Basalt Community Development Update December 5, 2014 Current Status: RMI Development Construction to build the Innovation Center is underway. The full building permit is under review by the Community Development Department and districts. Roaring Fork Conservancy July 22 Council approved extension of vested rights and predevelopment agreement. Applicant preparing Application to amend plan; The Plat has been recorded to slightly enlarge site. Roaring Fork Club The Applicant pulled a building permit to convert administration building to a single family house as approved by the Council on September 9 th. The Waterman Driveway Application for minor subdivision and Slope Review to create a new access to Lot C of the Waterman Property was approved on 2 nd reading by the Town Council on October 14th. The Applicant amended its application for the Waterman Addition to the Roaring Fork Club to include five cabins and the application has been requested by the Applicant to be continued into January. The Roaring Fork Club received an extension of the sketch plan approval for the RFC Arbaney/Kittle Addition and a predevelopment agreement which was approved by the Council on November 18th. The applicant has advised that they are no longer seeking the de-annexation and annexation of property Real America Affordable Housing The 2 nd Reading on the Amendment to the approval ordinance to address construction financing is being recommended by Staff to be continued until the ordinance approving the contract for the Town s purchase of units is ready to be approved by the Council. Hagman Little Snell Amendment An application to convert two office units to a residential unit has been sent to referral agencies for comment was approved by the P&Z on November 18 th and is scheduled for review by the Town Council on 1 st reading on December 9 th. Willits Town Center The Full Building Permit for the Hotel was issued on Monday, October 27 th. Wilds PUD Amendment The Council approved the Wilds PUD amendment on 2 nd reading on October 28 th. 801 Pinion Drive Annexation Council approved the Resolution establishing Annexation Eligibility Hearing date on October 14 th. Tree Farm Referral The Tree Farm Preliminary PUD Development application was submitted to the Town and the Town is under review. SGM Fall Forum #1 HOT Water Issues. Denise attended the water issue forum hosted by SGM Friday November 14 th in Carbondale. Presentations were made by representatives of the US EPA, water law and engineering firms, non-profit water issue organizations, municipal government, and private developers. Topics included the Waters of the US proposed rule-making (WOTUS Rule), the Colorado Basin Implementation Plan, the Colorado River Compact, an update of Senate Bill 23, and engineering issues related to water right measurements. There was a call from one presenter for all municipalities to establish Sustainability Coordinators/Departments (depending on their size) in order to more efficiently administer community-wide water conservation strategies. On the flip-side of that coin, the developer of Sterling Ranch near Chatfield Reservoir in Douglas County explained how they are using water demand management instead of water conservation as their basis for
calculating water use for over 12,000 sustainable homes. The development will also integrate storm water runoff into its irrigation systems and create rainwater harvesting sites. Mid Valley Collaborative. Denise also attended the bi annual meeting of the Mid Valley Collaborative which was held in El Jebel. The MVC is a group of representatives from 30+ organizations involved in health and human services (HHS) and resource provision for at risk children, youth and families. A new program is being implemented that allows county HHS departments to receive a referral, screen the applicants, and provide services for people without having to first determine cases of abuse or neglect. This program, Differential Response, will open more doors for more people who need help with daily living needs and are fortunate enough to not fall into those categories as a prerequisite of being able to receive that help. Other activities are ongoing dialogues between service providers, educators, and law enforcement officials regarding ways to reduce and deal with substance abuse in the schools and getting out the word on 211 as a clearinghouse for service providers. BACH Housing Updates. Town Hired EPS to conduct Housing Needs Assessment. EPS presented some of its initial findings to BACH on November 20 th. BACH is working toward a Worksession with the Council early next year where they plan to present EPS report and talk about the policy implications. Provded below is an excerpt of information provided to BACH. BACH is working on identifying, evaluating and prioritizing other Housing sites for affordable housing. Previously on October 30 th, BACH presented its recommendations to DAAC and met with Bruce Kimmel, Ehlers Public Finance, to further the creation of the community housing corporation which will be the financing arm of creating affordable housing in the Town of Basalt. Work on the Habitat House continues and the Selection Committee starts meeting in December.
