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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcclc.min.080118 1 REGULAR MEETING COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION AUGUST 1ST, 2018 Commissioners in attendance: Steve Fante, Bill Dinsmoor, Terry Butler, Amanda Tanaka, Angi Wang, Kiki Raj. Absent was Charles Cunniffe. Staff present: Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk Mitch Osur, Parking Services Director Jim Pomeroy, Zoning Enforcement Officer Phillip Supino, Principal Long Range Planner Other attendees: Ward Hauenstein and Jeb Ball APPROVAL OF MINUTES: None. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: None. Mr. Supino and Mr. Pomeroy began the meeting with a more in-depth presentation on the Sign Code and specifically the sandwich boards. He started by reminding the board about the supreme court case out of Arizona, which prompted the amendment. In this case, it was a business owner’s first amendment rights to free speech were infringed upon by city’s sign code. Ms. Raj joined the meeting. This left local governments all over the country not knowing how to proceed. 3500 communities around the country have complied with the changes so far. The new sign code is making determinations based on size, appearance, materials, location and quantity. Now, we are looking at what zone district the business is in, how big is your space and the nature of the building you’re located in. The ruling was in 2014 and was put off for a number of years until last fall when we put out a compliant sign code. The big questions are still about real estate signs, construction signs and sandwich boards. Less than ten years ago, we did not allow sandwich boards here in aspen at all so we have just gone back to that. Mr. Hauenstein agreed with Phillip on his summary and said it all still confuses him. Ms. Wang joined the meeting. Mr. Supino stated that a year ago, Mr. Pomeroy and Mr. Osur went door to door in town talking to business folks and they had a page up on the community voice website which people could leave commentary on. They also held a couple of open houses with a few people in attendance and said there were only a couple people who showed up to the council meetings when the amendment was actually approved. It was council’s feeling to make this decision with as much info as was available, so that is what they did. An alternative to a sandwich board is a directory sign, which can be quite large. Mr. Supino mentioned the upcoming work session on August 21st and Mr. Hauenstein pointed out that this is a result of Mr. Fante & co. showing up. Mr. Supino said it’s staff’s job to remind council of how we got where we are. This work session is for the community to express to council where we go from here on this, as directly as possible, to meet needs of signage for business owners, yet not run afoul. Ms. Butler asked what the penalties are if we don’t follow the rules on this and Mr. Supino said someone could sue us. Someone would have to bring a lawsuit and we would get taken to civil court. 2 REGULAR MEETING COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION AUGUST 1ST, 2018 Ms. Butler said we have a lot of weird buildings here in town with below grade businesses, etc. and Ms. Tanaka’s location is an example of that. After all of these 50 years of good intentions, she asked if there would there be a way that we could make exceptions on the weird building locations because to those few, it could be the make or break of their business. She said it would be nice if we could step forward and help these spaces because not everyone wants a sandwich board anyway. Mr. Hauenstein suggested giving some context and maybe have an ordinance for how far out the sandwich boards can go onto the mall. He said he is the strongest supporter of sandwich boards and believes the second tier spaces need them. He’s only 20 percent of the vote on council and supports it, but if we allow the boards, we may need voluntary enforcement and perhaps CCLC could be the enforcement. This might help sway council because he doesn’t think they will support individual exceptions. Mr. Osur said he feels that it’s everyone or no one at this point. Mr. Fante said it’s about the law and he asked if this can this be done by individual buildings and Mr. Supino said yes. Restaurants can have a menu box and we’re not allowed to say who can use that sign. Ms. Wang said the building owner can dictate who uses this sign. Ms. Butler asked what we can do to help small businesses survive in this atmosphere. Instead of making it so difficult, let’s figure out ways with a welcome attitude besides just a welcome basket. Mr. Osur asked if everyone is ok if there were 50% more sandwich boards out on the street and Ms. Butler said she doesn’t think this will happen, but Mr. Osur thinks all real estate people will have them out. Mr. Pomeroy said they are constantly having to ask real estate agents to put them away on a daily basis even now. He said people will put them out a half a block to a block away from their business and he always has to ask people to put them back in front of their building and he has no way of deciding whose to keep and not. Ms. Tanaka asked if they could do something for second tiers with a little pole and a sign pointing the way. Mr. Pomeroy directed her to the back of the postcard they handed out and said they have listed other options available to people. An example would be a blade type of sign and many people have never taken advantage of this. Mr. Hauenstein brought up “messy vitality” and said council feels that too many sandwich boards are too messy and not vital. Ms. Tanaka suggested that some other solution or option is needed. Mr. Supino suggested a uniform branded way finding sign for all second-tier spaces and Mr. Pomeroy agreed that there is a way to do this. There is a way to craft something that will be compliant and can help second-tier businesses. Mr. Supino also mentioned the city sponsored app to help find businesses as well. The board was all in favor to give their support for suggesting an app and an alternative for second-tier spaces. Mr. Supino said he is here purely seeking direction for council regarding the next meeting. Mr. Fante said he finds its disturbing that sandwich boards are being singled out as opposed to other types of signage. 3 REGULAR MEETING COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION AUGUST 1ST, 2018 Mr. Supino mentioned the work session on the 21st at 4:00 p.m. and said everyone should come. He said there was no one in the room when the sign code was amended and he understands that people have things going on, but there are a number of ways to participate in this stuff. I encourage you guys to come and rally other businesses to come as well. Mr. Hauenstein mentioned something that came up in the retreat, which was the expedited internal remodels with the Building Department, labeled “epic”. These will now get through the system as soon as possible and they are trying for an eight-business day turnaround, but as of now, they are getting through in less than five business days. Mr. Osur mentioned that Ms. Strickland bought a trailer for the Saturday market for $2,600 some odd dollars and said that moving forward, she needs to communicate with Mr. Fante on all items like this. I mentioned Osito peaches pulling out of the Saturday market and said we have a new peach and lamb replacement and that we are just waiting on paperwork. Mr. Fante said we need to come up with a budget to present to council moving forward on our projects. Mr. Osur will be working on this as well since requests for money need to come through him. Discretionary market money is in the budge as well. The 16th of August is Mr. Osur’s budget meeting so he needs this info from Mr. Fante within the next 10 days. Mr. Dinsmoor said they had a 40k budget in the past. Mr. Fante and Mr. Osur said they will set up a meeting with Mr. True to discuss the budget moving forward. Mr. Hauenstein said the biggest council item right now is the city offices and they are still debating the Galena parcel or 517 Hopkins. We would appreciate your opinions on this issue. MOTION: Mr. Fante motioned to adjourn, Ms. Raj seconded at 10:13 a.m. _____________________________ Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk