‘Share a Drink’ with Snowmass Town Council

Snowmass Town Council will “Share a Drink” with the community next week to discuss town issues.

Community members will get a chance to converse with council members over a cup of coffee or beverage of choice from 10 to 11 a.m., Monday, April 28, in the Town Hall Council Chambers, 130 Kearns Road.

“The purpose is just to create a forum where our constituents or the public can come and meet the council and talk about whatever is on their mind,” said Snowmass Town Council member Tom Fridstein. 

He said council will likely discuss the latest updates about the Draw Site housing project, to be located uphill and adjacent to Town Hall. It hopes to approve a design on Monday, May 19, and move into the Planning Unit Development (PUD) process where other town departments will review the plan. 

The current iteration would provide over 60 workforce housing units in a five-story, L-shaped building. The single-building concept comes after multiple years of design discussions, which refined sketches from a three-building concept to the current design.

The public will get a chance to comment on the design at the May 19 council meeting.

“All in all, I’m very pleased that we’ve come to the best solution we’re going to get to this site, in terms of massing,” Fridstein said. 

Council will also discuss the proposed Brush Creek-Owl Creek roundabout at Monday’s “Share a Drink” event, presenting current design sketches to the community. 

“That’s one thing that we’ve had a lot of mixed feedback on,” Mayor Alyssa Shenk said. “Some people feel like we need it, others feel like we don’t.”

The roundabout would reduce the grade of the intersection from around 6% to 2%, and would improve pedestrian safety by providing more established bus pullouts and crosswalks protected by mid-street refuges. 

In its most recent discussion about the roundabout, council weighed the roundabout’s safety improvements against the design’s alignment with town character. 

Community members are welcome to discuss anything else at the Monday event in addition to the informal agenda. Council member Susan Marolt said council often hears from owners of local businesses.

“We want to hear how various things that we’re doing affect them,” she said. “We hear frequently they have a hard time finding employees, they want to have more housing in the village, so that they can find housing for employees.”

She said council also hears from people who want to retain the character of Snowmass Village.

“That’s basically our job, is really just to reflect what the community wants,” Marolt said.
“And so we need to know if we’re going down the right path or if we need to adjust somewhat.”

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.