The Aspen City Council on Monday night gave tentative approval to a private developer’s plan for an affordable-housing complex on the West Hopkins Avenue site of the former Boomerang Lodge.
The decision was considered a “straw vote,” with a formal vote on a more finely crafted ordinance planned for a future meeting. Mayor Mick Ireland and councilmen Adam Frisch and Steve Skadron voiced their support for new plans that weren’t finally crafted until after 11:20 p.m.
Council members, the development group and opponents debated and wrangled for more than three hours over the size of the project and its compatibility with the neighborhood around it. Also, Monday night’s discourse on the issue represented the sixth public hearing the city has held on developer Steve Stunda’s plans since the beginning of the year, counting both Planning and Zoning Commission and council meetings.
In the end, it came down to Ireland calling for a brief recess late in the meeting to force a compromise between Stunda’s group and neighborhood opponents of the development. Most opponents said they wanted a much smaller building with fewer units, something in the neighborhood of 30,000 square feet of living space and 32 units. Stunda’s plan called for 42 units — a considerable reduction from the initial plan last year that called for more than 50 units — covering about 41,000 square feet.
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