HomeMy WebLinkAboutAppendix J-2007Vail2020
STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN
Adopted by the Vail Town Council
November 6, 2007
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Town of Vail wishes to thank members of the community who participated in the Vail 20/20 process,
as well as the following individuals and organizations:
Vail Town Council
Rod Slifer, Mayor
Farrow Hitt, Mayor Pro-Tem
Kevin Foley
Mark Gordon
Kent Logan
Greg Moffet
Kim Newbury
Planning and Environmental Commission
Bill Jewitt, Chair
Dick Cleveland
Anne Fehlner-Gunion
Rollie Kjesbo
Michael Kurz
Bill Pierce
David Viele
Town of Vail Staff
Stan Zemler, Town Manager
Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant Town Manager
Gregg Barrie, Landscape Architect
Judy Camp, Finance Director
Warren Campbell, Chief of Planning
Bill Carlson, Environmental Officer
Susan Douglas, Administrative Commander, Vail PD
Russ Forrest, Former Director of Community Development
Rachel Friede, Town Planner
Bill Gibson, Town Planner
John Gulick, Former Vail Fire Chief
Greg Hall, Director of Public Works
Kathleen Halloran, Budget Manager
Dwight Henninger, Vail Police Chief
Scot Hunn, Senior Planner
Kelli McDonald, Economic Development Manager
Todd Oppenheimer, Capital Projects Manager
John Power, Director of Human Resources
Elisabeth Reed, Former Town Planner
George Ruther, Director of Community Development
Suzanne Silverthorn, Community Information Officer
Nina Timm, Housing Coordinator
Jamie Wilson, Comm. and Special Projects Manager
Vail Recreation District Staff
Mike Ortiz, Director, Vail Recreation District
John Monson, Assistant Director, Vail Recreation District
Consultants
Becky Zimmerman, Principal, Design Workshop
Rebecca Leonard, Project Manager, Design Workshop
Pam Britton, Facilitator, Design Workshop
Anna Gagne, Project Assistant, Design Workshop
Chris Cares, RRC Associates
Vail Housing Authority
Steve Lindstrom
Mark Ristow
Sally Jackle
Kim Newbury
Ethan Moore
Representatives and Organizations
Bruce Baumgartner, Eagle County
Cal Wettstein, US Forest Service
Linn Schorr, Eagle River Water and Sanitation District
Dave Johnson, ECO Transit
Bill Jensen, Vail Resorts
Jim Lamont, Vail Village Homeowners Association
Jim Brandmeyer, formerly of Vail Alpine Garden Foundation
Peter Abuisi, Vail Mountain School
Karen Strakbein, formerly of Eagle County School District
Ceil Folz, Vail Valley Foundation
Michael Robinson, Vail Valley Partnership
Gregory Repetti, Vail Valley Medical Center Foundation
Karen Simon, Vail Valley Charitable Fund
Bill Wilto, Vail Valley Rotary Club
Bev Trout, Vail Board of Realtors
Kaye Ferry, Vail Chamber and Business Association
Mark Bricklin, Vail Daily
Don Rogers, Vail Daily
Carl Walker, Vail Religious Foundation
Environmental Team
Luke Cartin, Vail Resorts
Anne Essen, Resident
Kim Langmaid, Gore Range Natural Science School
Susan Pollack, board member of Gore Range Natural
Science School
Matt Scherr, Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability
Caroline Bradford, Grand River Consulting
Vail Economic Advisory Council
Dick Cleveland
Rick Scalpello
Robin Litt
Sally Hanlon
Rob LeVine
Pam Stenmark
Mark Cervantes
Matt Morgan
Steve Kaufman
Tori Franks
Rayla Kundolf
Bob McNichols
Bob Boselli
Alan Kosloff
M. Joseph McHugh
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
VAIL 20/20 COMMUNITY VALUES
3
LAND USE AND DEVELOPMENT
4
PARKS AND RECREATION
6
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
8
HOUSING
11
TRANSPORTATION
ECONOMY
13
16
PUBLIC SAFETY
18
COMMUNITY DIVERSITY
19
APPENDIX A: BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A-1
APPENDIX B: PUBLIC INPUT SUMMARIES
B-1
APPENDIX C: VAIL TOMORROW SUMMARY
C-1
APPENDIX D: COMMUNITY SURVEY 2007
**NOTE: IF APPENDICES ARE NOT INCLUDED,
THEY CAN BE VIEWED AT WWW.VAILGOV.COM/2020
D-1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1
The Vail 20/20 Focus on the Future process
began in 2006 as a way to build upon Vail’s
successes, keep the resort community
competitive and to seek opportunities to improve
the community through a strategic plan. Goals of
the 20/20 process were adopted as follows:
• Create a plan that identifies commonly shared
values in the community.
• Create a clear vision for Vail.
• Integrate a plan to coordinate Vail’s strategies
for the future.
• Create a plan that transcends the
administrations of town staff, Vail Town Council
and appointed boards and commissions.
Vail’s last community visioning process took
place in 1996, which involved the community in
the creation of shared values, goals and actions.
Now, more than a decade later, that earlier work
from Vail Tomorrow has been re-examined as
part of the Vail 20/20 process.
The public input process for Vail 20/20 has
included two public workshops, a meeting with
Vail’s stakeholders, a workshop with Vail
Mountain School students, and an open house to
respond to a first draft of the Strategic Action
Plan. Environmental sustainability, workforce
housing, I-70 mitigation, wildfire preparedness
and management of growth and redevelopment
were identified during these meetings as top
priorities for the town. In all, more than 300
voices were heard to assist in setting a direction
for the future.
The Vail 20/20 Strategic Action Plan begins with
a set of values that outline what is truly important
to the community. The plan then details land use
and development, parks and recreation,
environment, housing, transportation, economy,
community and public safety topics, including
specific vision statements, long-term goals, and
actions and strategies over the next 5 years to
achieve those goals.
The appendices include the following information:
Background information, current practices,
current strategies, guiding documents, and public
input for each topic (Appendix A), summaries of
public input (Appendix B), Vail Tomorrow
summaries (Appendix C), 2007 Community
Survey (Appendix D).
Vail’s Vision is the general vision statement for
Vail’s future, based on input from the community
during the Vail 20/20 process, and is as follows:
We are the “Premier Mountain Resort
Community” by providing high quality of life
and experiences for both residents and
visitors. This is achieved through
environmental stewardship, world-class
recreational, cultural and educational
opportunities, a strong year-round economy,
diversity of housing, and superior
infrastructure. The town actively seeks input
and cooperation from the community and its
neighbors to ensure fulfillment of its vision.
The following provides a summary of each topic
and general themes expressed by 20/20
participants. For more information, visit
www.vailgov.com/2020.
Land Use and Development: The completion of
current redevelopment in Vail and preparing for
future growth is essential to Vail’s ongoing
success as a resort community. Through
evaluation of and modifications to the town’s
planning documents, the town has an opportunity
to ensure proper guidance of future development.
During 20/20, some participants expressed
concerns over the scale of development in Vail,
while others expressed satisfaction with the
town’s management of growth and development.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2
Parks and Recreation: Aging infrastructure, the
need for new recreation facilities and
programming to meet public demand and a lack
of funding have been identified as important
challenges to be addressed by Vail’s leaders and
its partners. During 20/20, participants expressed
a desire for new facilities, increased maintenance
for existing facilities and additional marketing for
recreation programs.
Environment: Vail’s reputation as a resort industry
leader lends itself to setting exceptional
standards for environmental stewardship. During
20/20, participants encouraged the town to
become a leader in environmental sustainability,
including improvement in town practices and
creation of new environmental opportunities for
businesses, residents and guests.
Housing: The high cost of housing and a lack of
developable land continue to challenge the
community in providing adequate workforce
housing. Opportunities exist to increase the
amount of employee housing through
redevelopment of existing housing, the purchase
of deed-restricted units and through developer
requirements. During 20/20, participants placed
workforce housing as a top priority for the
community and government leaders to address.
