Elk Springs and Elk Stream

Details

• Approx. # of lots: 48 total: 13 in Elk Springs and 35 in Elk Stream
• Size of Lots: From 35 acres up to 45 acres
• General Location: These 2 projects actually straddle the border between La Plata County and Montezuma County. Most of the properties lie in Montezuma County, with only the eastern edge of a portion of elk stream being in La Plata County
• Price Range of Lots: $145,000 – $350,000
• Price Range of Homes: $575,000 – $1,900,000
• Schools: The property that would be in La Plata County, the owner would have a choice of either Mancos school district or Durango schools because their lot is actually paying property taxes in 2 different school districts. All of the properties that are in Montezuma County only, would go to the Mancos schools
• HOA and/or Metro District: HOA and/or Metro District: No Metro district, but mandatory HOA
• Manufactured Homes Allowed: No

Description

This is one of those subdivisions where I often say to a buyer: “You will either love the feel of the ranch or not like it at all.”… And that has been pretty much true. Elk Springs is the northern part of the development and a couple of the lots front on highway 160 although the access is through a gated private road well graveled and well maintained by the Association.. All of the lots have designated building envelopes areas to help ensure unobstructed views. There are architectural guidelines in both of the subdivisions. In order to get to Elk Stream and its gated entrance, you must drive through Elk Springs first. Elk Stream is at the very beginning of the Valley and has a much more open and rolling geography to it. Lots of Meadows, gamble Oak and a scattering of Ponderosa pine trees. Views would be to the north east towards the western side of the La Plata mountains. Nearly all of the building envelopes in Elk Stream provide for a long winding driveway to ensure privacy, but it does add to the building cost of the property since you will need to bury utilities to the home site. The Elk Springs subdivision is the very headwaters of Elk Stream that runs down through the Valley and eventually connects into the East branch of the Mancos River at the very south end. Electricity is buried throughout both subdivisions and except for about 10 lots that have a central water system, a property owner would need to drill its own water well for domestic water and of course install your own septic system. There is no natural gas, so you would need to get gas service using bottled propane. Property owners in either subdivision are allowed to have horses. Almost all of the entire ranch is surrounded by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land which is publicly accessible by any of the owners in the ranch.

The Elk Stream portion was developed in phases, one phase of which lies East and contiguous to Elk Springs. This particular phase sits higher up on the hill and even includes the top of the hill with absolutely stunning views to the East as well as to the mountains all the way over by Monticello, Utah to the west. Elevation on the top of this Mesa is 8400 feet. Most of the land in both subdivisions in the areas where the homes would be built would vary from about 8100 feet down to 7900 feet. All of the other lots in the other phases in Elk Stream border the stream that runs down along the road to the very south end. This is not wide enough to be used for fishing, but it is a pretty feature. None of the property in either subdivision is irrigated, but since it is a long valley with high cliffs on each side, the grassy area in the bottom of the valley seems to be sub irrigated because there is always a good stand of grass down there. All of the Elk Stream lots have designated building envelopes closer to the main road that runs through the project. Because of the contours in the various hills running down the valley, you still are afforded quite a bit of privacy. All of these lots would tend to be long and skinny pretty much running perpendicular to the road. The cliffs on the uphill side of the Elk Stream lots would provide for very beautiful hiking excursions.

The single biggest difference between Elk Springs and Elk Stream is the size of the HOA dues. In Elk Stream, the Association, with the approval of the homeowners in that subdivision, allow an outside rancher to have his cattle graze in the entire ranch during the summer months. This allows for the property to be considered “agricultural” for property tax purposes. The consequence of that is this: In Elk Springs, a vacant 35 acre parcel of land would be taxed about $2500-$3000 per year; while the same size piece of vacant land in Elk Stream would have property taxes under $100 per year.