What Crested Butte South's Library Lawsuit Shows About Getting a Project on the Design Review Agenda
"It shouldn't be this hard," Crested Butte South POA board president Kevin Dietz told the Crested Butte News in August, speaking about the Gunnison County Library District's application to the subdivision's Design Review Committee. The library district has its own view of how hard it should be. It is building a $10 million, 10,000-square-foot library in CB South's commercial district. The district says it went through the Location and Extent Review that public entities use for public facilities, and that this process included the CB South POA.
Both sides have spent the year in Gunnison District Court over one question. Does a project that has a county building permit still need the POA's design approval? If you own a lot, a home or a remodel plan in Crested Butte South, that same question decides your timeline. For a private owner the POA's own paperwork answers it. You get POA approval first, and it becomes part of what you hand the county.
The dispute is easier to follow in order. On June 8, 2026, the two parties signed an agreement that canceled a scheduled court hearing and committed the library to DRC review. That review covered the library building only, not the separate employee housing building. The library was then put on the agenda for the DRC's July 28 meeting. The POA said the application wasn't complete and took it off the agenda. The library district said it had provided more than the application required.
The POA asked the court to pause construction until design review was done. On Monday, August 17, Judge Kellie Starritt denied the temporary restraining order, writing that "the Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate a real, immediate and irreparable injury that requires emergency relief." Testimony on the preliminary injunction ended Tuesday, September 8. Both sides were due to file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law on September 24. The most recent Crested Butte News coverage we found, dated September 23, reported no ruling yet. It also reported that construction was continuing in the meantime.
The court will settle what a public library owes the covenants. Before it does, the case has already put on record what makes an application "complete" in CB South.
The POA board's July 8 minutes list what the library's application was missing: a completed application, consistent plan sets, snow-storage calculations and a revised landscaping plan. Dietz said the POA received three sets of plans, "and all were a bit different."
Nothing on that list is specific to a library. Every private application in CB South runs into the same requirements. The 2026 Architectural Review Application checklist asks for:
Some of these items take real math. The application says snow-storage areas should equal "33% of the plowed areas." It also requires one parking space per bedroom plus a turnaround, with each space 10 by 20 feet. On a lot with 25-foot front and rear setbacks and 15-foot side setbacks, those numbers interact with another rule: at least 60% of a residential property has to stay open space. Add a bedroom and you add a parking space. More parking means more plowed area, which means more snow storage. All of it has to fit inside the 40% of the lot left for building and paving. If one drawing changes and the others don't, the plan sets stop matching.
The POA's submittal guide, updated April 2026, gives the order of steps. Every applicant first meets with the DRC Manager for a pre-application conference. The packet is due "by 10:00AM on the last Monday of the month." The DRC Manager then reviews it "for completeness, accuracy and compliance." If anything is missing, "Your project WILL NOT be placed on the meeting agenda until your application package is deemed complete and in compliance."
That means the committee doesn't see a project until the manager has found it complete. Dietz described the July 28 decision this way: "the covenants state that the owners are responsible for a complete application and the DRC manager must deem the application complete."
The second limit is capacity. "Each DRC meeting has a limit of 3 formal reviews," the POA's Building in CB South page says. "If there are already 3 projects submitted and ready for review, you will be on the next month's agenda." At the July 8 board meeting, POA manager Derek Harwell reported that about five projects had been reviewed at the April and June meetings and about 20 were active at some stage of review or construction. The minutes also mention "heightened tensions surrounding several projects."
The DRC meets on the second-to-last Thursday of the month, although that date can change with schedules and quorum. The last Monday of a month always falls after its second-to-last Thursday. So a packet that makes a month's deadline most likely goes to the following month's meeting. Late packets roll forward another month. Here is the late-2026 calendar under that reading:
Check these dates with the DRC Manager. They are worked out from the POA's written schedule, not taken from a published calendar.
Some projects also go through public notice. Notices for DRC projects published in the Crested Butte News have included a 14-day comment period. After approval, the applicant submits plans stamped by a licensed architect or engineer and pays the performance deposit. The POA then issues a Letter of Approval. Next, tap fees go to the Crested Butte South Metropolitan District. Then the POA-stamped plans, the approval letter and the tap fee voucher go to the Gunnison County Building Department. For a private owner, the county permit comes last in this sequence.
| Project type | Application fee | Performance deposit |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family home | $2,000 | $2,000 or $1.50/sq. ft., whichever is greater |
| Single-family home with ADU | $3,000 | $2,000 or $1.50/sq. ft., whichever is greater |
| Duplex | $4,000 | $2,500 or $1.50/sq. ft., whichever is greater |
| Addition or garage addition | $1,500 | $1,000 or $1.50/sq. ft., whichever is greater |
| Exterior remodel | $500 | $1,000 or $1.50/sq. ft., whichever is greater |
| Permit extension | $2,000 | None |
| Expired or unapproved structural change | $1,000 per change | None |
The square footage used for the deposit includes basements, garages, decks and porches. Application fees aren't refundable. Deposits are refunded when the finished project complies with POA rules. For a house with a 3,000-square-foot deposit footprint, $1.50 per square foot works out to a $4,500 deposit.
Approval also starts a completion clock. The covenants require projects to be finished within 12 months of the construction start date unless the DRC approves otherwise. The application measures "one year from the date stamped on the approved plans" instead. Ask which date governs your project. The extension form allows a first six-month extension. A second extension adds 12 months, and the options shown for it are giving up a third of the deposit or paying $2,000.
The covenants bind owners and their successors. Design review covers exterior remodels, additions, changes in exterior color or material, and site work. The house itself is limited to 32 feet in height, measured from average existing grade, and two stories above finished grade. A basement doesn't count as a story but does count toward the height limit. If you're counting on a future addition, a garage, or the one ADU each lot is allowed, check those limits against the house before you close.
Smaller projects have their own track. The Small Project application, a Board Approved Update dated 3/11/2026, lists a $150 fee and a $300 deposit for decks, fences, window replacement and siding. The full application lists the same categories at $1,500, so ask the DRC Manager which form your project belongs on. One open question is saunas. In July, staff were reviewing how "freestanding and portable saunas" should be treated, and the minutes don't record a decision.
The same minutes report a rise in summer complaints about setbacks, storage, construction activity and how residential lots are used. They also describe a coming community notice on compliance. Since the fee schedule includes a $1,000 charge per unapproved structural change, a buyer can reasonably ask the seller for the POA approval letters behind any past exterior work.
Does a Gunnison County building permit replace POA approval in CB South? For a private owner, the POA's process runs first. POA-stamped plans and the approval letter are part of the county submittal. The library case is about how this applies to a public entity, and the latest coverage we found, from September 23, reported no ruling yet.
Can I change the exterior after my plans are approved? Yes, but you have to submit the change to the DRC Manager in writing before you make it.
Are exterior lighting rules part of review? Yes. Outdoor lighting has to be fully down-cast, fully shielded and cut-off, and it can't stay on all night.
If you're thinking about a Crested Butte South lot or a home you plan to add on to, Gary Huresky and Hillary Spear can help you check the plan against the covenants and the DRC calendar before you make an offer. If you're selling, ask us for a Free Home Valuation. We'll also help you gather the POA approval letters a buyer will ask to see.
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