolving schedule, High Country Hut to be built
Water: Multi-well water system
Utilities: Electricity, cable, water, underground provided to the lot line
Sewage: Septic system provided by home owner
Gas: Buried propane
Road: Paved with driveway cuts to each lot in place
Property taxes: Unimproved approximately $124/year
Covenants: Yes
Head: Different Shades of Green
Saddle Ridge development unveils new hue of eco-friendly design
By Tim Braun
Jade, emerald, olive, lime-there's no one shade of green that best describes Saddle Ridge, a development of seven 35-acre home sites just minutes from Steamboat Springs off Highway 40 on the way to the Yampa Valley Regional Airport. That's because they all apply. By employing sustainable building practices from the ground up, this development is making other environmentally sensitive developers green with envy.
The project is dedicated to sustainability. Designed by local developers Todd Gilbertson and Mike Bell, the new community employs a mountain of green building practices, all designed to minimize the 245-acre development's environmental footprint.
"It's a true green community," says Colorado Group Realty's Bo Stempel, who, with wife, Sue, are the project's exclusive listing brokers. "Todd went out of his way to reduce the project's impact on the environment. It integrates the valley's agricultural heritage and land stewardship with strategies designed to maximize energy efficiency and resource conservation."
While Saddle Ridge marks Gilbertson's first project in the Yampa Valley, he's drawn upon years of experience developing commercial real estate in Jacksonville, Florida, where he used environmentally friendly approaches developing medical and professional buildings, and ten years spent working for a Seattle-based water and energy recycling company.
"It's a different animal doing a green-build project in a mountain community, but it relies on the same principles," says Gilbertson. "And it's the right thing to do, for both the environment and future generations. And nowadays, you can build green without much increase to the cost of the project."
Bell has similar experience employing green techniques locally for more than twenty-five years through his company Mike Bell Construction. These techniques include using plywood on the interiors (rather than resin-filled particle board), soy-based Core-Bond insulation, and encouraging the use of passive solar practices. "We've been building green for years, but a lot of it just falls under the heading of good building practices."
The result of Gilbertson and Bell's expertise is evident in Saddle Ridge from the entryway and home sites, to its roads and solar panels. It can also be seen in the layout, which includes more than 210 acres of open space, with an extensive trail system for hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking during the summer, and Nordic skiing, snowshoeing and sledding in the winter. "Its best features are the gorgeous views and recreation out your door, all the while being only ten minutes from town on paved roads and in the Steamboat School District," says Sue Stempel.
The project's greenness can be seen as soon as you enter the development. Gilbertson and Bell gained all the materials for the road grade construction from the property, thus eliminating the emissions from delivering road base and dirt. They also minimized roads throughout the development, placing just a single road through the site's 245 acres. As well as minimizing maintenance expenses and their accompanying impacts, such placement also reduces the overall impact on the home sites and land.
Just as eco-friendly is the placement of the home sites, designed to maximize view corridors and privacy, limit environmental impact and optimize solar gain. While four of the sites are great for horses, three others lend themselves to the advantages of living roofs. "All of the home-sites offer views of the ski area, with many site views extending from the Zirkels to the Flat Tops," says Sue Stempel. "And all the sites are intentionally south/southeast facing, to allow for optimum solar exposure."
Photo: Sue Stempel
Solar panels, not visible from the home sites, have been installed to power the project's amenities, including the entry features and tree farm irrigation. The panels will also power the pump delivering water to irrigate the trees lining the road, which will also serve as a living snow fence.
The project's use of water resources is another example of its enviro-friendly approach. Several springs on the property will be developed to augment existing water rights and irrigate entry and roadway landscaping, as well as a homeowner's tree farm of approximately one-thousand trees. Each owner will be able to transplant nearly 150 of the farm's pine, aspen and other native species to his or her property, further reducing the project's carbon footprint.
In keeping with the traditional use of the land, the 210 acres of common open space will be used for hay production and open space, which will retain its current agricultural status. The horse pastures will also be rotated, further enhancing eco-friendly land stewardship. The agricultural custodian is currently River Ranches, producers of Scottish Highland cattle naturally-raised beef, which will continue to use traditional land stewardship techniques in its ranching practices, including spring harrowing, weed control and hay harvesting. As well, the 750 acres bordering the north of the property will remain naturally pristine through a conservation easement protecting the existing natural habitat.
When it comes to the actual home-building, Saddle Ridge has introduced incentives to promote green-build techniques. While keeping restrictions to a minimum, the developer's architectural guidelines recommend sustainable green-build methods and materials. The developers are also providing incentives and credits for buyers to practice green-build techniques and subsidize the cost of building green. Stempel says, "We're certainly not the only green-build development in the area, but Todd's doing everything he can to make it as eco-friendly as possible."
Features
The Beetle Kill Issue
10 Years Strong
Building Green With Beetle Kill Wood
A Cut Above - Harvesting and Milling
Securing Safer Forests by Salvaging Snags
Stimulus Funding Hits the Ground
Departments
The Green Scene
Builder Perspectives
Decor & Style
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