By Daily staff report VAIL — The town of Vail is introducing the first stages of a master planning process that will rely heavily on community engagement to determine how best to incorporate community needs and goals in preparing for future improvements to town-owned properties in the heart of Vail. To learn more about the Civic Area Master Plan process, the town is hosting a community open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11, in the Grand View on the third level of the Lionshead Welcome Center.
The Civic Area study will identify opportunities for a number of prominent town sites encompassing a 10-acre area to include the Lionshead Parking and Transportation Center, charter bus lot, Dobson Ice Arena, Vail Public Library, Vail Municipal Building complex, as well as sections of Gore Creek that traverse the area.
The community engagement activities will be driven by a new online forum, engagevail.com, which will offer opportunities to take part in surveys, discussions and information-sharing throughout the planning process. To help get the conversation started, the town is inviting community members to log on, register and take a short survey hosted by engagevail.com beginning Dec. 11.
The concurrent open house will be used to share information about the community engagement process, introduce members of the project team and collect feedback on the series of questions that will serve as the foundation for the master plan. The open house will include light refreshments; free parking will be available in the Lionshead parking structure for entries after 3 p.m.
The survey questions will help identify the qualities that make for a great civic space in Vail, what is currently working, what is missing and any “big ideas” to be pursued. Responses to the survey will be collected until Friday, Jan. 25, and will be used to inform the initial site concepts and future improvements for the area. Anyone who loves Vail is invited to participate.
The Civic Area Master Plan process will take approximately 11 months and will involve multiple opportunities to be involved in the planning and design process, including additional online engagement, “pop-up” outreach events and stakeholder/focus groups. The town will also be working directly with organizations such as the Eagle River Youth Coalition to empower and include youth in the planning process.
Once initial phases of community engagement have been completed, the design team will begin working to understand programing and planning considerations related to ideas derived from the community. This evaluation will include involvement from civil engineering, environmental, traffic and economic/market specialists on the project team.
Up to three alternative development concepts will be prepared, and following review by the Town Council, a preferred concept will be selected. This concept will be incorporated into a maser plan for the Civic Area that will be released for public review in late July.
The Planning and Environmental Commission will review the plan in August and September, and the Town Council’s review is planned to occur in September and October. Opportunities for public comment will take …read more
Via:: Vail Daily