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ASPEN — Pitkin County is poised next week to purchase a patented mining claim above the Hunter Creek Valley and remove the threat of development on the last buildable, private parcel in what's often dubbed Aspen's playground.
The county's open space and trails program has reached a deal to buy the 8.3-acre Virginia Pet Lode from Bill and Janet Mohrman for $900,000. County commissioners are scheduled to take action on the purchase Wednesday.
“As far as we know, the parcel that we're buying is the last buildable lot up Hunter Creek,” said Dale Will, open space and trails director.
That would make the acquisition the final step in a decades-old push to preserve the Hunter Creek Valley as open space.
The valley, cut between Red Mountain and Smuggler Mountain on Aspen's northeast side, has long been a favorite playground for hikers, mountain bikers and others. The valley floor and the hills above it, particularly the ridge to the north of Hunter Creek, dividing the Hunter Creek and Woody Creek valleys, are criss-crossed with dirt roads and trails.
The Mohrmans' land is on that ridge, in the Van Horn Park area.
In addition to the purchase, the county will spend up to $35,000 in related acquisition costs and to remove an old wooden yurt from the parcel. The Mohrmans will retain the right to sell a transferable development right from the mining claim in addition to the proceeds of the land sale.
The Virginia Pet Lode is zoned rural and remote, and at one time received county approval for construction of a cabin.
Its purchase follows the county's acquisition of the Hummingbird Lode for $5.2 million in 1998 and the Little Chief Lode six years later.
The former owners of the 10-acre Hummingbird, Jim and Marilee Auster, donated half of the purchase price; the city of Aspen and the county split most of the remaining $2.6 million following a public fundraising drive. The purchase extinguished the threat of a home of unlimited size on the Hummingbird — a development right the Austers secured during years of wrangling with the county.
In 2004, the county paid $375,000 to acquire the 9.8-acre Little Chief Lode from Lyle Reeder, leaving the Mohrmans' Virginia Park parcel as the sole development threat.
Both the Little Chief and Virginia Pet claims are on the road that leads from Van Horn Park to the McNamara backcountry ski hut. And though rural and remote zoning limited both parcels to cabins of 1,000 square feet, their potential development brought the prospect of construction traffic, improved roads and altered views.
Aspen has battled development pressure in the Hunter Creek Valley since at least the early 1970s, when the McCulloch Oil Corp. stepped forward with a plan to build condos on the valley floor. It had purchased 1,661 acres in the valley and up the mountainside toward Van Horn Park in 1966. Locals rallied, demanding the federal government buy the property.
Ultimately, an embattled McCulloch agreed to sell, Congress agreed to provide the money, and the U.S. Forest Service purchased the land for $2.08 million in August 1975.
janet@aspentimes.com
The county's open space and trails program has reached a deal to buy the 8.3-acre Virginia Pet Lode from Bill and Janet Mohrman for $900,000. County commissioners are scheduled to take action on the purchase Wednesday.
“As far as we know, the parcel that we're buying is the last buildable lot up Hunter Creek,” said Dale Will, open space and trails director.
That would make the acquisition the final step in a decades-old push to preserve the Hunter Creek Valley as open space.
The valley, cut between Red Mountain and Smuggler Mountain on Aspen's northeast side, has long been a favorite playground for hikers, mountain bikers and others. The valley floor and the hills above it, particularly the ridge to the north of Hunter Creek, dividing the Hunter Creek and Woody Creek valleys, are criss-crossed with dirt roads and trails.
The Mohrmans' land is on that ridge, in the Van Horn Park area.
In addition to the purchase, the county will spend up to $35,000 in related acquisition costs and to remove an old wooden yurt from the parcel. The Mohrmans will retain the right to sell a transferable development right from the mining claim in addition to the proceeds of the land sale.
The Virginia Pet Lode is zoned rural and remote, and at one time received county approval for construction of a cabin.
Its purchase follows the county's acquisition of the Hummingbird Lode for $5.2 million in 1998 and the Little Chief Lode six years later.
The former owners of the 10-acre Hummingbird, Jim and Marilee Auster, donated half of the purchase price; the city of Aspen and the county split most of the remaining $2.6 million following a public fundraising drive. The purchase extinguished the threat of a home of unlimited size on the Hummingbird — a development right the Austers secured during years of wrangling with the county.
In 2004, the county paid $375,000 to acquire the 9.8-acre Little Chief Lode from Lyle Reeder, leaving the Mohrmans' Virginia Park parcel as the sole development threat.
Both the Little Chief and Virginia Pet claims are on the road that leads from Van Horn Park to the McNamara backcountry ski hut. And though rural and remote zoning limited both parcels to cabins of 1,000 square feet, their potential development brought the prospect of construction traffic, improved roads and altered views.
Aspen has battled development pressure in the Hunter Creek Valley since at least the early 1970s, when the McCulloch Oil Corp. stepped forward with a plan to build condos on the valley floor. It had purchased 1,661 acres in the valley and up the mountainside toward Van Horn Park in 1966. Locals rallied, demanding the federal government buy the property.
Ultimately, an embattled McCulloch agreed to sell, Congress agreed to provide the money, and the U.S. Forest Service purchased the land for $2.08 million in August 1975.
janet@aspentimes.com
