Mountain Exchange - Durango Telegraph

Big real estate returns

TELLURIDE – Real estate development has returned to Telluride in full force, bringing with it questions about how the new and usually larger buildings should be integrated with the old.

“Clearly, buildings permits are way up from last year,” reports Greg Clifton, the town manager. “What is more remarkable than the number of permits, however, are the valuations. A lot of big-dollar items are being pursued for the first time since the recession. Big money is being spent on these projects.”

Clifton also points to concerns about residential housing replacing commercial space but also crowding out more affordable housing units.

But there’s also the issue of how new should be integrated with old. The town altogether exists as a National Historic Landmark District. In 2006, at the height of the last boom, the National Park Service warned that development in vacant lots and alterations or additions to historic buildings were eroding Telluride’s special historic charm.

Now comes a proposal for a three-story commercial and retail building between the ski area and downtown Telluride. The Daily Planet reports heartburn among historic preservationists at a recent gathering.

One concern is the size. At 8,704 square feet, the building would dwarf an adjacent 800-square-foot house. “Four times, five times the size of the neighboring structure, I think we’ve all come to expect,” said Chance Leoff, chairman of the Historic and Architectural Review Commission. But 10 times the size, he added, pushes the town’s guidelines.

John Lifton-Zoline, son-in-law of Joe Zoline, the developer who transformed Telluride from an unvarnished, fading old mining town into a modern mountain resort, argues that the preservationists don’t know their history. He cited historical maps from over a century ago that show a mix of warehouses and residences.

“What you have there, cheek by jowl, are quite large warehouses and quite small residences … It was a mix of big and small buildings, and I think that’s what we’re doing,” he says.

Cleaning up after Fido

ASPEN – The trail on Smuggler Mountain, located on Aspen’s east side, is a popular one for Aspenites. It’s close and has a forgiving grade. No wonder so many people like to take their dogs there for a stroll.

But do they clean up after the dogs? Not so much, reports the Aspen Daily News. A sign has been posted at the base of the trail, reminding hikers that “There is no poop fairy.”

John Armstrong, senior open-space ranger, tells the Aspen Daily News that dogs are allowed off leash, which may be the source of the problem. He said the major problem comes from well-intended pet owners who pay too little attention.

“People who feel they are doing a great job need to do a better job. That’s the crux of it.”

Hundreds of pin flags have been planted along the trial to show where dog poop remains. In Telluride, he notes, the first offense fine for those not cleaning up their dog’s poop is $250 and five hours of community service.

Cell phone ban does little

JACKSON, Wyo. – Twelve months after Jackson elected officials banned use of cell phones while driving, the town has spent $10,000 on newspapers ads and road signs to let people know of the ban. A good number of warning tickets have also been dished out.

Still, when the Jackson Hole News&Guide lingered on a street corner recently, the reporter observed 16 violations of the law in just 30 minutes. On average, 18 citations have been given monthly by police since the law was adopted.

Former Mayor Mark Barron had pushed hard for the ban. He was not normally an advocate of getting too far ahead of the public. For example, he resisted efforts to ban grocery stores from distributing throw-away plastic shopping bags.

But he was persuaded by a 2006 University of Utah study that found drivers talking on cell phones, even if they are hands-free types, are as impaired as drunken drivers. As well, there was the case of the local high school student, highly accomplished and well regarded, who was killed by a phone-distracted driver.

On the other hand, a researcher from the University of Colorado-Boulder, last year found no evidence that a California ban on use of cell phones by drivers reduced traffic accidents.

Whatever the science, it’s the law in Jackson’s town limits – and Police Chief Todd Smith says that enforcing the law cannot be the total answer. “We need to have buy-in,” he says.

No snow bad for business

JACKSON, Wyo. – You might think that Christmas or maybe the 4th of July is the biggest weekend of the year in Jackson. But no, it’s apparently in late March, when the slopes of the in-town ski area, Snow King Mountain, get turned over to snowmobilers.

