Members of the public got their first look Monday at preliminary plans for Telluride's next housing project, as yet unnamed.

The conceptual plan for a condominium development on lot 48A in Bachman Village on the north banks of the San Miguel River just off Mahoney Dr. depicts a combination of 20 one-, two- and three-bedroom units and a total of 22 covered parking spaces. The project is planned to be a for-sale project, with construction anticipated to start next spring and completion set for the spring of 2007.

Architect Charles Cuniffe described a project comprised of four buildings on a long, narrow lot. The site is highly visible from the entrance to town, he noted.

The public expressed far more interest in plans to forbid dogs and cats at the project than in design elements.

Jennifer Fox objected that in a town where many residents have pets, prohibiting them in a project aimed at housing the working middle class is discriminatory and "highly objectionable."

"This site is perhaps not the best site for pets," Councilmember Mallory Dimmitt said.

"Mendota allows dogs," Councilmember Stu Fraser said, noting that the 16-unit for sale project on Colorado Ave. east of Clark's Market will be ready for sale next spring.

Members of the Telluride Town Council Housing Committee explained that the notion of banning pets at the lot 48A project is a response to the site's immediate proximity to wetlands used by wildlife. But Fox persisted in suggesting that there might be "less extreme ways" of controlling pets and protecting wildlife, including possibly a prohibition on large dogs.

Former Town Councilmember Jerry Greene said he is concerned that the town is embarking on another for-sale project rather than rental housing. Greene also suggested that the units might be better conceived to take advantage of natural light. Fraser said that the committee had already made the same request to the architects.

Town Council candidate Justin Clifton suggested that the units should incorporate energy efficiencies to help keep maintenance costs low.

"We'll be following the green building code," Fraser said.

"The reason the committee chose this team of architects and builders is because they've built so many housing projects in Aspen that look great and address these concerns," Dimmitt said.

The Housing Committee is on a schedule to bring the plans to the Telluride Historic and Architectural Review Commission in the fall.