Lawsuit over Lowe's

A lawsuit claiming the Town of Silverthorne incorrectly categorized a Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse plan for the town was filed Thursday. The suit was filed by attorney Rob Waterman on behalf of two Silverthorne residents and two individuals who claim they'll be negatively affected by the development.


Named plaintiffs in the case are Deborah Fort and Pamela Bent of Silverthorne and Timothy Reidy and Margaret Schweri of Mesa Cortina, an area of unincorporated Summit County located above the Lowe's site.

The suit centers on a planning technicality, claiming the town incorrectly categorized Lowe's as a hardware store, according to the documents Waterman filed Thursday. Labeled as a hardware store, Lowe's is considered a “use by right” entity and is guaranteed the right to conduct business in Silverthorne. Other designations for a C-1 Light Commercial Zone District, such as “lumberyard” or “building materials,” would put Lowe's in a “conditional use” category that does not guarantee the right to do business and gives town officials more negotiating power, Waterman said. His argument is based on town ordinance, section 4-4-17, which outlines designations for C-1 and C-2 zones.



The new Lowe's is slated to begin construction next spring and open its doors in early 2012, but the approval process has not gone uncontested. Some local residents have voiced disapproval of the project based on claims that traffic will increase, the town will lose aesthetic charm and the local economy will be affected by the big-box running out smaller competition. On Sept. 22, the Silverthorne Town Council approved the final details of the site plan, allowing Lowe's to proceed with construction.

Yes it is autumn in it's full glory.  Beautiful day today as you can see from this photograph.

Snow on the Mountain

Yes, we had snow last night. Only above 12,000 feet, so not on my deck.


But Breckenridge will open for the ski season in just 49 days.

Amazing how quickly summer flew by.

Summit County Parade of Homes winners announced

Fazendin Brothers and One Ski Hill Place, A RockResort, swept their respective categories in the 16th annual 2010 Parade of Homes, sponsored by the Summit County Builders Association.

In its category, Fazendin Brothers took every individual award and won “Best Overall” for Home #6 at 620 Two Cabins Drive in Silverthorne. Likewise, in the multi-family category, Vail Resorts took every individual award and won “Best Overall” for Home #8, One Ski Hill Place at the base of the ski resort on Ski Hill Road in Breckenridge.

Thebeau Construction took six individual awards and won “Best Overall” in its category for Home #11 at 508 Mountain View, Blue River.

Other multiple award winners in that category include Apex Mountain Homes for Home #2 at 1105 Bald Eagle in Silverthorne, and Carlson Builders Inc./Matthew Stais Architects for Home #17 at 510 Wellington Road in Breckenridge.

Dana Covert Contracting & Bostad International won “Best Overall” in their category for Home #4 at 31 Red Buffalo Trail in Silverthorne. Another entry winning multiple individual awards was Double Diamond Property & Construction Services for Home #22 at 172 Sunshine Ridge Lane, Breckenridge.

In its category, J&E Development won “Best Overall” for Home #12 at 170 Regal Circle in Blue River. Multiple awards also went to Home #14 built by Level One Building Company at 36 Lakecrest Drive in Blue River.

Summit County is a recycling champ

Since Summit County opened its Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in 2006, diversions from the landfill have nearly quadrupled, with several thousand tons of recyclables and organic material being resurrected from the waste stream every year to live on as useful new products.

In 2009, the Summit Resource Allocation Park (SCRAP), formerly known as the dump, shipped 3,492 tons of paper, cardboard, metals, glass, plastic and electronics back into the market. Combine that with several-thousand additional tons of food scraps, wood waste, biosolids and yard waste that's turned into fertile soil at SCRAP's High Country Composting Facility, and Summit County achieves a waste-diversion rate of about 22 percent.

Autumn has arrived in Breckenridge

While it doesn't look like this today, it will in just another week.

Time to visit Breckenridge.  We've got some great buys in real estate.