Basalt’s Town Council will meet Tuesday to discuss whether to purchase a key parcel of land downtown. The meeting comes after the land parcel’s owner suggested the sale last week.
The Roaring Fork Community Development Corporation owns 2.3 acres on what’s called the “Pan and Fork” site. The land has been eyed for development by the group Lowe Enterprises, which wants to build a hotel and condominiums. Council members had concerns with that proposal. Now, there’s an opportunity to purchase the parcel.
At tonight’s meeting, town staff will explain what council needs to consider if a decision is made to purchase the property. Mike Scanlon is Town Manager in Basalt.
"It was almost like, if you purchase this, the problem will go away. And, it doesn’t. You still have the fact that you’re going to have to develop a portion of it, I would guess. And, if that’s the case, you’re going to have to find a developer and how do we want to go about doing that," he says.
Lowe Enterprises says it’s willing to mold its development plan to what the town wants. Last week, council approved a new “roadmap” for development at the Pan and Fork site that increases the amount of parkland.