An interesting local story that we continue to follow is the Stanley Hotel verses Town series of law suites. The Town is once again finding itself in court for not following the law, a concept that continues to elude them. This all speaks to the Town attitude toward Home Rule “if its not broke don’t fix it”. Lets be truthful here, broke is relative, what they mean is, it’s not broke for them! The Estes Parkian believes it’s broke for the citizens and businesses of Estes Park though. Hence the citizens and businesses fight back with the only tool available and that is the court system. That’s why we believe this Stanley story is important. Private enterprise having to compete against the tax money we collect and contribute for services we cannot provide for our selves.
The owners of the Stanley Hotel have personally invested heavily in this community icon; weddings are the foundation of its cash flow. The Town has partnered with a developer to build a wedding pavilion next door to wedding central. The Town is touting the buzz that a little competition is good for everyone; the Stanley doesn’t see it that way and is fighting back.
All the business owners’ in Estes Park should watch this story closely, because it is exactly what the rest of the business community should have done collectively several years ago and of coarse did not. The Stanley owners understand something all you little business owners do not, more businesses in Estes Park will not add anything to your bottom line, more businesses only divide up the existing pie into ever smaller individual slices. This is not free enterprise it is competition for your business funded by your own money. Of course this a EPURA issue, EPURA could team up with existing businesses and enhance what already exists, but they have not and did not, they have contributed to all that retail sprawl east of Riverside that has done in so many small business owners along Elkhorn . Creating what amounts to cramming ten pounds of potatoes into a five pound sack.
TIF money should be spent on a tourist attraction that fills the town with people every day from December to May, not more retail outlets to compete with existing enterprises.
The second local story to watch is of coarse EPURA and the towns trumped up desires to keep this cash cow alive. Haven’t they squeezed all the spin out of the 1982 flood already? The Town did publish a list of properties they intend to blight, which is not the same as a project and the bottom line is urban renewal authorities are project authorities created to eliminate economic blight areas.
The second local story to watch is of coarse EPURA and the towns trumped up desires to keep this cash cow alive. Haven’t they squeezed all the spin out of the 1982 flood already? The Town did publish a list of properties they intend to blight, which is not the same as a project and the bottom line is urban renewal authorities are project authorities created to eliminate economic blight areas.
Please refer to the Amoco project that remains empty. Empty unproductive square footage on Elkhorn is nothing new, but an urban renewal project that remains empty and unproductive is provocative and telling, an economic blight times two. Lacking any slum areas in Estes Park EPURA will only have one tool in their tool box to blight a property and that is economic blight and that would mean they would have to include one of their own projects, the Amoco site. Show me on going comprehensive economic impact studies monitoring the effects of how the town spends this TIF money? Of course there are none.
Here is one more example; EPURA invested our money on a kayak course, would some one, anyone, please demonstrate the economic impact that kayaking has had on our economy? Of course kayaking has made a zero impact and besides economic impact studies would be a form of accountability, not a strong suite of hizzonor or EPURA. Why provide us with real tools when the citizens of this town will accept excuses.
The Estes Parkian is just bored with all the excuse making and sophomoric local spin doctoring crap. Town Hall spends real dollars our real dollars, and we must demand real results, not excuses.
The Estes Parkian is just bored with all the excuse making and sophomoric local spin doctoring crap. Town Hall spends real dollars our real dollars, and we must demand real results, not excuses.