Thanks to all the Clicker Session Participants!

Thanks to everyone who participated at the recent clicker sessions at the Wheeler.  The results of the meetings are available on our website www.aspencommunityvision.com. 

Environmenral Quality small group meeting

Yesterday the city and county hosted a small group meeting on the Environmental Quality chapter in the Aspen Area Community Plan. Some highlights from the discussion include:

• Make sure regulatory barriers to installing solar panels and other alternative energy methods are eliminated.
• Strive for aggressive goals around reducing our energy consumption.
•  Educate the public on the Noxious Weed Act and strictly enforce it in the UGB.

Check out all the comments at: www.aspencommunityvision.com  and leave your comments here.

Parks, Recreation, Open Space & trails Small Group Meeting

Yesterday the city and county hosted a small group meeting on the Parks, Recreation, Open Space, & Trails chapter in the Aspen Area Community Plan. Some highlights from the discussion include:

• Promote bikes as a form of transportation in the winter.
• Ensure there is adequate funding for trails, parks, recreation, and open space.
• Ensuring recreation facilities are affordable is a priority

Check out all the comments at: www.aspencommunityvision.com  and leave your comments here.

Yesterday, the city and county hosted a small group meeting on the Managing Growth & Economic Sustainability Chapter in the Aspen Area Community Plan. Some highlights include:

• Any pacing system should be carefully explored before implemented. Some felt a better construction management system was the way to go, while others felt a full construction pacing system was needed.
  
• House sizes should not be reduced in the City or County.
• Explore diversification of our economy - we can't just be based on tourism. Look to green industries, etc.
  

Check out all the comments at: www.aspencommunityvision.com.

If you'd like to make additional comments, please comment here, or come to our next meeting on Managing Growth on Thursday October 21st from 12 - 1:30 in Sister Cities.

Small Group Meeting on Transportation

Last week, the city and county hosted a small group meeting on the Transportation chapter in the Aspen Area Community Plan. Some highlights include:

• Explore an aerial connection as part of our transportation system.
• Provide amenities in buses and at bus stations to help increase bus usage.
• Ensure we are getting good, reliable data for transportation decisions.
  

Check out all the comments at: www.aspencommunityvision.com.

Small Group Meeting on Historic Preservation and the Aspen Idea

Yesterday, the city and county hosted a small group meeting on the Historic Preservation and Aspen Idea Chapters in the Aspen Area Community Plan. Some highlights include:

• Ensure we are engaging the entire community is Aspen's Story.
• Historic Preservation should consider open spaces and landscapes, not just buildings.
• The public sector should be a leader in Historic Preservation and should lead by example.

Check out all the comments at: www.aspencommunityvision.com.

Small Group Meetings Begin with Lifelong Aspenite Chapter

Yesterday, the City and County held the first of 11 small group meetings on the update to the Aspen Area Community Plan. This meeting focused on the "Planning for a Lifelong Aspenite" chapter.

Some highlights from the discussion include:

• The plan should include regional solutions to health and human service gaps.
  
• There needs to be more clarification on what services are provided by the government, and what is provided by the community at large.
• The regulatory obstacles to personal agriculture, composting, greenhouses, etc should be eliminated.
• Clearly define the terms used, including: "at-risk," "access," and "comprehensive."

If you have comments about the chapter, please post them here. The full comments can be found on-line at www.AspenCommunityVision.com.

Preliminary draft AACP released!

The preliminary draft of the joint City-County 2010 Aspen Area Community Plan (AACP) was released today, and is available for review at www.aspencommunityvision.com.

The initial public feedback phase of the 2010 AACP was held from October 2008 through February 2009, and included focus groups, a community survey, a blog, a Facebook page and instant voting sessions. This feedback was used by the joint City and County Planning and Zoning Commissions as the preliminary draft was generated.

The preliminary draft of the 2010 AACP includes nine chapters, each of which features a Vision Statement, Philosophy, Policies and Action Items. The chapters are: Planning for a Lifelong Aspenite, Historic Preservation, Sustaining the Aspen Idea, Transportation, Managing Growth & Economic Sustainability, West of Castle Creek Corridor, Environmental Quality, Parks, Recreation, Open Space & Trails and Housing.

The public will have several opportunities to provide feedback on the preliminary draft, including a series of Small Group Meetings, starting on October 12 and running through October 22. The public is invited to attend as many of these brown bag lunches and evening meetings as they would like. More information on these meetings is available at www.aspencommunityvision.com.

AACP Process wins THIRD Award!

The AACP public involvement process won it's third award -- this time from the National American Planning Association!

We were recognized by the Small Town & Rural Planning Division for "Outstanding Planning Initiative." The award is given to one outstanding initiative or program in public education, workshops, ordinances, or enforcement that promotes planning in small towns and rural areas.

The award will be presented at the National Planning Conference in New Orleans on April 12th.

Find out more about the National American Planning Association and the Small Town & Rural Planing Division.

Historic Preservation Draft Complete

The joint Planning and Zoning Commissions completed their review of the draft Historic Preservation Chapter last week. Look on our website for the draft document. Next up...Transportation.

Contact Jessica Garrow at jessica.garrow@ci.aspen.co.us for more information.

AACP Process wins SECOND award!

The 3CMA (City-County Communications & Marketing Association) recognized the AACP public process in their recent awards. We were recognized with a "3CMA Award of Excellence" in the Citizen Participation and Community Visioning category. Thanks to everyone who participated in the process to make it a success!

The City and County P&Zs are working on the draft plan now. Want to get involved? Check out our website, stay tuned to update shows on grassroots, and comment on our blog!

Historic Preservation

Our next meetings are on Historic Preservation. Come join us!

February 23rd, 4:30pm - 7:30pm in Sister Cities (Philosophy discussion)
March 9th, 4:30pm - 7:30pm in Rio Grande (Review of first draft chapter)

Contact Jessica Garrow at jessica.garrow@ci.aspen.co.us for more information!

Community Workforce Housing Chapter

The City and County P&Zs have completed their review of the Community Workforce Housing chapter (formerly called Housing). Visit our website for the draft.

P&Z members Marcella Larsen (county), Mirte Mallory (county), Jim de Francia (city), and Jasmine Tygre (city) will be taping a Grassroots show on the chapter in the next week weeks. Stay tuned for more details!

Housing Chapter

The P&Zs are beginning work on the Housing Chapter. One of the first discussions the group was answering the question, "Who is affordable housing for?" They used the results from the community keypad sessions in the discussion - those results showed that the community is split on who housing is for. Is it for our "workforce" or should it be used to promote "community?"

After a lively discussion, the P&Zs determined that affordable housing should be for our workforce and our community in general. The group agreed that calling it "Community Workforce Housing" was most appropriate.

Stay tuned for more information on the chapter! The next meeting on Housing is on February 23, 2010.

Managing Growth & Economic Sustainability

The City and County P&Zs have completed their review of the Managing Growth & Economic Sustainability chapters. Check out their draft on our website.

P&Z members Jack Johnson (county), Cliff Weiss (City), and Stan Gibbs (City) participated in a taping on Grassroots that outlines what is included in the chapter. Be sure to check the show out on Grassroots!