Not about stopping Burlingame

Dear Editor:

Whoa, hold back those wild horses! Everyone, including The Aspen Times and the Aspen Daily News, needs to take a big time-out on the reporting of the so-called anti-Burlingame petitions.

Mick Ireland, Rachel Richards, Tim Semrau and Scott Writer are shouting terror alerts for citizens not to sign the “anti-Burlingame” petitions. The funny part is, there are no petitions being circulated on stopping big Burlingame.

It’s obvious the newly formed group pushed their panic buttons before they took the time to read what the petitions say. Petition No. 1 would give voters the opportunity to vote yes or no on large government affordable housing projects with full design and costs disclosed. It’s not about stopping Burlingame!

I am sorry the newly formed group reacted to their fears/paranoia about these petitions stopping Burlingame.

We simply want to give citizens a chance to vote yes or no on any large government affordable housing with the development’s land-use and costs approved by voters. What’s so scary about that?

The second petition aims to prevent the City Council from making any deals in pre-annexation agreements or annexations that waive any city of Aspen land-use code requirements for the developer.

The city of Aspen would also not be allowed to agree in a pre-annexation agreement or annexation to pay for the private developer’s cost of impact mitigation. Shouldn’t the playing field be the same for all developers?

Simply, these two petitions are not anti-Burlingame. It’s about giving citizens the chance to vote yes or no. It’s about the same playing field for all developers. What’s so scary about that? Call 544-5427 if you want to sign the petitions, or look for the green folders circulating around town.

Toni Kronberg

Aspen