Questions over whether a sewer line had enough capacity to handle a Hampton Inn Hotel on the east side of town has been resolved.
The Cortez Sanitation District had these concerns when representatives from the hotel chain approached them last month.
The hotel would be on the west parcel to the east of the Holiday Inn and south of the Baymont Inn and Suites.
The sanitation district hired Russell Planning and Engineering out of Durango to do a sanitary sewer collection system capacity analysis to determine if the line had sufficient capacity for the hotel that is estimated to have about 72 units.
The study showed that the line in question has adequate capacity for existing peak flow conditions and the second scenario, in which every available plat in the area was built upon, also showed the line had enough capacity.
In the event of a full build out scenario, a number of pipes would require replacement when using the design flow rates, but only 12 sections require replacement using the actual flow rates.
Phil Starks, sanitation district superintendent, said the work on the construction of the hotel would not start until around May, at the earliest.
Sanitation Board Director Jim Candelaria, speaking at the district's regular meeting, proposed giving the hotel representatives the go ahead with the project, while board member Dave Waters questioned whether stipulations should be included.
The sanitation board unanimously accepted the capacity study findings for this region of Cortez.
Even though the sanitation district has determined through its study that there is adequate capacity for the Hampton Inn Hotel, any development would still have to be approved by the city of Cortez.
City Manager Shane Hale said the sanitation district's findings are not reviewable as it stands on its own.
Hale said the developer would still need to receive a building permit and site plan review along with other requirements before any work could begin.
The city was not surprised by the sanitation district's analysis and findings that there is enough sewer line capacity to handle the proposed hotel.
Most of the extra usage would be in the early morning hours when people would be getting ready to leave for the day, so Hale thought the engineer's findings would reveal that this proposed development would not result in a huge impact.
Hale also said a Hampton Inn Hotel would be another welcome addition to Cortez and would keep some visitors and tourists in town rather than them leaving to another nearby city.
"After our motels fill up (visitors) travel to Durango," he said.
michaelm@cortezjournal.com