Parking snags plan for village at Big Mountain

Plans for a new village at Big Mountain Resort were put on hold Thursday until resort operator Winter Sports Inc. can work out parking issues with Alpinglow Inn and Edelweiss Condominiums, two of the older lodging facilities at the resort.

Winter Sports is seeking approval of a plan for 12 buildings and accompanying infrastructure that would become the village core outlined in the resort's new master plan. The plan breaks up hotel offerings into several buildings instead of concentrating lodging into one big resort hotel and convention center.

About 250 lodging units are planned in the new village.

While the hub of the new village will be centered around the base of Chair 1, several of the lodges will be located in areas that now accommodate much of the resort parking.

Parking accommodations at Alpinglow and Edelweiss are at issue in the village plan. Several condominium owners said it's premature to approve the plan without solidified parking agreements. And without those agreements, planning-board member Lisa Horowitz wondered if it was a legal application.

The Planning Board postponed a decision until its Feb. 15 meeting. It's possible the matter could be continued a second time to the March meeting to give homeowner associations enough time to negotiate with Winter Sports.

Edelweiss has no dedicated parking and Winter Sports has offered to sell it enough land for about 40 spaces.

"We've recognized all along that they need parking," Winter Sports Chief Executive Officer Fred Jones said. "And we agreed to work with them to provide parking."

Attorney Paul Sandry, representing Edelweiss homeowners, said homeowners had earlier concerns but now have "reasonable assurance" that Winter Sports has addressed the parking issue.

One earlier concern was a right-of-way line that would have crossed a corner of Edelweiss property if a proposed road were built with a 60-foot right of way. Because it would be a private road, however, it's not subject to the 60-foot standard and could get by with a 40-foot easement.

"Our past concerns are withdrawn," Sandry said. "We support the preliminary plat."

Edelweiss homeowner Sheree LaMon, however, said she flew in from Tennessee to testify that there is no agreement with Winter Sports and it's premature to pass the preliminary plat.

ALPINGLOW homeowners have a bigger bone to pick, claiming Winter Sports is taking about 20 percent of the inn's available land.

Winter Sports proposes a road across Alpinglow's property that would lead to a cul-de-sac, also partially positioned on Alpinglow land. In exchange, Winter Sports is offering land on the upper side of the inn for about 13 parking spaces. The 54 condominium owners currently share about 16 spaces, so parking has long been an issue.

"Obviously we're not taking anyone's land without their consent," Jones said. "We may have to revise the plan. We are in discussions and thought they were constructive … We're a lot further from an agreement than we thought we were."

Jones said Winter Sports officials felt the proposed road and cul-de-sac would serve Alpinglow as well as other resort guests and homeowners.

"We thought it was a win-win, but it's back to the drawing board," he said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com