HomeMy WebLinkAboutbocc.pc Woody Creek Caucus - Little B Ranch LLC application PLAN.2452.2025Sam Engen <sam.engen@pitkincounty.com>
Fwd: 01/16/2026 DUE Pitkin County Land Use Little B Ranch LLC
application PLAN.2452.2025
Jeffrey Woodruff <jeffrey.woodruff@pitkincounty.com>Fri, Jan 16, 2026 at 9:49
AM
To: Sam Engen <sam.engen@pitkincounty.com>, Richard Neiley <richard.neiley@pitkincounty.com>
Sam, Please include in the public record.
Ry, does this development/community impact warrant review beyond administrative?
Sincerely,
Jeffrey
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Wcreek Caucus <81656woodycreekcaucus@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jan 16, 2026 at 9:41 AM
Subject: Fwd: 01/16/2026 DUE Pitkin County Land Use Little B Ranch LLC application
PLAN.2452.2025
To: Patti Clapper <patti.clapper@pitkincounty.com>, Kelly McNichols Kury <kelly.mcnicholas@
pitkincounty.com>, Greg Poschman <greg.poschman@pitkincounty.com>, Jeffrey Woodruff
<jeffrey.woodruff@pitkincounty.com>, Francie Jacober <francie.jacober@pitkincounty.com>
Dear Pitkin County BOCC members,
We forward this recent response to a land use application so that you might be made aware of
developments with a Woody Creek land owner.
The Woody Creek Caucus District Planning Committee
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Wcreek Caucus <81656woodycreekcaucus@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 6:13 AM
Subject: 01/16/2026 DUE Pitkin County Land Use Little B Ranch LLC application
PLAN.2452.2025
To: <rebecca.dunlap@pitkincounty.com>
Re: Little B Ranch LLC Minor Amendment to a Development
Permit (CASE PLAN.2452.2025; PID 2643-094-02-002)
Date: January 3, 2026
1/16/26, 10:17 AM Pitkin County Mail - Fwd: 01/16/2026 DUE Pitkin County Land Use Little B Ranch LLC application PLAN.2452.2025
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=1686b12d01&view=pt&search=all&permmsgid=msg-f:1854492810996304966&simpl=msg-f:18544928109963049…1/3
The application is for a change in a Development Permit.
Currently, the application has been submitted for an
administrative decision by Community Development.
Little B is trying to walk back unfavorable parts of an approved
Development Plan with a contentious history going back more
than 25 years, piecemeal. The Little B application should be
elevated for consideration by the BOCC on that basis, alone.
Specifically relating to this proposal, it appears that Chaparral
promised as a condition of development 25 years ago that they
would not build in the winter. That promise seems to have
been included by the county in Chaparral’s development plan,
as recorded. It appears that this homeowner now wants to
build in the winter, notwithstanding the development’s original
promise not to do so and without full consideration of the
entirety of the balance of a very complicated development plan
with a very contentious history.
In sum, a Chaparral homeowner seeks advantage
from favorable aspects from the past that are no longer
available in the present (house size, land use, etc.) while
asking for relief from unfavorable aspects from the past that
place restrictions on the present (no construction in the winter).
Any such application should be reviewed in its entirety to
preserve the balance of rights and responsibilities intended by
the County and Caucus, overall.
More generally, however, the Chaparral Development Plan
and related conditions have been the source of many
contentious interactions with the County and the community.
For instance, in recent years Chaparral Ranch has repeatedly
hosted unpermitted special events, purportedly justified by
conditions they claim exist in their 25-year old vested
development rights that, they say, exempt them from the three
1/16/26, 10:17 AM Pitkin County Mail - Fwd: 01/16/2026 DUE Pitkin County Land Use Little B Ranch LLC application PLAN.2452.2025
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=1686b12d01&view=pt&search=all&permmsgid=msg-f:1854492810996304966&simpl=msg-f:18544928109963049…2/3
event per year limit in the County. See, e.g., Administrative
Decision No. 019-2024.
But Chaparral Ranch is not just holding special events; it is
using its agricultural amenities (primarily their horse arena) as
an unapproved commercial Special Events Venue well outside
of any authority it may claim was granted in 019-2024.
Chaparral Ranch is marketed worldwide as a destination
events venue and reviewed on dozens of wedding planning
and events sites, seeking to compete directly with the Little
Nell, the Jerome, and T-Lazy 7. It is also listed as a business
with the Aspen Chamber of Commerce. In the past year,
alone, there is reason to believe Chaparral Ranch has hosted
over a dozen weddings and other events charging a rate of
approximately $250k per event. (The actual number is
unknown because Chaparral Ranch continues to hold such
events without permits, much less proper authority as a
Special Event Venue.) Chaparral Ranch also advertises to
potential real estate purchasers how their special events
revenue reduces HOA fees for residents.
Chaparral’s vested development rights come up for renewal
Feb 24, 2026. Those should not be renewed on the basis of
their surreptitious operation of a Special Events Venue, alone,
regardless of other considerations.
Little B (and Chaparral, generally) should not be able to have it
both ways, taking advantage of past rights where convenient
while seeking to eviscerate accompanying restrictions. This is
why 25-year old vested development rights don’t work and
should not be renewed.
Respectfully Yours,
The District Planning Committee, Woody Creek Caucus
1/16/26, 10:17 AM Pitkin County Mail - Fwd: 01/16/2026 DUE Pitkin County Land Use Little B Ranch LLC application PLAN.2452.2025
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=1686b12d01&view=pt&search=all&permmsgid=msg-f:1854492810996304966&simpl=msg-f:18544928109963049…3/3