Valley Floor & Valley Cows

Usually my remarks on this site are short and sweet, but I've got to explain something in a bit of detail because it is a huge event in our community. We're our own little Iraq right here in the Rocky Mountains.

We often say that the little town of Telluride is a microcosm. Meaning what is happening on a large scale in the world, is happening on a more concentrated level here in our little town. People are fighting worldwide and we're no different. A local war is going on and becoming very heated. It's a fight over a large piece of property that lies at the gateway to our little town known as the "Valley Floor". It's undeveloped, open and beautiful and some may say the soul of Telluride. It's where the Valley Cows live in the summer!

But it is owned by a large corporation who wants to develop it. And since they bought it 20 years ago, they feel they have the right. But a few years ago the community of Telluride voted to begin a "Condemnation Law Suit" to take the property for the good of the community i.e. - even if you own land you can be forced to sell it to the people for the good of the people - this is what is done in order to build highways or set aside land for parks etc. So the condemnation has been raging for a few years and millions of dollars have been spent.

But recently the owning corporation has offered a "deal" - drop the condemnation law suit (which the town very well may loose after spending millions of dollars) and accept a smaller package of development and we all get on with our lives. So the reactions are anywhere from "Take the deal - its the best we can do!" to "Don't give into the fear ... fight for the land, once it's gone - it's gone forever". And everything in between.

On February 14th - the members of Telluride will vote to decide the outcome. And there are arguments going on all over town. Judgements, misunderstandings, misinformation are being thrown at each other - public meetings are being held. The paper is filled with pages upon pages of "letters to the editor" experessing all sorts of empassiioned views on both sides of the argument. It literally is what everyone is talking about and it is heating up to volatile levels.