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Basalt officials reverse course, choose predevelopment

Elise Thatcher

  Basalt’s Town Council has reversed its decision on the Pan and Fork parcel. Officials decided last night to move forward with something called a predevelopment agreement. The majority of council members said they need more details about the range of development options for the land near the Roaring Fork River.

  It’s an about-face from the Council’s decision earlier this month that they wanted a public vote on how, or whether, to develop the Pan and Fork property. After the meeting, Mark Kwiecienski said he felt officials rushed last night’s decision. “I think we’re going to insist that the town back up again, to get this right,” he said emphatically.

Officials so far have five options to consider, and according to the newly approved  agreement, they’ll look into how much each one would cost, and whether they’re even feasible to build. A private developer is proposing a hotel and possibly townhomes. Open space would definitely be included, but other options on the table would prioritize it.

Kwiecienski said he and others will look into a citizen initiative to take the issue to a public vote. Officials had previously proposed going to a vote, but discovered that couldn’t be done until next spring.

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