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FINAL CASE Committee Meeting Minutes 2.20.2025CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 20 FEBRUARY 2025 PAGE 1 | 7 1. ROLL CALL CASE Committee: Committee Chair Justin Chesney, Committee Members Thomas Walsh, Danielle McNair, Pedro Campos, and Town Council Member Ruth Stanley Health and Recreation Committee: Committee Chair Nancy Tashman, Committee Vice-Chair Lisa Post, Committee Members Amy Phillips, Kathy Ryan, and Derek George Staff: Chief Cultural Officer Danita Dempsey, Recreation Director Michael Labagh, Recreation Aquatics Superintendent Kacy Carmichael, Town Planner Max Morgan, Special Events Coordinator Emily Dennis Absent: CASE Committee Member Kerri Thelen, Health and Recreation Committee Members Courtney Walters Rawson, Patricia Nolan, and Sonia Martinez Public: Chuq Yang Town Manager Eric Heil joined virtually at 12:38 p.m. and Town Council Member Kevin Hyatt arrived in-person at 12:45 p.m. The meeting was called to order at 12:31 pm. 2. MINUTES CASE Committee Member Thomas Walsh motioned to approve the meeting minutes from January 16, 2025. Committee Member Campos seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comments were made. 4. CURRENT ACTIVITY Chief Cultural Officer Dempsey opened the floor to Town Planner Morgan to present the concept review for the pedestrian mall. Town Planner Morgan provided an introduction and overviewed the agenda items, stating that he would recap previous work sessions from other citizen committee meetings and review three preferred pathway options. Town Planner Morgan noted that the group will review a few additional elements, including a possible Mikaela Way closure, food truck courts, safety buffers, and the status of the skier statue. He also mentioned that there has been a lot of support for parking garage in the Avon Recreation Center lot and that he is proud of the work the citizens committees have completed thus far. Town Planner Morgan introduced the three pathway options, noting that the group is welcome to mix and match elements, based on their preferences. He introduced the first option of the Mikaela Way closure, noting that there would be a 225-foot segment from the edge of the entrance to the Avon Recreation Center lot to the edge of Avon Library parking. He noted that this plan would straighten the library parking and add an additional parking stall, and would require turnarounds for library patrons, while incorporating movable planters and bollards. Town Planner Morning stated that this would not be a permanent closure so the space could transform to allow vehicles to pass if needed. The Committee inquired/commented: CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 20 FEBRUARY 2025 PAGE 2 | 7 A. Can you review how the closure impacts the other side of Mikaela Way? Is the whole area supposed to be for pedestrians unless we have cause to transform it for vehicles? B. What are the safety implications of having Mikaela way closed? Are there other factors as to why we wouldn’t want it open? I notice that it provides access to a lot of people from the bus terminal to the park. C. The Avon Recreation Center mural is a great photo op, and I see people standing in the road all the time. D. I’m afraid to cross that road when we are busy with out of towners, so I think opening the road during Salute and Triple Bypass defeats the purpose of safety and traveling across that street. What happens to bus traffic? We use Mikaela Way as an alternate route. E. I do not want it to take a lot of man hours to reopen the street. F. What about automatic lifters like other communities’ use? G. I don’t like the closure as there are already very few routes north and south for the Town. I’m more interested in a solution to safely cross the road while keeping the road open. H. I like the promotion of pedestrians. The amount of traffic using Mikaela Way has decreased, and it takes time for people to accept change. If we start with this small area, it might help push more pedestrian-friendly projects. I. Have we done any traffic studies on Mikaela Way? J. Could we get an “Avon” sign in front of the Recreation Center mural? Recreation Aquatics Superintendent Carmichael mentioned that the delivery ramp for the Recreation Center is too steep and that she is in favor of the Mikaela Way closure if it could lead to better ramp access. Town Planner Morgan stated that Mikaela Way would be open for Salute to the USA and Triple Bypass and any additional occasion deemed appropriate. He noted that some pros of the closure could include enhanced pedestrian safety, as they have already identified some blind spots on the road, and that it would bring the plaza area to life. He mentioned that they could include whatever safety mechanisms to close the road as they fit within the space, including bollards, boulders, natural landscaping – something that is function, enhances the ambiance of the space, and cost- effective. He also mentioned that there has not been a traffic study completed for Mikaela Way. The Committee inquired/commented: A. I like the idea of the closure, but what about the daycare? B. People using the Prater Lane drop-off would have to come off of West Beaver Creek Boulevard via Mikaela Way and access to parking would be on that side. We would not be able to go past the library. If we do close the road, we reduce access to the drop off spot. People from the Recreation Center would have limited access, which could increase traffic at the main roundabout. C. Wildridge residents use Beaver Creek Boulevard, so I’m not sure a closure is worth it. I want to understand where exactly we would close the road. D. I agree that the current situation is dangerous for crossing and I’m concerned about the hammerhead parking. It could be confusing for people who are already confused by roundabouts. I’m opposed to completely cutting off to traffic. It’s a thoroughfare that should be open as we do not have many ways to get through town via car or bicycle. E. I’m interested in the solution of how you