A former Dillon mayor, Louis Skowyra, is co-sponsor of the petition trying to halt a sprawling downtown condo project where Ptarmigan Lodge and Arapahoe Café currently sit.
“This is not anti-development or anti-progress,” Skowyra tells Krystal 93. “This is simply, let’s reconsider what we’re doing here and involve the voters in this big decision.”
The other co-sponsor of the petition, Robin Robson, lives outside of town boundaries in Summit Cove.
Skowyra says he signed on as co-sponsor because of timing and location: Supporters had just over a week to gather enough signatures for a November ballot question.
“The initiative resonates with me,” Skowyra says. “Without too much trouble we got 20-percent of registered voters to reconsider the terms of this agreement.”
The project in question, from Detroit developer Jake Porritt, calls for hundreds of lakeview condos. Porritt says it will fund 75% of his other plans for downtown Dillon, including workforce housing where town hall is today and a new town hall where Scrappy’s Pizza sits, near the intersection of U.S. Highway 6 and Lake Dillon Drive.
Dillon Town Council approved Porritt’s condo plans by split vote earlier this year. One of two people against the project was Louis Skowyra’s wife, Carolyn Skowyra, the sitting mayor of Dillon.
Carolyn Skowyra declined to comment, except to say she did not sign the petition, nor did she help circulate it.
“Dillon needs a shot in the arm, for me and my family,” Louis Skowyra says. “We need something. We need a spark, and development is the right way to do that. I just want it to be well rounded (and) thorough.”
See the full petition text here:
