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The Eagle County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to visit the site of a potential development in Beaver Creek on Tuesday and consider an application from the developer.

The developer, a Denver-based company known as Aiden Group, is calling the development “the Arcadian on Beaver Creek” and is seeking to subdivide the 13.7-acre property into three lots. Aiden Group is also seeking variances on certain elements of the proposal to proceed with development.

The proposal is for 12 residences — four duplexes and six townhomes — on the property, located just south of the Mirabelle restaurant.

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The area has, for decades, been assumed to be undevelopable by neighbors in the area, who are largely opposed to the project. describes the property as “the last available site for new development behind the gates of Beaver Creek.”

Eagle County’s planning staff has recommended the subdivision application and variance requests for approval, stating that the plan conforms with the comprehensive plan for the area, provided that the developer conform to certain preliminary design and construction recommendations. Some of those recommendations surround a subsoil study performed on the property which identified the potential for sinkholes and areas of subsidence hazards.

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According to a memo issued by the county staff, the Colorado Geological Survey stated that those construction recommendations surrounding the subsoil study “should be rigorously adhered to.”

Ditch or stream?

The county staff also found the application to be consistent with land use regulations, with certain conditions. Some of those conditions involve an issue raised by property owners in the area regarding a watercourse that runs through the property.

That watercourse, identified as a stream by the property owners, but regarded as an irrigation ditch by the developer, has been determined to be more consistent with the characteristics of a ditch by the county staff.

To arrive at that determination, the county hired Spronk Water Engineers, which concluded that “it is reasonable to conclude that the watercourse on the property is most similar to an irrigation ditch and therefore does not fall within the (Eagle County Land Use Regulations) definition of a stream,” according to a memo issued by county staff.

The Beaver Creek Property Owners’ Association hired a water engineer of its own, Western Bionomics, which determined that the watercourse was a natural stream.

“Specifically, Western Bionomics asserts that the watercourse is a stream because flows in the watercourse are primarily derived from Wayne Creek and that those flows stem from natural groundwater,” according to the memo.

But county staff found that applying the definition of a stream to the watercourse “leads staff to agree with (Spronk Water Engineers) and conclude that the watercourse is not a stream as it flows through predominantly man-made banks and channels and is more similar to an irrigation ditch than a natural stream,” according to the memo.

The Beaver Creek Property Owners Association said because Western Bionomics determined the watercourse to be a stream, there should be a 75-foot setback from the watercourse, which would prevent development in the area.

But county staff, in its memo, said that even if the watercourse were considered a stream, the setback would not be 75 feet because the planned unit development guide for the area has not assigned a minimum setback to the development guidelines.

County staff noted that the development guidelines require two points of increases or egress to the public road system — an upper and a lower roadway — and one of the proposed access points does not meet the requirements for dual access. County staff recommended the approval of a variance for this development standard.

“If the applicant were required to fully comply with the roadway standards, the lower and upper roads would have to be rebuilt,” county staff noted in a memo issued to the commissioners. “Rebuilding the upper road would require adjustments to the road grade, alignment, and adding curb and gutter and sidewalks. This would impact the access to the existing residences (making the driveways steeper) and would widen the footprint of the roadway, impacting the slopes on the property, altering drainage and reducing the ability of the application to utilize the property.”

Similarly, rebuilding the lower roadway would have challenges, as well, because of its proximity to the adjacent creek, the actual Beaver Creek for which the area is named.

“Rebuilding the roads would provide limited functional benefit … but would increase the disturbance on the property and the impacts on adjacent properties and the environment,” staff noted in the memo.

For those reasons, county staff recommended the variances for approval so the property would not have to meet the existing design standards.

County staff noted that the project has received multiple public comments, with a majority of the comments opposing the application.

At Tuesday’s hearing, the commissioners are expected to hear more comments from the public, as well. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. in the county building located at 500 Broadway in Eagle.