Letters to the editor

Dollar Signs

Joe Staufer
August 15, 2004

Dear Mr. Mayor and Town Council of Vail: Because of persistent rumors I talked to you about at the citizens participation (recently), I thought it might be helpful to again acquaint you with the history of the Vail parking structure.

Shortly after the town was incorporated, it was felt that one of the most important issues to address was the parking problem.

Vail Associates donated the land and the town proceeded to move ahead with plans to build structured parking. The proposal was for a four-story downtown type parking structure at the cost of approximately $4,000,000.

Contrary to what the council felt, the people thought that the proposed garage would destroy the village feeling of Vail forever. The new design called for a buried structure at a cost of $5,000,000. Although the new design cost $1 million more, the people overwhelmingly were willing to spend the extra money to preserve the village feeling. When the bond election was held, the vote was about 100 to 1 in favor of doing it right.

This mandate should be respected and to remove the berm for development would be an insult to all the citizens who worked so hard in the early days to make Vail a special place.

We must not give up every inch of grass to people who move here with only dollar signs in their eyes.

After more than 30 years maybe it's time to go ahead with the original landscaping plan, which was never completed. I'm sure the Alpine Garden people could give us a lot of pointers.

Joe Staufer

Vail