Planatlaw

“I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, and I won’t be laid a hand on. I don’t do these things to other people and I expect the same from them.” John Bernard Books (John Wayne in the Shootist) The esteemed editor for the Daily Post recently provided a summary statement of his past transgressions going way back. Bill chose the time, the forum, and even wrote it himself so it was phrased just right to suit his purposes. It’s possible Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Whitington would have shed light on their private lives under those same conditions and circumstances. In my case, I was not given the opportunity to explain, refute or others defend statements made about me. Character assassination is always a good way to get the upper hand in any argument, but when this community seems to almost exalt in carrying out deed by bushwhacking the victim. I guess Bill took away the possibility of being bushwhacked by getting the story out there early on his own terms. Our County Treasurer,...

Part I. The Schechter Maxim: Economics change faster than perceptions and perceptions change faster than politics. Jonathon Schechter Zoning as a concept was finally ratified by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1923 because it was a good way to stabilize property values by preventing incompatible land uses coming into close proximity, and better protect the health, safety and welfare of the public by segregating land uses. Generally, this whole thing started out separating industrial areas from residential areas, but as local economies diversified and became more mobile, more and more distinctions in land uses were made, and zoning became a very complicated means to a rather simple end. However, zoning did not solve the problem. It was apparent even before zoning that certain uses were incompatible no matter where they were so regulations and criminal laws were needed to cope with “nuisances”. I represented the Town of Crested Butte in its legal fight with AMAX Corporation over...

Bill Hudson, the face of the Daily Post, really got a rise out of me in his article Blue Sky vs. The Plan; Part Two . He concluded defining “small town character” was not possible. Not true! Not only can it be done, but this community has a duty to define itself. The fact that the Town and County have failed to establish what their respective characters are is a big reason, each boom is taking the Town and County further and further away from core values that make Pagosa Pagosa. Like John Denver, I moved to Colorado in the summer of my twenty seventh year. I grew up in a Kansas small town, and it could have been any one of a number of small towns in Kansas. They were all pretty much the same – a water tower, grain elevators, a liquor store, a grocery store and a 3.2 bar. What attracted me to Colorado was the uniqueness of the mountain communities. Breckenridge was much different from Aspen, which was much different from Vail and so on. Over the years, with growth an...