{"id":2448056,"date":"2019-08-27T21:20:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T03:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=311873"},"modified":"2019-08-28T11:54:16","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T17:54:16","slug":"aspen-skiing-co-s-pandoras-expansion-plan-depends-on-rezoning-approval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-skiing-co-s-pandoras-expansion-plan-depends-on-rezoning-approval\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen Skiing Co.\u2019s Pandora\u2019s expansion plan depends on rezoning approval"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The top terminal of the proposed Pandora chairlift would be on Richmond Ridge, south of the top terminal of the Silver Queen Gondola.<\/strong>
Aspen Times file<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The Pitkin County commissioners\u2019 anticipated vote Wednesday on Aspen Mountain\u2019s future probably won\u2019t come down to how many trees will be cleared to expand into the Pandora\u2019s terrain or how many events would be hosted at a new and improved Ruthie\u2019s restaurant.<\/p>\n

The vote will likely hinge on the drier and more technical issue of rezoning.<\/p>\n

Aspen Skiing Co. asked the county to rezone 132 acres of land currently zoned Rural and Remote to Ski-Recreation and another 35 acres that is zoned Agriculture Residential 10 acres to Ski-Rec.<\/p>\n

Skeptics have claimed during earlier commissioner hearings that the request is an upzoning and spot zoning that benefits one landowner.<\/p>\n

Skico officials pushed back on the claim at an Aug. 21 hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t think we\u2019re changing the character of the area at all,\u201d said David Corbin, Skico vice president of planning and development.<\/p>\n

Rural and Remote Zoning is Pitkin County\u2019s signature legislation to restrict backcountry development. It was approved 25 years ago<\/a> to limit backcountry development to 1,000-square-foot cabins.<\/p>\n

The AR-10 zone allows one house per 10 acres, with fewer restrictions than Rural and Remote.<\/p>\n

Corbin told the commissioners that designating skiing as the primary use on land is as legitimate of a way to preserve open space as Rural and Remote zoning.<\/p>\n

\u201cSki terrain essentially functions as open space,\u201d Corbin said.<\/p>\n

By Skico\u2019s reckoning, rezoning to Ski-Rec would \u201cextinguish\u201d about 3,700 square feet of possible residential development in the current Rural and Remote Zone and another 20,125 square feet of development in the current AR-10 zone. That is roughly equivalent to seven dwelling units.<\/p>\n

Skico put in writing that it wouldn\u2019t pursue residential development on the land in question.<\/p>\n

\u201cASC has agreed to rezoning conditions which would eliminate cabins, residential development and other impactful buildings in the area rezoned, preserving rural character,\u201d Skico wrote in documents submitted to Pitkin County prior to the Aug. 21 meeting.<\/p>\n

Skico needs the zoning change for its proposed expansion into the Pandora\u2019s terrain, on the upper east end of Aspen Mountain. Skico wants to develop tree skiing and traditional open trails<\/a> on about 180 acres. The new terrain would be served by a high-speed detachable quad chairlift. The lift also would allow the extension of existing trails such as Walsh\u2019s, Kristi and Hyrup\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Pandora\u2019s has experienced a significant increase in the number of skiers and snowboarders in recent decades even though it\u2019s not part of the ski area\u2019s operational boundary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat use has been ramping up,\u201d Corbin said. \u201cIn the past 20 years, Pandora\u2019s terrain has become de facto ski area.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the claim that the rezoning request is spot zoning, Skico responded that spot zoning usually benefits only one landowner to the detriment of public goals and the general public. But rezoning the Pandora\u2019s terrain to Ski-Rec will enhance public recreation, Skico wrote to the county, and the new ski terrain and resort infrastructure \u201cbenefit local residents and the broader public participating in the recreational use of the area, while supporting the local resort economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The county commissioners are scheduled to renew their discussions of Skico\u2019s proposal at a meeting that begins at 11 a.m. A handful of other items on the agenda will be discussed before the Aspen Mountain Master Plan takes center stage. The meeting is at the commissioners\u2019 meeting room adjacent to the courthouse.<\/p>\n

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

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

The top terminal of the proposed Pandora chairlift would be on Richmond Ridge, south of the top terminal of the Silver Queen Gondola.Aspen Times file The Pitkin County commissioners\u2019 anticipated vote Wednesday on Aspen Mountain\u2019s future probably won\u2019t come down to how many trees will be cleared to expand into the Pandora\u2019s terrain or how […]<\/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":["post-2448056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-20 14:41:40","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\/2448056","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=2448056"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2448091,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448056\/revisions\/2448091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2448056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2448056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2448056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}