cross the road while managing vehicular traffic. We should be investing in the crosswalk without stopping traffic. F. I look to Avon Station with the 15-mile per hour zone, a raised crosswalk on either side. It has been treated as a pedestrian area with crosswalks. I like the idea of making the vehicle subordinate to the pedestrian and it’s probably CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 20 FEBRUARY 2025 PAGE 3 | 7 keeping more options open for emergency services to use the road. Having hammerhead parking could be a life safety issue. Town Planner Morgan presented the group with pedestrian pathway option 2, noting that it is the straightest path that includes a mini plaza between the Avon Recreation Center and the Library. He also mentioned that option 2 does incorporate the Mikaela Way closure but it can be removed if the consensus is against the closure. He noted that the nothing east of Town Hall changes in this concept and the straightest path gets you south of the spruce tree which is being used as a focal point. He mentioned that there is modified parking on Lake Street and reminded the group that they can mix and match different elements of each concept. Town Planner Morgan stated this option could move south to the food truck court space rather than taking you all the way to the tree. He stated that this was a consideration because of the new restrooms going in and that there were a lot of people navigating to the north and south parts of the park. Town Planner Morgan presented the group with pedestrian pathway option 3, mentioning that this is an affordable and minimalist approach. He stated that the same path would be kept, it would still get treatment and be paved with pavers. He mentioned that this plan was done with consideration for Lot 351 and future development projects. Chief Cultural Officer Dempsey said that thinking about this third option allows us the time to decide what is going to happen with a potential Recreation Center expansion as well as the Old Fire Station (Lot 351). She mentioned that when you are passing through these areas as they are now, they seem to be a hodgepodge of things, and it is not the most welcoming experience. She noted that this is a good suggestion to consider the food truck courts as a good fit for the space, mentioning that we have received feedback that people want access to quick grab-and-go-style food. She stated that right now we have one option for a food truck and that we think three or four would be a nice addition to the space. Town Planner Morgan stated that we can circle-back to Mikaela Way and that all of these details are at play as we evaluate our options. He asked the group which one of these pathway options helps us to accomplish our goals. Recreation Direction Labagh asked Town Planner Morgan to clarify options 1 and 2 as they impact the parking lot at the Recreation Center. Town Planner Morgan stated that we do not have to get rid of the Recreation Center west lot parking, although the plans show that. He reminded the group that we can remove elements of various options if they do not like them. The Committee inquired/commented: A. When I ride my bike, I have no issues. However, people buzz by me when I’m riding. Have there been any thoughts on how to control the speed of cyclists? I’m not sure if the straight pathway option is the most viable for pedestrian safety. B. Looking at options 1 and 2, I am wondering if we are going to leave access to parking spots at the Recreation Center and Library and are we going to overlay a new pedestrian surface? C. I can see parking being reduced, but I don’t know if we must eliminate it. It should be about making pedestrian connectivity the dominant issue and we can retain some parking. I’d like to see a pedestrian path through an active parking lot, like what we have done at Avon Station with the raised crosswalk. CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 20 FEBRUARY 2025 PAGE 4 | 7 D. There is a strong point of entry at the crosswalk with pavers near the Recreation Center that leads to the playground, and we have a good solution for pedestrian traffic headed north. I expected to see an option that had a walkway along the south side of the library that ended near the Old Fire Station. Whatever happens with the Old Fire Station could be another point of entry into the park. I also would like to see the plaza more to the south rather than in the middle of Lake Street. E. We should keep our options open for the fire station. Looking at the footprint of the Old Fire Station, it can be expanded. We would be creating a second focal point into the park. When you’re going into the park, there is the slippery slope of grass. Do we look at getting the path down to turf level? Should that also be part of these options? July 3rd was crazy with people trying to get up that hill and it was getting very slippery. Could we add some tiers to the slope? F. Could we put more trees or landscaping to direct people to the south of the park? G. I love the idea of having food trucks, we need more food options, and it would help support small businesses. Do options 1 or 2 take away space from holding more food trucks? H. What is our 10-to-20-year vision for a gateway element? Do we want one grand entrance? Would the food truck program be year-round? I. We would not have one grand entrance to maintain our soccer field. Looking at how the Town is laid out, there is lots coming through Avon. The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is working on having additional transportation on Lake Street and we should figure out how to connect to the park in a way that will not have to be redone in the next few years. Options 2 and 3 would make the pedestrian dominant to cars. We should make the southern access as natural as possible. I think it would be valuable to make the connection across Mikaela Way permanent so it’s not subject to change in the future when we are ready for the Recreation Center expansion. Town Planner Morgan stated that we are not willing to go anything farther