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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcclc.min.0301171 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 1ST, 2017 Chairperson Bill Guth called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Commissioners in attendance: Bill Guth, Bill Dinsmoor, Terry Butler, Kiki Raj, Erik Klanderud and absent were: Charles Cunniffe, Steve Fante and Fred Ayarza. Staff in attendance: Linda Manning, City Clerk; Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk; Mitch Osur, Parking Services Director Ms. Manning kicked off the meeting by speaking about the requirements for board membership with CCLC and mentions that we don’t have to have a mix of people from each business designation and will accept anyone who wants to apply. Ms. Raj mentions that she spoke to the owner of Native Roots and he is interested in joining. Mr. Osur brought to attention the press release from the prior day and stated that he will be assuming a new position within the City as a community outreach liaison and point of contact for downtown core businesses. He stated that he will be available to the community to answer questions regarding downtown events, sidewalk sales, etc and will be taking on a new role within CCLC to lead and foster the group and help define a mission statement and/or goals to accomplish. Mr. Guth mentioned making a motion regarding approval of minutes and stated that they were the best minutes that he has seen since being a part of CCLC and they were very detailed. He requested to make a change to the last paragraph on the first page that he agreed with Ms. Raj that the chain-store regulations were not well thought out. Ms. Butler made a change on the first page, second paragraph from 75% to 25% and Ms. Raj made a change to the last paragraph on page two, stating that she didn’t say Aspen needed to change its culture, but that this type of environment would require Aspen to change its culture. MOTION: Ms. Raj moved to approve the minutes and Mr. Dinsmoor seconded. Mr. Guth stated that resolution 1 looked awesome and he is very appreciative of Ms. Manning for putting it together. He noted that he will be unable to attend the Council meeting on March 6th so Mr. Dinsmoor volunteered to speak on behalf of CCLC. Mr. Guth stated that it’s important to impress upon Council that we sympathize with the symptom in which Mr. Dinsmoor replied that he doesn’t understand the symptom. Mr. Osur stated that 30% of the businesses in town are chain-stores and that the chain-store regulation is for the future. Mr. Dinsmoor replied that this is all for 10-15 years from now and the genesis of this is the yoga store occurrence. Ms. Butler agreed saying that some wealthy guys just decided to fund something. Exactly! (Mr. Dinsmoor agreed) 2 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 1ST, 2017 Mr. Guth commented that these are educated and smart people driving this and they do have some valid points. Mr. Osur stated that as it’s written today – if you are a chain store, Community Development will just have to do an additional subjective review. If they are turned down by ComDev, they can appeal to Council. It’s enforceable, but we aren’t going to turn down a chain store. 20 other cities are doing this and haven’t turned down a single retail store. What I want you guys to think about moving forward, is what are your goals as CCLC? The shop local concept is a great idea. I can help you guys do this and there are other ways to skin a cat besides banning retail stores. Ms. Butler replied that we’ve been watching Nicos Hecht’s building sitting empty for the past year. They only wanted Madison Ave retailers and it’s been sitting empty. If there were such a run on retail spaces in Aspen, why haven’t these beautiful spaces been rented? If you let free enterprise do its own thing, it will seek its own level. Aspen has always been a tough buy in. I have watched all these empty expensive places not being filled. Other than Tesla, I don’t know another new retail store here. Fendi and Chanel have left so they seem to be leaving instead of coming. Mr. Osur stated that a year from now, the same retail places that are here now, will be gone and others will come. MOTION: Mr. Guth moves to approve Resolution 1, Ms. Raj seconds; all in favor, motion carried. Mr. Guth recapped the bullet points of the last quarter goals from a meeting in September and commented that we will try to be more consistent and discuss updates and goals on a quarterly basis so end of March will be the next goal meeting. He also commented that no one from the public ever shows up to these meetings so it’s hard to get feedback and asked how can we do that moving forward. Ms. Raj mentioned that CCLC has a Facebook page that is sort of obsolete, but can be brought back to life. Ms. Manning said that the Community Voice website can help with this issue as well. Mr. Osur mentioned that October is budget season so we can present ideas regarding budget