DECIPHERING DEVELOPER DOUBLESPEAK---PART ONE

Royal Gorge Future's recently updated Q and A section leaves the reader with more questions than answers--the first question being  whether the altitude at Donner Summit has affected Todd and Mark Foster, Kirk Syme, and their employees' ability to communicate with the public in other than 'developer doublespeak'.

Here's a direct quote from their Q and A, the underscoring is theirs, "Royal Gorge is actually proposing a down-zone of its land."  Why is this doublespeak?  Well, the commonly accepted definition of down-zoning is as follows, "downzoning- change in zoning to reduce density or intensity of land use.  A common example is an increase in the minimum lot size required to build a house, which results in fewer houses per acre."

Royal Gorge LLC's 'Ski Camp',  the apple of their eye, is currently zoned for single family housing (quarter acre lots), and open forest (10 acre lots).  Royal Gorge proposes urban clusters, comprised of buildings up to four stories high, and around 600 units on the 'Ski Camp' parcel, a far cry from the 100 or so single family houses that would fit under current regulations.  They seek an increase of 500 units, which is an increase in density--not down-zoning by any stretch of the imagination.  

And the cluster concept they so vaunt?  Royal Gorge LLC could accept the current limit of houses as zoned, and ask the county to allow them to cluster those homes in a way to minimize roads, avoid clearcutting, and lessen interference with wildlife. Instead, they're trying a classic wolf in sheep's clothing tactic-- propose 600 high-rises, where 100 homes would fit, and try to convince people that's responsible planning. They're not proposing a cluster, they're proposing a small town. 

KTG

Please check back frequently for more DDD sections--Royal Gorge LLC's September Q and A (on their webpage)  is full of doozies.