Voice opposition to development in Crystal

Editor:

I’m writing to inform our community about proposed developments in the historic town of Crystal. As many know, Crystal—home to the iconic Crystal Mill—is one of the most beloved and frequently visited sites in our region. Its beauty, remoteness, and history make it a treasure that deserves careful protection.

A few years ago, the 700-acre property surrounding Crystal was purchased by new owners. They have since announced plans to develop a private resort community on the site of the old mining town. The developers are seeking a land use change from Gunnison County to develop on the site of the old mining town. The project has already encountered challenges, including a cease-and-desist order from Gunnison County for building roads without proper permits—a violation that resulted in a $12,000 fine.

I urge our community to voice opposition to this development. The Gunnison County Planning Commission will be holding a public hearing on the land use application November 20, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. and now is the time to speak up. Written comments to Gunnison County to share your concerns about the loss of this historic piece of our local heritage are due Nov. 19 at 5:00 p.m. to planning@gunnisoncounty.org. There is a Zoom option to attend the hearing and voice public comments at the online meetings tab at https://www.gunnisoncounty.org/144/Community- and-Economic-Development.

The Gunnison County Land Use Development guidelines require that proposed developments be compatible with community character. This proposed exclusive resort for the wealthy is certainly not. There are other issues such as avalanche risk, wildfire danger and the strain that such a development could place on this fragile and precious environment. The town of Crystal is one of the last untouched spaces in the Crystal River Valley—an irreplaceable place worth protecting for future generations.

Karen Immerso

Gunnison

Fractured logic

Editor:

This isn’t going to be long. A little think piece on simple logic. Well, maybe fractured logic. 

Let’s take a moment to examine some recent happenings in our fair cities and upon the bounding main that defy logic, or worse, reinforce its fractured nature and the threat to our lives and liberties. Just something to think about.

Let’s think of the United States Department of War blowing up boats in the Caribbean that may well be bringing illicit drugs into the United States. I think they probably are. Does that give us a legal right to blow them up, summarily killing those onboard? Think of this boat, speeding on the open ocean, when, instantaneously, seemingly from nowhere, a projectile, admittedly fired from a United States military source, unseen, strikes the boat, obliterating it and those onboard. By what right, what law, do we have the authority to do this?

Now think of armed, sometimes masked, United States soldiers walking down the streets of one of the several cities to which President Trump has sent them. These soldiers notice a person seemingly surreptitiously, covertly, handing something to another suspicious-looking person. Using the previous logic used to blow up boats, do these soldiers have a lawful right to unholster a sidearm and shoot these people? Let’s take it a step further. Let’s say it is actually a drug deal going down. Do these armed soldiers have a lawful right to shoot those people?

Trump says “we will kill them all,” referring to those whom he says are drug traffickers. This is the same president who thought that we should just shoot people in the legs who are illegally crossing our borders. Trump says he’s “…just going to kill people… They’re going to be, like, dead.” May be good politics, for some, to kill people whom he says are drug traffickers but haven’t been evidentiarily charged, tried and found guilty. Is it lawful to summarily shoot someone who’s suspected of trafficking drugs?

The body of laws, known collectively as federal law, embodies our Constitution, statutes, treaties, regulations, ordinances and common law. We respect and abide by this body of law. And when we don’t, we’re adjudicated by it. Where’s the law by which Trump has killed people on the high seas and deployed the military to our cities? The War Powers Act has specific provisions governing its application. Trump hasn’t respected or abided by the Act. He says we’re at war in the cities where he’s sent troops yet those cities are all safer than they’ve been in the past. Where’s the logic, or the law? Trump says we’re at war with drug traffickers. Maybe there’s some logic to that but are probable drug traffickers combatants? Aside from all this, we are Americans. We don’t just go around blowing up people, shooting them in the legs, disappearing them from our streets or spiriting them away to unknown locations. Where’s the law or logic in that? Just something to think about.

Joe Dix

Gunnison