Aspen to require green development

ASPEN – Aspen continues to lead ski towns of the West in addressing emissions of greenhouse gases. The next project being examined by the town would require new development applications to include a carbon footprint statement showing that the project does not add greenhouse gas emissions and can minimize other negative impacts such as air pollution from traffic.

Once the emissions become known, the town could require, as a condition of approval, the development to be carbon-neutral over a 20-year period.

If the development can’t avoid emissions, developers would have to agree to buy carbon offsets. One example cited byThe Aspen Times is of a 150-room hotel that could be required to pay $30,000 in “Canary Tags,” the new city-operated offset program. Money paid into this program could help fund bus service, for example.

“Since we are on the cutting edge of this, we could benefit from six months or a year” of study before developers are charged with carbon offsets, said Mayor Mick Ireland. He said he believes the council should start by reviewing only major projects, and eventually developing a comprehensive plan that would include all building permits, as well as affordable housing, and even scrape-and-replace projects.

“The public needs to be aware that when we do something, it has an environmental impact,” Ireland said.

Kimberly Peterson, the city’s global warming project manager, said the law would give developers market incentives to be energy-efficient. “There would be actually a way to hold them accountable,” she said. But, she added, it’s not something to fear. “It’s not that hard to be carbon-neutral.”

Officials counter bear problem

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – It was a dry, dry winter, and now it has been a desperate year for bears in the Lake Tahoe-Truckee area. Some 69 bears have been killed on the area’s highways this year, and the human encounters with bears are higher than at any time in the past two decades.

At a special meeting between state wildlife and local officials, reports theSierra Sun, there was agreement on the need for tightening enforcement of laws about garbage, but there is no “appetite to kill” bears to curb break-ins, said a county supervisor, Bruce Kranz.

In Wyoming’s Jackson Hole, wildlife officials are calling for local officials to mandate bear-proof garbage containers, which are significantly more secure than wildlife-resistant containers. The proposal goes before Teton County commissioners next week.

And in Aspen, county workers removed all the crab apples from the trees in front of the courthouse. A month ago, bears were hanging out in front of the courthouse, which is located on Aspen’s busiest street.

Still standing, however, are the many crab apple trees along downtown streets, notesThe Aspen Times. State wildlife officials want the trees replaced with those that don’t bear fruit or city employees to remove the apples – something city staff says it doesn’t have time to do.

Jackson steps up housing effort

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – Officials in both the town of Jackson and Teton County may elevate affordable housing requirements for developers. Currently, developments must have 15 percent of housing units devoted to deed-restricted housing. The governments are looking at 25 percent.

“We had 1,500 to 2,000 jobs this summer that didn’t get filled, and we have to ask ourselves why,” said Jackson Mayor Mark Barron, who owns a dry-cleaning business. “I don’t think we can sit on our hands any more.”

The Jackson Hole News&Guide reports that the Town Council is not uniformly convinced, but the comments offered by councilors suggest they will ultimately up the ante. The county commissioners ordered that all applicants in their jurisdiction be informed of the possible increase.

Jackson Hole began its affordable housing program in 1994. And it now has 361 deed-restricted ownership units and 458 rental units. “That’s not bad in a community of less than 19,000 people,” said Barron.

Still, Barron described the problem as one of crisis proportions.

Mine resurrected in Crested Butte

CRESTED BUTTE – The proposed molybdenum mine on Mt. Emmons, the mountain almost literally in the back yard of Crested Butte, is now being called Lucky Jack. It was first pro

posed about 30 years ago, and the idea then was about as popular as skiing on rocks.

It laid dormant after the market for molybdenum sank in the early ’80s but has roared back to life with the global boom that has put everything from cement to steel in high demand, skyrocketing the price of molybdenum. Among other uses, molybdenum hardens steel.

A representative of the mining interests was in Crested Butte last week to meet with 100 not-so-welcoming locals and a few guests. Among the questioners was Linda Powers, a shop owner and former mayor. “Why aren’t you looking at other locations like China, where the product is most likely to end up?” she asked.

Clyde Gillespie, the project manager for Kobex Resources Ltd. and U.S. Energy Corp., replied that he didn’t speak the language. “We don’t own property in China. This is the project we are planning to develop.”

The Crested Butte News says that the mining interests hope to submit detailed plans to the Forest Service by the end of the year.

Ski area and town at odds in Vail

VAIL – A former town manager in Vail once likened ski area operators and the local governments to two convicts handcuffed together in the jungle.