But this year, warm temperatures created a perverse challenge. One avalanche occurred on the slopes and another just outside the boundaries. Organizers of the World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb decided to cancel the event nine days beforehand.

What to do if you’re a hotelier? Frank Lane, general manager of a 46-room lodge, tells the Jackson Hole News&Guide he lowered room rates and scrapped the two-day length-of-stay requirement. He also issued refunds, even though the usual policy requires two weeks notice.

Big housing now on the rise in Telluride

TELLURIDE – Real estate development has returned to Telluride in full force, bringing with it questions about how the new and usually larger buildings should be integrated with the old.

Clifton also points to concerns about residential housing replacing commercial space but also crowding out more affordable housing units.

“What you have there, cheek by jowl, are quite large warehouses and quite small residences … It was a mix of big and small buildings, and I think that’s what we’re doing,” he says.

Do what you will, but clean up the dog poo

But do they clean up after the dogs? Not so much, reports the Aspen Daily News. A sign has been posted at the base of the trail, reminding hikers that “There is no poop fairy.”

“People who feel they are doing a great job need to do a better job. That’s the crux of it.”

Still plenty of people yakking on cell phones

On the other hand, a researcher from the University of Colorado-Boulder, last year found no evidence that a California ban on use of cell phones by drivers reduced traffic accidents.

Whatever the science, it’s the law in Jackson’s town limits – and Police Chief Todd Smith says that enforcing the law cannot be the total answer. “We need to have buy-in,” he says.

Year’s busiest weekend turns into something else

What do to if you’re a hotelier? Frank Lane, general manager of a 46-room lodge, tells the Jackson Hole News&Guide he lowered room rates and scrapped the two-day length-of-stay requirement. He also issued refunds, even though the usual policy requires two weeks notice.

Staffers were also instructed to tell callers that Jackson had a lot going on, including snowmobiling in other areas plus bears emerging from hibernation. With these strategies, close to half of the original reservations stayed intact.

But another hotelier had less luck, expecting just 10 to 12 percent of reservations to show up.

Vail Resorts applauded for Park City investments

PARK CITY, Utah – The dust has settled in Park City after a winter of being a two-company ski town. There’s Deer Valley, of course, but also Vail Resorts, which now operates both the Canyons and Park City ski areas.

Local planning commissioners have approved an eight-passenger gondola to connect the two ski areas, giving Park City bragging right to the largest ski area in the United States.

In an editorial, The Park Record is almost effusive in its praise of Vail Resorts. It credits the company with efforts to “remain upbeat” during the “bitter legal dispute” that seemed to “darken every doorstep in town.” It also takes note of Vail’s promise to invest $50 million in the two ski areas, which will allow a wholehearted marketing campaign for the next ski area.

Vail also has walked its talk about trying to become part of the community, says the Record, with its award of $1.3 million in grants to local nonprofits.

Wrangling over home rentals in South Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – More than 100 people packed City Council chambers in South Lake Tahoe to talk about vacation rentals. No conclusions were reached, reports Lake Tahoe News, but some residents argue that vacation home rentals should be banned altogether.

Stepped-up enforcement of existing laws governing noise, trash, and parking is among the proposals. But another suggestion is to give homeowners incentives to use local property management firms as opposed to doing it by themselves through services such as VRBO.

Cannabis skunky smell in the news of Aspen

BASALT – Colorado now allows the growing and sale of cannabis, but that doesn’t mean everybody is just fine with it.

In Pitkin County, commissioners approved an outdoor marijuana shredding area at a grow operation near Basalt, but some residents complained of the smell. It’s stinky, like a skunk, some of them say.

“I noticed it this spring,” said Kent Schuler. “I thought it was a skunk or some kind of a decaying animal ... There is something to reconcile here.”

