Aspen voters reject new affordable micro-hotel development in base 2. Mark Hunt was in charge of the project which was assumed to make quite an addition for tourists. However, things did not turn out the way it was supposed to be.
If recalled, eEarlier in June the Ski Curbed reported that Mark Hunt was convinced that he would be able to have his "Base 2" project pull through despite the effort of Aspen voters reject new affordable micro-hotel development. The project was already approved by the city council and would require an election anytime if there's an approved project with certain variances.
In a recent and separate report Ski Curbed, it states that 63% of Aspen voters reject new affordable micro-hotel development in Colorado. It was supposed to be put up in the Conoco gas station at Main and Monarch streets.
Aspen Daily News adds that the said percentage where Aspen voters reject new affordable micro-hotel development has initially left Ward Hauenstein in shocked silence. He says that he couldn't explain why the project gave so much opposition. He says that the reason why he voted no was because he saw so much density in the corner lot. The total votes that was against the project totaled to 1,792 votes. While the ones that were in favor of the project totaled to 1,060. This resulted to the influential denial of the construction of the supposed affordable lodge in exchange the willingness of the city it with zoning incentives. Another leader by the name of Maurice Emmer, said that most of the people he talked to were not in favor of the project. He personally thinks that the message that was being brought forward was the improbability about parking and the need of reasonably priced housing mitigation.
The project was initially approved by the City Council last June with a 4-1 vote for the approval of a 37 room lodge with room sizes that are less 200 square feet. This made Hunt's project take advantage of the land use code provision wherein developers are to provide affordable housing to just 10 percent of its hotel employees compared to the standard 60 percent. This incentive is given to projects with 300 square feet average room sizes. The basis for this is that smaller rooms are more affordable in the high-priced lodging market in Aspen. This included the mixed use zone district's allowance for internal "floor area" with a planned 15,700 square feet for three stories. This exceeded the 7,470 square feet limit of the district.
Hunt was disappointed as he thought that it was a great concept for the site. He felt that it was a kind of a give back. He adds that it was obvious that the community definitely didn't want it. He says that he will proceed with the go back to the original plan for the said site.
