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Letter: The reason for regulations

One of the most attractive things about Aspen is that it really does have zoning regulations in place. However imperfect they are, Aspen’s zoning regs keep rampant development from spoiling the look and feel of a wonderful mountain town. That, after all, is what makes Aspen unique among American ski towns. So it’s very disturbing to learn that the city might permit a zoning change to allow the oversize Gorsuch Haus hotel to be high up in the middle of an existing, long-established ski run near the 1A lift.

Beyond defacing the hillside and significantly constricting the ski run, if that hotel does get built, it will put a great deal of additional stress on one of the steepest streets in town. There would have to be a lot of additional truck traffic needed to service the hotel and its restaurant. Plus, of course, additional car traffic to drop off skiers and bring hotel guests up and down from town. The so-called “rubber tired” solution to which the developers have referred is really nothing more than a bad joke!

It’s beyond belief that Aspen, the poster child for conservation, would allow its long-established zoning designation of “conservation” to be abandoned merely to accommodate this ill-thought-out, rushed development plan.



Timothy Tucker

Minneapolis