{"id":2457754,"date":"2020-04-27T22:48:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-28T04:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-city-council-moves-to-fast-track-construction-during-economic-crisis\/"},"modified":"2020-04-27T22:48:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-28T04:48:00","slug":"aspen-city-council-moves-to-fast-track-construction-during-economic-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-city-council-moves-to-fast-track-construction-during-economic-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen city council moves to fast track construction during economic crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/Construction-atd-042820-1-1024x768.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/Construction-atd-042820-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/Construction-atd-042820-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/Construction-atd-042820-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/Construction-atd-042820-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/Construction-atd-042820-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The majority of Aspen City Council on Monday agreed to loosen construction restrictions in an effort to increase economic activity during the COVID-19 crisis, which has shut down nearly every business in town.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Council members during a <a id=\"N0xd4fa50N0xf3a040:N0xd4fa50N0xd276d8\" href=\"https:\/\/d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net\/cityofaspen\/cce4a771-867a-11ea-99b9-0050569183fa-da76106a-2e02-4fe6-bbb2-ae71e53e957b-1587769296.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">work session<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i> agreed to allow building permits to be expedited and issued, potentially letting developers work on several projects at once.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Elected officials also agreed to extend the right-of-way construction season from its current June 1 closure date to July 1, and then begin it early, prior to Labor Day, for the fall months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That gives contractors and laborers at least a month to make up for the time they were shut down on their projects in April.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Pitkin County Public Health order was amended last week to allow construction sites to resume beginning Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Council declined to extend construction hours and is sticking with the current rules of 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe are already under so much stress as a community,\u201d Councilman Skippy Mesirow said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That was a sigh of relief for resident Valerie McDonald, who told council during public comment that 10 hours a day of construction is plenty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s a quality-of-life issue,\u201d she said, adding that she recognizes that construction in Aspen is part of life but it\u2019s nice to have a break.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Expediting construction projects could result in disruption on every block in the downtown core, which is concerning for Mayor Torre.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Also of concern among council members is getting assurance that a developer has a surety that the financing is in place and the projects are going to get finished, and not be an a blighted hole in the ground for years to come as witnessed after the Great Recession.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">City staff will work to alleviate those concerns and attempt to hold developers accountable on their ability to assure their projects will in fact get completed, community development director Phillip Supino told council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In their presentation to council, city staffers pointed out more cons than pros in their construction recovery analysis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">However, in a town where construction, development and growth pit community members against one another, in a survey on <a id=\"N0xd4fa50N0xf3a280:N0xd4fa50N0xd27e28\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspencommunityvoice.com\/expedited-construction-for-recovery\/forum_topics\/what-are-your-reasons-for-supporting-or-not-supporting-expediting-construction-in-aspen#comments\">Aspencommunityvoice.com<\/a> about the proposed construction stimulus, it was a nearly 2-to-1 margin of people favoring getting hammers in full swing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While construction and development increase economic activity by creating jobs and bringing workers to town requiring goods and services, there are negative impact.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">According to a staff memo to council, a report from the Economic Policy Institute estimates that for every 100 direct construction industry jobs, 226 indirect jobs \u2014 suppliers, goods and services \u2014 are created.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cDirect and indirect employment and spending will infuse cash into the regional economy, add value to real property in the city, and contribute to regional recovery,\u201d the memo reads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Dust, noise, traffic, parking disruptions, reduced air quality, and visual effects are all impacts one might reasonably anticipate from an increase in construction activity, according to the memo from city department heads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Increased construction and development also may result in the demolition of commercial spaces, displacing local businesses, they added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Councilwoman Ann Mullins, who is serving as liaison to the construction and professional services sectors, said businesses closing to make way for redevelopment are inevitable and unfortunate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But recognizing it\u2019s going to be a quiet summer with no special events and tourism down, construction activity is ripe, she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Land-use planner and consultant Chris Bendon, representing developer Mark Hunt who controls dozens of properties ready for redevelopment, told council the team is ready to go and would try to have most projects contained to interior work by summer of 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cStart sooner, finish quicker,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\"><a href=\"mailto:csackariason@aspentimes.com\">csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/aspen-city-council-moves-to-fast-track-construction-during-economic-crisis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The majority of Aspen City Council on Monday agreed to loosen construction restrictions in an effort to increase economic activity during the COVID-19 crisis, which has shut down nearly every business in town. Council members during a work session agreed to allow building permits to be expedited and issued, potentially letting developers work on several [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2457754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 22:11:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2457754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457754\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2457754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2457754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2457754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}