POST and Park Planning Activities. Arbaney Park. The Committee is working on Plans for Arbaney Park Willits Triangle Park. Staff is moving forward with the improvements to Triangle Park that were approved by the Council on August 12 th and construction-level drawings are nearing completion. The Town decided not to go out to bid for Triangle Park until spring. Our consultants on the design and the construction drawings (Lipkin/Warner and Mt. Daly) recommended finishing up the construction drawings and getting our construction manager under contract and then doing the construction bids over the winter. They feel that we will likely get a better price on the work as contractors can start earlier in the spring down here than they can up valley and will be looking for an early spring project to fill a void. CIP. POST is also working on their 10-year Capital Improvement Plan. POST met on November 5, 2014 and heard a presentation on the update to the Pitkin County Nordic Plan and developed recommendations on the Glassier Management Plan. Basalt Downtown Business Association (BDBA): The BDBA continues to meet and all downtown businesses and commercial property owners are welcome to participate. The BDBA is working on their next tasks including marketing, funding, and events. Check out the BDBA webpage at http://www.basaltdowntown.com. Email susanp@basalt.net if you would like to be included on the mail chimp showing weekly events and specials. The 3000 ideas that were generated by the community were synthesized into 3 Alternative Site Plans. 57% of the voters preferred Site Plan Option 2. More information on the results is posted on the webpage www.ourtownplanning.org. Council Resolution No. 54, Series of 2014, established a Downtown Area Advisory Committee to help the Basalt Town Council determine plausible redevelopment scenarios for the Our Town Planning Area. DAAC. The Downtown Area Advisory Committee (DAAC) met again on November 20 th and heard a presentation from LOWE on its development plans and discussed its report to the Council. Check out the www.ourtownplanning.org website to see the work being done by the DAAC Committee. DAAC is scheduled to present its work to the Council and P&Z on Tuesday, December 16 th at the Basalt Library at 6:00 pm. Current Survey Households within the Basalt Town Limits Each household in the Town of Basalt was permitted to submit a survey as part of the Our Town Planning Process. In order to get good coverage the Town hand hand delivered surveys to an area of Town that is served by PO boxes. Results of the survey are in and will be put on the website shortly. 1. Pan and Fork: Building and Development A higher percentage of respondents preferred some type of buildings on the Pan and Fork Site (58.6% combined by building size and structured parking) than a park (39.1%). Respondents could only mark one 2. Pan and Fork: Uses Restaurants 34.7%; Retail 30.9%; Hotel 28.7%; active park no buildings 26%; Performing Arts 21.4% Respondents could mark more than one 3. Lions Park 34.7% of Respondents preferred to keep it the way it is or with modest improvements; 14.6% wanted to remove Town Hall and the Wyly and make it into a Park and 10% supported removing the buildings and building a new Arts Center Closer to Downtown. Respondents could only mark one. 4. Arts 36% supported making significant upgrades to public spaces with art installations; 34.3% Supported building new Performing Arts Center Downtown; 26.2% supported building a new Wyly arts center; 25% indicated none of the above. Respondents could mark more than one 5. Clark s 32% of the respondents thought that any building size was ok as long as there was a grocery
store. Generally buildings the size of Riverside Plaza or larger were ok (29.3%) Respondents could only mark one. Remember we are not trying to design by survey. The survey is a useful tool for testing the acceptability of ideas at the time the survey was conducted and what items come to the forefront on what is important to the residents of the Town.
Safe Routes to School: The Town received a $5,000 grant from CDOT to establish a Safe Routes to School Community Coalition. Susan, Denise and Chief Knott are attending the Safe Routes to School Kickoff Meeting with representative from the granting organization, Basalt Elementary School, Basalt Middle School, Basalt Police Dept., POST, and Partners in Education (PIE). This group will be working together over the next two years to improve sidewalk and trail connections to the schools in order to promote walking and biking to school and also to create safer alternatives for student drop-off and pickup for those students who cannot take the bus or walk/bike to school. The Committee met on November 6 th. The Committee worked on goals and objectives. They are going to review constraints to safe access to schools. One task the Committee is undertaking is to identify missing and inadequate links (sidewalks and paths). The Committee Members are going to work on maps and then a GIS map showing needed improvements will be prepared by the Safe Routes to School Coordinator. Green Team: The Green Team held their re-organization meeting on November 6 th. The top two projects identified by the Green Team to work on were energy audits of Town facilities and green building regulations. Other projects to be undertaken were promoting homeowner and business energy audits and retrofits, expediting the conversion to LED for Public Street Lights and the Regional Water Conservation Plan. Historic Site Map prepared by Four Rivers Historical Alliance: History Colorado chose the Historic Site Map created by the Four Rivers Historical Alliance as an honorable mention for this year s Miles Award! The competition was stiff but the committee felt that this is a beautifully produced map and reflects the result of an admirable new partnership among varied entities. It is user friendly and reminds us about how many historic sites are within a small geographical area. The Alliance will be recognized at a gala event and will also receive an award of $250. The Town of Basalt contributed both information and funding to help create the map. Copies of the Historic Site Map are available at Town Hall, the Caboose, and the library.