SNOWMASS VILLAGE

TOWN COUNCIL

GOAL STATEMENT

ADOPTED April 7, 2025

The Town Council remains firmly committed to the Aspiration Statement, Guiding Principles, Just Big Enough economic analysis, Plan Framework, and Strategic Initiatives found in the 2018 Comprehensive Plan.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Stewardship - Vibrant - Genuine - Active & Healthy - Balanced - Connected - Inclusive

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES OF SNOWMASS VILLAGE

• Preserve and protect open spaces and our environment to ensure that nature is and remains the dominant feature of the landscape.
• Promote environmental and economic sustainability and resiliency.
• Focus on improved access and safety to make Snowmass Village more walkable and bikeable.
• Continue to improve the multi-modal connections between Base Village, the Mall, and the Center.
• Manage parking and transit to encourage efficient, effective, and sustainable mobility choices.
• Focus new development and/or redevelopment within the identified CPAs.
• Encourage the update and renovation of older buildings Village-wide.
• Strengthen local economic opportunities to assure vibrancy.
• Continue to support a viable workforce and our commitment to workforce housing by exploring opportunities that best balance the character and resources of the Town.

These Strategic Initiatives are of the utmost importance to the Town Council and, as such, the Council remains committed to moving them forward. Supporting Families, Safety, Connectivity, Transit & All Forms of Mobility, Environmental Activism, Resiliency, Regionalism, Risk Taking, and Recruiting & Retaining High Quality Staff all remain critical components to the Village’s success.  

The preservation of Snowmass Village’s unique character is at the heart of this Town Council’s priorities. Snowmass Village is a community rooted in respect for nature, adventure, and enjoying an unprecedented quality of life. The Council will work hard to protect the Village’s intrinsic charm—its grit, warmth, family-friendly atmosphere, and resilient spirit—and is dedicated to ensuring that these qualities make it so locals, people that live here year-round, are able to thrive, not just survive.  

The Council remains committed to its overarching priority to:

Passionately Protect the Community Character of the Village by Promoting Balance and Emotional Connectivity

As the Council moves forward weaving both preservation and progress together, it will focus its efforts on these specific projects over the next two years:

Identify & Provide More Affordable Housing

This Council will continue to work toward the near-term goal of creating 185 new units moving toward the larger goal of 383 units identified in the 2018 Comprehensive Plan.  The Town Council recognizes that there are virtually no viable free-market housing opportunities for working citizens; thus, the Town Council remains committed to updating the 2021 Housing Master Plan by incorporating the upcoming needs assessment and other creative solutions.  The Town Council recognizes providing places for our community members to live is vital to protecting our community character.  The Draw Site will be the next location for new construction. The Town will study and develop a concept plan for the Center site.  In addition, the Town will continue with the buydown program, purchasing existing free market units, and implement other innovative ideas as needed.  The Town will work closely with regional partners to maximize financial resources, explore a new priority system (a pilot program) at the Draw Site, creatively revise rental housing regulations to better serve locally owned and locally serving businesses, and will explore the idea of creating a new citizen advisory commission to help address these efforts all while protecting Snowmass Village’s community character.  Finally, the Town will explore increasing our employee mitigation rate from 60% to 100% while maintaining preference for physical construction over cash-in-lieu contributions from developers.     

Embrace High Quality Balanced Destination Management

The Town Council understands that the Village cannot be a world-class resort without being a world-class community first. We want to be a better place to visit by being a stable year-round community.  As a community with a resort within it, Snowmass Village must continually work to strike a balance between welcoming visitors and maintaining the needs of its local community. Recognizing that the Village heavily relies on its tourist economy, the Council is also committed to refocusing and rebalancing our efforts to better support those that work here year-round.  The Council further recognizes that Snowmass Village thrives because of its locally owned and locally serving businesses, which foster a deep sense of community by creating unique places for connection and gathering that are vital to our success. The Town will direct our tourism promotion so as not to concentrate on just growth in numbers but to ensure we focus on supporting our community.  We will increase our focus on marketing to locals so we can enjoy the amenities our community has to offer.  We will continue to protect our off seasons while strengthening opportune times of year when we have capacity but not demand (such as early December, early April, and late September).  The Town will:

• Focus on local businesses, local causes, and local participation, and increase awareness of services already provided to local businesses.  
• Celebrate our grateful guests and encourage responsible visitor behavior through education. We want visitors and residents alike to know how to “Snowmass”.
• Reexamine STR regulations to ensure they are meeting desired goals.
• Events will continue to focus on making a connection with the community
• Adopt a Destination Management Plan.
• Explore ways to keep our retail experience unique, increase the variety of stores, limit chain stores, limit real estate offices in prime retail space, and increase vibrancy in the commercial cores.  
• Begin to prepare for the eventual transition of the Collective to the Town and continue to aim for increased community utilization.

