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2nd Wolf Creek ski village lawsuit dropped

Associated Press
Vail, CO Colorado

DENVER, Colorado – The owners of the Wolf Creek ski area and the developer of a proposed ski village near there have settled their lawsuit.

U.S. District Court Judge John L. Kane on Tuesday dismissed the case filed by the Wolf Creek Ski Corp. Inc. against Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture after the two recently reached an agreement. Developer Billy Joe “Red” McCombs, co-founder of media giant Clear Channel Communications, plans to build commercial space and housing for up to 10,500 people near the base of the ski area.

The nearly $1 billion project has stalled over building short roads to the nearly 300 acres of private land that is surrounded by federal land.



The owners of the ski area were once partners in the project, but parted ways in the 1990s. McCombs claimed the owners promised help in extending an existing road at the ski area to the land.

Messages left after business hours for attorneys on both sides were not immediately returned.

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In February, a separate lawsuit filed by two environmental groups was settled out of court. In that case, the U.S. Forest Service agreed to a new environmental analysis of two roads to McCombs’ property. Forest Service officials estimated a new review and public hearing process will take about 18 months

It was unclear whether the settlement with the ski area will help McCombs access his land sooner.

Building permits for the ski village, which could include 222,100 square feet of commercial space were approved by Mineral County. Those permits were voided by a state district court, which ruled the county had not followed a state law requiring year-round access for vehicles.


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