Peak 6 Expansion still moving ahead, but slowly

This article is reproduced from the Summit Daily News, October 6, 2010, reported by Caddie Nath.

BRECKENRIDGE — The Summit Board of County Commissioners and Breckenridge Town Council delayed approval Tuesday on an agreement with Breckenridge Ski Resort to support a proposed Peak 6 expansion.

The agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) discussed Tuesday in a joint work session of the BOCC and the Council, is aimed at resolving some of the social and socio-economic concerns surrounding the expansion.

Members of the Council and the BOCC expressed concerns that the agreement was too vague and didn't include enough solid commitments from the ski resort. Members said they did not want to send the message to the community and the Forest Service that all of their concerns with the project had been resolved by supporting the memorandum, which stated that the social and socio-economic issues had been “addressed.”

“I wasn't really comfortable at this time giving whole-hearted support,” said Councilwoman Jennifer McAtamney.

One area of contention between the town and county and ski area owner Vail Resorts is the financial responsibility for the increased burden the Peak 6 expansion will likely put on the county's social services, as well as parking and housing in Breckenridge.

The memorandum states that “the goal is to avoid negative impacts,” to the availability of social services, housing and parking, but does not address how negative impacts will be avoided or who will bear financial responsibility for negative impacts on those services as a result of the expansion.

While asking for clearer language in the final agreement, members of the BOCC and council acknowledged that it would be hard to quantify the commitments they were looking for from the resort.

“At some point we trust the ski business to take its part in the community, contribute its share to the community and there ain't no way to quantify that,” said County Commissioner Bob French.

The Peak 6 expansion is expected to create about 20 new jobs within the resort. It would include 450 acres of downhill ski terrain, one new lift and possibly a restaurant. The resort has agreed not to develop the base of the mountain.

The MOU was drafted based on the findings of a community task force formed after the proposal for lift-served skiing on Peak 6 was criticized by some members of the community.

Vail Resorts agreed to add more affirmative language to the memorandum in response to the stated concerns over the lack of concrete commitments in the agreement.

“We're very appreciative of all the time and work that people have put into getting to where we are today, from the task force process to pulling together the MOU,” said Vail Resorts spokeswoman Kristin Williams. “I think we got some very good feedback today that will allow us to continue to move the process forward.”

While revisions of the MOU may be discussed by both the Council and the BOCC over the next few months, it is unlikely that plans will move forward until the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the expansion project is released by the U.S. Forest Service, according to Breckenridge spokeswoman Kim DiLallo. The EIS is expected in January of next year.