Midvalley boondoggle

Thank you, Scott Condon, for you article on March 10 in The Aspen Times exposing the folly that is the “Tree Farm development” (“Can midvalley Tree Farm project deliver on promise to provide housing for ‘missing middle’?”).

Against the vast majority of people in the midvalley, the Eagle County commissioners voted 2-1 to approve the project on the pretense it would ease the housing crunch for working families in the valley. In the end, it’s going to cause more harm than good.

With prices ranging from $1.4 million to well over $2 million per unit, the majority of these units no doubt will go to second-home owners probably from Texas and California. The big hotel and retail spaces will create a bigger housing shortage for the workers needed to fill those positions. More overpopulation, more congestion, loss of animal habitat, and a bigger need for affordable housing; what a deal!

Eagle County Commissioner Jeanne Mcqueeney, who betrayed her constituents in favor of land developer Ace Lane, has insulted us again with her comment, “It’s not who we maybe think of in terms of affordable housing, but our doctors, our CEOs and people that run businesses, they need places to live as well.” Wouldn’t it be nice if for once a politician would admit, “I made a mistake, I was hood-winked, if I had to do it over again, I would change my mind.”

Don’t hold your breath; It’ll never happen! Jeanne, you’re so out of touch with people on this side of the county, it’s not even funny. Hopefully, in the next few months when the Fields Project vote comes before the Eagle County commissioners, you’ll listen to the people instead of yet another “big money” developer. In closing, I think Ace Lane should build a huge tent city, right beside his $2 million condos, to house all the workers he’s going to need for this boondoggle he’s created.

Tom O’Keefe

Middle Roaring Fork Valley