EXPENSIVE DECISION
Court Rules That Open Space in Telluride is Worth $50 Million
By Headwaters News, 2-20-07
 | |
|
It’s the classic modern-day Western: a plot of land at the edge of town is valued as open space by locals who already have their piece, but a developer wants to build, and people are waiting at the gates to buy whatever he has to offer. Such is the case in Telluride, where both pro and anti-development advocates have eyed 570 acres at the entrance of the Colorado resort town.
The battle could be over, though, reports the Denver Rocky Mountain News, as a Delta County District Court jury agreed last week with a developer’s lawyer, who said the parcel was worth no less than $50 million.
Leaders with Valley Floor Preservation Partners, a local group that has been trying to buy the land to preserve it as open space, was shocked at the ruling. The group has been working to raise the $26 million it had offered the landowner, San Miguel Valley Corp.
The group says the land is too valuable as open space to be sold off, and said that it would only go to the wealthiest people. But over the weekend, advocates determined that with money from the city and money the group already raised, they may be abe to come up with that $50 million after all.
Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.
Comments
That percentage does NOT include any privately owned OPEN SPACE parcels such as those owned by trusts and conservation corporations (profit and/or non-profit) or OPEN SPACE easements and the like. Those types of OPEN SPACE parcels were included in the 58% of the State of Colorado that was at that time identified as Private Land.
State Land Area: 3,318,346 acres
Federal Land Area: 24,615,790 acres
I believe it is reasonable to presume these publicly-owned acres have *increased* since 1997. I am personally aware of latter-day acquisitions and easements within the State that have occurred since 1997.
I have been unable to find the total numbers of OPEN SPACE acres that were then lumped together with all not-publicly-owned acres as Private Land.
Should Fort Carson be successful in their bid for the expansion of the Pinon Canyon training area in Southern Colorado the ARMY will then control approximately *one-third* (1/3 rd) of the land in the entire State of Colorado.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT???