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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcclc.min.01172007 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF JANUARY 17. 2007 Chairperson, Bill Dinsmoor called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.ill. Commissioners in attendance: Mark Goodman, Stan Hajenga, Shae Singer, Terry Butler and Don Sheeley. John Starr was excused. Art Show - Wagner Park Julie Hardman, ACRA stated that this will be the sixth year of the art show. The Parks Dept. determined that July is a difficult month due to the increase of tourist and they would prefer the festival not be in Wagner Park for 2008. The Parks Dept. said there are an increasing amount of sports practice teams etc. in the park and Wagner Park is over used. It is also a playing field for sports games. Bill said Wagner Park should be used for this kind offestival. Don asked if the ACRA wants the event in Wagner park. Julie said yes they so. Julie said the event is a success and they have approval for 2007 but they don't have an approval for 2008. Jennifer Albright said there was a conversation with the Parks Dept. when Hana Pevny was with the ACRA and it was mentioned that the event would be in Wagner Park for only a few years. Howard Allen, event sponsor was approached to move the event to Sept. but no dates were available. Stan inquired about the special event meeting. Julie said the special events thought it was a good idea of moving the event. The Parks Dept. said no on Wagner Park and then suggested it was a good idea to go elsewhere and go to CCLC for your opinion. Julie said the parks are full and the Rio Grande doesn't work. The only other idea is move it to the mall area and there are 170 artist coming. Julie researched the streets and she thought they might work if it were an extension of the Saturday Market. Go up Hunter street to the gondola and Durant. Shae said it would be an asset to the Saturday market. Possibly the Saturday market could be two days. She suggested Julie check with the Highlands. Damauer Group is working on the Highlands to be an art destination. 1 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF JANUARY 17. 2007 Julie said Howard Allen wants the festival in Aspen. Shae also suggested the alternative of the Marolt historical barn. Don explained that special events drive our business and a lot of people come to down. This event has been going on for 6 years and Wagner is the appropriate place for the event. Bill said he can't imagine that the streets would work and the local businesses would go ballistic. Julie said Howard Allen would not want to cut the booths in half. Jennifer said alleys do affect the events and they need to be kept open. Mark said he would be in favor of the mall but art stores and jewelry stores would say the event is cutting into their business. Julie said the city tax has increased during the art show. Mark said some people will be in favor of the event and some will not. Debbie Braun, ACRA president said they worked with galleries to bring them into the art fair and they get a break on the entrance fee. Stan said half the people at his lodge would not go to the event if it was not at Wagner Park. If Parks has to do extra work in the park to keep the event there they should. Shae suggested Highlands or the Marolt area as a backup. Don said you won't get people to go out to the Highlands. Stan said it takes time to build up special events and if you take it elsewhere it will take 3 years to build it back up. Shae said Wagner is the best place to have it. Last year the white protective flooring was put down and it seemed that the grass got aerated. 2 ",-._-,^",-",.~,-"<.,~'",-,,"-,--'-^~-;'-"~~'--'-'.....,."..-.-.,,'" COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF JANUARY 17. 2007 Julie said the porta path is extremely expensive. We need 5,000 square feet. We documented the difference between the prota path and not having it and gave the report to the Parks Dept. to review. Shae said a bus could go to the Highlands and you wouldn't have the walk around traffic. Highlands could be plan B and you could bring in food vendors. The malls don't work and they don't want vendors in front of their businesses. Terry agreed with Stan and Don. The park should be used for this event and it has been here for 6 years. It takes that long to build up a constituency. Mark said he wants to be able to defend this. How does this benefit Aspen itself? Julie said we have tried to involve the galleries and jewelers. Jennifer Albright said local business can purchase through the chamber for $200. Jennifer said vendors get a two day special event sales tax application for $25. Bill said Stan is right his customers won't get on a bus and go to the Highlands. Julie said ifit is not in Wagner park Allen probably won't come back. It is difficult to open it up again and start over. On the streets you need to deal with parking etc. and getting around town. Don said the ACRA'sjob is to bring special events to town. Debbie Braun explained that 5,000 art enthusiast come into town and we highlight the core businesses at the booth. We do Front Range ads. MOTION: Don made the motion that the Art Fair event be held in Wagner Parkfor the next three years from 2008 through 2010; second by Shae. All in favor, motion carried. Jennifer said logistically the streets would be better to unload on. Bill said we have three choices: Wagner, Mall, Streets 3 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF JANUARY 17. 2007 Debbie said they do a little out door event at the Highlands. Shae asked if Parks is saying they don't want anyone on the park and want it open or do they not want this particular event in the park. Do they not want kids playing etc. in the park. Bill said businesses want some event at shoulder time and how do we keep things green. Outdoor merchandise Joyce Allgiere Todd Grange Joyce asked for input on a new policy for outdoor merchandising. Last year - people wanted more merchandise to be allowed outside their store. City council would like some kind of regulations for outside merchandising. 1. Racks 2. Displays 3. Duration Bill said CCLC worked on this several years ago and the outcome was Aspen goes bazaar. It didn't have the under righting support from council referencing funding. Shae said the first aspen goes bazaar was successful. Businesses has a 10 x 10 space in front of their business. Nori had his urt. There were bbq's by the Red Onion. We did advertising pull outs and restaurants did discounts. Bill said she was deeply involved and did all the work. She volunteered her time. The next one was not successful because no one got involved. Shae said Aspen goes bazaar came about because of the restrictions on the sign code etc. The idea is to make it an EVENT and it will be successful. Shae said her personal feeling is that a display outside a business be allowed outside the store. For example a flower store with a beautiful display of flowers. 4 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF JANUARY 17. 2007 Bill said the questions are: Is merchandising a good idea? Is display a good idea outside your store? Terry said Stephen Kaelin has a sale twice a year 50 to 70 percent off. She goes and looks forward to it. They do it very well. There are nice racks and they have a tent. The do it to control the merchandise so people can get their less popular items at a discount and it is welcoming and a friendly thing to do. Joyce said should we limit it to a certain amount of racks. Bill asked Terry how she feels about displays outside their business. Terry said she likes display. Todd said it is difficult to know when there is too much stuff. Mark said he likes the idea of Aspen goes bazaar. Possibly the third Thursday of every month. Racks out on the street degrades Aspen and has no class. It also does not look good. Mark said in terms of display a limited amount. Racks are ridiculous. Do something artful. There is nothing interesting about racks. Racks distract. No for sale signs. Joyce said we need to define what a display is. Stan said boxes should not be allowed outside businesses. The display concept is a good idea. Aspen goes bazaar was a great event. Maybe we need some seed money behind it. Occasional seasonal sales are OK. Don said he feels everything is objective and it is a tough position to be in. Keep it open so that it will work for all businesses. Bill said once a table is involved you cross the line. Mark treat your store like the merchandise display is framed in. Mark said what bothers him is for sale signs. 5 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF JANUARY 17. 2007 Mall Lease - Takah Sushi The board feels Alfresco dining is good. Shae said the issue is that the space is not used during the day. Shae suggested that the restaurant be open for lunch or take the fence down. Mark said the fence doesn't take away that much. Shae said if the fence were taken down and the tables and chairs locked that would improve the area. Don said they have a fence for control so they can come in and out. Bill said he is looking at this generically to allow alfresco dining out front of their store front. Stan said this is a case by cases basis. Bill and Don said it is a problem during the day. Stan suggested opening it up so people get through. Bill suggested added the mall lease revision to the next agenda. Meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.ill. Kathleen J. Strickland, Chief Deputy Clerk 6