Perhaps it’s because no one nibbled at the $33 million purchase of his Pecos River Ranch, 22 miles northeast of Santa Fe, New Mexico and about 75 miles from the international airport in Albuquerque. He is now seeking to expand the lodging requesting with 3 guest houses.
Want to stay there? The sites describes the features as offering extraordinary fly fishing to be had on our seven miles of the magnificent Pecos River, enjoy miles of secluded trails for horseback riding or mountain biking, and recharge your spirit with the majesty of Northern New Mexico. The ranch boasts 6,000 acres of classic high desert country.
A couple of things make this quite interesting. For starters, according to his http://www.thepecosriverranch.com website, the ranch is already open for guests, although the rates listed - $200 a night - appear to be from 2008.
KRQE reported on March 26, 2010 that San Miguel County's zoning commission has approved a lodging business on actor Val Kilmer's northern New Mexico ranch, although nearby property owners complained he's been a poor neighbor.
Kilmer must have been upset when they apparently changed their mind.
On May 7th, 2010 the Albuquerque Journal, asserted that the San Miguel County Commission won’t allow Kilmer to open his ranch to paying guests. They are still and mightily annoyed by derogatory comments attributed to him in 2003 in the Rolling Stone magazine. Read more about that controversy at ContactMusic.com
On Tuesday, the commission tabled the actor's plans for the guesthouses southeast of Santa Fe, citing lingering resentment over the old Rolling Stone quotes.
So, don’t send in your deposit quite yet. Apparently there will be a personal appearance by Kilmer to the commission within a month. If that goes well, Kilmer’s Pecos River Ranch could be open (reopened?) for business.
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Comments
He should o' listened to his mom, "Play nice." ;)
Interesting article!
I wonder who is lying Rolling Stone or Kilmer? Guess we'll never know. But being a bad neighbor. Hmmm. I have 1 although the majority of my neighbors are GREAT, there is 1 who causes lots of challenges. Isn't there always? Love this article. I want to visit New Mexico. Julia Roberts has a home there. :)
I think more needs to be said in this article..for starters Val is not going before the commission on a whim..instead they have demanded that he appear before them to explain remarks made in 2003. His neighbor is upset because he won't allow people to fish openly on his land..Val has only said he wants them to ask for permission considering is status that isn't too much to ask for is it? Here's a link to the whole story... They are not allowing links..wonder why?
www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_15039799 and another article:
foolocracy.com/2010/05/new-mexico-county-commission-demands-that-val-kilmer-explain-his-insults/
Last time I checked "Freedom of Speech" was still allowed here in America.
Check out Las Cruces Sun-News and Foolocracy for a full story.
Examiner.com never allows live links - too easy to spam, hide a virus etc. It's a safety issue not a free speech issue.
For example - your comments are staying up.
But I think the issue of his original statements needs to be addressed. Regardless of why the commission is upset (and it may well be exactly for the reasons you state), those Rolling Stone statements are quite damaging.
BTW, it would be interesting to know your relationship to this issue.
I have none beyond finding this an interesting story.
Interesting article and comments are always good. Controversy sells and so does celebrity news. As with anything, if concerned we need to look deeper for the whole truth.
Probably two issues - first, Val Kilmer probably felt like his neighbors were trespassing and second, the neighbors probably had a bit of privacy before the got a famous neighbor.
I'm a waitress in Santa Fe and had been reading the articles on those other boards when I decided to look to see if there were more articles like this and found yours. He came into to eat once where I worked and he was very nice to all of us. My freedom of speech remark was not made about my links not showing but the idea of being demanded to show up and explain remarks. There has been a lot of remarks made about the tea parties, different organizations etc...I've just never heard of someone being demanded to make an appearance have you?
A bad neighbor, now? He has been there for over a decade at this ranch. A property owner has a right to put up a fence and to enforce no trespassing. What would happen if someone came on Kilmer's property without permission and then got hurt? He would probaby get sued, that's what. And would it be Mr. Kilmer's fault? No! 6000 acres is a huge amount of land. Just think of 7 miles of river. No one can watch over all of it at one time.
Does Kilmer not have a right to protect his home, property, self and family? As the owner of quite a few acres, I know exactly where he could be coming from.
Why don't people dig a little deeper and look at all the great things Kilmer has done for the area. He has fought to keep the film industry in NM to create jobs and income. He delivers Thanksgiving dinners to many needy families in his area and if he is home it is said that he goes to many of the homes and chats with the owners and truly enjoys it.
To be continued...
Mr. Kilmer has not only contributed to the Wildlife Center near his home, but has hosted a fundraiser at his ranch for them that was open to the public. Mr. Kilmer hosted a benefit for foster children just last fall.
Take the time to dig deeper if you want to know the truth and find the beautful heartfelt things Kilmer has said about New Mexico and how he loves the tri-cultural community there. Check into his love of and work within the Native American community.
One neighbor is said to have complained Val Kilmer never properly introduced himself. Since when is that a crime???
And instead of speculating on why Kilmer is asking for zoning changes why don't you go to his official site valekilmer.com and see what he says about his plans for the ranch that would benefit the community greatly.
Kilmer has stated that he never wanted to sell the whole ranch, because it is his home and always will be. He did want to look for investors/partners for an awesome idea he had.
Dig for truth!!
Hi Kim - nice to meet you :)
I don't think it's unusual for someone asking for a permission to use property for a type of commercial or lodging to have to appear in person or via proxy.
But truly I don't know. If one of our readers knows, that would be helpful.
I thought Kilmer was going to appear to clear the atmosphere and forge a better relationship.
Hi DeeKay, and it would be nice to know about where you are in the controversy. Or, simply a person who finds the situation totally unfair.
But I still assert that the Rolling Stones interview controversy is central to the issue.
New Mexicans have little tolerance for people trashing their community. This isn't a big city where folks shrug it off. Even Albuquerque got mightily annoyed when one TV star trashed the city during an interview.
If he did say those things, it's going to be hard to get folks to look beyond that.
It must be nice to live in a community with so much revenue that they can quash local business and tourism over petty things from 7 years ago.
It's unlikely much of that money would filter into the community. It's a pretty small scale operation and my sense is that the ranch is pretty self-contained. There wouldn't be tours of the local sights. Even though there are places where I believe the scenery is quite lovely.
If anyone is familiar with the surrounding community, please feel free to chime in :)
I just think it is generally unfair and I don't care who it is.
So the light always shines through doesn’t it even with reporters. No one cares about those who work in New Mexico. You Mrs. Reporter dismissed the revenue his business might generate and on the same hand you also dismissed the working people here in New Mexico. If it wasn’t for people like Mr. Kilmer I would probably be out of a job as I am sure countless others would be too. He has a big ranch..what about the people he has working there I guess you don’t care about their families either do you? This person who is complaining wonder what he has ever done for the community? As stated below Mr. Kilmer has done a lot of wonderful things for the people in New Mexico. What have you ever done to help the people in New Mexico..get a life and stop picking on people who help the people in New Mexico!!!!
Hi Tabbie, Actually, I live in Albuquerque. Moved here several years ago because I fell in love with the beauty and the people of the state.
I suggested that the opening the ranch to tourists wouldn't have a big effect on the local economy and then asked that anyone who is more familiar with the area to please comment.
I don't recall asking to be dismissed and insulted. But perhaps you think I'm an anonymous person and it's open season on columnists.
I hope that with your firm support for Mr. Kilmer you'd be spreading the word to allow the lodging. Rather than making assumptions about me without any data at all.
Yes?
Very interesting article as always. Seems unfair to make an issue of something this late.
Wow! Kilmer is creating quite a stir.
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