In fact, no matter what town, whether Aspen, Squaw Valley or Winter Park, the locals often are at odds with the ski area operator, no matter how much of a destiny they share.

And at the moment, the relations between the Vail Town Council and its chained-for-life companion, Vail Resorts, are a bit on the testy side. At least, that’s what town officials are saying.

While there seems to be some causes below the surface for testiness, the stuff getting daylight has to do with the ski area’s employee housing obligations. The company is on the hook, as theVail Daily notes, to build 144 employee units.

The company has offered to buy a major affordable housing complex in Vail purchased by the town government for $22 million – the amount the town paid for it. The complex, which dates to the early ’70s, is getting rundown, and with today’s economy, the site can be redeveloped to become a major affordable housing village. It currently has 600 rental beds, but Vail Resorts proposes to double or triple the number of beds.

One alternative is the company could pay the town $17.3 million to satisfy its affordable housing obligation.

Fisherman angles for lures and lines

MAMMOTH, Calif. – Sam Osborne has become known around Mammoth Lakes as the Recycle-lure. It’s a play on words, because on any given windless day, he can be found floating alongside fishermen, except that instead of angling for trout, he’s fishing for the lost lures and broke line that litter the lakes in the Sierra Nevada.

Osborne tellsThe Sheet that the lures and line can become a death trap for small animals, including fish. “I’ve seen innumerable dead fish caught up on lures and line, and lots of dead fowl, too,” he said.

He came by this passion in an unusual way. A former surfer, he had suffered a broken back, and as a way of regaining his strength, he had taken to paddling his surfboards across the alpine lakes.

“As I was paddling around, I noticed all the sparkles in the water and realized that there was a gold mine of lost lures under there,” he said. He sometimes uses a pole to remove lost lures, but other times dives to retrieve the items.

“I don’t think anybody else would ever do this, because the water is temperature prohibitive,” he said. “There’s something about it I just dig, and it is rewarding. It’s my Zen thing,” he added. He has retrieved about 500 lures a year.

New Revelstoke ski area set to open

REVELSTOKE, B.C. – Everything remains on schedule for the Dec. 22 opening of Revelstoke Mountain Resort. The ski area is to have the longest vertical run in North America, about 7,000 feet.

Revelstoke is located along the Columbia River, about 400 miles from Vancouver and 260 miles from Calgary.

Don Simpson, the Denver-based principal developer, told theRevelstoke Times Review that $75 million has been invested so far, with another $50 million committed by next spring.

The first 59 condos sold immediately, and later this month, the project will put 25 single-family home lots onto the market. Of them, five will be permitted to have private helipads. Listed prices are $650,000 to $1.5 million.

— Allen Best

on Hole, wildlife officials are calling for local officials to mandate bear-proof garbage containers, which are significantly more secure than wildlife-resistant containers. The proposal goes before Teton County commissioners next week.

And in Aspen, county workers removed all the crab apples from the trees in front of the courthouse. A month ago, bears were hanging out in front of the courthouse, which is located on Aspen’s busiest street.

Still standing, however, are the many crab apple trees along downtown streets, notesThe Aspen Times. State wildlife officials want the trees replaced with those that don’t bear fruit or city employees to remove the apples – something city staff says it doesn’t have time to do.

Jackson steps up housing effort

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – Officials in both the town of Jackson and Teton County may elevate affordable housing requirements for developers. Currently, developments must have 15 percent of housing units devoted to deed-restricted housing. The governments are looking at 25 percent.

“We had 1,500 to 2,000 jobs this summer that didn’t get filled, and we have to ask ourselves why,” said Jackson Mayor Mark Barron, who owns a dry-cleaning business. “I don’t think we can sit on our hands any more.”

The Jackson Hole News&Guide reports that the Town Council is not uniformly convinced, but the comments offered by councilors suggest they will ultimately up the ante. The county commissioners ordered that all applicants in their jurisdiction be informed of the possible increase.

Jackson Hole began its affordable housing program in 1994. And it now has 361 deed-restricted ownership units and 458 rental units. “That’s not bad in a community of less than 19,000 people,” said Barron.

Still, Barron described the problem as one of crisis proportions.

Mine resurrected in Crested Butte

CRESTED BUTTE – The proposed molybdenum mine on Mt. Emmons, the mountain almost literally in the back yard of Crested Butte, is now being called Lucky Jack. It was first proposed about 30 years ago, and the idea then was about as popular as skiing on rocks.

It laid dormant after the market for molybdenum sank in the early ’80s but has roared back to life with the global boom that has put everything from cement to steel in high demand, skyrocketing the price of molybdenum. Among other uses, molybdenum hardens steel.

