Keystone secures enough votes to become newest Colorado town: "Why wouldn't we have a town council that is 100% focused on Keystone"

It's the day hundreds of locals in the area surrounding Keystone Ski Resort have been waiting for: the creation of the Town of Keystone.

Tim Huiting, Incorporate Keystone Committee leader says they now have the votes, it's still a week away from officially being sanctioned as a town by a court, but they're on the way. 

The movement from locals in unincorporated Summit County to create a town started from a need to prioritize their problems apart from the rest of Summit County, like growing traffic concerns on ski weekends. 

"Why wouldn't we have a town council that is 100% focused on Keystone compared to county commissioners who focus on Keystone when they can find the time?" Huiting asked on Wednesday after the vote. "We are ready to take over control and make our own decisions and set our own priorities."

When ballots were sent out the movement to incorporate already knew chances looked good that the vote would pass and it did.

431 votes were cast on the incorporation question with 67.52% voting Yes and 32.48% voting No. 

On the question of Home Rule, there were 424 votes cast with 73.82% voting Yes and 26.18% voting No. On the same ballot, nine of the 13 candidates were to be elected to serve on the Charter Commission that will write the charter for the town of Keystone. 

That charter will outline the rules set in place for the town, and how they want to govern it. 

One thing they've already crossed off the list (probably) is getting new signage or at least Huiting doesn't see a need for it. 

"One of the things that we argued with the county in terms of financial projections is that the person who had to do a study said we were going to spend $1.7 million on town signage," Huiting said, laughing. "I'm like, 'I don't think we are going to spend anything on town signage.' We are not putting up a new 'Welcome to Keystone" sign, we have a nice sign already."

The big differences will likely be noticed by those who voted compared to those who are visiting town, although now that the town will be able to implement a sales tax on goods and services in the town (so, all of Keystone resort) there's a chance that prices increased if Vail resorts refuse to take the pay cut. 

"Yeah it's more for locals," Huiting said. "We truly are a resort community and we don't expect that there will be many changes, people will still think of this as a resort community, obviously as a town we are going to have some identity as a town."

The next vote will take place after the charter drafts the document and the town will get to vote on that later in 2023.