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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcclc.min.0517171 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MAY 17, 2017 Chairperson Bill Guth called the meeting to order at 8:36 am. Commissioners in attendance: Bill Guth, Bill Dinsmoor, Terry Butler, Charles Cunniffe, Erik Klanderud; ACRA. Absent were Steve Fante and Kiki Raj. Staff in attendance: Nicole Henning; Deputy City Clerk, Dan Nelson; Downtown Coordinator, Mitch Osur; Parking Services Director, Phillip Supino; Principal Long Range Planner Mr. Guth asked for comments on the minutes from April 5th and April 19th and there were none. Mr. Guth moved to approve the minutes and Mr. Cunniffe seconded. Ms. Butler made a comment about the Mayor on the front page of the paper with an article talking about how he wants to expand the mall to the art museum. Please tell me this can’t be done. If you want to kill downtown, that is the fastest way. Mr. Osur stated that the Mayor has heard from CCLC that we do not want an experiment – either do it or don’t and we can’t lose parking. Mr. Dinsmoor commented that the Mayor has one vision about expanding or remodeling, but Mr. Osur insisted that these are two very different projects. Mr. Guth mentioned the issue of the mall renovation and abandoning the existing utilities and mature trees and the general feel of the current mall. Why do we have to completely renew them? Feels like we are having fleece pulled over our eyes… no one has ever said there is an alternative to replacing everything. Why isn’t this being considered as an option? We are not being given all of the facts and options to choose from. Not to mention that this will be so much money to reconfigure the whole thing. It would be a fraction of the cost to keep this as an option and it is not ok that it is not part of the discussion. Ms. Butler agreed with Mr. Guth stating that she feels very strongly about the trees. There are deep roots running through this community and these old trees should not be removed. Mr. Nelson responded by saying that most of those old trees are going to stay unless they are considered dead or dying, in which case they will be removed. Mr. Osur said that he hasn’t heard from anyone in the Parks department who want to take down the trees. He said every single tree has been looked at and marked on a map with different colors and Mr. Nelson can bring this map to the next meeting to show everyone. Mr. Osur also mentioned that he will be out of town next Tuesday for the work session on the mall renovation update so he suggested that Mr. Guth attend and make a statement about the utility issue. Mr. Supino presented on the sign code update and handed out a sign survey to the commissioners for them to fill out. 2 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MAY 17, 2017 Mr. Guth thinks the enforcement is non-existent because Jim Pomeroy is buried in permit review. The enforcement is complaint driven, Mr. Dinsmoor added. Mr. Supino said there is one more public meeting scheduled for this Friday May 19th. Please tell friends, business owners and locals to come and give their input because we need this feedback and policy resolution goes before council at the end of June. The next City Council work session is June 13th and our hope and expectation is that people will come. Ms. Butler asked if they feel downtown does ok with the current signage? Phillip said none of this is really a problem, it’s just the sign code is changing and we are required to change with it. He hasn’t heard a ton of negative comments thus far. This is from the supreme court and no one from the city, just purely us having to comply. He also mentioned that CCLC is free to make a comment to council about feelings on the signage. Moving on, Mr. Guth reviewed the parking feedback from the previous meeting for Mr. Osur. Mr. Osur mentioned the painting of parking space lines on Cooper and Galena and said that he has received a lot of good feedback. Mr. Cunniffe spoke about the family parking idea and Mr. Osur stated that he is open to trying it and that he also wants to target a specific area for later parking hours in the 200 block of Hopkins. He said he would love to enforce the parking fees until 7pm. He then went on to say he will let all restaurant employees park in the garage for free and is currently working with Rob and Beth from Pinons to experiment on this. Mr. Klanderud said he feels the bus schedule is a huge part of the problem forcing people to drive. Mr. Osur said this is another great issue for CCLC to take a stand on with Council. CCLC can go and argue the issue for not cutting the locally serving roots or combine routes in the off season to better serve locals. Mr. Guth asked how we convey this and when? Mr. Osur said to attend a council work session at the end of June with four or five hot topics. Mr. Klanderud mentioned that the Mayor wants to have a more pedestrian and bike friendly community with WeCycle , etc., but there doesn’t seem to be the support for employees getting here when buses aren’t running etc. The people who live in town and can vote on these issues, don’t care because it isn’t a problem for them. Mr. Osur stated that the parking department currently gives out 300 carpool parking passes a day. 3 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MAY 17, 2017 Mr. Guth recapped the mission statement for Mr. Osur and the board from the previous meeting: Promote vitality and success of Aspen’s downtown core for business owners, local residents and visitors. Act as a liaison between City Council, City Staff, business owners and managers. MOTION: Mr. Cunniffe motioned to approve and Mr. Dinsmoor seconded, motion carried. This will be Resolution #2 for CCLC, which I will draft and bring to the next meeting. Mr. Guth recapped the alleyway discussion for Mr. Osur. He stated that if the mall renovation takes place, the City should deal with the alleyways at the same time since they are not conducive to what we need. Mr. Osur said that next time, we need to continue the discussion about window times for deliveries and more ideas on how to clean up the alleyway issues. Mr. Klanderud brought up the issue with Glenwood and its new bridge and how trucks are going to be dealt with moving forward since there will now be a two-hour delay regarding delivery times, etc. Mr. Guth motioned to adjourn at 10:08 am. ____________________________________ Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk