Save Crested Butte's Historic Alleys

The Town of Crested Butte currently has plans to pave the historic Soupçon Alley through the funding of a handful of private home owners. As residents and business owners in this alley we, and many others, disagree with this decision.

While the proposal to pave the Soupçon Alley is most immediate, the issues surrounding it are universal for all Crested Butte alleys. We feel decisions to irreversibly change the character of our alleys must be seriously considered in relation to detrimental effects to the historic, cultural and aesthetic nature of our alleys. Indeed, the Soupçon Alley and all alleys are a relic of “old Crested Butte” that must be preserved for the following reasons:

1. The Soupçon Alley is an historic artifact: These alleys arose in the 1800’s, serving as passageways for the businesses and neighbors of the mining days with such now famous founding families as the Kochevars. Just as certain architectural expressions of town are maintained through the approval process of the BOZAR board, so must our historic alleys be maintained, for they are a strong aspect of the unique expression of the official Historic District of Crested Butte. The historic nature of the alley will be destroyed if paved.

2. The Soupçon Alley is an aesthetic and cultural amenity: Crested Butte is defined by its quirky nature that has an unrefined and rough edge, reflecting back to its historic roots of the hard working townsperson. The alleys are a premier part of maintaining this persona. They boast a personality and culture all their own. Articles have been written about them. Alleys boast iconic events such as the Alley Loop and Bridges of the Butte. They eschew to a simpler time and way of life. They are full of old historic cabins, interesting twists, surprising gardens. The personality and cultural value of the alley will be destroyed if paved.

4. The Soupçon Alley is a tourist attraction: Every single day tourists (and residents) walk the alley, taking photos, remarking how quaint it is, how extraordinary it is to have such an amenity that speaks to a more pastoral feel, just a half block off the center of town. Indeed the phenomenon of the “alley walker” is real as visitors and residents stroll the alleys with their families, eating ice cream from Third Bowl, waiting for their reservation at Soupçon, and recording their memories of Crested Butte. Photography and plein air classes and artists are often seen on the Soupçon Alley rendering it through even more artistic means. This draw will no longer exhibit such a strong pull and uniqueness for visitors if paved. It becomes just another piece of pavement like so many other cities.

3. Soupçon Bistro’s charm will be threatened: Soupçon Bistro, a long-standing fine dining destination restaurant, depends on the character of the rustic alley for its charm. The character of the alley is Soupçon’s curb appeal. Paving the alley stands to destroy the charm of Soupçon, negatively impacting their business.

5. Paving presents safety hazards: Already there are speeding issues on the alley in a space that is tight and demands an even far lower rate of speed than 15 m.p.h. Speeding is a problem in town on paved streets, as visitors in particular have a hard time accepting the 15 m.p.h. speed limit. Paving the alley will only make it look like another street. It will increase the speed at which people think they can travel down it and increase the number of cars driving down it. This will endanger the safety of the “alley walkers,” people waiting for their Soupçon reservation, those exiting Soupçon after dinner directly onto the alley (there is no buffer between the door and the alley), as well as those of us who live directly on the alley with no other exit. These speeding and safety hazards would exist for the entire alley, not just the portion proposed to be paved.

6. Paving will not resolve drainage issues: Drainage problems are being cited as one of the reasons for paving the alley. Prior to the building of full basements in this historic zone, drainage was not a problem as water was allowed to run its natural course of seeping down into the water table. Indeed, water displacement due to full basements thereby causing changes in groundwater flow are an occurrence throughout town, not just in the Soupçon Alley. We feel the Town of Crested Butte and BOZAR should seriously consider restricting the implementation of full basements that require energy inefficient pumping and building techniques and adversely affect surrounding areas.

7. Paving will not resolve town-wide parking issues: There is a small parking lot located on the corner of the alley and Second Street that holds perhaps eight cars. The Town has stated interest in paving the Soupcon Alley to help alleviate town-wide parking issues. This tiny parking lot is not going to alleviate these issues. Creating more opportunities for even better public transportation that encourages people to not drive their individual cars is the best solution to parking.

8. Personal property will be damaged: Several gardens have been built through the private efforts of the tenants in the alley through a lot of hard work and pride for the aesthetic nature of the alley. They significantly augment the “alley walker” experience and are a highly photographed feature of the alley. Paving the alley will destroy these gardens.

9. The Soupçon Alley is a public right of way and resource: The alleys are a public amenity and thoroughfare and should not be allowed to be paved without public input. No public comment has happened in this process. Indeed, many residents of the alley were not included in the process at all. A handful of homeowners should not be able to dictate such a significant and irreversible change that impacts the entire community.

10. This opens the door for further alley paving: Paving the Soupçon Alley will set a precedent that other alleys may also be paved, further endangering the existence of the historic and cultural artifacts of alleys throughout town.

11. Paving increases expensive repairs in the future: Water line mains and utilities are buried under our alleys. Any future repairs will create a more difficult and expensive situation as pavement will need to be destroyed and subsequently replaced at the Town’s expense. This is not a fiscally responsible decision.

12. There are other solutions: Building anything below grade, such as basements and other structures, runs the risk of water infiltration, the mitigation of which should be the responsibility of the individual homeowner. Our town is rife with energy inefficient pumping systems attempting to mediate this issue. Regardless, there are other solutions to mitigating water than the dramatic change of paving an historic alley.

We, with the support of many others, are therefore requesting of the town that less impactful solutions to mitigating water drainage be implemented, that simultaneously help to maintain the aesthetic and historic qualities of the alleys. We also feel that dramatic and permanent changes such as these should not be done without purposefully including in the planning conversations those who will be directly impacted, as well as offer a proper public process which includes public comment to the community at large.

The Town Council will be voting whether to approve the paving proposal of the Soupçon Alley at the Monday, August 21 meeting. We encourage our fellow community members interested in preserving the history and culture of our alleys to sign this petition, contact the Town Council directly with your concerns, and appear at this meeting.