{"id":2458110,"date":"2020-05-06T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=325331"},"modified":"2020-05-06T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T12:00:00","slug":"snowmass-town-council-recap-snowmass-center-redevelopment-discussed-trail-closures-land-use-code-changes-parcel-rezoning-approved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/snowmass-town-council-recap-snowmass-center-redevelopment-discussed-trail-closures-land-use-code-changes-parcel-rezoning-approved\/","title":{"rendered":"Snowmass Town Council recap: Snowmass Center redevelopment discussed; trail closures, land use code changes, parcel rezoning approved"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/council-svs-050620-1024x682.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/council-svs-050620-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/council-svs-050620-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/council-svs-050620-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/council-svs-050620-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/council-svs-050620-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>Snowmass Town Hall on May 3, 2020.<\/strong><br \/><em>Maddie Vincent\/Snowmass Sun<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">COUNCIL TO REVIEW POLISHED RESOLUTION FOR SNOWMASS CENTER REDEVELOPMENT THIS MONTH<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">Town Council gave the Snowmass Center redevelopment team direction needed to craft a polished resolution for preliminary approval of its center project May 4.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">At the Monday meeting, council received a draft resolution with nearly 90 required conditions for the center project based off of the Planning Commission\u2019s review, and mainly discussed one area of contention: whether the types of tenants allowed on the street level of the main Snowmass Center building should be restricted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">In its review of the Snowmass Center project, the Planning Commission spent a lot of time discussing this, ultimately deciding in a near-split decision that the street level should be prioritized for retail and restaurant tenants, not office or real estate, as discussed with council May 4. The commission worried that if future market demands drive rent prices up, businesses like jewelry stores and real estate offices may be the only ones able to afford to be on the main Snowmass Center building\u2019s ground level, decreasing vitality and community benefit.<\/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\">\n<p><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\"><\/p>\n<\/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=\"[No paragraph style]\">But during a brief presentation to council, Jordan Sarick, principal of Eastwood Developments and its Eastwood Snowmass Investors affiliate, explained that limiting the types of tenants allowed on the street level of the new center could actually be detrimental to its future success and not allow for flexibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">Many businesses offer more than one service or use and do not fit neatly into traditional \u201ccommercial type\u201d definitions, Sarick explained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">\u201cI worry that by limiting office uses we are going to be unnecessarily and needlessly limiting some uses that could provide vitality and other essential services at the center,\u201d Sarick said. \u201cThe most successful projects and neighborhoods change and evolve to meet the needs of the community and all we\u2019re asking for is the flexibility that exists in the code currently to continue the center\u2019s uses going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">Sarick also addressed a few questions and concerns council brought up at its April 20 meeting during his May 4 presentation, including updated variance requests, more detail on the center\u2019s traffic flows, sidewalks and transportation connections, and the programming plan for the park proposed at the new center.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">After some discussion, Town Council generally agreed that tenant flexibility needed to be allowed for on the street level of the center, aligning with Sarick and noting that most of the current center tenants, including Ajax Supply, Clark\u2019s Market, the post office, Sundance Liquor and Gifts and Taster\u2019s Pizza, are already proposed and accounted for on the new center\u2019s first floor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">\u201cI\u2019m a person that enjoys flexibility versus a cookie cutter approach,\u201d Mayor Markey Butler said. \u201cI really think you got to work a plan and the plan needs to fit the community, so if there\u2019s a need for flexibility in terms of what the uses can be I don\u2019t think we need to be prescriptive, I think we need to be creative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">Sarick said his team would bring back a more polished resolution for review at the May 18 council meeting, along with more detail on the traffic flow, logistics and safety at the new center, as requested by Councilman Bob Sirkus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">If council approves the resolution, it would mean preliminary approval of the Snowmass Center planned unit development (PUD) application. It would not allow the center redevelopment team to proceed with construction of any kind; it only authorizes them to prepare and submit a final PUD based off of the conditions required by the town through the preliminary plan approval, according to town documents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">TOWN ALIGNS WITH FOREST SERVICE ON SEASONAL BURNT MOUNTAIN AREA CLOSURE<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">Town Council approved the second reading of an ordinance that extends the seasonal closure dates for trails in the Burnt Mountain area, aligning with the U.S. Forest Service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">According to Brian Olson, Snowmass police chief, the White River National Forest formally adopted closure extensions for the Two Creeks to West Buttermilk area in late April. By following suit, Olson said the town would be in partnership with Forest Service officials to monitor and enforce the closure, and any violations would come through the local court. Violating the closure can result in a fine of up to $5,000 or six months in jail, punishable by Forest Service regulation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">The closure aims to protect the elk in the area from being startled or disrupted by trail users during calving season. Trails affected include the Tom Blake, Sequel and other trails in the Elk Camp and Two Creeks vicinity, which will open June 21, along with the Anaerobic Nightmare, Government #1980 and Sugarbowl trails, which will open June 28.