Eagle – A county meeting on the fate of a proposed alpine slide at the Beaver Creek ski area went abruptly off course Tuesday amid threats of litigation and allegations of impropriety.
After a brief retreat, Eagle County commissioners regained control and voted 3-0 in favor of a Vail Resorts plan that had drawn objections from well-heeled homeowners, including former President Gerald Ford.
“We are not envisioning a Six Flags-type of environment at the bottom of Beaver Creek,” said Diane Mauriello, an attorney for the ski company.
Tuesday’s hearing was supposed to be little more than a question-and-answer session with opposing attorneys.
The downhill plunge began when Rick Johnson, an attorney for the Beaver Creek Property Owners Association, asked Commissioner Arn Menconi, founder of the nonprofit Snowboard Outreach Society (SOS), if he improperly met with Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz within a week of a previous hearing on the issue.
Johnson accused Menconi of bias in favor of the slide because SOS receives funding from the ski company.
Menconi declined to respond to the accusations on the advice of deputy county attorney Bob Morris, who accused Johnson of going “way beyond the bounds off legitimate lawyering.”
Johnson continued to badger Menconi, telling him that he could “answer the question now or in a deposition.”
Commissioners then left the room without voting, with people shouting accusations.
Homeowner William Stone was among those who accused Vail Resorts of buying the vote.
“I’ve seen kangaroo courts in my day, and this was one,” he said after commissioners voted.
Homeowners have objected to the summer-only slide on the Haymeadow beginner’s area because of the potential noise in warmer months when their windows are open and because the slide is more of an amusement park ride than a ski-area use.
Vail Resorts attorney Mauriello said the slide is appropriate given Haymeadow’s open-space recreation zoning and said concerns about noise and the environment have been addressed.
Mauriello also cited industry precedent for the project. Vail Resorts operates an alpine slide during the summer at Breckenridge, and Winter Park also has a summer-only alpine slide. Vail Resorts contends it needs the slide at Beaver Creek to bolster summer visitation.
Johnson said Beaver Creek has morphed over the years from a seasonal mountain resort to a year-round, gated community.
Menconi said his opposition to the homeowners’ appeal of a county planner’s approval of the slide was based on what was best for visitors and the 35,000 people who live in the county – not just the 300 who live at Beaver Creek.
