DEAR EDITOR:
It is time to revisit the proposed Diamond Ridge development. Many were elated by the decision handed down by the court rejecting its progress.
Local politicians have made one of the worst decisions that I have seen in my 50 years in Telluride. The county commissioners are all friends of mine, but they need to reverse their direction.
I have seen herds of 300 elk cross this property. There are serious issues with infrastructure and traffic, and it will increase the size of Telluride drastically.
We all know that power corrupts, and there is nothing as addictive as power. In our world, too many politicians are under the thumb of monied interests, thus the all too familiar backroom deal. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
So someone has to pay, and guess who it is, the taxpayer. I have a friend who has asked for a breakdown of expenses for affordable housing projects and has gotten only silence from Town Hall. I am asking for a full disclosure of expenses and revenues from all of these projects. Commonsense and respect for the taxpayers should allow only the ones which are profitable.
And we all know that everyone who wants to work in Telluride cannot live in Telluride. It is impossible in so many ways and would destroy the town we have have labored to develop all these years. Do we want to nearly double the size of Telluride with one incredibly ill-advised project?
I suggest instead that we invest in better mass transportation to bring these workers to town. This would reduce, instead of increase, our already heavy traffic.
Again, I ask what is your end goal? Have you thought about the long-term ramifications of your actions?
It is time that we put your sacred cow out to pasture.
John Roth
Telluride
