Letter: Disregard for community and law

The article in today’s Aspen Times concerning the Creperie du Village shows a disturbing attitude held by the City Council. The wall and roof constructed by Raphael Derly for his restaurant is not only not built to code, but Derly’s explanations that it’s too hot down there and that he didn’t know he needed a permit show a disregard for a sense of community and law. It is very hard to believe that Derly didn’t know a permit would be required. It’s easy to believe that an attitude of privilege is what was really at work here.

The council is encouraging this attitude by supporting this renegade structure. Building codes are written for legitimate reasons, one of the most important is to protect the safety of people who enter structures. I wonder if Derly’s liability insurance would cover a structure not built to code? Perhaps the council feels that the city should undertake this responsibility? It certainly seems more shoddy than shady to this citizen.

Al Scholz

Aspen