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!

Colorado Planners recognize the AACP Process!

The state division of the American Planning Association (link) recognized the Aspen Area Community Plan public process at their state conference in Estes Park. We won in the category of Community Engagement. The selection committee was impressed with the extent of public feedback mechanisms and with the number of people who gave input. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Residential Build-Out

City staff have completed a Residential build-out study to supplement the information in the State of the Aspen Area. Check it out on the website.

Other interesting data is available on our website's Adoption Data page. We'll update this page as we do more research for all the chapter.

Update on Process

The City and County P&Zs are begging their work on Managing Growth and Economic Sustainability. Stay tuned to our website, www.aspencommunityvision.com, for more details on meetings and discussions.