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Vail’s ‘green’ ski village returns

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VAIL, Colorado ” Vail Resorts submitted to the town Monday a thick stack of plans for Ever Vail, the $1.5 billion ski village proposed for west Lionshead.

The company expects the plans to take as long as 10 months to go through town approvals.

The 11-acre Ever Vail project would include a gondola to Eagle’s Nest, condos, timeshares, a five-star hotel, a public parking garage, restaurants, stores, public parks, 100 beds of employee housing and a ski-maintenance facility.



Construction could begin as soon as next summer with the realignment of the South Frontage Road. The earliest the project could be completed is 2015.

A previous, less comprehensive application for Ever Vail was withdrawn this summer.

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The new proposal includes applications for rezoning, a major subdivision, conditional use permits, a major exterior alteration, a zoning code amendment and a conceptual plan for the town’s Design Review Board, said Kristin Kenney Williams, a spokeswoman for Vail Resorts.

Town Manager Stan Zemler said the application is certainly the biggest development application the town has seen in the last few years.

“It’s a new portal to the mountain,” Zemler said. “It’s a new village. It’s pretty significant. I don’t know what to compare it to, but it’s pretty significant.”

Vail Resorts has said the “green” village would seek platinum certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Neighborhood Development program. Environmentally friendly aspects of the project would include the restoration of Red Sandstone Creek, energy-efficient buildings and the use of renewable energy.

But at a special meeting Tuesday of the Vail Town Council, one councilman was less than enthusiastic about the project.

“As far as I see it, the only people that need Ever Vail are the shareholders of Vail Resorts,” Councilman Kevin Foley said. “All it’s going to do is impact our municipal services, as I see it, to a detriment to try to keep our buses going and everything else.”

Vail Resorts officials have said Ever Vail is about more than making money for the company.

“It’s not just a real estate deal for us,” Tom Miller, director of development for Vail Resorts Development Company, said earlier this month. “We’re not just interested in making money off selling condos here. This is good for the resort, and this is important for the town because it provides for the longevity of our ski company.

“It provides for the long-term sustainability of this town.”

A separate, $900 million project is also tied to the Ever Vail proposal.

The town of Vail has said that Vail Resorts must lift its “deed restriction” on the Lionshead parking structure before the town will approve Ever Vail. The Lionshead parking structure proposal is a $900 million plan to renovate the garage into condo, hotels, timeshare, a convention center, stores, restaurants and public parking.

Vail Resorts retains a deed restriction on the town-owned land, and must approve the Lionshead project for it to proceed.

Staff Writer Edward Stoner can be reached at 970-748-2929 or estoner@vaildaily.com.


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