Deal Inked, Pitkin County Pays $17 million for Droste Property, ADN

The finished deal seems the happy ending to more than a decade of battles between Pitkin County officials and the Droste family, who sought to build a luxury subdivision on the site. In 2003, the commissioners passed a controversial emergency moratorium to block the development, a move the Drostes took to the Colorado Supreme Court (where the county decision was upheld). The family has filed several lawsuits in recent years against the county for blocking the project, and spearheaded a failed statewide legislative measure that would have limited the power of local land-use codes.

ASPEN REAL ESTATE - Pitkin County commission chair George Newman signed the deed to more than 800 acres of land between Aspen and Snowmass on Wednesday, shortly after the county transferred $17 million to the Droste family for the picturesque plot.Newman, county staffers and open space officials met with Bruce and Peter Droste for the deal closing, and finalized land surveys of the so-called “mountain park,” which officials are hailing as the crowning achievement of the county’s 20-year-old open space program and fund.
By Andrew Travers, Dec 30, 2010 Aspen Daily News

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