Virtual cemetery for Vail residents

DENVER -- Land is too scarce and expensive for a cemetery in Vail, the nation's most popular ski town. A virtual cemetery may be the answer.

Several efforts to build a cemetery in the mountain town have been defeated, with opponents saying there wasn't enough room and it didn't fit the resort's image. Supporters said Vail would never be a real town until it offered a final resting place for residents.

Town Council member Diana Donovan, a resident nearly since Vail was created in 1962, said she supports a plan for a memorial park, where inscriptions could be placed on boulders and stone benches in memory of the departed. Ashes could be buried in urns or scattered over the scenic area.

Also, the park would be within the means of anyone from a waiter to the rich guests that frequent the slopes.

Donovan said there just isn't enough room for a full-fledged cemetery. The town has struggled to find space for housing for employees in the narrow mountain valley where most land is held by the U.S. Forest Service and the average cost of a condo is about $500,000.

The Town Council voted unanimously to send the memorial park proposal to its planning staff for review.

--From wire reports