Montrose – On the southeast edge of Montrose, where farm fields and adobe hills have sprouted vast expanses of new rooftops, a survey crew is sighting in on yet another subdivision.
With more than 1,000 residents moving to town annually and the population doubling to 15,000 since 1990, builders are scrambling to keep up with a dizzying demand for new homes.
This is the 18th fastest-growing “micropolitan” area in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and that is borne out in the waves of new subdivisions and in the forecast for another doubling of the population over the next two decades.
Montrose’s growth is fueled by the fact that it is situated in the middle of the Uncompahgre Valley, where farmlands stretch in all directions. It has more room to grow than many other municipalities. It also has the magnets of a mild climate and a wealth of outdoor activities on the nearby mesas.
As town officials conduct citizen surveys, do transportation studies and add on new building permit fees to deal with the growth, the numbers keep stacking up for Montrose and so do the records.
The 128 building permits issued in October and November broke all-time records at a time when cold weather usually drops housing starts. Overall, the number of single-family building permits has more than doubled since 2002. And there are 600 lots with sewer, water, power and communication lines just waiting to be developed and another 2,800 that have been approved but are awaiting the completion of infrastructure.
The growth is on par with burgeoning Front Range communities, according to Montrose Community Development Director Kerwin Jensen. But to folks dealing with their first traffic jams or waiting in line at the City Market in what not that long ago was a small town, it feels like a much bigger number.
“This is the biggest, fastest growing we’ve ever seen,” said Mesa Butler, lifetime Montrose resident and office manager for the Montrose Association of Realtors.
New Montrose residents are primarily coming from Front Range metro areas and California, said Marge Keehfuss, director of the Montrose County Chamber of Commerce. Many are empty-nesters drawn to the mild climate, the proximity to the San Juan Mountains and the quick access to hiking, mountain biking, snowmobiling, hunting and cross-country skiing.
But there also are many new working families, some who make the 65-mile commute to Telluride, where pay is higher but housing prices are astronomical.
Homebuyers are not the only ones moving to Montrose. Along U.S. 550, where Montrose’s southern edge is expanding, chain stores are proliferating. A new Wal-Mart Super Center parking lot is crammed during the holiday season, and a construction crew is hustling on a major new shopping center taking shape nearby. Other new businesses offering everything from barbecue to bridles have been opening up one after another along the highway in the past several years.
“I hadn’t been there in a year or so, and when I was there in October, I was amazed at the growth I saw. I would never have guessed three or four years ago at the growth I would see,” said Sam Mamet, executive director of the Colorado Municipal League.
Population projections don’t show much of a slowdown. Montrose’s population is expected to reach Grand Junction’s current size of 60,000 residents by midcentury.
Part of that growth outlook is based on the fact that Montrose has more room to spread than other fast-growing Western Slope towns, such as Grand Junction and Durango. Montrose is not hemmed in by buffer zones, mountains and public lands. Instead, private farmlands stretch the 10 miles to the small farming town of Olathe on the north and past the tiny community of Colona about the same distance to the south.
Residents 7 miles south of Montrose near Colona already have approached the city about annexation. To the north, a number of residents anticipate that Montrose eventually will creep over the tilled fields that separate it from Olathe.
Scott Butler has been in the construction business in Montrose for decades and that prospect is both heartening and frightening.
“Since I’ve always been in construction, I’ve always hoped for growth. I also have always loved the small-town atmosphere,” he said. “I worry a little bit about infrastructure and keeping up with the growth.”
Jensen said the city noted that same kind of worry in a citizen survey recently.
“People are concerned that the growth is too quick. People coming here from the Front Range – they don’t want this to become Golden or like another suburb of Denver,” Jensen said.
“Some people would like to shut the growth down.”
Staff writer Nancy Lofholm can be reached at 970-256-1957 or at nlofholm@denverpost.com.
