In September 2021, the owners of Devil’s Thumb Ranch Resort and Spa purchased a secluded property off County Road 83. The property is about 2 miles down a windy road from Devil’s Thumb, located near the resort’s employee housing, as well as Sunset Ridge subdivision. The property was formerly Wild Horse Inn, a bed and breakfast that hosted summer weddings.

Wild Horse Inn, set on a beautiful acreage tucked away from the crowds, was the perfect spot for weddings – but some residents of Sunset Ridge, a subdivision of single-family homes, were bothered by the noise and traffic caused by wedding guests. When Wild Horse was set to go out of business, Bob and Suzanne Fanch, owners of Devil’s Thumb Ranch, purchased the property for $2.7 million.

Wild Horse offered a place for the Fanches to expand their resort offerings. As the Fanches designed their ideal venue, they converted the inn into employee housing in the meantime.

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Eleven employees, including managers, currently live in the housing. Employees will be able to stay at Wild Horse until they can move into new employee housing, according to Brian Ripley, the resort’s chief revenue officer.

Landscape designer discusses plan

Three public meetings have been held on the future of Wild Horse Inn as a resort venue. On April 12, Kris Manguso, Grand County’s Community Development Director, held a meeting with land planner and landscape designer Jeff Vogel of Vogel & Associates. In addition to designing Devil’s Thumb and other properties throughout Grand County, Vogel heads the Fanches’ plan for the property.

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On May 2, the county commissioners met with Manguso and Vogel. At both meetings, residents who live nearby Wild Horse attended. Residents voiced concerns over the development’s impact on their quiet neighborhood.

The purpose of the meetings was for Vogel & Associates to seek approval for amending the plat of the Wild Horse property. The property is also known as Finnigan Subdivision. Vogel submitted a request to the county to remove the subdivision’s lot lines. When the Fanches purchased the property, it was divided into three separate lots. One lot contained the guest accommodations (the inn and three cabins); the other two lots were designated for one single structure each.

Vogel & Associates asked to combine the three properties into one. Then the developer can build resort cabins throughout the entire 8.5-acre property, rather than be restricted by subdivided lots. During the final June 6 meeting, commissioners approved combining the lots.

April 12 meeting

Manguso began the meeting by clarifying that her planning commission had already recommended approval for combining the lots. She explained that the Wild Horse property, amidst the residential zoning of Sunset Ridge, was zoned “tourist” in 1997.

Since all three lots are zoned tourist, there are many uses by right – the developers could build a hotel, event center or restaurant on lot two without needing the county approval process. But since lots one and three are zoned for a single structure only, Vogel & Associates need county approval to combine the lots and build cabins on all three.

Vogel then spoke about why his firm chose the resort cabin layout over their previous plan, which was a hotel in the center and two eight-bedroom short-term rentals on either side.

Vogel explained that since the COVID-19 pandemic, lots of guests at Devil’s Thumb have requested to stay at the resort’s cabins, rather than the main hotel. Currently, Devil’s Thumb includes 15 guest cabins that are spaced out in a secluded area with lots of trees, allowing families to experience natural views and social distancing from other guests.

Vogel said that the cabins’ popularity would transfer well to the Wild Horse property, especially since a large hotel would look out of place there. Thus, the new layout includes: 26 new resort cabins, connected by a trail system, centered around a new event space, plus the current inn. Vogel said the inn is essential to their single-family aesthetic, since “it looks like a residential, custom home.” 

The new cabins would be smaller than Devil’s Thumb’s cabins, containing one bedroom with a king or two queens, with no kitchenette. With the inn and cabins, the property would include 35 total bedrooms.

“The scale of this felt better; it felt less monolithic,” he said. “We could integrate, within the context having residential around us, that we’ll have buildings of a smaller scale.”

Vogel then addressed residents’ concerns that Wild Horse will no longer be employee housing, which Devil’s Thumb has provided to address the workforce housing crisis.

“The Fanches are involved with another employee housing project in Fraser,” he said. “There, a little more density is allowed; we can do something more efficient.”

This new housing will include 10 two-bedroom condominiums, with added privacy for director-level employees, who are often married or have families, Ripley wrote in an email to Sky-Hi News. Devil’s Thumb expects the condos to be available around November 2023.

Next, the planning commission meeting allowed for public comment.

Sunset Ridge resident Josh Marks expressed that the Fanches’ new plan would create much higher density on the property. If approved, the design will allow for many more cabin units, plus bedrooms in the inn, which will be renovated. The current inn has seven bedrooms, with three one-bedroom cabins, restricted to lot 2.  

“I think this is more just an elimination of lot lines question,” Marks stated. “We are eliminating density restrictions by what’s being proposed here today.”

Resident Pamela Hanson stated she was concerned that the increased density would impact water conservation.

“The thought of 26 tiny little cabins – so if you kind of extrapolate into four people per unit – that’s 104 new people in a very rural area of the county, so our concerns are the impacts on our domestic wells,” she said.

The meeting concluded with the planning commission recommending approval; the next step was approval by the county commissioners.

May 2 meeting

At the commissioners meeting, Manguso and Vogel presented the cabin layout plan to commissioners and residents who attended.  

Manguso first addressed some residents’ concerns she hadn’t notified them of the plans for Wild Horse; they had found out through other means. She stated that since this issue was only an amended final plat – to remove lot lines on a property zoned tourist with use by right – no notification was required.

Manguso clarified that she did send letters by mail to residents on Horn Road, as a courtesy to them, since they would be most impacted by the conversion from employee housing back to resort usage.