in September. Mr. Dinsmoor attended the agricultural meeting and recapped the event for the group. It was mentioned that those who were present in the market for the first time last year, were voted in as permanent members, which include: Zephyros, Happy Hogs, Osito Orchard and Two Roots. Four new vendors were approved, which include: Marble Distillery, Cap-K, Nieslanik Beef and Belle Ame Flowers. The first three are local vendors in our valley. He went on to say that the community garden doesn’t seem to benefit anyone at the farmers market except make CJ and Ashley happy, but he doesn’t see how anything can really grow in those tiny plots. Wonderful if Ashley and CJ and others could have a little backyard garden group to advocate and teach people how to grow their own gardens, etc. He stated that he representation of this at the Saturday market isn’t appropriate. 3 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 1ST, 2017 Ms. Raj commented that she thinks people visiting here think it’s charming. Ms. Manning suggested that they should use it as a Saturday morning meeting point for tips, tricks, etc. In closing, Mr. Dinsmoor said it was a very nice meeting and he is happy they have a permanent spot for the farmers. Ms. Butler stated that we have the best group of local farmers. Mr. Dinsmoor stated that we allowed, some time ago, for the farmers to bring up to 20 % of products that they do not grow and they must be marked. As far as he knew, he doesn’t think any of them have taken advantage of this arrangement and mentioned that they don’t have contacts with other farmers to be able to do this. Mr. Guth asked Ms. Manning for an update on the mall leases. Ms. Manning stated that she and Mr. Barwick have been working on it. She said that part of what he wants to do this year, is to have the city leases stay in house. Administrative review will be by city staff only and he doesn’t want them to be reviewed by CCLC any longer. The leases will now be reviewed by Ms. Manning, Amy Simon, Mitch Osur, Com Dev, etc. She stated that Mr. Barwick thinks city property should be reviewed administratively and not by advisory boards. No other city leases are handled by a board of any kind. Mr. Guth commented that his concern, and please take with a grain of salt, is that Aspen City government tends to make things inordinately difficult. He is concerned that over the next few years, the City will ruin such a great thing. Ms. Manning stated that the plan is to keep the process the same as it is now; requiring diagrams, encroachments, insurance and get that wrapped up. Mr. Osur commented that he and Ms. Manning will make sure it doesn’t get complicated. Mr. Dinsmoor suggest that it’s the nature of the bureaucracy. The process remains largely the same. We just make recommendations to you guys. What’s the difference in this? Ms. Manning said that nothing is different, it’s just coming from us instead of the CCLC. Mr. Dinsmoor said that we can still do the work with you and bring our knowledge to the table. Mr. Guth mentioned that there is a benefit to your colleagues providing you with feedback and constructive criticism and we somehow help elevate the caliber of what goes on out there. Mr. Dinsmoor said that we have also engaged in the same collegial way to talk to our peers about what’s going on and they are all very receptive to us. Ms. Butler stated that our two main successes as CCLC have been outdoor dining and the market. If it ain’t broke, why fix it? We’ve had such a great working relationship with our restaurant people for years. Aren’t we here to help you guys out? 4 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 1ST, 2017 Mr. Dinsmoor said that he thinks we need to make this recommendation to Mr. Barwick and we’ll see what happens. Mr. Guth said that there is nothing in it for us, we just want to see it succeed. Ms. Manning commented that we all agree that we want the program to succeed. The fact that there are seven other people looking at lines on the pavement, is always a bonus. Mr. Dinsmoor asked why in the heck does the City need more money from restaurants that are already struggling? Now that they want staff doing this job, they will rationalize raising the rates again? Talk about enhancing and encouraging local businesses- this is right in the core of it. Mr. Guth stated that there are razor thin margins right now operating a restaurant in this town. How are our employees supposed to survive in this valley? Mr. Dinsmoor stated that CCLC should have a memo twice a month regarding our plans. This was the genesis of the mall leases and we should be principally involved in this process. Mr. Osur said he will pass this information along to Mr. Barwick and said that this is 100 % inclusive. This is probably the most sensitive project that the city has worked on. Everyone loves the mall. It’s tough. Meeting adjourned at 10:08 a.m. by Mr. Guth. ____________________________________________ Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk