From the wide porch of Estes Park's historic Stanley Hotel, the view rolls into the hills. Should it stay that way - or pay for town improvements?
By Monte Whaley The Denver Post
Growth and development might be the norm for touristy Estes Park, but residents are beginning to draw the line, especially when it involves the famed Stanley Hotel.
This week, a group of longtime residents took the first steps toward blocking the construction of condos, a shopping plaza, restaurant and wedding reception hall next to the icon.
The old-school, opulent Stanley, built in 1906, has hosted renowned guests such as President Theodore Roosevelt. It's best known as author Stephen King's inspiration for the horror classic "The Shining," and today's guests are warned that ghosts wander the hotel's hallways.
So it galled Byron Hall that the town would consider selling a 7-acre parcel of land near the Stanley to a local developer for $1.25 million. The resulting shopping and condo complex would mar the hotel's scenic vista and degrade its grand history, said Hall, whose grandfather worked as the first superintendent of the hotel.
"The Stanley stands up there as a crown jewel of the town, and people don't want that taken away," Hall said.
His group collected 766 signatures on a petition that would require the city to put any sale of public land in the Stanley Historic District — including the Stanley Hotel parcel — to a vote. If enough signatures are valid, the Town Board would take up the issue Dec. 11. The sale of the land near the Stanley then would be postponed until it could be voted on by residents.
Stanley Hotel owner John Cullen also is against the current proposal, but for a different reason. He wants to buy the land and build nine luxury cottages and include a 100-foot- wide wildlife migration corridor.
Estes Park owns four lots in the Stanley Historic District, including Lot 4, which it sold to developer Ed Grueff of Estes Winds LLC last year. But the contract was rescinded on a technicality in Larimer County District Court, said Town Manager Randy Repola.
Estes Park again is offering the land to Estes Winds with the hopes of using the proceeds to build a performing arts center at the Stanley Fairgrounds and make other improvements there, Repola said.
The complex near the Stanley would help the town raise about $200,000 annually in badly needed sales-tax revenue, said Estes Mayor John Baudek.
Located just southeast of the Stanley, the Lot 4 development would be low-key and designed with a Western flavor, officials say.
"I think a lot of people believe this will be nothing but a strip mall, and nothing could be further from the truth," Baudek said.
Estes Park's population has steadily increased over the past decade to about 6,000. So has the number of residential projects that went unchallenged, said Fred Mares.
The Estes property owner recently led the fight against the proposed 42-condominium project called Wapiti Crossing.
Last week, public pressure helped prompt the town planning board to turn down the plan.
But as more homes compete against open space and wildlife in the town, residents are now more likely to speak up, Mares said.
"I think this and other projects coming in have tapped into some pent-up frustration among people," Mares said. "We used to think, 'We can't do anything about this.' Well, that might be changing."
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
Here is our dilemma and the seat of the Estes Parkian confusion concerning our collective lot four paradox.
In our mind it is a tale of two hotels, and a bully town board, that sets its jaw and insists on my way or the highway, not that odd for a statutory town running amuck. Granby does the same things and spawned the bulldozer boy. Funny thing, Granby just took a public relations smack in the kisser for building the most expensive volunteer fire house in Colorado; weight rooms and big screen televisions, sound familiar?
At this point, if you are not up to speed on the details of the lot four conflicts that the town board created, and the additional “black eye” to the outside world - that we can notch on our collective embarrassment “coo-stick” - time and redundancy precludes us from spelling out the details. The Readers Digest version will have to do and it goes like this, the town negotiated a deal with one of their buddies (in the back room) and people are fighting it; the citizens of Estes (Friends of the Stanley) and the Owners of the Stanley Hotel. Of course the town board insists on its’ way, laws be damned (a mere technicality, fussy court system). Same old story, we write about it here all the time, same old game - just one more day in paradise.
This is the bigger picture part that is really puzzling.
