In a 3-2 vote, Rossland city council has decided not to send a letter opposing the creation of Zincton Mountain Village.
Mayor Kathy Moore drafted the letter to the Mountain Resorts Branch and laid out a number of objections to the ski project, proposed for the area between New Denver and Kaslo.
In particular, the letter claims the resort would destroy “some of the very best grizzly bear habitat in the region” and also affect wolverines. It also says the Autonomous Sinixt, who oppose the development, should be consulted.
“No further commercial applications should be considered in this already highly tenured region, until the province completes land use and access management planning, including government-to-government negotiations with all First Nations,” Moore wrote.
However, councillor Chris Bowman, who was acting mayor in Moore’s absence at the meeting where the letter was discussed, said the majority of council had misgivings about the letter.
“It was defeated because we feel we should spend more time concerning ourselves with our community than other communities,” Bowman said. He added that council felt the Zincton project is in the early stages, “and we’re not entirely sure of the extent of it.”
According to its proponents, Zincton would offer hiking and mountain biking in the summer and lift-serviced and backcountry skiing in the winter. The village itself would be on private land.
The project is at the second of three stages in the formal proposal process.