After roughly 18 months of planning, permitting and coordination, ground has been broken in Silverthorne for a Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, though controversy still looms in the background with a citizens' lawsuit yet to play out.
After the original lawsuit — essentially a dispute over a zoning technicality — was dismissed April 19 by District Court Judge Karen Romeo, Lowe's officials closed on purchasing the old Vista Subaru building and its land along Buffalo Mountain Drive at the gateway to Wildernest for nearly $4 million. In May, company officials and contractors met with the Town of Silverthorne to coordinate road construction with building construction.
Since then, attorney Rob Waterman has refiled his case against the town, now with 23 plaintiffs instead of four. The goal, he said, is to establish standing — or, prove these residents' property values and quality of life are directly and negatively impacted by the big box's presence — and move onto the argument about Silverthorne's zoning classification for the store.
Town manager Kevin Batchelder said he and the town council are disappointed about the case being refiled.
