Estes Park trustees reject temporary Stanley customer parking on Lot 4

Estes Park trustees on Tuesday signaled they would not allow the Stanley Hotel to use Lot 4 for temporary customer parking, saying the request conflicted with the 2014 voter-approved covenant governing the property. The Town Board directed staff to leave in place the temporary construction-related uses already allowed on the site but not extend the use to customer parking.

Staff asked the board whether to temporarily waive covenant restrictions for a portion of Lot 4 already being used for construction staging and work crew parking during construction of the Film Center. Town officials said residents approved the sale of Lot 4 in 2014 subject to a restrictive covenant limiting uses to wellness-related facilities or open space, and acknowledged that later permits had been issued in error without recognizing the covenant, including approvals for grading, material stockpiling and construction-vehicle parking.

Mayor Gary Hall argued the governing documents did not explicitly bar parking and said he supported a waiver. Hall called the Film Center "a great project for Estes Park" and said he was "fully in favor" of letting the town administrator move quickly on an agreement. Trustee Bill Brown also backed the request, saying he did not believe temporary parking violated the covenant and calling the issue an unnecessary intrusion on private property rights.

Other trustees took the opposite view, centering their objections on voter intent. A trustee whom Hall addressed as Trustee Eigle said allowing paid parking for the Stanley would be "disrespectful" to the community and said staff's acknowledgment that earlier approvals were mistakes made him "emphatically" opposed to granting another one. Mayor Pro Tem Marie Cenac said that while she supports the Stanley's economic role, the question before the board was whether customer parking matched "the intent and spirit" of the 2014 ballot measure and covenant, and she concluded that it did not.

A trustee Hall addressed as Trustee Lanczat said the board had a "moral obligation" to follow what voters approved and urged that any broader change in allowed uses be taken back to the electorate. Another trustee Hall addressed as Trustee Eschold said open space, in his view, did not mean a parking lot and that he could not support converting the area for customer vehicles. Near the end of the discussion, that same trustee clarified that the board should honor the temporary construction permissions already granted rather than rescind them.

Hall concluded the debate by telling staff it had enough direction, ending a sharply divided exchange over whether temporary parking could fit within the covenant's limits on the site.