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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcclc.min.06202007 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF JUNE 20. 2007 Chairperson, Bill Dinsmoor called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.ill. Commissioners in attendance: Terry Butler, Mark Goodman, Don Sheeley and Shae Singer. Excused was John Starr. Ducky Derby Chris Bendon, Rotarian requested to erect 2 tents and the Ducky Derby duck on the Cooper Ave. mall from the 28th of July through August 10th. The event is August II tho Inside the tent merchandise will be sold related to the event. This is the same request as last year. The event raised $65,000 last year. Don pointed out that Sister Cities received funds from the event for students to go over seas. This is a great fund raiser that helps our community. MOTION: Don made the motion to approve the Ducky Derby as presented by Chris Bendon; second by Terry. All infavor, motion carried. Commissioner comments: Bill asked Chris what Mick Ireland's views and intents are regarding code amendments etc. Chris said a program or itinerary will be discussed at the retreat. With new members it takes some time for individuals to understand and absorb the issues at hand. Chris said one idea is to rejuvenate our lodging units but at the same time there is a lot of hesitation about the bulk and impact on town. Terry asked if one of the lodging issues is about timeshare. Chris said his department is doing an analysis about timeshares through the finance department. They will analyze spending trends and occupancy rates. Chris said they are using towns and cities where time shares exist. Don and Terry pointed out that time shares do not pay the lodging tax and somehow they should. Terry said she has a small lodge. When people buy four weeks of time shares and rent them out they pay no taxes. The City needs to clap down on this issue. Chris said that is a question for the finance department. Chris relayed that lodging is important in a resort and we have been loosing lodging for the past decade. We don't know what the magic number is in 1 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF JUNE 20. 2007 lodging. Snowmass feels they will have a robust bed base. We lost 20 to 25 percent in the past ten years. Chris said Ben Gagnon is doing a presentation on commercial mix July 2nd at 5:00 p.m. He will discuss how the City got where we are and ask for direction from council. Bill said his question is what place does government have in retail? He is concerned because Carmel California hasn't worked and he hasn't seen it work anywhere. Chris said Ben identified ten towns or cities in the country as examples. The question is whether the government is the proper entity to do this. Bill asked what locally affording means or locally serving commercial. Chris said that has yet to be determined. Bill said it is impossible to define. Terry said a lot of chain stores came in and they don't care if they make money. In the past Aspen had Tom's market, Aspen Drug and Ute City bar and grill. How we have a sunglass hut. Aspen has lost the liveliness downtown. We need guidelines for the street level as to what should go in and government should be involved. Shae pointed out that 20 years ago there was a push to stop chain stores from coming in. The rents are so high it means chain stores can come in because they have a bigger blank flow. Shae said we need more fun and funky shopping and more creative shopping. The issue is what can we have here that makes Aspen a fun shopping experience. . . that means chain stores because during the off season they can pull money from somewhere else. Small retail stores do not have money to backup. Mark said Takah Sushi looks great. The flower pots in the center of the mall and bike racks make the malls look superb. Make said he had a meeting with Jeff Woods on LED lights. Shae wanted to know where the recycling wraps are that were supposed to go over the metal recycling bins. More tables and chairs are needed in the mall. Don pointed out that the grass is not growing near the streams and possible sod could be used. 2 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF JUNE 20.2007 Terry said the Cooper Street stream is not working. Alleyways Shae said right now electric cars can park for free anywhere. She and Terry discussed the idea of utilizing our alleys for additional parking spaces for electric cars. Spaces could be utilized and identified that are safe and still allow passage for deliveries and fire trucks etc. These would only be used for alternative plug in vehicles, mopeds, bikes. By creating them we would increase street parking now being used by those types of vehicles. Don and Bill suggested the parking department be involved so that spaces are not taken that are for dumpster pickup etc. We also need to make sure we don't use private spaces. Signage would need to be placed in the alleys. Parking is at a premium. *The board will do a walk through of the alleys to determine what spaces are available. ~ee'ng adjo~ed at 1O~00 ( M~ // [ll. i KathIe J. Strickland, Chief Deputy Clerk 3