{"id":2455327,"date":"2020-03-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=321960"},"modified":"2020-03-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T07:00:00","slug":"kane-leavitt-stress-their-slow-growth-pitches-in-basalt-mayoral-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/kane-leavitt-stress-their-slow-growth-pitches-in-basalt-mayoral-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Kane, Leavitt stress their slow-growth pitches in Basalt mayoral race"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Basalt mayoral candidates (from left) Bill Infante, Bill Kane and Rob Leavitt answer questions at a candidates’ forum on Monday night at Basalt Library.<\/strong>
Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Basalt mayoral candidate Rob Leavitt has repeatedly hammered home the point during this campaign that he wants to put the brakes on development before it ruins the town\u2019s character.<\/p>\n

But Bill Kane, another candidate, isn\u2019t ready to surrender the slow-growth mantle without a fight. Kane took multiple opportunities while answering questions at a candidates\u2019 forum Monday night to show voters he supports limited growth.<\/p>\n

The third candidate in the race, Bill Infante, has carved out a pro-business development stance during the campaign. He is quick to stress he wants to see development that is \u201cresponsible and sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leavitt minced no words on his view on growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m running on a slow-growth platform because that\u2019s the message I\u2019ve been hearing from the community,\u201d Leavitt said at the forum. \u201cI also think that\u2019s a message we can send to our surrounding communities. We can speak with a loud voice and let Eagle County know that we can\u2019t grow the way they can on that end of Glenwood Canyon. We don\u2019t have I-70 moving cars the way they do. We need to be more strategic and a little more thoughtful about our growth over here. So we can use this election to send a really strong message.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kane seized that theme a minute later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sympathize with Rob\u2019s views relative to growth and development. It\u2019s a concern for everyone,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s important to understand that Basalt has defensed itself on three sides. On the Light Hill and downvalley piece, we have secured open space on the Saltonstall and Glassier ranches, Billy Grange (ranch), everything out on the high school, the Reno Cerise property. There is virtually no potential for development on those lands. They have been completely sterilized with conservation easements.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe upvalley is Pitkin County, very stringent land-use regulations that would control any development,\u201d Kane continued. \u201cThe other side is federal lands. Our biggest weak link is the Highway 82 corridor. We have to strengthen our ties to Eagle County. We need to meet more frequently and make sure the Eagle County commissioners are aware of the values of the folks in this valley.\u201d<\/p>\n

The candidates were never directly asked at the forum at Basalt Library to state their views on growth and development. Their answers came out in response to various questions in the forum sponsored by Basalt Chamber Resort Association and Roaring Fork Weekly Journal.<\/p>\n

Leavitt recounted that he decided to run for mayor while performing duties as a member of the Basalt Planning and Zoning Commission. He said the process of updating the town\u2019s master plan gave town citizens a chance to pick between high-density in the core or urban sprawl. He thinks that is a false choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about small, tasteful development,\u201d Leavitt said.<\/p>\n

Kane stressed the need to redevelop the Basalt Center Circle properties, anchored by a large, vacant building that once housed Clark\u2019s Market and before that, until the early 1990s, City Market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a wonderful opportunity to improve our urban centers, create greater vitality and do it in a way that doesn\u2019t create unwanted or negative growth,\u201d Kane said. \u201cWe can fix up the downtown. We can improve the urban spaces in Willits without generating significant, new, negative growth impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about affordable housing, Infante stressed the need to pursue responsible and sustainable development \u201cand in a manner that adheres to sound and contemporary best urban practice. So that means developing the core and not developing the periphery. It means having development that is transit-oriented and hopefully net zero and energy efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

The candidates also revealed their philosophies when asked if they would represent the will of the people of Basalt even if it were contrary to their personal views.<\/p>\n

Kane said he changed his personal opinion about the proper level of development on the former Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park site based on community discussion over a period of nearly 8\u00bd years.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, I was a proponent for building on the corner of Two Rivers Road and Midland Avenue,\u201d Kane said. \u201cI thought that was a great opportunity for a major hotel building and something that would create a great urban statement for Basalt. I came to learn that people hated that idea. I think people wanted to preserve their view and access to the river. Over the years I\u2019ve come to respect that opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The real estate on that prime corner will be purchased by the town for expansion of a riverside park rather than developed.<\/p>\n

Leavitt said the reality in Basalt is that the citizenry is close to evenly split on some major issues, as it was on Pan and Fork development-open space.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not going to get your way all the time,\u201d he said, stressing that he would honor the public\u2019s view.<\/p>\n

Infante said the mayor and council must do their best to represent their constituents. Not every issue should go to a referendum, but those that do should be honored, he said.<\/p>\n

He built off that idea during his closing statement in the forum when he criticized the leadership of current Mayor Jacque Whitsitt, not by name but by inference. Whitsitt won election for mayor in 2016 and 2012 on a slow-growth platform. She cannot run again because of term limits.<\/p>\n

Infante said he has heard while out campaigning that people are ready for a change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I hear pretty consistently is people want something different,\u201d he said. \u201cTrust in our town\u2019s leadership has been shaken by decisions that overrode the will of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He later added, \u201cThe past decade really hasn\u2019t been a golden age of unity of community cohesion, but the last two years do give me hope. I\u2019m conscious of our past and I believe the way we unify our town and rebuilt trust is to advance a vision that defines a common purpose and a shared identity that we can all rally around.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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

Basalt mayoral candidates (from left) Bill Infante, Bill Kane and Rob Leavitt answer questions at a candidates’ forum on Monday night at Basalt Library.Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times Basalt mayoral candidate Rob Leavitt has repeatedly hammered home the point during this campaign that he wants to put the brakes on development before it ruins the town\u2019s […]<\/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-2455327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 12:29:45","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\/2455327","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=2455327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455327\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2455327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2455327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2455327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}