LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor: Two recent articles in the Plaindealer require additional facts.
Article 1: Where Eric Jacobson points “to the history of preserving community assets in Ouray – of the Fellin Family donating land to the city of Ouray that became Fellin Park….” In truth, Oliver, Samuel and Serafina Fellin sold the lot to the city for $700 on April 22, 1919. On April 6, 1925, with the Fellins needing a place to operate their freighting business, the city “remembered” that it verbally agreed to leasing back a portion to the Fellins for a period of 99 years and executed an agreement of lease. That lease expires March 31, 2024. The land in question is part of Miner’s Park and land sold by a Fellin family member on May 17, 2021. The circumstances leading up to that lot being transferred back to a Fellin is unclear to me.
Article 2: Business leaders discuss Ouray’s future. Craig Hinkson was quoted as saying, “There’s a responsibility for the businesses that are making money off these tourists to step up and try to mitigate the damage that some of these extra tourists bring….” Craig is referring to the fact that he and other local business owners formed Chalet Partners LLC and purchased the 32-Room Ouray Chalet in 2021, converting it to employee housing. What taxpayers and water and sewer customers in Ouray should know: The partners were able to, within the framework of the Colorado tax law, change the tax status of the property from commercial to residential (long-term rentals over 30 days), saving roughly $17,000 in the first year. Simultaneously, they worked out an opposing agreement with the city. Citing Mayor Ethan Funk, in an email response, “It is classified as an extended stay hotel, with 2 week rental contracts for each unit. It continues to operate as a shortterm rental lodging business. The fact that the units are rented to employees of owners of the facility and not the general public does not change it’s classification.” This classification (wink,wink) has two benefits. Classified as a long-term rental per code, a property may not devote any portion of the ground floor facade facing U.S. Highway 550 to residential dwelling units. Secondly, they have saved over $50,000 on their water/sewer bills annually.
I think Eric has it backwards, the city has a long history of preserving businesses.
David Doherty Ouray
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