By Christian Britschgi | Reason
Following months of increasingly contentious head-butting, officials in the mountain town of Vail, Colorado, are moving to seize a property from a local ski resort to prevent it from constructing new housing for its employees.
The property in question is a 5-acre site abutting a frontage road in the eastern part of the 5,600-personski town. After nearly five years of rezonings, planning, permitting, and litigation, ski resort operator Vail Resorts is ready to move ahead with the $17 million Booth Heights project that would create 165 beds for its work force.
“It’s been a multiyear partnership, collaboration, and process to get where we are with a fully entitled and shovel-ready project,” says Vail Resorts spokesperson John Plack. “This is private property owned by the company and private dollars that the company is investing into the project.”