Who Plows Your Street in Crested Butte South? This Winter, a Court Is Being Asked Too
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
When the first real storm rolls down Cement Creek this season, who clears your road? In Crested Butte South, that depends on how far up the hill you live. A second question has now been filed in Gunnison District Court: who owns that road?
The two questions are tied together. In October, the Crested Butte South Metropolitan District sued Gunnison County over who owns CB South's roads. The county plow on the lower streets is the clearest example of what the two sides disagree about. The county describes that plowing as a long-standing courtesy. The district says the subdivision's own plats point to the county as owner. Heading into this winter, the POA's published plowing split is the arrangement on the ground. The case asks a narrower question: whether the roads the county helps plow belong to the county.
The CB South Property Owners Association put the split plainly in an October 12 post titled "Whose Job Is It Anyway?" Snow removal is shared between Gunnison County and the Metro District, and the boundary is drawn by street.
| Lower roads | Upper roads | |
|---|---|---|
| Who plows | Gunnison County | CB South Metropolitan District |
| Rough boundary | From about Goren Street down | From about Blackstock Drive and above |
| Published trigger | No published trigger | 4 inches by 5:00 a.m. |
| Treatment | No published treatment | Sand as needed, no de-icing chemicals |
Both the POA and the Metro District's snow-removal page call these boundaries approximate, and neither gives a street-by-street map. If your house sits on one of the streets between Goren and Blackstock, the Metro District's contact form is the most direct way to confirm which crew covers your block.
On the upper roads, the district publishes specific rules. Equipment typically goes out around 5:30 a.m. once 4 inches have fallen by 5:00, depending on storm conditions and staffing. The rest of its policy comes down to a short list:
The sand-only policy shapes what an upper-road morning looks like after a freeze. Expect traction grit on the road and on your boots, with no chemical melt.
These rules are clear. The arrangement behind the lower-road plow is the part now in dispute.
According to the Crested Butte News, the disagreement became public last spring. At an April POA board meeting, county officials presented the county's new study of deferred road and bridge maintenance. They confirmed that CB South roads were not part of that study and would not be among its maintenance priorities if a new road tax passed.
On May 15, assistant county manager for public works Martin Schmidt sent a follow-up letter to POA manager Derek Harwell and the POA board. The News quoted it:
"CB South roads are the responsibility of the Crested Butte South Metropolitan District, as established through the road plat dedication, district service plan, monthly road fees, and long-standing funding agreements."
The letter also said the county's involvement, including plowing, has stayed consistent since the 1970s. Since 2017, the letter said, the county has worked with the Metro District to raise state funding for CB South roads by roughly $20,000 to $30,000 a year. That money comes through the state Highway Users Tax Fund, which the county passes along to the district "as a courtesy." Schmidt wrote that counting CB South roads in the county's study "would have added several million dollars more to the maintenance backlog total."
Put the two figures next to each other. The state funding runs to tens of thousands of dollars a year. Adding CB South's roads to the county's backlog figure would have added several million.
Speaking to the News this month, Schmidt described the county's early help as "voluntarily plowing lower subdivision roads" and the 2017 funding agreement as "good-faith efforts to help our neighbors, not agreements to assume permanent responsibility for the roads."
The Metro District reads the same history differently. It filed its complaint in Gunnison District Court on October 9 and asks the court to answer three questions: does Gunnison County own the roads in CB South, are they part of the county road system, and are they eligible for county road funds?
The News reports that the complaint, filed by attorney Marcus Lock, says all four recorded subdivision plats for CB South contain public dedication language for the roads, approved by county commissioners. It alleges that none of the plats mention the Metro District and that the district never signed or accepted them. The complaint also says the district was formed in 1977 to provide water and sewer. Its service plan had the district build the roads with developer financing, but according to the filing, that plan never addressed ongoing maintenance.
The district's resolution also makes a concession. Even if a court found the roads are county-owned and part of the county system, the county would still decide how to spend its road funds.
The POA sits between the two sides. Harwell told the News that although the POA is mentioned in the complaint, it "is not a party to either side," and that it did not pass the county letter's view along to the community.
The lawsuit and the ballot reached residents in the same month. On October 13, the Metro District board passed a resolution opposing Gunnison County's Question 1A, a half-cent sales tax for road and bridge maintenance. The question is on the county's November 3, 2026 mail-ballot election.
The resolution objects to the county's letter. It says the county asked the POA to tell residents that CB South roads are district-owned and not eligible for money from the proposed tax. Schmidt told the News the letter "was not a 'demand,'" but an effort to correct information being shared with residents. County attorney Matthew Hoyt said the county was disappointed the district weighed in on the ballot measure during the dispute, and that "decisions about public policy should be made on their merits."
The vote and the lawsuit are separate. Whatever voters decide on 1A countywide, the question of who owns the roads stays with the court, or with whatever the two governments work out first.
Neither side expects the road question to stand still. Hoyt told the News the two sides "are now engaged in negotiations that could lead to formal mediation." The district's resolution says the county agreed on October 8 to meet, but not before November 2026. The district declined to comment on the litigation or mediation.
For now, the split the POA described in October is the arrangement in place as winter starts. County crews cover the lower roads, Metro crews cover the upper ones, and the 2017 arrangement for passing state road money to the district continues alongside them.
Not every change to the winter commute is in dispute. At the CB South bus stop, the POA reported on October 13 that its maintenance staff had fully replaced the bus stop porch and used the dry fall weather to stain and finish it. The POA calls the shelter one of only three indoor bus stops in the valley.
North on Highway 135, the drive to Crested Butte is changing too. The Crested Butte News reported that county and town officials agreed on October 19 to a temporary pedestrian signal near the 252-unit Whetstone Community Housing development. The roundabout and pedestrian underpass planned near Brush Creek Road will not be built this year. Instead, the county will apply to CDOT for a permit to install a HAWK signal. Pedestrians press a button to bring traffic to a full stop, and the light then goes to flashing red, where drivers stop and proceed once the crossing is clear.
The plan also lowers the speed limit to 40 mph in that stretch and adds narrower lanes, rumble strips, warning signs and a painted crosswalk between the RTA stop and the Whetstone entrance. The changes are expected to start this January and stay through next summer.
This post is general information, not legal advice. If a road or parking rule affects your property, confirm the details with the Metro District, the county or your own attorney.
At The O'Brien Group, we follow the details that shape daily life in CB South, from who clears which street to how a court case over the roads might play out. If you'd like to talk through how road responsibility, plowing or district services apply to a property you own or are considering, we're glad to help.
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