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">Town Council unanimously approved the seasonal closure extension ordinance with little discussion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\"><span>COUNCIL APPROVES CHANGES TO THE LAND USE CODE<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">Council members approved the second reading of the ordinance that changes the way basement and mechanical space exemptions are measured and determined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">These land-use code changes include limiting mechanical space exemptions in homes with or without qualifying basement exemptions to 5% of the allowable floor area; eliminating the unlimited mechanical space provision in qualifying basement exemption spaces; and redefining how the qualifying basement exemption is measured to rely on either existing or finished grade, whichever is most restrictive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">As explained by Julie Ann Woods, town community development director, the changes are in response to a years-long trend of misuse of these exemptions in some redevelopment and new home projects, which community development officials feel impact public safety and the residential character of the village.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">At the May 4 meeting, Woods recapped this reasoning and included two more examples of misuse submitted to the town over the past few weeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">\u201cThis is why we are presenting this to you because we are concerned,\u201d Woods said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">\u201cThis (misuse) is legal and what we\u2019re saying is it is not the intent of the law, so we\u2019re suggesting we change the law so it meets what we believe the intent to be,\u201d added Town Manager Clint Kinney.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">Mark Kittle, the town\u2019s chief building official, also weighed in on the proposed changes, namely the new limit on mechanical space exemption, saying that he feels the 5% cap provides enough mechanical space for developers to work with and should be put in place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">Town Council agreed that some flexibility with the 5% cap, namely when and if homeowners or developers are looking to utilize clean energy equipment, should be allowed as exceptions and up to the community development and building officials to decide.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">Council unanimously approved the second reading of the ordinance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\"><span>HORSE RANCH PARCEL REZONED AS OPEN SPACE<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">In a 4 to 1 vote, Town Council approved the second reading of an ordinance that would rezone a parcel of the Horse Ranch Subdivision from \u201cpublic\u201d to \u201copen space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">The vote aligned with the ordinance\u2019s first reading decision, with Councilman Bob Sirkus voicing his concern with the rezone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">Sirkus feels that the rezone could be detrimental in the future, as rezoning out of open space requires the designation of a similar open space parcel elsewhere in town. He feels rezoning the parcel as \u201cconservation\u201d instead would serve the same purpose, keep the land in town hands and allow for future flexibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">\u201cNone of us know how this town is going to develop over the next not five years but 25 years. And I think that even by leaving this as public there is very little risk, almost no risk that anything is going to be built there,\u201d Sirkus said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">Despite Sirkus\u2019 concerns, council moved to rezone the Horse Ranch parcel adjacent to Brush Creek Road to open space.<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\">\u201cWhen I went down and saw 30 elk sitting on that parcel, it pretty much answered the question for me because I was really in your camp,\u201d Councilman Bill Madsen said to Sirkus May 4. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to give future councils any options\u2026 as open space, it will be much more difficult (to rezone again) and I think that\u2019s the purpose here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"[No paragraph style]\"><a href=\"mailto:mvincent@aspentimes.com\">mvincent@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/snowmass\/snowmass-town-council-recap-snowmass-center-redevelopment-discussed-trail-closures-land-use-code-changes-parcel-rezoning-approved\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Snowmass Town Hall on May 3, 2020.Maddie Vincent\/Snowmass Sun COUNCIL TO REVIEW POLISHED RESOLUTION FOR SNOWMASS CENTER REDEVELOPMENT THIS MONTH Town Council gave the Snowmass Center redevelopment team direction needed to craft a polished resolution for preliminary approval of its center project May 4. At the Monday meeting, council received a draft resolution with nearly [&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-2458110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 19:04:45","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\/2458110","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=2458110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}