Mike Woods, chief operating officer for Silverpeak, the marijuana retailer that operates the grow operation, said that the technological answer has arrived from The Netherlands.

This being the Aspen area, they are using organic materials to neutralize the odor.

Some blame edibles in man’s suicide

SUMMIT COUNTY – A 22-year-old recent college graduate from Oklahoma was in Summit County when he put a gun to his head and ended it all. A Denver television station says the man had purchased $78 worth of marijuana with his cousin, a local resident. He consumed two THC-infused candies, then two more, and then finally a fifth, for a total of 50 mg of THC.

The cousin reported that the victim, Gregory Goodman, then became jittery and incoherent.

The mother of the victim told the same television station, CBS4, that her son had no signs of depression or suicidal thoughts. She blamed the consumption of THC for the suicide.

In pot shops in Denver, there was considerable scoffing about the alleged link between cannabis and suicide.

However, the Summit Daily News notes a report from the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, which shows that the number of marijuana-related calls increased 74 percent in 2014. Sales for medicinal purposes have existed for several years.

Sierra snowpack down to 8 percent of average

TRUCKEE, Calif. – Go to a restaurant in Lake Tahoe, San Francisco or anywhere else in California, and you’ll have to ask for a glass of water. New state regulations require that water only be served on demand.

The Sierra Sun reports several other, more aggressive conservation strategies. Water suppliers – if they haven’t already – can allow outdoor lawn watering only two days a week.

This is amid news that California’s water situation has become even more desperate. Electronic surveys in the Sierra Nevada show water content in the lingering snow at just 8 percent of the average over the last 65 years, when record-keeping began.

“It’s certainly sobering when you consider that the snowpack in a normal year provides about 30 percent of what California needs in the summer and fall,” said Doug Carlson, a spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources.

Raise your hand if you helped kill pine trees

In the most recent epidemic of bark beetles, which began in about 1996, pine trees in the U.S. West have died on chunks of land that, if aggregated, would be as large as Montana.

Keep in mind that the majority of Montana is on the Great Plains, scarcely a tree in sight.

But what caused those trees to die? Bark beetles, of course, or more precisely the fungus spread by the beetles, which cuts off transport of nutrients and water.

Drought weakens the trees, and many are old, making them more vulnerable. Now comes a new study that finds that warmer winter temperatures can be at least partially blamed.

Aaron Weed, an ecologist at the National Park Service, says not-so-cold winters can explain beetle outbreaks in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, as well as the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon and northern Colorado.

“In these regions, winter temperatures during the 1980s were more likely to drop below the lower lethal temperatures for mountain pine beetles,” say Weed and co-author Matt Ayres, a professor at Dartmouth.

But in coastal and southern regions, winters dating back to 1989 were never cold enough to cause substantial beetle mortality. Instead, the researchers point to other factors, such as warming summer temperatures that affect seasonal rhythms of beetle development and forestry practices that influenced density of forests and resulted in even-age stands.

Whatever the cause, the massive die-off of pine trees in the southern Sierra Nevada of California is provoking fear in the hearts of mountain residents, reports the Fresno Bee. But a study by University of Colorado scientists finds less of a link between beetle-killed forests and wildfire than is generally supposed.

Sarah Hart, author of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, says that beetle-killed forests are no more at risk of burning than healthy forests.

“Forest fuels may get drier as a result of fuels being dead from insect infestations. But the fuels in live forests are dry enough to promote fire. It is weather conditions – warm and dry conditions – that make the difference,” Hart said.

The Denver Post noted that federal forests have linked beetles to increased fire hazards. A research ecologist, Matt Jolly, did not dispute Hart’s study but defended efforts to thin trees. He pointed to a tendency of beetle-killed trees to ignite quickly and burn at exceptionally high temperatures.

The disagreement is a long-standing one. Ecologists like Hart, the university researcher, say that spending big money to remove dead trees appears pointless.

– Allen Best

For more, go to mountaintownnews.net.