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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcclc.min.112818 SPECIAL MEETING COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION NOVEMBER 28, 2018 Vice-Chair Charles Cunniffe opened the meeting at 8:32 a.m. Commissioners in attendance: Charles Cunniffe, Kiki Raj, Amanda Tanaka, Terry Butler, Jeb Ball. Absent were: Angi Wang, Bill Dinsmoor and Steve Fante. Staff present: Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk Mitch Osur, Parking Services Director APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Ms. Tanaka motioned to approve the minutes of November 7th, Ms. Raj seconded. All in favor, motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT: None. PRESENTATION: Tom Yoder, Wendy Kunkle & Kate Valdmanis of Kemosabe alongside Gyles Thornely of Connect One Design. Councilman Ward Hauenstein entered the meeting. Mr. Yoder said he and his counterparts want to share a goal with CCLC of an idea they would like to pull off in front of Kemosabe and the front entrance. Mr. Thornely showed the vision of what they would like to do on screen. Mr. Yoder described different methods of doing business, such as, the “passive approach” and a more “active foundation, which include delivering wonderful experiences and “romancing the west”. Mr. Yoder said that Kemosabe wants to be the best store in the United States of America. Mr. Ball said it is obvious to him of their approach, which is much different than a traditional one. He asked them who else in town comes close to their approach. Ms. Kunkle guessed maybe White House. We have people in town that have nothing else to do when other places are closed so we want to give them a really neat experience. We have the upstairs bar, music, etc. Ms. Valdmanis spoke about “romancing the west”. She said she’s an employee and has worked for Kemosabe for a while now. For them, it’s different because it’s more of a brand and experience. They all dress the part, have the perfect play list for mornings and when the afternoon gets busier. They have the perfect songs, turn the music up, have horses there, etc. The staff do not clock in and out. Everyone buys the brand and is excited about it from start to finish. She mentioned things that Lululemon could be doing to draw people in, such as, doing yoga in the window, serving tea etc. If you create an inviting atmosphere, it is more of an experience. You can romance anything – the west, product or business. Ms. Kunkle said it’s not an easy task, as they are always “on” and constantly reinventing and thinking of new ways to excite people. We are constantly changing and keeping our energy up and our shoulder season is less and less. SPECIAL MEETING COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION NOVEMBER 28, 2018 Ms. Kunkle said they have to think of creative ways to get people back to Kemosabe and back to Aspen. That’s our overall goal. She said they would like to have the horses out front more often, but it’s not super conducive since the sidewalk is cracked and there are cars parked. Mr. Thornely explained the image on screen and said they would be taking out one parking spot to give way to a corral with a hitching post. In addition to this, they would like to install an old wooden walkway in front of the store. It would be a non-slip tile application, which looks like wood, but it’s not. Mr. Osur asked what CCLC’s feeling is about taking away a parking spot in front of their store. Outside of that issue, it’s ultimately a planning & zoning/building/engineering issue. Ms. Butler said we give away parking places all the time to a lot less important things than this business. Ms. Raj asked about what happens to the parking space if Kemosabe goes away and Mr. Osur said that Kemosabe owns this space, so they would have to pay us for it. Mr. Ball said he thinks it’s a great idea and very well thought out. Ms. Tanaka said she loves it. Ms. Butler said it brings a lot of atmosphere to the town. Mr. Ball said it raises the bar for other businesses in town. Mr. Cunniffe there are certain unique qualities to this project. It is at the edge of an alley, so it provides some safety features. Mr. Osur pointed out that they’ve met with the mayor and Pete Rice from engineering and they liked it. Mr. Yoder will also need to go to ACRA and they have to get buy in from the neighbors. Mr. Cunniffe said it has to be compelling and contributing to vitality. Mr. Hauenstein said he hasn’t seen this before, but council isn’t in favor of one offs. We need a specific protocol for this. It will probably be recommended to council and we will probably have to make a decision since we will lose a parking space. He loves the concept and said he thinks we need more of this kind of thing. People enjoy this store, it’s so much fun, so we should encourage this type of thing. We just need a protocol. Ms. Raj said they should base this on the market vendor protocol to begin with. This won’t stand scrutiny and others will call this unfair. We have to be able to defend it. Ms. Valdmanis said Mr. Yoder has said he wants our area to be retail row (like restaurant row) and just kill it. Mr. Cunniffe said we all agree this is positive for Aspen’s core and support it. Mr. Osur said we want to do this as a living lab so to speak. It was a great presentation. Mr. Hauenstein reminded everyone of ACRA’s motto, “defy ordinary” and this project does that. SPECIAL MEETING COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION NOVEMBER 28, 2018 MARKET VENDOR RATING CATEGORIES: Ms. Henning read the categories which she and Mr. Osur came up with to the board and everyone agreed on them. Mr. Osur said they will work together on the scoring weights this week and will have this ready for next week’s meeting with Kathy Strickland and Jim True to finalize the application for next year. CODE OF ETHICS: Mr. Ball is working on a code of ethics for CCLC and said he will bring some new suggested by-laws for CCLC for the board to approve or deny at the first of the year in January. Ms. Henning let everyone know that Ms. Wang, Mr. Ball and herself are putting together welcome baskets tomorrow evening. We’ve got several businesses to hand them out to and will throw a copy of the most recent newsletter in as well. NEXT NEWSLETTER: Mr. Ball suggested we stay on a schedule and try to get the next one out by President’s Day. Suggested businesses to highlight were those such as, Pitkin County Dry Goods, Susie at Souchi Boutique, Paradise Bakery, Ute Mountaineer, Aspen Tap, Locals Coffee/Maker & Place. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Mr. Cunniffe brought up the Lift 1 project and said it is an opportunity for a world class ski museum. That should be a significant part of the ask. The historical society is timid to ask for something bold and the museum is a vitality element for our core to have a vital historic ski museum be a significant part of the project. Mr. Hauenstein said there have been 11 or 12 hours of meetings the last couple of weeks regarding cost sharing, etc. Council has another meeting scheduled on the 3rd and the 10th. He doesn’t feel they should be rushed to put it on the March ballot. Mr. Hauenstein announced that he has become a grandfather since he was last here. Mr. Cunniffe moved to adjourn, Ms. Raj seconded. All in favor, motion carried. _______________________________________ Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk