Letters of Support
Mullin Letter
August 31, 2006
Ching House Concerts and Watsu Pool - Docket ZON-06-075
Pamela Mullin
758 Aspen Meadows Road
Nederland, CO 80466
To Whom It May Concern:
Upon learning someone had complained about the community concert gatherings at the Chings home our neighborhood outcry was amazing and angered. How could someone try to take away these wonderful social gatherings that actually bring our mountain community together? I grew up in the foothills west of Boulder, and have lived on Magnolia road for 9 years, and have never before seen any mountain gatherings which really develop any relationships or caring between adult mountain neighbors.
The Chings decided to have small house concerts a few years ago, because they had met at one in California, and because they enjoyed the close knit feeling it gave people who lived close together. These gatherings, occurring maybe 9 or 10 times a year, are talked about and looked forward to by Aspen Meadows and Magnolia area neighbors. We all go and visit at the hour long pot luck dinner, then listen to an accomplished artist play music for an hour, then there is a desert break where we all talk and visit, and finally another hour of delightful music.
Debbie and Greg Ching pay for all expenses, with attending friends and neighbors each donating $10 towards the cost of the artist, since the Chings cannot afford to pay the entire artist fee to entertain our neighborhood. Many times people cannot make it and Debbie will tell me she and Greg pay for the difference to make up the artists fee. They spend hours preparing for these events, baking new special desserts from scratch to share with friends, and setting up for their party. I know these house concerts cost them quite a bit, but since they do it as friends to neighbors, they refuse all the neighborly advice to claim it as a charitable business and write off their loss.
In the big five foot snow two years ago, they had an artist friend staying with them, who wasnt even to play at their home, and they called around and invited people to come on skis and snow shoes and bring something to share in a backpack. Many of us neighbors went and had a wonderful time. Our children, who have attended the concerts since they were about 7 and 11, also remember the snow concert as one of the best parties ever. The Chings have provided us, and many others, a small, safe, fun way to hear a quality music performance as a family without driving 45 minutes each way.
Our home sits on the corner of Aspen Meadows and County Rd. 68, the corner where those who drive must turn to get to the Chings home, so we are definitely one of the most effected by concert traffic. On concert nights there is admittedly some traffic passing. It is, however, a very small number of cars, especially when you consider the tourist aspects of all the cars carrying unknown people coming to hike, camp, pollute, and 4 wheel drive on the national forest trails a mile further down our road.
I urge you to allow the Chings dinner party house concerts to continue for the benefit of the mountain community.
Watsu Pool
I watched the Chings build the Watsu pool building, with painstaking detail, and huge cost overrides to make it more energy efficient. The Chings use very little water, very little electricity, and are a living example of everything the Boulder conservationists desire. Their home is often on the energy efficiency tour, where Greg once displayed a monthly utility bill for about $27. Most people up in the mountains use about 30 times as much water as the Chings.
When they were building this pool many of us neighbors begged, pleaded, and regularly asked if we would be allowed occasional use. The answer was always well, maybe once in awhile, but it is really just for us to do Watsu on each other. Eventually they broke down to the urging of neighbors and began offering Watsu sessions for some of the injured neighbors to help heal their ailments. And now a neighbor has complained, which has done more damage to our neighborhoods closeness than even the pave versus dont pave Magnolia road issue!
I have benefited from several sessions of Watsu with both Debbie and Greg. They have helped what my doctors and physical therapists could not, by taking away much of the pain from a horse accident I had a few years ago. I, and I believe all the users, have been asked to shower at home first, and then just rinse off before entering the pool. I also bring my own towel so they have no additional laundry. When the Chings are out of town I do the pool maintenance. Seeing all the solar options, the high tech pool cover that prevents evaporation of heat and water, the insulated window coverings again to preserve resources, the low-flush toilet, etc., it is mind boggling to realize how wasteful the rest of the world is. I laughed in disbelief when I heard someone had complained the Chings were using too much water! There is no way they use even as much water as any other household in our neighborhood unless such home is vacant.
I urge you, the county, to please allow the Watsu pool to remain in use for us, as it is a great benefit to have it here in our own neighborhood. It saves a lot of commuting time and gas, especially for all of us who live up here that work from home.
Respectfully Submitted,
Pamela Mullin
