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Base Village boomerang

Currently, there’s a hell of a lot of hubbub about Base Village, plus great smears of ink in the local press. This writer would like to be succinct in this letter, perhaps offering some salient points.

It seems unwise for our village to approve an entire project so huge as this one – at one fell swoop. Why? Because:

1. The obstruction of views of the mountain will be very detrimental to visitors and residents alike.



2. To grant phase-by-phase approvals will give the council and village residents the chance to see physically the impacts as they are made – sequentially.

3. Doing the project in phases, with each phase subject to approval, will also allow us to evaluate traffic, parking and other impacts as they arise – thus conditioning further approvals.




4. Projections, by the developers, of economic stimulus and subsequent viability, are just that – projections. There is no guarantee of this. What if the total buildout did very little fiscal benefit to the village, but just lined the developers’ pockets?

I, personally, was on the council when Woodrun Place was approved. It was originally submitted at 104 units. Denied. Then it came back at 54 units. Approved. It was, and still is, too large a project for the small acreage it occupies.

At the time and before, we knew that developers ask for twice, or maybe three times, more than they are willing to settle for.

Development is like a boomerang! Throw it out and it always comes back – only smaller!

Also, a word of wisdom for our council. Vote no, if there are any single, or more, things – height, density, mass, traffic, parking, architecture, etc. you are not happy with. If you vote yes, because you’re OK with 75 percent of a project, but your particular objections are not addressed, they never will be.

Phil Desmond

Snowmass Village