Hugh Carey / hcarey@summitdaily.com
The Breckenridge Town Council unanimously passed a resolution at its most recent meeting last month to establish the new Breckenridge Housing Helps Program, a move meant to assist locals in obtaining and maintaining housing in the Upper Blue Basin. As part of the program, the town will begin offering cash incentives for property owners, or individuals trying to buy a home in the area, to place an occupancy restriction on their properties.
The program, in part inspired by the similar Vail InDeed program, will serve as a mechanism for the town to preserve its existing inventory of workforce housing units. Once launched, the town will offer cash incentives for individuals willing to place deed restrictions on their units in the Upper Blue Basin to assure that they’re used as workforce housing in perpetuity.
— Sawyer D’Argonne
2. Breckenridge Ski Resort looks to install a new chairlift on Peak 7, pending Forest Service approval
The U.S. Forest Service’s Dillon Ranger District announced it is now accepting comments on Breckenridge Ski Resort’s proposal to add a chairlift to its existing Peak 7 terrain.
The lift, pending U.S. Forest Service approval, would transport skiers from a middle portion of the intermediate Monte Cristo trail, just below the base of the Zendo Chairlift, back up to the top of Peak 7, in between the existing Independence SuperChair and the Pioneer Crossing building. The ski resort’s purpose for the project is to improve access to existing lift-served intermediate terrain on the resort’s Peak 7 and to improve skier circulation between Peaks 6, 7 and 8.
— Antonio Olivero
3. Vail Resorts announces Keystone, Crested Butte four-pack
Keystone Resort announced it will offer a new pass that includes four days between Keystone and Crested Butte. The pass, which costs $249, is blacked out Nov. 29 and 30, Dec. 26 to 31, Jan. 18 and Feb. 15 and 16. Find more information at EpicPass.com/passes.
— Staff report
4. Judge sets date for Breckenridge Brewery hearing
Lawyers are preparing to fight for the fate of Breckenridge Brewery after a lease dispute with the owners of the property. At a status hearing earlier this week, District Judge Karen Romeo set a hearing for Sept. 30, after which it will be up to the courts to decide whether the brewery will get to stay.
The conflict between the brewery and property owner, Breckenridge Brewery Real Estate, began to heat up in May after an apparent fallout between the two parties while negotiating a new lease agreement. In short, the brewery — bought by Anheuser-Busch in 2015 — maintains that the parties reached an agreement on a new lease in February that would keep the brewery on-site for the next five years. Property owners disagree.
Breckenridge Brewery filed a lawsuit on the matter in late May, hoping the courts would reach a judgment holding the landlord to the supposed “binding and enforceable” lease agreement, along with seeking damages for breach of contract and fraud — asserting the property owners were negotiating in bad faith all the way back to late last year.
— Sawyer D’Argonne
5. Arapahoe Basin to join Mountain Collective pass
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area announced Tuesday in an email that it would join The Mountain Collective pass for winter 2019-20.The announcement comes just four days after A-Basin announced it would join the Ikon Pass after ditching Epic in February.
The Mountain Collective pass offers two days each at 18 resorts, including Jackson Hole in Wyoming, Alta and Snowbird in Utah, Big Sky in Montana, and Mammoth and Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows in California. A-Basin joins Aspen Snowmass as the only Colorado resorts on the pass.
— Staff report