Transportation: Vail strives to operate a seamless
transportation system while experiencing an
increase in users in every mode of transportation.
This increase has caused the town to reevaluate
and seek new opportunities for funding sources
and solutions to traffic congestion and parking
needs. During 20/20, participants expressed
concerns regarding I-70 noise and pollution,
increased traffic in Vail and the need for
additional parking options.
Economy: Increasing capital and operational
expenses for the town, a sales tax driven
municipal budget, workforce housing needs and a
seasonal economy impact the community’s long-
term financial health. During 20/20, participants
expressed interest in creating a year-round
economy, funding capital projects and focusing
on workforce housing.
Community: Vail’s community direction and
diversity is impacted by variables such as
housing, employment and affordability. These
variables have caused a decline in the number of
families living in Vail, while representation from
other demographic sectors such as retirees and
part-time homeowners moving to Vail full-time
has increased. During 20/20, participants
expressed optimism in addressing the many
challenges associated with improving community
diversity, which in turn, will contribute to a
healthier resort.
Public Safety: The town continues to look for
opportunities to improve its public safety divisions
including constructing a new fire station in West
Vail to improve emergency response times in the
neighborhood, as well as renovation to the Main
Vail fire station. Additionally, the increase in
wildfire danger caused by the ongoing pine beetle
outbreak poses a threat to public safety and the
town is working with local and regional partners to
prepare itself and its residents in the event a
wildfire occurs. During 20/20, participants
expressed the need for a new fire house in West
Vail and ongoing response to the beetle outbreak.
The Vail 20/20 Strategic Action Plan has been
developed to guide decisions by key leaders to
ensure these decisions are aligned with the
community’s desired future, as outlined in Vail’s
Vision above. The plan will also be used to
improve effectiveness and efficiency in capital
and operational budgeting for the town. As such,
Vail’s 20/20 values and vision statements, goals
and actions should be reviewed as needed to
maintain a strategic direction into the future.
VAIL 20/20: COMMUNITY VALUES
3
Premier Resort Community: Vail values its role
as a premier resort community, which recognizes
the interdependent relationship between the
resort, community and municipality. Vail's
success as a resort depends largely on its
success as a community, as the community
fosters relationships between locals and visitors.
We make plans and take actions that are
investments in the experiences and lives of many
different generations, today and into the future. It
takes work and reinvention to stay No. 1, and Vail
is committed to innovation and creativity to
achieve our goals.
Diversity: Vail values maintaining a diverse
population of residents, workers and visitors, with
a broad representation of age, family
composition, ethnic background and economic
means.
Activities Benefit Individuals and the
Community: Vail values a vibrant community life
supportive of spiritual and physical well-being and
encouraging of intellectual and cultural growth.
This value includes providing a wide variety of
educational, recreational, entertainment, art and
cultural opportunities. These offerings are
accessible to all and appeal to residents and
guests of all ages, incomes and interests. These
activities promote the development of
relationships that strengthen the community.
Natural Environment: Vail values the
environment as a source of health, beauty,
recreation and economic strength that makes Vail
a special place to live, work and play. As
stewards of the environment, Vail is committed to
promoting sustainable environmental practices in
every aspect of the community.
Safety and Health: Vail values a sense of
personal security for its citizens and their
children, as well as for property. Quality
healthcare and physical activities support the
health of the community.
Participation and Cooperation: Vail values the
participation of its citizens in community life,
decision making and planning for the future. To
foster effective communication, the community
subscribes to a Common Code of Ethics for
conduct in civic life including honesty, integrity,
civility, respect, trust, goodwill, transparency,
openness, selflessness and generosity. A sense
of ownership and responsibility is achieved
through open communication and cooperation
between community members, businesses,
interest groups and local and regional
governments. Cooperation is essential to
addressing issues that extend beyond town
boundaries.
Leadership: Vail values a transparent, fiscally
responsible and ethical municipal government
that engages community members, private
partnerships, municipalities and other entities
throughout the region to make sound decisions
that serve all interested parties for the long term.
Healthy Economy: Vail values world-class
service and a vibrant, diverse, year-round
economy that caters to full and part-time
residents, visitors and business owners and
operators. A growing employment and revenue
base supports the economy, which thrives on
environmental sustainability, amenities and
events, transportation and other infrastructure.
Sense of Place and Character: Vail values the
strong history of the town and its unique
character and legacy while acknowledging the
importance of reinvention. This is reflected in the
high quality of the built environment with design
and features that endure over time.
Transportation and Transit Network: Vail
values a sustainable, multi-modal transportation
system that effectively provides ease of access to
residents, visitors and the workforce in an
environmentally and technologically forward
manner.
Vail’s Community Values serve as the foundation for the
Vail 20/20 Strategic Action Plan and are the essence of Vail’s identity.
TRANSPORTATION
12
20/20 Vision
Vail is recognized as having a comprehensive
transportation system and through continued
redevelopment, has reinforced its transit-oriented
lifestyle. Transit, walking and biking are the
major modes of travel along with extensive, multi-
modal connections between major destinations.
Those who choose to drive are welcomed with a
well-maintained roadway system directing
vehicles to Vail’s managed parking areas. Goods
and service delivery are distributed through the
town’s dispersed loading and delivery system.
Getting to and from Vail is safe and efficient.
Connections throughout the intermountain area
are seamless and a big factor in Vail’s quality of
life. Workers enjoy a one-hour commute from the
Denver Metro area or Glenwood Springs in a
reliable and environmentally friendly method,
while residents and guests enjoy the same
commute to Denver for work or visits to the many
cultural venues and events. Convenient
connections to the nearby airports make year-
round travel to Vail easy from anywhere in the
world.
20/20 Implementation
Based on input from the community during the
20/20 process, town staff developed the following
goals and action strategies to support the
transportation vision.
Goal #1: Create an integrated Transportation
System with high levels of service that caters to
the many needs of our residents, guests and
employees and embraces the many issues of the
surrounding natural and built environment in its
design, implementation and operation.
Actions/Strategies
Parking
• Aggressively manage parking to minimize major
capital investments to increase supply while
encouraging travel modes other than single
occupant vehicles.
• Maintain the supply of parking where all demand
is met except up to a maximum of 15 days of
winter and three days of summer when parking
demand exceeds supply.
• On parking overflow days, provide on-street
emergency parking and additional bus stops to
ensure a maximum waking distance of a quarter
mile to a bus stop or half mile to the final
destination.
• Parking revenue shall offset all parking costs,
including operations and capital, and combined
with the ski tax, shall pay for the operational and
capital costs of transit.
• Meet future parking needs of approximately
1,000 spaces by developing parking supply that is
conveniently located to destinations.
Bikeway
• Integrate Frontage Road plans to include
bikeway construction.
• Work with regional trail authorities to implement
a comprehensive regional bike trail system to
ensure Vail will be the center of a regional bike
trail system connecting areas as far as Aspen,
Rifle, Breckenridge, Fairplay, Kremmling,
Leadville and Salida.
• Create regulations that provide convenient
connections between developments and
bikeways.
• Work with private developers to ensure all
arterials in Vail have bikeways along them and
that there are connections between
neighborhoods.
• Codify and require developments to provide
easements and construct connections.
• Work with the Forest Service, Bureau of Land
Management, Greater Outdoors Colorado,
TRANSPORTATION
13
Colorado Trail and other partners to implement
the Rocky Mountain trail system that provides
regional connections for hiking, mountain biking
and other non-motorized modes of transportation,
with Vail in the center of the system.
• Increase bicycle parking in commercial core
areas.
Pedestrianization
• Ensure that all pedestrians have a maximum of
a quarter mile or less to walk from transit stops to
major destinations.
• Ensure that walking distances from residential
areas to transit stops are one-sixth of a mile in
high density areas (5 minute walk), one-third mile
in medium density areas (10 minute walk), and a
half mile in low density areas (15 minute walk).
• Ensure transit and pedestrian connections are
integrated into the design of development
projects.
