Snowmass Draw Site project expected for November ballot

The Snowmass Village Town Council took the first step in placing the Draw Site affordable housing project on the November ballot during Monday’s Town Council meeting.

Council members authorized the town to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with Pitkin County to add a Draw Site project ballot question. A Snowmass ordinance requires voter approval for any single project that costs more than 40% of the town’s most recent general fund revenue (about $11 million). The projected cost of the Draw Site is $80 million.

The Town Council has not finalized the ballot language for the Draw Site. It has until Sept. 6 to submit the ballot language to the clerk and recorder’s office. 

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For months, the Draw Site has gone through the town’s planned unit development (PUD) process, requiring several stages of approval from the planning commission and Town Council. Council members have approved the first two stages of the PUD, despite some expressing concern about the mass and scale of the 80-unit project.

The current proposal is a two-tower building with underground parking and a shared outdoor space between the towers. Council member Tom Fridstein has frequently urged the design team to explore a smaller one-building option to not strain the site, which is directly northwest of Town Hall.

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During the Monday meeting where the Town Council saw the first iterations for a schematic landscape design for the Draw Site, he again suggested pursuing a single building to maximize the outdoor landscape of the site.

“I would really advocate for one building and a lot more open space to accommodate the parking,” he said. “I just think it’s a very, very urban approach; it’s the kind of (designs) I do in cities — it’s not sort of a Snowmass kind of solution.”

In previous meetings, Snowmass Housing Director Betsy Crum said the cost-per-unit make up for construction would exceed affordable housing rents if the development was downsized. The town will present an official cost estimate for the project in early August, she said.

Council member Britta Gustafson has also urged the town to consider downsizing the development in several Draw Site meetings.

“All or nothing really shouldn’t be our approach,” she said. “Our approach should be something is better than nothing, not all 80 units or nothing at all, so I’m still going to encourage us to look at a reduced size option here.”

The schematic landscape design showed several communal spaces in front of and in between the two towers. The design showed play features for children and rooftop patios on both towers with spaces for grilling and lounging.

The designs proposed paved sidewalks in the communal areas and turf in some of the communal space between the towers. Council member Alyssa Shenk agreed that the designs “didn’t feel very Snowmass-like” and recommended getting community feedback on how people who live at current affordable housing complexes in the village utilize their landscaped outdoor areas. 

The Town Council still needs to approve the final phase of the PUD process, but the project will ultimately depend on voter approval. Before the question goes on the Nov. 5 ballot, council members are seeking community feedback about the design, scale, and cost of the project. 

The IGA that council members approved also included adding two council seats and a mayoral seat to the November ballot.

Lucy Peterson covers education and Snowmass for the Aspen Times. She can be reached at 970-429-9152 or lpeterson@aspentimes.com.