A representative of the mining interests was in Crested Butte last week to meet with 100 not-so-welcoming locals and a few guests. Among the questioners was Linda Powers, a shop owner and former mayor. “Why aren’t you looking at other locations like China, where the product is most likely to end up?” she asked.

Clyde Gillespie, the project manager for Kobex Resources Ltd. and U.S. Energy Corp., replied that he didn’t speak the language. “We don’t own property in China. This is the project we are planning to develop.”

The Crested Butte News says that the mining interests hope to submit detailed plans to the Forest Service by the end of the year.

Ski area and town at odds in Vail

VAIL – A former town manager in Vail once likened ski area operators and the local governments to two convicts handcuffed together in the jungle.

In fact, no matter what town, whether Aspen, Squaw Valley or Winter Park, the locals often are at odds with the ski area operator, no matter how much of a destiny they share.

And at the moment, the relations between the Vail Town Council and its chained-for-life companion, Vail Resorts, are a bit on the testy side. At least, that’s what town officials are saying.

While there seems to be some causes below the surface for testiness, the stuff getting daylight has to do with the ski area’s employee housing obligations. The company is on the hook, as theVail Daily notes, to build 144 employee units.

The company has offered to buy a major affordable housing complex in Vail purchased by the town government for $22 million – the amount the town paid for it. The complex, which dates to the early ’70s, is getting rundown, and with today’s economy, the site can be redeveloped to become a major affordable housing village. It currently has 600 rental beds, but Vail Resorts proposes to double or triple the number of beds.

One alternative is the company could pay the town $17.3 million to satisfy its affordable housing obligation.

Fisherman angles for lures and lines

MAMMOTH, Calif. – Sam Osborne has become known around Mammoth Lakes as the Recycle-lure. It’s a play on words, because on any given windless day, he can be found floating alongside fishermen, except that instead of angling for trout, he’s fishing for the lost lures and broke line that litter the lakes in the Sierra Nevada.

Osborne tellsThe Sheet that the lures and line can become a death trap for small animals, including fish. “I’ve seen innumerable dead fish caught up on lures and line, and lots of dead fowl, too,” he said.

He came by this passion in an unusual way. A former surfer, he had suffered a broken back, and as a way of regaining his strength, he had taken to paddling his surfboards across the alpine lakes.

“As I was paddling around, I noticed all the sparkles in the water and realized that there was a gold mine of lost lures under there,” he said. He sometimes uses a pole to remove lost lures, but other times dives to retrieve the items.

“I don’t think anybody else would ever do this, because the water is temperature prohibitive,” he said. “There’s something about it I just dig, and it is rewarding. It’s my Zen thing,” he added. He has retrieved about 500 lures a year.

New Revelstoke ski area set to open

REVELSTOKE, B.C. – Everything remains on schedule for the Dec. 22 opening of Revelstoke Mountain Resort. The ski area is to have the longest vertical run in North America, about 7,000 feet.

Revelstoke is located along the Columbia River, about 400 miles from Vancouver and 260 miles from Calgary.

Don Simpson, the Denver-based principal developer, told theRevelstoke Times Review that $75 million has been invested so far, with another $50 million committed by next spring.

The first 59 condos sold immediately, and later this month, the project will put 25 single-family home lots onto the market. Of them, five will be permitted to have private helipads. Listed prices are $650,000 to $1.5 million.

— Allen Best

Wildfire triggers metal roof push

KETCHUM, Idaho – With the 48,000-acre fire that flickered to the edge of Ketchum on her mind, Kitty Durtschi is an evangelist for metal roofs. They provide the greatest protection in case of wild fire – although they are banned by many homeowner associations.

“For some reason, shake-shingle roofs are seen as ‘better,’” she writes in a letter published in theIdaho Mountain Express. “Forbidding Western homeowners from building fire-safe homes is as ridiculous as forbidding Southern homeowners from installing hurricane shutters or Midwesterners from excavating storm cellars. The lives and safety of the entire community are put at greater risk for no logical reason.”

Affordable hotel proposed in Telluride

MOUNTAIN VILLAGE – Another hotel is being proposed at Mountain Village, the mid-mountain, slopeside town at Telluride. Proponents claim the project, called the Mountain Village Hotel, will offer “reasonably priced rooms.” Altogether, 127 rooms are planned, plus a smattering of affordable housing by a Dallas company, Juno Development, reportsThe Telluride Watch.

– Allen Best