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New Wolf Creek plan scaled back
Developer seeks congressional backing for a land exchange
Herald Denver Bureau
Clint Jones' idea relies on a 207-acre land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service to move the village property northeast into the trees above the meadow at the bottom of Wolf Creek Ski Area.
But two people need to be convinced before Jones can go any further: U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, and Jones' boss, B.J. "Red" McCombs, who owns village property.
Jones replaced Bob Honts as McCombs' point man on the project last year. Instead of pushing ahead with the current plan for the village, which could hold as many as 10,000 people, Jones is proposing a resort three-quarters the size.
But he has to convince McCombs that the new idea won't get bogged down, he said.
"Red's going to make a decision. I don't know when, but it's going to be soon," Jones said.
To make McCombs comfortable, Jones has started working toward a land exchange on two fronts - by asking the U.S. Forest Service and by getting an act of Congress.
That's where Salazar comes in. He is the only one who credibly could carry the land-exchange bill, Jones said.
"This is John Salazar's district. I think it would undermine the credibility of the project to ask someone from Texas to do this," Jones said.
He has asked Salazar to carry the bill, he said. Salazar said through a spokesman this week that he has met with people on both sides, and it's uncertain what role, if any, he will play.
Jones also has met with the staff of both Colorado senators, Democrats Mark Udall and Michael Bennet.
Working through both the Forest Service and Congress is the only way to make sure a land exchange happens in a reasonable amount of time, Jones said. Either way, the land exchange will go through a full Environmental Impact Statement, he said.
If the land exchange doesn't happen, developers will go back to the original plan of a larger town just below the ski runs, Jones said.
Jones also offered some details of his vision of the village. Its first phase would have a pedestrian core with a 70-room hotel, plus several condominiums, a circle of 12-plexes and lots for single-family homes.
The first phase would be limited to just less than 500 units, which is what ski area owner Davey Pitcher said Wolf Creek comfortably could accommodate. Jones plans to write a pact that forbids further village expansion unless the ski area gets bigger.
Two short lifts would take skiers from the bottom of Wolf Creek runs into the village, which would be tucked into trees and out of sight of most skiers, Jones said.
Pitcher offered qualified support for the land exchange in a written statement that Jones supplied.
"Wolf Creek Ski Area would support a land trade that values our community's precious natural and recreational resources, as well as our skiing heritage, and which returns those resources back to public ownership," Pitcher wrote. "We applaud the landowners for committing to follow the full environmental review process to determine if this proposal is in the public interest."
To help his cause, Jones hired one of Colorado's top Democratic lobbyists, Michael Dino, who led the Democratic National Convention host committee last year.
Dino met with Udall's staff, spokeswoman Tara Trujillo said, but he didn't ask Udall to carry a bill.
"Senator Udall is aware of the concerns that have been raised with the previous development proposal, and in fact expressed opposition to any attempt to waive any environmental analysis a couple of years ago for the road request concerning that previous development proposal," Trujillo said in an e-mail.
Bennet spokesman Michael Amodeo said Bennet has concerns.
"Local communities have expressed serious concerns about the potential impacts development may have on the area's land and water resources. We need to keep a close eye on the matter and get answers to a number of questions that, at this point in the process, remain unresolved," Amodeo said in an e-mail.
McCombs and his daughter, who will take over the McCombs empire when he dies, are committed to building the Village at Wolf Creek, Jones said.
"I've never heard any wavering on their part," he said.
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