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Letter to the editor: Commissioners should let voters decide fate of Fiester Preserve

Lynn Amstutz
Silverthorne

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve tried to write this letter to the editor. I keep going back to delete profanity and edit out libelous insults. Finally, here it is:

I’ve lived in Summit County for 50 years. Three of those decades have been spent on numerous boards, councils and committees that concern land use. I have been very proud of Summit County’s success in protecting our land from development. When I first moved to Summit, I heard and laughed at jokes about us becoming West Colfax or, worse, becoming Californicated. Well, both those lines have become our new reality.

Now, some of the land that we fought for to remain undeveloped is being “extinguished” (read land-grabbed) by our elected commissioners and their administration. According to them, this one 6-acre plot of open space is not important enough to protect forever. It has no value, so why not build on it?



Two of our commissioners will term out this year and, thus, won’t have to face a reelection. But their legacy will be the commission that didn’t understand the words “forever” and “in perpetuity,” the commission that summarily grabbed a piece of our open space without asking voters, the commission that set a very dangerous, ill-advised and unpopular precedent not only for Summit County’s remaining open spaces, but also for the state of Colorado and beyond. Shame on you!

Do the right thing: Listen to the public outcry and withdraw your lawsuit against Colorado Open Lands. Barring that, do the other right thing and let the voters decide the fate of the Fiester Preserve.


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