RIDGWAY – After a lengthy review process spanning five and a half years, the request for final plat approval of a proposed PUD, renamed Dreamcatcher Lodge at the Ridgway Hot Springs, was approved by a 4-1 vote by the Ridgway Town Council at its regular meeting held Wednesday, Feb. 13.

Councilmembers Paul Hebert, Sheryle Pettet, Pat Willits, Eric Johnson, and Dave Drew voted in favor, with John Clark being opposed, expressing concern that there were significant mass and scale adjustments presented after the developer had made assertions as late as last October that the original building design would not be changed. Councilmember Rodney Fitzhugh abstained due to a conflict of interest.

The approval came just one week after a more narrow 3-2 recommendation for approval by the Ridgway Planning and Zoning Commission. At a hearing on Jan. 29, the commission asked the developer’s representative, Adam Dubroff, to make revisions to the architectural design, which had changed significantly from the rendering presented to the town in September 2003. Dubroff produced the revisions at a continuation of that hearing one week later, at which the commission found the building’s box-like appearance to be sufficiently mitigated by the addition of more windows, gables and stone.

The proposed hotel complex, situated on the Triangle Subdivision property at the junction of U.S. Hwy. 550 and Colorado Hwy. 62, along the Uncompahgre River, will contain over 41,000 square feet of room space. Two of the three buildings will be 35 feet in height. Among the nine conditions still to be met by the developer is that the project’s plat notes be finalized within 90 days.

The trigger on the architectural issue was the change to flatter roofs, which Councilmember Hebert conceded “wasn’t as attractive as the steeper pitches.” Hebert said that while he had reservations leading up to the hearing, the project would be “good for the town of Ridgway,” and that the building, while not the same, was “pretty attractive.”

Support from the Ridgway business community, many of whom were in attendance at the town council meeting was based on the assertion that the 72-room, three-story hotel and 18,000-square-foot pool area will be a boon for tourism and will add sales tax revenues to the town’s coffers.

“This is a financially viable option to the town,” said Ridgway resident Floyd McGee. “I’d like to see it move forward. With the size of a building like this, it’s good for the town.”

No one speaking at the hearing voiced disapproval for the overall project, but several asked that the council and staff give greater scrutiny to the rendering before approval.

“I’m appreciative of the fact that the P&Z approved the rendering [in 2003], but that has significantly changed,” said Dallas Meadows resident Catherine McElman. “This can be worked out between the developer and the town. I’m asking the town to abandon the conditional use permit until the architectural issue can be addressed.”

Concerns raised by the Ridgway-Ouray Community Council about thermal discharge into the Uncompahgre River were discussed and resolved early in the process, according to Town Manager Greg Clifton.