{"id":2443065,"date":"2019-04-16T22:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-17T04:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=304191"},"modified":"2019-04-16T22:30:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T04:30:00","slug":"aspen-skiing-co-s-affordable-housing-plan-in-basalt-stirs-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-skiing-co-s-affordable-housing-plan-in-basalt-stirs-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen Skiing Co.\u2019s affordable housing plan in Basalt stirs debate"},"content":{"rendered":"
An architect’s drawing shows how Aspen Skiing Co.’s housing project in Willits Town Center might look. Harry Teague Architects was hired to work on the design.<\/strong>
Courtesy image<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aspen Skiing Co.\u2019s proposal for a high-density affordable-housing project in Basalt was met Tuesday night with criticism from Willits homeowners, praise from the child care community and business owners and a mixed reception from town officials.<\/p>\n

The Basalt Planning and Zoning Commission didn\u2019t take a formal vote. Instead it will aim to make an advisory vote May 7. Then the debate will advance to the Town Council.<\/p>\n

Nine homeowners in Willits spoke against Skico\u2019s plan for a 36-unit complex that would add 148 bedrooms to the affordable-housing inventory. Skico has to build two units of deed-restricted affordable housing to meet Willits Town Center\u2019s requirements with the town. Skico is offering to build six additional deed-restricted units and make child care providers in the valley the highest priority for all eight units.<\/p>\n

The remainder of the units would go to Skico employees. The company \u2014 one of the largest employers in the valley \u2014 is proposing some units with as many as six bedrooms that would be 70 square feet. Other units would be three- and four-bedrooms.<\/p>\n

A common concern among Willits residents is the high density. Several expressed concern the units will be occupied by young party animals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a dorm. It\u2019s beer cans and bongs. That\u2019s what this facility is,\u201d said Willits resident and midvalley businessman Aaron Ward.<\/p>\n

He said Willits residents don\u2019t have a problem with affordable housing but, generally speaking, this is a project that will likely appeal to younger workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real problem is this is going to be a college dorm without an RA,\u201d Ward said, referring to a resident assistant.<\/p>\n

Skico officials insisted they run a tight ship and that the housing complex would be well-supervised. They bristled at the suggestion that the complex will be a dorm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of units in this valley and we\u2019ve been running them for a long time,\u201d said Bill Tarallo, Skico\u2019s director of housing. He said he oversees 650 housing units and has winter waiting lists for all of them.<\/p>\n

All of Skico\u2019s housing complexes have live-in managers with backups for when they are gone. There is video surveillance and employees know they would be in a tough position if they violated rules and got kicked out, given the housing shortage in the valley. He challenged people to check out any of Skico\u2019s housing complexes.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can\u2019t afford to get kicked out,\u201d Tarallo said.<\/p>\n

He said it is an incorrect assumption that the Willits project would target seasonal workers. It would be a mix of employees although Skico would prefer to house seasonal workers closer to upvalley and more long-term residents in Willits.<\/p>\n

Similar debate continued through the two-hour, 15-minute meeting, with residents raising concerns of the project on property values and the family-oriented atmosphere of Willits and Skico officials trying to allay concerns.<\/p>\n

Three advocates of child care services in the valley spoke in favor of Skico\u2019s offer to make the eight units available for preschool workers. A petition signed by 15 representatives of Willits Town Center businesses was submitted in support of the project.<\/p>\n

Then it came time for Basalt Planning and Zoning Commission members to show their hand. It was difficult to draw conclusions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re talking about some ideas that sound edgy to the community,\u201d said Bill Maron, chair of the board. \u201cIf you guys could have a backup plan that could be very useful.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Maron also commended Skico for voluntarily proposing an affordable-housing project. It\u2019s only the third affordable-housing project that\u2019s been proposed in Basalt in 20 years without the developer \u201cbeing coerced,\u201d Maron said.<\/p>\n

He also said it would be a \u201cwaste\u201d not to have a high-density project so close to a major bus stop on Highway 82. Skico\u2019s site is along Willits Lane, about two blocks from the Willits bus stop.<\/p>\n

Planning commission member Bernie Grauer noted he has been on the board for seven years and served a four-year term on the Town Council. There has been a consistent message from the community throughout that public service.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard for years that young people cannot afford to live in Basalt,\u201d he said. At an average of $500 per bedroom per month, Skico\u2019s project will be affordable, he said.<\/p>\n

Grauer also noted that the Basalt land-use master plan identified Willits Town Center for high-density development. That means neighbors will be impacted for an identified community benefit, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be bound by these greater community goals,\u201d Grauer said.<\/p>\n

But other planning commission members expressed some concerns. Gino Rossetti said the board had to look at Willits as a whole. Rossetti, an architect, also urged Skico to come up with a better design for its highly visible building.<\/p>\n

\u201cPutting a big black box like this, it really doesn\u2019t appeal to me,\u201d he said, labeling it a \u201cdark and somber\u201d building.<\/p>\n

Willits Town Center architecture is a favorite target of lay people, particularly the latest apartment complex \u2014 unaffiliated with Skico \u2014 by the Willits Lane roundabout and East Valley Road.<\/p>\n

Maron, also an architect, also urged Skico to revisit the design of their building.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis sort of does have a Lord Voldemort look,\u201d Maron said of Skico\u2019s project.<\/p>\n

scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An architect’s drawing shows how Aspen Skiing Co.’s housing project in Willits Town Center might look. Harry Teague Architects was hired to work on the design.Courtesy image Aspen Skiing Co.\u2019s proposal for a high-density affordable-housing project in Basalt was met Tuesday night with criticism from Willits homeowners, praise from the child care community and business […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2443065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 11:32:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2443065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443065\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2443065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2443065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2443065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}