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Show Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, February 18-21, 2017 The Park Record A-24 Continued From A-23 2016 AGENT AWARDS Congratulations Utah Luxury Group #1 PERFORMING GROUP Greg Miner • Matt Green • Crystal McKee 435.668.7771 • Team@UtahLuxuryGroup.com “TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS...EVERYDAY!” KEN CROSBY MARIAN CROSBY RESIDENTIAL SPECIALIST COMMERCIAL/DEVELOPMENT CROSBYK@BHHSUTAH.COM 435.640.0365 MARIAN@MARIANCROSBY.COM 435.640.1621 DEER VALLEY® RESORT SILVER CREEK COMMERCIAL LAND SILVER BARON | 2 BED, 3 BATH | $1,225,000 PARK CITY | 6.98 ACRES | $3,550,000 KANTONS AT VILLAGE GREEN 55 ACRE DEVELOPMENT PARCEL MIDWAY | STARTING AT $470,000 PARK CITY | 55 ACRES | $6,000,000 REACH OUT TO KEN AND MARIAN FOR PARK CITY REAL ESTATE INFORMATION Mountain Town News Will Trump and Sessions clamp down on cannabis? STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – Jeff Sessions has become the U.S. attorney general, inviting the question of whether he will crack down on Colorado and other states that have approved sale of marijuana for recreational use. Nobody really knows whether Sessions, formerly a U.S. senator from Alabama, and President Donald Trump will reverse the look-the-other-way policy of the Obama administration regarding enforcement of federal laws prohibiting use and sale of marijuana. In Colorado, there is conflicting evidence about the economic impact if they do. The state now has 440 stores that sell marijuana for both recreational and medical use, 623 cultivation facilities, 240 product manufacturers, and 12 testing facilities, according to the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division. Annual sales of cannabis, both recreational and medical, last year topped $1.1 billion, according to Brian Vicente, a Denver-based marijuana attorney. Vicente told the Glenwood Post-Independent to expect a recession in Denver that would reverberate throughout the state if the Trump administration reverses the Obama administration policy. But the evidence in Steamboat Springs suggests something well short of a recession if marijuana sales dive underground. Although volume of sales in Steamboat grew 18 percent last year, they remain just 1.8 percent of the city’s $23.4 million in sales tax revenue. By comparison, reported Steamboat Today, liquor store sales accounted for 3.6 percent of the sales tax pie. July and August were the most lucrative for pot merchants. Colorado voters in November 2012 approved legalized sales for recreational use beginning in January 2014. In Telluride and some other jurisdictions, sales began the very first day. But other towns and cities pushed the pause button, waiting to see results from this giant experiment in public policy. Snowmass Village still has its thumb on pause. The moratorium on both medical and recreational marijuana businesses was recently extended until 2018 while town officials try to get a bead on what people want. In many jurisdictions in Colorado, residents voted for legalization but local elected officials have interpreted that to mean that the residents didn’t actually want it in their towns and cities. Sales remain banned in Vail, for example, although there are several shops in unincorporated Eagle County, just three miles from Vail Village. The pot shops send out vans for customers. Two-thirds of Snowmass residents voted for legalization, reported the Aspen Daily News. Mayor Markey Butler said that’s plenty close, but she also notes tartly that it’s still against federal law. Near both Snowmass and Aspen, a potter who lives on a rural property in an upscale but low-density home is calculating her options after Pitkin County rejected her application to open a marijuana grow-operation on her 31-acre property. She told the Aspen Daily News sardonically that she now plans to have a pig farm there. The county commissioners said there were too many unanswered questions about water rights and other issues. But the woman, who has lived there for 30-plus years, told the Daily News that the real story is that many of her complaining neighbors harbor an anti-marijuana bias and “have far more resources than I do to hire lawyers and consultants.” Snowy and cold this year, but long-term trend clear INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – It’s still snowing in the Sierra Nevada, and temperatures have chilled considerably compared to the last few years. Still, the big trend is warmer. Scientists recently reported that the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces in 2016 was 1.69 degrees (0.94 Celsius) above the 20th century average. What does this warming mean for Lake Tahoe, that vast body of water that partially covers both California and Nevada? Steve Sadro, a limnologist from the University of California-Davis, who studies lakes in the Sierra Nevada, pointed out there’s more variation in weather patterns at higher elevations. But what is known, he said, is that warming local temperatures are producing more extremes, and that includes greater climate variability in mountain environments. “The frequency of drought is going up, and the severity of drought is increasing,” Sadro told the Sierra Sun. “Does that mean we’re never going to have wet years? No.” The 2016 State of the Lake report issued by the Tahoe Environmental Research Center shows that the days of belowfreezing temperatures have declined by 30 days since recordkeeping began in 1910. Since 1910, there’s been a wide variation in the amount of precipitation that falls on the Tahoe area as snow. A century ago, snow was responsible for 51 percent of precipitation. Lately, it’s dropped to 33 percent. Ketchum worries state may restrict locals again KETCHUM, Idaho – Idaho’s right-thinking legislators last year adopted a law that prohibits Ketchum and other local jurisdictions from banning plastic grocery bags. Will legislators this year decide Ketchum can’t restrict vacation rentals through Airbnb and other websites from residential neighborhoods? The Idaho Mountain Express reported a state law adopted in 2016 ties the hands of homeowner associations who want to restrict owners from renting properties on a short-term basis unless such restrictions are imposed at time of sale. Ketchum Mayor Nina Jonas told the newspaper the proposed law, if adopted, would allow somebody to purchase a condominium expressly to use as a boutique hotel, even if the condo is in a residential neighborhood. A survey by the city finds 300 to 400 short-term rentals in the city. 2016 AGENT AWARDS #2 TOP GROUP PARK CITY REAL ESTATE GUIDE 800.485.0218 | ParkCityRealEstateGuide.com Kathy Mears — Selling Park City Since 1990 I offer Highly Personalized Real Estate Services. Contact me if I can be of assistance to you! 435.901.9964 | OwnInParkCity.com © 2017 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently owned and operated franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc.® Equal Housing Opportunity. Information not verified or guaranteed. Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated. |