One of Aspen’s gas station will not be torn down for an affordable lodge. Aspen Public Radio’s Carolyn Sackariason reports.
Developer Mark Hunt on Wednesday officially withdrew his Base 2 lodge project, even though it was already approved by Aspen officials. Instead, he will submit a new application for a two-story commercial building. That’s to replace the Conoco on Main Street, across from Carl’s Pharmacy.
“I didn’t move to Aspen to start fights and that’s what this approval has launched, a contentious political fight that splits the community," he says.
Aspen City Council approved the lodge in June. It included breaks to the land use code — like allowing the building to be twice its allowable size. In response, citizens collected enough signatures for a referendum that would have forced elected officials to rescind their approval or put it on the ballot for voters to decide. But now neither has to happen.
Hunt tells Aspen Public Radio that he plans to build Base 1 lodge, contrary to earlier statements. It’s already been approved for a parcel Hunt owns across from City Market on Cooper Avenue.