Lutsen Mountain: the new Aspen?

There's a good reason for the 35 foot height limit for all building in Cook County. We are one of the few areas left in this nation with forests, wetlands, lakes and shoreland, thanks mainly to the fact that only nine percent of the county is privately owned. This keeps out the mega-developers, as does our zoning ordinances.
Look at many places that were once special destinations and now are just overdeveloped McMansions: South Florida, much of Colorado's ski resorts, Door County, Wisconsin--to name only a few.
By requesting a 55 foot building on Lutsen Mountain, Lutsen Mountain Corporation is opening Pandora's box. Once it happens there is no turning back and others will be scrambling to get on the bandwagon: witness the rental condo development fiasco in Grand Marais that finally ended after voters changed the City Council and the housing bubble deflated.
The argument in favor, as I read it, is mainly that higher means a smaller footprint. Surely this is specious. Every time I drive up Highway 61 I can't help but notice the Bavarian Castle owned by The Arnold, governor of over-developed California, perched on overhanging ledgerock for all to see and be awed.
People who come here, our bread-and-butter folks, love that we have kept our wild spaces and limited the size and scope of our developments.
Worst of all, without the questions asked by Lutsen supervisor Diane Parker, this travesty would have passed the town council with scarcely any public process. That's in sharp contrast to the excellent work done by the Lutsen Planning Committee and the U of M Center for Changing Landscapes on the town center and highway/bike trail configurations. Why the discrepancy?
The county's response is lukewarm with Bob Fenwick fussing about how height limits are determined and nobody really wanting to say No to such a big landowner and employer.
Development works best when it follows the guidelines set by open and inclusive public processes. Designs need to first of all preserve and protect our fragile ecosystem, which grows largely on fractured bedrock and is thereby vulnerable to stormwater erosion, non-source point pollution, and most of all over-development.
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