A feud between Vail Resorts and town officials has developed over a 5-acre parcel on the east side of the mountain town where the resort wants to build affordable/workforce housing.

Vail, like most of Colorado’s mountain or resort towns, is experiencing a labor shortage due to soaring housing costs.

The issue is expected to come to a head Tuesday when the Town Council could vote to condemn the land — and possibly take possession of it — to stop the $17 million development that would add 165 units.

Mayor Kim Langmaid said the issue is over a herd of bighorn sheep that uses that area as part of its winter range.

“That’s the primary issue and concern,” Langmaid said in an interview. “That’s what caused this whole condemnation question to arise.”

But resort officials are crying foul, saying the development was already approved by the Town Council in 2019. They also cite luxury homes being built in that same area, wondering why council members don’t appear to be concerned about sheep habitat when it comes to luxury home developments.

“It went through extensive environmental review, more than any other project of its kind in this area of East Vail,” Beth Howard, chief operating officer of Vail Mountain (owned by Vail Resorts), told the council at an April 19 meeting. “It went to state court, was tested again, and still approved.

“We understand there are newly elected representatives on the Town Council, but the community must trust that the Town Council respects and lives up to the decisions of prior councils or there is no continuity for people and businesses to rely upon.”

In 2017, the Town Council — with the recommendation of the Town’s Planning and Environmental Commission — agreed to rezone the 23.3-acre parcel to allow for development on the 5-acre plot for an East Vail Workforce Housing Subdivision. The area is known as Booth Heights.

The court case Howard referenced was settled in 2019, when District Judge Russell Granger ruled the Town Council “neither exceeded its jurisdiction, nor abused its discretion in its decision to approve” the development application.

The plans feature a wildlife mitigation plan, including a $100,000 mitigation fund “to be used by the Town and the Town Council for the enhancement and protection of the bighorn sheep habitat,” according to the final court order.

Vail Resorts used input from wildlife biologists and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

“At no point did experts say this development would cause the demise of the bighorn sheep herd, in fact environmental experts conducted an extensive review of the East Vail affordable housing parcel during the approval process for the project and determined that development on the 5-acre East Vail parcel does not pose an issue for the bighorn sheep herd,” Vail Resorts spokesman John Plack said in a statement.

Ever since Vail Resorts announced the plan, as far back as 2016, “there has always been hope amongst community members to find an alternative site,” Langmaid said.

But any other sites would take five years or more to develop, Plack said, and this project is “shovel ready” and can deliver housing by late 2023.

“Vail needs housing now, not development that might happen in five years,” Peck said in a statement. “If the Town can support luxury homes in East Vail, then it can support affordable housing.”

Langmaid said those other developments are on land already “platted in the 1970s.”

“Perhaps it should never have been approved then, but here we are with what’s left,” Landmaid said. “Every single square foot matters and is critical to those sheep. This would greatly impact the herd.”

She added that the town has “invested millions in affordable housing,” proving officials care about the issue and know there’s a need for more.

The resort’s actions fly in the face of the company’s “Epic Promise” commitment to protecting the environment, Langmaid said.

Former CEO Rob Katz is quoted on the subject, on the company’s Epic Promise website: “The environment is our business, and we have a special obligation to protect it. As a growing global company so deeply connected to the outdoors, we are making a commitment to address our most pressing global environmental challenge and protect our local communities and natural resources.”

Resort officials maintain that the development won’t adversely impact the herd, and not only their employees need housing but also many who work for small businesses and restaurants in the town.

“Why would we, as a town, move to condemn affordable housing in the sheep range but not move to condemn all the luxury homes built, and some being built right now, in the sheep winter range?,” Howard asked council members. “You must answer that question for the community before you condemn.”