After brief discussion amongst themselves regarding amending the final plat, commissioners opened the floor to public comment. Several residents voiced their opposition to the project. This included Don Maurais, president of the Sunset Ridge Homeowners Association.  

“I’ve always felt the benchmark of quality development is segregation of residential, commercial, industrial,” Maurais said. “You cannot get a more residential neighborhood than Sunset Ridge. You have single-family homes on the ridge, filled with blue collar workers like my wife and I … This development is putting commercial development right through the heart of our neighborhood.”

He added that the current employee housing doesn’t negatively impact Sunset Ridge, and that all residents disapprove of the project.

Another homeowner, Doug Wilcox, stated his concern was sewage impacts. The property is located near the Ranch Creek surface watershed. Wilcox stated that the U.S. Geological Survey’s water data monitoring has determined Ranch Creek is polluted. He asked the commissioners if the county could conduct water quality tests to determine what’s causing the pollution.

The county manager, Ed Moyer, stated that Ranch Creek has an elevated water temperature, which the county is monitoring. Commissioners asked if Wilcox could forward them his information on the creek. Manguso added there’s a water augmentation plan for the property that is being amended.

Lastly, the commissioners provided 30 emails by community members, either expressing opposition to the project, or asking commissioners to delay approval until residents received more information about the project.

After public comment, Vogel had a chance to address residents’ concerns. He explained the improvements his firm will implement to mitigate guests’ potential negative impacts.

– No access or parking on Horn Road: With their new design, Vogel will eliminate guests from accessing the venue via Horn Road or parking on it, as guests did with Wild Horse. Onsite parking will be provided at each cabin.

– Landscape buffer: Vogel will design a buck and rail fence, as well as a landscape berm, along Horn Road. This property division will help prevent guests from traversing to Sunset Ridge.

– Off-site activities: Since the Wild Horse property will be related to Devil’s Thumb, employees will shuttle guests down the road so they can utilize the resort’s restaurant and amenities. This means guests will be recreating away from Sunset Ridge.  

– Noise and light pollution reduction: “Something that’s near and dear to our hearts at Devil’s Thumb is dark sky,” said Vogel. There will be no pole lights; instead, downcast fixtures will reduce florescent lighting at night. Instead of open-air tent for weddings, as there was when Wild Horse was operating, they will build an enclosed event space to better block out noise.

The commissioners then deliberated whether they would approve the amended final plat. They expressed optimism that Vogel would create a venue that coexisted with Sunset Ridge.

“Your guys’ track record for structures built around the county has been very positive,” Comissioner Merrit Linke said. “I think you are a good neighbor in addressing things like noise and parking and other concerns.”

“You’re not going to find a better owner to develop next to you,” agreed Commissioner Rich Cimino, adding there’s a risk the Fanches could sell the property if they are unable to combine the lots.

However, Cimino halted at outright approving combining the lots, to be responsive to homeowners. He stated that he would first like the county to conduct water quality studies on Ranch Creek before granting approval. Vogel agreed with this condition.

“That’s an important watershed for the ranch and maintaining good fisheries,” he stated. “We’re always watching it, so we wouldn’t do anything detrimental.” He added they are already planning water quality measures to meet state requirements.

“I’ve seen this owner invest in stream improvement projects on the Fraser River, large amounts of money,” Cimino said, expressing confidence in the Fanches’ water quality efforts. (Vogel and the Fanches partnered to create the Headwaters River Journey and Event Center in Winter Park, which provides water conservation education.)

The commissioners and Manguso concluded that they should add some conditions to ease concerns – for example, the county could provide plat notes that would prohibit the developer from building a large hotel on lots one or three, or adding excessive amounts of cabins on lot two.

June 6 meeting

During the June 6 meeting, all three commissioners voted unanimously to approve the amended final plat – combining the three lots. Before voting, the commissioners heard from community members.

Mauris attended this meeting, expressing his concerns over noise violations, since the event space would be located about 300 feet away from some neighbors. He added his concerns of increased density on the property.

Cimino responded that the developer could build a 150-room hotel, without county approval. However, commissioners and the planning department will prevent a large hotel.

“So by approving this with the condition there only be 35 rooms, we’re doing the opposite of what you just claimed,” Cimino said to Mauris. “We’re stipulating significantly lower density than they could do by right today.”

Wilcox also spoke again to commissioners, reiterating his concern of sewage disposal impacting local waterways.

“The pristine headwaters of the Colorado is not going to be so pristine in the near future,” he said. “Economically that’s what we sell, this mountain environment. Clean water, lots of snow.”

Commissioners heard from three more community members expressing opposition, including concerns the subdivision’s wells may run dry when the development taps into water. Kayli Foulk, Grand County Water Quality Specialist, then informed commissioners of the current state of nearby Ranch Creek.

Foulk explained the county is working on improving the water quality and temperature. She stated that due to overgrazing in years past, the creek lost vegetation that provided shade. Water diversions to the Front Range exacerbated the warming.

Then Commissioner Randy George addressed residents’ concerns with sewage impacts. He clarified that everything engineered will meet state regulations, plus the even more stringent county regulations.

“I understand your concerns, but I believe at the (building) permitting stage, those will be appropriately addressed by our community development department,” he said.

 The meeting culminated in the commissioners approving the amended final plat.

In an email to Sky-Hi News, Vogel confirmed the property would be Dark Sky compliant, berming and a fence will be utilized for a buffer between properties along Horn Road, and landscaping will allow for open space. Ripley stated in an email that the event space will be assembled with reclaimed materials from a pre-Civil War era barn that was disassembled in Ohio.