Voters Have Spoken, The Move to Condem Continues

By Peter Kenworthy
The Telluride Watch - 2/17/06

If it wasn’t quite clear enough after two votes, it should be after three: Telluride wants no development on the south side of the Valley Floor.

A ballot question referred by the Telluride Town Council seeking to allow, among other things, limited residential development on the Valley Floor’s south side as part of a mediated settlement with the San Miguel Valley Corp., owner of the Valley Floor, was convincingly answered in the negative in Tuesday’s special election. By a 27 percent margin, 603-439, the “no” vote prevailed.

The vote was the culmination of seven weeks of vigorous debate and contention following council’s first public disclosure of the essential elements of a framework for settlement with SMVC on Dec. 14. That framework called for all of SMVC’s property, including the Valley Floor, to be annexed to the Town of Telluride. It called, as well, for a conservation easement to be conveyed on 513 acres of the Valley Floor’s south side and for other open space dedication as well as dedication of a site for a new school. It also called for an expenditure of $15 million by the town to restore the San Miguel River. It was development of 22 large homes, clustered at the center of the Valley Floor, as well as significant commercial development at Society Turn, however, that seemed to most galvanize opposition.

“The voters have spoken,” said Mayor John Pryor. “This council will now fully embrace the condemnation action as the go-forward solution for preserving 100 percent of the south side of the Valley Floor.”

Asked if he was surprised by the election outcome, Pryor said, “Nothing surprises me in Telluride.”

Despite the firm defeat of the council-sponsored proposal, Pryor said it was a necessary step.

“We had to put this in front of the voters,” he said. “We’ve respected the democratic process.”

Pryor revealed that in the immediate wake of the election, a group of 10 or so participants, made up of both sides of the Valley Floor voting campaign and including council representatives, met to discuss the way ahead. It was, Pryor felt, “a very productive meeting,” and “an important part of not just condemnation but healing.”

Todd Creel, a central player in the vote no campaign, was at that meeting and concurred with Pryor’s assessment.

“I’m pretty encouraged,” Creel said. “I think we’re going to pull everyone together with a common focus.”

Regarding the outcome of the vote, Creel said he felt that once people really understood the elements of the proposed settlement, it became easy to see it was an unacceptable deal.

“I’m just glad to know that the spirit of our community is still alive,” Creel said.

Telluride town councilmember Roberta Peterson was also at the meeting.

“I think it’s important we all get behind the condemnation,” she said, and suggested the possibility of a public forum next week with the town’s condemnation attorney, Leslie Fields. The focus of such a forum would be on the procedural and strategic steps to move ahead and might address such questions as whether or not to move the trial date up.

“The Valley Floor is not a done subject by any means,” said Peterson.

Former Telluride Mayor John Steel, an outspoken critic of the council’s settlement proposal, also sounded a collaborative note, saying he thought “a great opportunity” was at hand for council to “work with a commission of people so dedicated” to the cause of Valley Floor preservation.