No Town, No Problem

Edwards has found a different way of getting things done

Nathan Rodriguez, nrodriguez@vailtrail.com
July 2, 2008

The letters to the editor continue to trickle in, arguing the neighborhood of Edwards should incorporate.

The reasoning generally boils down to straight economics. County sales taxes that are collected in other incorporated areas are used to support necessary roads, sidewalks and law enforcement needs of Edwards, the largest community in Eagle County with 8,000 residents.

Aside from the occasional flickers of interest though, it doesn’t appear that Edwards is inching any closer to incorporating.

“A library would be nice, but I like it the way it is,” said Michelle Harmon, Edwards resident since 1997.

That simple sentiment seems to capture the dominant view, which is that there is no pressing need to turn Edwards into a town.

“It should have been a town, but now it’s probably too late,” said Don Cohen, president of the Berry Creek Metro District. “The core of Edwards is pretty much set, and at this point it doesn’t make economic sense to unring the bell.”

Doing Just Fine
As president of the Berry Creek district, Cohen meets once a month with representatives from surrounding areas like Homestead and Singletree to discuss issues that affect the entire community, such as traffic.

“The main reason neighborhoods incorporate is to provide basic public services like public safety, fire, snow, or trash removal,” Cohen said. “But if you live in Edwards, you already get all of that with different organizations covering everything.”

Between the monthly meetings with other districts in the area and the services the county provides — like law enforcement through the Sheriff’s Office — Edwards has its immediate needs met.

But Bruce Moore, senior member of the wait staff at the Main Street Grill in Edwards, sees things differently. He said Edwards needs to incorporate.

“Traffic from here to Singletree is getting pretty bad, especially in the mornings, but we’re struggling with more specific issues like parking,” said Moore. “Not having parking spaces is bad for business, and we shouldn’t have to depend on the county to make decisions for us.”

Truth be told, it seems that many people in Edwards are indifferent about incorporation. Part of this stems from the fact that some Edwards residents only call the neighborhood “home” for a few months out of the year. Meanwhile, many other full-time residents simply don’t know or don’t care much about incorporation.

“There just aren’t any crying needs going unmet right now,” said Jan Strauch, president of Carlson Wagonlit Travel in Edwards, and former member of the Vail Town Council. “All incorporation would do is add another layer of bureaucracy and cost. The infrastructure is already paid for, and we have plenty of police coverage, so there’s really no screaming need to change anything.”

Strauch admitted there may be benefits to incorporating, such as a local police department, but added that the associated costs outweigh any gains for the neighborhood. As a former member of the Vail Town Council, Strauch saw the downside of bureaucracy. “Money gets used up on the smallest things, like pet waste disposal. But the county has been great so far, and the developers have done a decent job with the roads.”

Too Late to Incorporate?
Aside from random message-board chatter and sporadic letters to the editor, there has not been any consistent, concerted effort to incorporate Edwards.

County Attorney Bryan Treu said incorporation talk is a perpetual issue, but he hasn’t had any reason to move on the matter.

Don Cohen agrees. “We’ve lived here for 14 years, and we’re no further ahead or behind where we were 14 years ago,” he said. “In some ways we’re farther away from incorporating, because there used to be no real development in Edwards. Now it’s sort of done. If you wanted to incorporate, 15 years ago was the time to do it.”

Both Cohen and Strauch point to Avon as an example of what happens when a neighborhood incorporates, noting that the town has gained little from incorporating in 1978.

As Eagle County continues to grow — and state officials say the county’s population should double by 2025 — the calls to incorporate may gain traction. “Way down the road, it may make more sense to incorporate,” said Cohen. “By 2035 or 2040, I could see us all being one town. But we’re not there yet."