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Vail Daily letter: Ballot language unfair for Eagle River Station vote

Fredric Butler
Vail, CO, Colorado
newsroom@vaildaily.com

“In order to diversify the revenue base of the town of Eagle (which may be used by the town, in the board of trustees’ discretion for such purposes as downtown redevelopment, west end redevelopment, improvements to Eby Creek Road and U.S. Highway 6, and enhanced operations of the town and to expand the town’s retail sector, shall the voters of the town of Eagle approve Ordinance No. 14, series of 2009, amending the zoning district map of the town of Eagle by approving a commercial planned unit development within the town of Eagle to be known as the Eagle River Station Planned Unit Development and approving a site specific development plan establishing a vested property right pursuant to Article 68 of Title 24 c.r.s., and Section 4.17.030 of the Eagle Municipal Code?”

If this is the language that will be on the ballot, it seems to be slanted toward and encouraging a “yes” vote for Eagle River Station and its proponents. It subsumes actions needed for Eagle to prosper: to diversify the revenue base of the town at the “discretion” of the board (then we really should annex Gypsum, Avon and Edwards); central business district and west-end redevelopment (the property owners do that, not the trustees); improve Eby Creek road and Highway 6 (without Eagle River Station, the “need” is less, and the unused TARP fund would be a source to tap); expand the town’s retail sector (create a new town?)

Also, the economy is going south. Witness the empty storefronts that are evidence of too much expansion. In diversifying the revenue base, we translocate Eagle to the east for the purpose of raising more sales tax revenue for the government to prosper. How does Eagle River Station encourage the CBD and west-end commercial property owners to redevelop when their stores are already vacant for want of retailers? By building another town in the immediate vicinity?



We do need improvements to Eby Creek Creek Road and Highway 6 to handle the traffic. But will another mega mall adjacent to those thoroughfares solve the problem or will it compound it? What does “enhance operations of the town” connote? More intrusion, more bureaucracy, more administrators and planners?

The ballot question should not presume that the stated effects are tied into the issue to be decided. It should simply read “do you want ERS or not”?

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Fredric Butler

Eagle


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