• Evaluate the need for amendments to Zoning
Regulations and master plans to incorporate
transit oriented development and more mixed use
development.
• Analyze current manmade pathways and
acquire easements to build legitimate pathways
(including streamwalk).
• Improve sidewalks on frontage roads and other
necessary places.
Transit
• Annually review transit costs and parking
revenue and adjust as necessary in order to
maintain balance.
• Provide peak time line haul service of five to
eight minutes and max of 15 to 20 minutes on
outlying peak service.
• Ensure and plan for all major parking areas to
be integrated with significant line haul transit
connections.
• Research feasibility of an advanced mass transit
system in Vail.
• Provide a max of 30 minutes to one hour off-
peak service that is coordinated with expected
walk times and people’s ability to reach stops
during both the winter and summer.
• Coordinate and work with ECO Transit to ensure
service can be provided as demand is driven by
Vail’s aggressive parking management and travel
demand management strategies.
• Work with local, regional and state governments
to ensure that Vail’s mass transit system is
interconnected to a county-wide and statewide
system, including connections to Summit and
Garfield counties.
Roadway
• Maintain the current Levels of Service on roads
throughout the town through road improvements
(LOS C in clear daytime conditions, LOS D in
harsh winter conditions on arterials, LOS D at
cross streets during peak times in clear daytime
conditions).
• Work with the Community Development
Department to ensure land use patterns do not
adversely affect travel demand without mitigation
or no change in level of service.
• Keep arterial roadway size to four lanes with a
center median with a 35 mph speed limit.
• Create a secondary parallel loop route to the
frontage roads with two lane 25 mph speed for
emergency service.
• Provide alternate routes to detours with proper
signage.
TRANSPORTATION
14
• Seek funding and creation of a Simba Run
underpass to allow additional routes across I-70.
I-70
• Work with CDOT to ensure I-70 functions
adequately for the movement of people and
goods to and from Vail.
• Participate in the I-70 Coalition to assist with
solutions for traffic congestion along I-70.
• Convene citizen group to work with staff on a
study of I-70 and long-term mitigation of noise
and intrusiveness.
• Work with the Colorado Department of
Transportation and other organizations to
research feasibility and funding for mass transit
along I-70 that provides seamless connectivity to
Denver Metro System. The measurement of
success would be a 60-minute trip from Vail to
Denver (C-470).
• Continue to improve the entrances to Vail to
ensure a LOS C.
• Work with Eagle County and CDOT to
encourage safety improvements on Vail Pass and
Dowd Junction.
• Continue to explore options for burying or
rerouting I-70.
Air Service
• Encourage year-round air service with adequate
year-round connections from around the world to
airports in the region.
• Work with ECO Airport, Grand Junction Airport,
Denver International Airport and shuttle services
to create plan for year-round air service that
serves Vail.
• Support local marketing efforts to work with
travel package companies to ensure that service
to Vail is affordable and accessible.
Goal #2: Minimize the environmental impact of
the transportation system on the town and the
region.
Actions/Strategies
• Ensure town vehicles minimize their carbon
dioxide emissions by upgrading current fleet with
energy efficient and low emission vehicles.
• Research methods for reduced energy use in
streetscape and other parts of system that have
high-energy consumption.
• Continue to mitigate noise pollution issues
throughout the town through sand storage
berming and other methods; work with community
to create new long-term solutions for I-70 noise.
• Monitor effects of air pollution from
transportation sources and research potential
mitigation.
• Encourage the Colorado Department of
Transportation to reduce road sanding yet
maintain safety standards.
• Maintain current sand sediment basins and work
with CDOT to increase capacity and number of
basins.
• Encourage Sediment Control Action Plan
(SCAP) for Vail Pass and Vail.
• Reduce point and non-point sources of pollution
from transportation.
• Work with Division of Wildlife to ensure that
transportation improvements do not affect wildlife.
• Enhance natural environment through initiatives
to improve ecosystem health.
TRANSPORTATION
15
• Respect currently adopted view corridors by
encouraging development that enhances view.