Over the past twenty years we have spoon fed, and subsidized the Holiday Inn, to the tune of millions and millions of our tax dollars dollars. The Holiday Inn is owned by Forever Living Resorts, a multibillion (that’s billion with a B) dollar corporation. We built for and donated the Conference Center to Forever Living Resorts, using community TIF funding. The conventions that are booked by Town Hall Staff are booked at the Holiday Inn - exclusively. The conference attendees stay at the Holiday Inn - exclusively, eat at the Holiday Inn, virtually never leave the grounds. Town Hall Economic Development Director is a (you guessed it) ex-employee of the Holiday Inn. The funny part to us is the Town leases the conference center from the Holiday Inn (emergency ordinance/more back door stuff) and pays for all the staff and upkeep, advertising and marketing - you read that right - we all get to pay to keep the Holiday Inn afloat on behalf of a Billion Dollar corporation. The funny thing is – the trustees are in court for spending our precious tax dollars marketing - which is evidently not allowed if you are a Statutory Town. Laws be damned!
Why are we, tiny Estes Park, subsidizing the Holiday Inn and Forever Living Resorts, with our precious tax dollars and breaking the law doing it?
Directly across the river to the North, the town is fighting like a rabid cat, to build a wedding pavilion right next door to the town icon Stanley Hotel. The owners of the Stanley invested millions of their own money reconditioning the old girl, and are attempting to recoup their investment; doing their own marketing, bringing in wedding parties and millions of dollars into our economy. The Stanley pioneered the wedding industry here in Estes Park, and people come from all over the world to get married on its grounds. A wedding pavilion and additional retail constructed next door will not bring in more weddings to Estes Park (the town trustees have their very own wedding marketing program, suprised? ) - it will take from a market created by the Stanley. That’s why they want to build that pavilion on lot four, like a Wendy’s building across the intersection from every MacDonald’s in the world.
Side bar; did you know that the trustees at one time, not so long ago, filed suit against the descendents of Stanley, in a failed attempt to take control of the Stanley fair grounds? Did they win, do they ever win? About three years ago in the same vicinity, the town apparently violated the “Sunshine Records Act” it seems they negotiated a height variance on condos, in private meetings. It cost the citizens of Estes Park hundreds of thousands of precious tax dollars. Did they win, do they ever win?
Why does Town Hall keep subsidizing their pals, or more to the point why do we allow Town Hall to subsidize their pals, laws be damned?
When do we get our money from the sale of lot four to build that micro theater on the Stanley Fair grounds?
Directly across the river to the North, the town is fighting like a rabid cat, to build a wedding pavilion right next door to the town icon Stanley Hotel. The owners of the Stanley invested millions of their own money reconditioning the old girl, and are attempting to recoup their investment; doing their own marketing, bringing in wedding parties and millions of dollars into our economy. The Stanley pioneered the wedding industry here in Estes Park, and people come from all over the world to get married on its grounds. A wedding pavilion and additional retail constructed next door will not bring in more weddings to Estes Park (the town trustees have their very own wedding marketing program, suprised? ) - it will take from a market created by the Stanley. That’s why they want to build that pavilion on lot four, like a Wendy’s building across the intersection from every MacDonald’s in the world.
Side bar; did you know that the trustees at one time, not so long ago, filed suit against the descendents of Stanley, in a failed attempt to take control of the Stanley fair grounds? Did they win, do they ever win? About three years ago in the same vicinity, the town apparently violated the “Sunshine Records Act” it seems they negotiated a height variance on condos, in private meetings. It cost the citizens of Estes Park hundreds of thousands of precious tax dollars. Did they win, do they ever win?
Why does Town Hall keep subsidizing their pals, or more to the point why do we allow Town Hall to subsidize their pals, laws be damned?
When do we get our money from the sale of lot four to build that micro theater on the Stanley Fair grounds?
Didn’t a group of Friends of the Stanley raise $500,000 dollars for a theater on the Stanley grounds that is now smoldering in the Towns general fund?
Didn’t the trustees spend $60,000 of those dollars on a plan to build a theater in Wiese Parking lot down town?
Weren’t we going to get money from the sale of the Amoco retail (Cardinal ,LLC aka Estes
Winds, LLC, aka Ed G. )? Isn’t that an additional cool million? The last time I looked it was more empty retail, new but empty economic development?
Do you see a trend here perhaps?
Town Hall needs fifteen minutes in the woodshed with a rolled up document of limitations.
Do you see a trend here perhaps?
Town Hall needs fifteen minutes in the woodshed with a rolled up document of limitations.
