OCR Text |
Show Apen Mayor Explains Impact cent, leaving the 10 per cent - 30 per cent slope area suitable for development, provided soil, water, subsurface sub-surface geolo gy.andother factors indicate suitability. Stanley reported that mountain towns often have a very hard time communicating commun-icating to developers the reality and seriousness of hazards like rockfalls and avalanches. But he said, "We must protect the rights of people who come here in the future against what many developers de-velopers may want now." He cited "visual vulnerability" vulnerabil-ity" as an example. Although 80 per cent of Aspen's Pitkin Pit-kin County is National Forest, For-est, the 20 per cent which isn't lies at the bottom of the valley with beautiful vistas surrounding it. Aspen is trying try-ing to plan so as not to break up such scenery. A serious environmental problem for Aspen now is air pollution. Over 90 days last year exceeded state standards. stan-dards. Stanley said this is unavoidable with wood burning burn-ing fireplaces and3, 000 rental ren-tal cars per day in a high mountain valley which often experiences inversions, to alleviate the problem. Aspen It looks old, hut it's brand new a sketch of one of Aspen Colorado's new buses. employers who provide housing for workers. Aspen's zoning works in concentric circles according accord-ing to social and economic determinants. High density is allowed near the base of Ajax mountain which keeps tourists pedestrian-oriented and near to both skiing and core area merchants, and away from local families. Moving out from this area, Aspen allows multi-family two vans. Owners are fined on a double increase each time they violate the dogcon-trol dogcon-trol ordinance. When Stanley was asked how Park City can anticipate and solve such problems without the money generated by those causing them, Stanley Stan-ley said it is important that the town develop a philosophy with major developers which recognizes the importance of working together. He said that developers must be persuaded per-suaded to help economically in solving problems their building creates. He emphasized em-phasized that early planning not only prevents major problems from developing, but is also economically preferable pre-ferable to trying to reverse damage done. The mayor of Aspen, Colorado, Colo-rado, Stacey Stanley, presented pre-sented a slide show and talk concerning the impact of ski resort development on Aspen, As-pen, to Park City officials and others Wednesday evening eve-ning at the Memorial Building. Build-ing. Citing certain 'similarities 'similar-ities in process" between Park City and Aspen development, de-velopment, Stanley urged urg-ed this city to learnfrom his city's mistakes. About five years ago, As-penites As-penites realized their town had grown much too fast and they have been trying to reverse re-verse dangerous trends ever since. In the process, Stanley Stan-ley and his town have explored explor-ed a series of criteria necessary neces-sary for responsible planning. plan-ning. He showed a slide called "Date base for effective planning," a triangle consisting con-sisting of natural resources, economics and socio-demo-graphics (or the composition of a community), and said a balance between these elements ele-ments must be found by a community. He emphasized that Planning Plan-ning and 7oning are very different; zoning is a tool or a partial way of implementing imple-menting planning, but not the only way a community can control its future. Stanley outlined the natural nat-ural limitations imposed on growth with a summary of basic environmental factors common to Aspen and Park City. Vegetation in mountainous areas with short growing seasons is "easy to mar and expensive to replace," he reminded re-minded Parkites. Water quality is a major selling point for many mountain moun-tain towns, and Stanley said Aspen has spent $50,000 in legal fees to protect water rights to the popular roaring Fork River. The positive aesthetic value of wildlife must be considered con-sidered when thinking of implications im-plications of planning decisions. de-cisions. Low winter deer areas, calving areas and migration paths are all constraints con-straints on construction in certain areas. Flood plains, snow avalanches, aval-anches, talus slopes, wet meadows, and rockfall areas are further planning considerations consid-erations in Aspen, Stanley reported. Areas which are unstable geologically can cause water contamination by being responsible for water line breaks, as well as posing other dangers. The wildfire hazard is high in areas of open development up a slope. Stanley explained the "ventura effect" where a valley can become a kind of funnel, sucking flames up. Such danger makes city-provided fire protection very difficult, and drives insurance insur-ance rates to an exorbitant level. Stanley's figures on slope constraints for construction indicated that avalanche danger dan-ger is expecially great over 45 per cent slope, fire hazard haz-ard is high above 30 per is developing a comprehensive comprehen-sive mass-transit system which Stanley said attracts riders because it is "fun, easy, and economically preferable pre-ferable to driving." Locals and visitors ride six propane-powered mini-busses which are brand new, but have a Victorian look. Buses follow established routes and stop on demand. Additionally Aspen has buses which travel trav-el to Basalt to pick up employees, em-ployees, to Snowmass, and throughout the valley. Those buses are financed by one cent of the seven cent sales tax. Aspen is also developing a $12 million light rail tran sit system which they hope will be 80 per cent federally funded. In addition, the center cen-ter of town is closed to cars, and Aspen is spending $1.2 million to develop a pedestrian pedes-trian mall there, with merchants mer-chants directing the planning. plan-ning. The lack of adequate low cost housing for employees is another problem Aspen is trying to solve. Some developers de-velopers are now offered 10 per cent greater density than zoning allows if they build within HUD guidelines for suitable housingfor those who earn less than $10,000 a year. Also employers must provide on site housing for transient wo r k e r s, while permanent employees live elsewhere. Stanley warned against construction of "ghetto enclave" type housing hous-ing for employees which tends to polarize the community. com-munity. Better to keep employees housed in small increments of 15 to 30 units, he said. Aspen lias a housing administrator admin-istrator who serves as the city's broker for all available avail-able employee housing. High city fees are waived fur those dwellings (wnere both locals and tourists stay), then to single unit sites which range from 6,000 to 30,000 square feet. Stanley reported that Aspen As-pen is in the process of down-zoning for the fourth time, which will result in a projected permanent population popula-tion of 50,000 or lOtimesthe present one. He said this hasn't reduced property values, stating that the cheapest single family dwelling in the middle of town is listed at $70,000. He explained that it is essential es-sential to develop a critical threshold when planning, balancing enough development develop-ment to let the resort work, with quality -of-life type factors. fac-tors. Aspen has an ordinance which designates "view plane corridors" special places of historical importance import-ance whose views may not be obstructed. By specially designating certain structures struc-tures as historical, the City can help residents renovate their buildings. The city doesn't allow development above a "greenline," believing believ-ing that visual pollution and difficulty in providing services ser-vices make high elevation structures inadvisable. Aspen's sign code designs certain types of businesses out of the community. For example, most fast food businesses bus-inesses require bigger signs than Aspen allows. A flammable flam-mable liquidprovision limits the town's gas stations to four. Aspen has had a severe dog problem in the past. Not only do transients sometimes leave dogs behind who often grow wild, run in packs, and kill wildlife, but the twn was being filled with resident's dogs as well. Aspen now has a leash law, enforced with four dog-control people and |