Letter: Where is the outrage?
Vail Town Council, I just read all of the letters submitted to the council for the Feb. 2 meeting. The huge majority talked about the sheep and the Booth Heights parcel in East Vail that has been claimed by Vail Resorts. Guess what? The meeting was about a different parcel and did not concern protecting the bighorn sheep at all.
There was never any public discussion by council to inform their constituents that their purpose was no longer to protect the bighorn sheep by providing a new site to replace Booth Heights but to build another housing project on a site promised to Children’s Garden of Learning who are now relegated to a temporary modular facility on the Lionshead Parking structure. It could not even get design review approval.
Instead of approving and signing a development agreement March 2, the town council needs to halt this project and all but start over. There is no deadline based on fact: only an artificial deadline for what purpose I have never understood.
This is now a stand alone project that shows no respect for the Children’s Garden of Learning and ignores all agreements and promises to them from past developers and the town.
The initial architecture is better suited to Iowa than the front door of Vail. It should be designed to step up the hill (work with the topography) and also could then accommodate the Children’s Garden of Learning.
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It is not housing for families but appears to be suited for the seasonal employees of Vail Resorts … perfect for the master lease that was part of the Booth Heights proposal.
It has been almost impossible to be informed on these issues. Zooming aside, the council has not been open and honest as proven by the lack of “on topic” input on Feb. 2. If the community had even an inkling of how the Children’s Garden of Learning was being run over, there would have been the largest turnout of outrage in Vail’s history and I have been here for all of it.
All of this does not bode well for the community of Vail or the “sustainability” of the Gore Valley. Hopefully, the council can stand up to the pressure from the housing lobby and do what is best for the whole of the Vail Community. It is time!
Diana Donovan
Vail
