Opposition to a $17 million project in Vail, Colorado that would see the construction of affordable housing for the employees of the Vail Resorts company has taken a new turn.
For months the ski resorts company has said that it wants to build up to at least 165 residential units in one of the most expensive markets in Colorado, where the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is now well over the $1,800 mark.
A host of city officials have previously expressed opposition to the project, set to go up on a 5-acre site off the Interstate 70 Frontage Road, noting, among other things, that it might have a destructive impact on the area’s bighorn sheep population.
Now the city has announced plans to invoke its eminent domain powers for the site in question, filing a petition in the Eagle County District Court to that effect.
The move, if successful, would preserve the 5 acres as open space.
What has been popularly called the Booth Heights project has been the subject of any number of often heated planning and public input meetings, with the City of Vail unsuccessfully attempting to purchase the land for $12 million earlier this month.
City officials have said that while they recognize the need to build new affordable housing in Vail, the Frontage Road project is the wrong project in the wrong place.
Vail Resorts has previously maintained that it is committed to paying up to $100,000 for habitat restoration and will surround the project with barriers designed to keep the bighorn sheep and other wildlife separated from the new development.
It is not known when the Eagle County District court will make a ruling regarding the eminent domain request.
By Garry Boulard
