50 will get ya 18

Estes Park should end EPURA and look to the other tools available to the community that are not as obtrusive as urban renewal.

Reasons to end EPURA:

Estes Park is not an urban slum, our trustees have no business artificially effecting building and land prices. If a property owner does not care for their property allow the market to determine property worth not town hall. Someone who can afford to make improvements will purchase the property. Example:Trenz.

There are very good reasons urban renewal authorities have sun set clauses. The authority has extraordinary powers to solve problems during extraordinary circumstances. For example the 1982 flood, that event is a prime example of the proper use of an urban renewal authority. Problem solved good night EPURA thank you for your exceptional service, time to move on.

In 2008 there exists no real EPURA project only a TIF money addiction. Someone please define the “project” (a blight study is not a project). An urban renewal authority is a project authority and to exist must define their project to the community, EPURA does not have a project.

The blight study is shallow and pointless; the definitions of “blight” are so ambiguous and ripe for abuse,by ethically challenged politicians all over the state, the legislature is on the verge of significant changes to that particular law. Communities are “blighting” farm ground to put in Wal-Mart’s, super highways and the like. Confusing, exactly like the current EPURA “blight” study, TIF funding in general, all sad excuses to divert money into the general fund. Urban renewal needs urban renewal, urban renewal needs urban renewal, and we simply cannot afford to pay 50 million for 18 million in urban renewal projects, like a hamster on a wheel.

Urban renewal authorities are an excuse for elected officials to “play” developer. As long as they keep developing retail square footage they keep getting TIF sales tax. Property owners had better wise up sales tax are being diverted from the downtown business district and invested in retail and condo “sprawl” and proposed bypasses. If town hall can develop enough sales tax away from downtown your store front will be “blighted” and turned into state highway. We are saturated with traffic now, today. A better alternative is a downtown improvement authority, more on that later, if you want to save the Downtown area.

The town diverted 50 million dollars to make 18 million dollars in improvements over twenty five years. That would include the Holiday Inn Convention Center (never touched by the flood) the sidewalks, river walk, Performance Park and a new logo for town hall. It stimulates my imagination to think what could have been if the remaining 32 million would have been spent in the downtown business district. I will not speculate where that money went.

Finally this is an ethical dilemma for your elected officials should they allow the money to be properly allocated to the proper taxing entities in Estes Park, the hospital, the library, the parks district?Or is the attraction to playing developer stronger than their moral compass? Can we afford "50 will get ya 18" andmore empty undersized convention centers? More empty retail space?

Tune in tonight on channel twelve and see if this current board saddles the next board with dealing with one more petition or will they do the right and moral thing?