Develop a Detailed Area Plan in and Around the Snowmass Mall

The area in and around the Snowmass Mall is the heart of the community.  It is the primary portal to the mountain, is the center of much of our history, and is a funky, fun, authentic, Mom & Pop-dominated place that deserves the Town’s leadership and investment.  The Town will lead an effort to work with all of our stakeholders including property owners, business owners, residents, guests, Aspen Ski Company, and transit agencies to develop a viable concept plan that will guide the future by protecting the history of the area, support locally owned and locally serving businesses and create more housing opportunities in a transit-oriented manner.  The plan will reflect the values of Snowmass residents while promoting long-term sustainability and economic growth in a manner that is consistent with the character of the community. The Area Plan will create a space where the past and future of Snowmass Village can coexist harmoniously with a predictable development pattern guided by our community values.  The plan will provide opportunities to explore viable public, private partnerships.  

Strengthen Community Engagement to Foster Emotional Connectivity

The Council will strive to strengthen effective community engagement to foster relationships, emotional connectivity and to protect community character. The Council will protect the community’s character by ensuring that public amenities, events, facilities, and services enhance and meet local community needs and interests. This Town Council is focused on offering a variety of opportunities to receive feedback, create connections, and listen. It is imperative to expand citizen access to the Council thus elevating community conversation, collaboration, and emotional connection to the Village. Specific ideas include:

• Ensuring public notices are easily understandable and widely publicized. 
• Increasing bilingual communications.
• Explore creating a quarterly insert for the local papers designed to inform constituents.
• Consider adding staff resources to assist with increased communication and community engagement.
• Explore opportunities to create a location for a community hub.

A Continued Commitment to Sustainability and Resiliency

Snowmass Village is committed to being proactive in protecting community assets. This requires addressing environmental and other safety topics. Efforts to improve resiliency will require strong leadership from the Town Council and efforts from the community at large. Educational efforts and more public involvement with disaster preparedness and recovery will be critical. The Council will work to ensure broad community involvement, through HOAs and other organizations, to address specific identified hazards such as wildfires.  

• Adopt an updated building code to support environmental goals.
• Maintain a strong focus on ongoing wildfire fire mitigation efforts, including studying strengthening defensible space requirements and other hardening measures.
• Enhance community communication around preparedness and recovery.
• Further explore opportunities around improving sustainability, focusing on wildfire mitigation, water use reduction, greenhouse gas reduction, and effective waste disposal.

Help Year-round Residents Thrive, Not Just Survive

The Council recognizes the clear threat of losing our core year-round residents to more affordable locations.  This Council desires to address fundamental affordability, capacity, and accessibility issues for year-round residents. Childcare, housing, groceries, homeowner insurance, tax rates and affordable eats need to be addressed. To have the maximum impact possible, the Town will partner with others to reduce the squeeze year-round residents are feeling to ensure we can continue to provide the highest quality of life possible.

Investing in Community Infrastructure

The Town Council is committed to investing in infrastructure projects that support the sustainability of the Village and protects neighborhoods. The Town is also very aware of the construction fatigue the community is experiencing and will plan and time projects in a thoughtful manner designed to reduce impacts to residents.    Understanding there are many needs and opportunities within the community, this Town Council remains open to them all but is committed to focusing on the following projects:  

1. Raise the necessary grant funds to construct the approved Little Red School House project.  The Council desires to use the new facility to its fullest extent in order to meet the varied needs of the community. The Town will continue to explore opportunities to expand childcare and early childhood learning.  
2. Set the timing and project scope for the Owl Creek / Brush Creek Roundabout and potentially evaluate interim safety measures.
3. Partner with Pitkin County to expand library services in the Village, including building a library facility adjacent to, or connected to the Recreation Center. 
4. Identify, support and preserve more community spaces.
5. Coordinate a regional effort to study the potential for workforce housing at the Brush Creek Park and Ride.
6. Determine the future of the Krabloonik property.
7. Continue forward with the efforts to better “Connect the three Commercial Nodes” including the Benedict Trail.  
8. Continue to embrace and invest in the Ice Age Discovery. 
9. Complete the replacement of the Skittles.
10. Explore opportunities to increase historic preservation efforts.
11. Complete the entryway beautification project.
12. Gather public input and use it to finalize the design process for the Mall Transit Center.
13. Create and maintain a master schedule of all proposed major public and private construction projects and ensure consistent communication with the public.