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Volume 17, Number 42 | November 27-December 3, 2025
‘‘Everyone wants to protect Crystal’
Treasure Mountain Ranch, Inc. plans to preserve six cabins on Main Street, including the historic Crystal Club pictured here in the foreground. Photo by Betsy Welch
Treasure Mountain Ranch land use change still pending BETSY WELCH Special to The Sopris Sun
On Nov. 20, the Gunnison County Planning Commission held a public hearing on a land-use application from Treasure Mountain Ranch, Inc. (TMR), the company that owns significant acreage in and around the historic townsite of Crystal. The application seeks a Minor Impact Land Use Change to consolidate parcels and cluster new development in the Crystal townsite. TMR’s application would consolidate 16 parcels into nine, complete three boundary line adjustments and cluster new development within a 1.9-acre building envelope. The proposal calls for “retiring” four existing structures, constructing a 4,900-square-foot maintenance barn and building four new cabins totaling approximately 5,000 square feet.
The proposal drew substantial written and oral public comment, as well as detailed questions from commissioners and staff. At times, public testimony reflected a divide between the application formally before the Planning Commission and what some residents believe may follow. It also underscored the deep attachment many people feel toward Crystal, a place described throughout the morning as historically and spiritually irreplaceable. “I think change[s] to small, historic corners of our community are very emotional for a lot of people,” Gunnison County Planning Director Hillary Seminick told The Sopris Sun. “The townsite and the Crystal Mill hold a special place in the hearts of many people in Gunnison County and the residents of the Crystal River and Roaring Fork Valleys.”
History shapes reaction The intensity of public comment on Nov. 20 reflects four years of stops, starts and speculation involving TMR and the community. The company owns roughly 700 acres, including about three miles of river frontage, as well as 15 structures totaling just over 12,000 square feet, nine of which it considers historic, including the Crystal Mill. In late 2021, TMR partners Chris Cox and Stuart Gillespie outlined a large resort project to the Marble Board of Trustees, including cabins, a restaurant, employee housing and summer and winter recreation, along with plans for conservation easements and sustainable construction. They also met with Gunnison County officials, but by fall 2021, the county issued a stopwork order for unauthorized
road improvements. In 2022, TMR paid a $12,000 fine and submitted multiple rounds of materials addressing the remediation requirements. During this time, residents also raised questions about forest-thinning activities on Bear Mountain. The county confirmed in 2023 that TMR’s work complied with its approved Forest Management Plan. A plan update in 2025 outlined hand-crew thinning in dense, historically clear-cut stands to improve wildlife habitat and reduce fire danger. The land use change application was initially submitted in spring 2024, but deemed incomplete due to missing information and unclear boundary line adjustments. TMR resubmitted in August 2024. The current Minor Impact Land Use Change application was deemed complete on April 21, Seminick said.
‘We’re talking 98% conservation’ Gillespie and Cox, accompanied by TMR attorney Marcus Lock of Law of the Rockies, told commissioners that the current Minor Impact Land Use Change grew out of an early2024 effort to rehabilitate four cabins on Main Street. Realizing the structures required extensive work to meet code, the updated application added four new cabins and the maintenance barn. TMR plans to permanently preserve six cabins on Main Street — including the Crystal Club, the general store and the Clayton, Melton, Rosette and Edgerton cabins — through historic designation, which would require approval by the county commission. Four other cabins would be retired from residential use. continued on page 4