south on Lake Street with regards to the project so as not to impact any future planning for Lot 351. He also mentioned that we cannot touch the athletic field incline and that anything west of the large spruce tree is undevelopable. Chief Cultural Officer Dempsey mentioned that it may be more appropriate to discuss the slope of the field when Lot 351 is repurposed, but also that it may not be a key element of the repurposing project. She also noted that the gateway element is still an opportunity, but that it cannot encroach on the soccer field. Town Planner Morgan noted that there have been discussions about making the path more of a fanned design so there is no 90-degree angle from the pedestrian path when you enter the park. He stated that option 2 highlights the fan element in a bit more detail. He also mentioned that he is not aware of any concepts that would modify space constraints for the food trucks, noting that smaller elements like seating and benches could be minimally impacted. Chief Cultural Officer Dempsey stated that we currently have a food truck program that allows for one truck on Lake Street but there are power constraints that limit our options. She mentioned that the food truck program currently operates from Memorial Day through September and that it could potentially transition to a year-round program if we have the capacity to do so. The Committee inquired/commented: A. If we do not close Mikaela Way, the gathering area along the pedestrian mall is a very minimal area. I like option 2 but I do not want to take away from any Recreation Center Parking. By closing off Mikaela Way, there could be an CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 20 FEBRUARY 2025 PAGE 5 | 7 expansion of the plaza area. I’m in favor of it being permanently blocked off for pedestrians, including a food truck area, and having a thicker path continuing all the way to the park. Option 3 already looks like what we have now, and it is missing a big wow factor. I’ve also noticed that nobody dismounts their bicycles even in dismount zones, it’d be great to have dismount zones in the pedestrian mall, but would it make a big difference? B. I like option 1 if we can alleviate the issues of daycare access and I also like the pathway direction of option 3. I think a hybrid version of the two would be nice. C. At what point are we putting the carriage before the horse? Are we forcing a decision on the Old Fire Station right now? Are we going to dislike what we do? D. I like option 3. I think the other two options are too committal. I don’t want to endorse those and find out later we should not have done something that far south. E. It’s hard for me to get behind options that reduce parking, so I’m not for options 1 and 2. I like option 3 and think we should spend money on creating a safer crossing solution at Mikaela Way. I would also like to advocate for commuter style bike paths as people will be using the path more in the summertime. It would be great if we could look at an option to draw faster bike riders away from the pathway in option 3. F. I agree. My family and I choose not to drive our cars in the summer and so having an option to commute via bike paths would be helpful. I like the entrance of option 2 when thinking about the park, but option 3 makes more sense in the long term. If we do this because of the future of other projects, then it will change anyway. It would be nice if there was better entrance into the park with option 3. G. I’m wondering if we need to address the bike path portion through increased road signage so that when people are on their bikes, they are safer. We could have bike lanes painted on Benchmark Road. Lots of people come in via the Eagle Bike path and we should figure out how to get commuters better connectivity. It’s not a very biker-friendly path with the two switchbacks on the trail and we do not have any great bike parking options. H. There were no great bike parking options at Salute. As a bike commuter, I ride the roads to avoid pedestrians, people walking their dogs, and people with strollers. We encourage people to be environmentally friendly by riding their bikes, so we should have better options. I. I would like to see this be a true pedestrian mall and direct bike traffic to Benchmark Road and West Beaver Creek Boulevard. I lean toward option 3 because we do not know what is happening with Lot 351 and I like the idea of having food trucks. J. The north shore is better developed for pedestrians with the beach and other activities. The south shore pathway is the best way to direct fast moving bike traffic. Town Planner Morgan asked the group which path option and concept they preferred. He mentioned that discussions policies and peripherals can come later. Town Council Member Stanley asked the group to vote on the three pathway options, with pathway option 3 receiving a majority of the vote. The Committee inquired/asked: A. I want the entrance to the park to be as close to the park as possible. The restroom project could impact which side of the park draws more people. B. I’m split on the Mikaela Way closure. CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 20 FEBRUARY 2025 PAGE 6 | 7 C. Why is a more permanent closure something we want? I have never personally had an issue with the crosswalk, but I know some people have. D. Why is raising the crosswalk expensive? Town Planner Morgan stated that the Mikaela Way closure could solve three initial challenges from the original concepts, including lowering the speed limit, modifying parking, and raising the crosswalk. He mentioned that the closure concept would mean there would be no change in speed limits, it saves money because we would not have the raise the crosswalk, and we would be able to easily add a space by straightening library parking. He also mentioned that this was a recommendation from almost 10 years ago. He stated that raising the crosswalk is more expensive than the alternative of closing the road. The Committee inquired/commented: A. I think it would be most successful if we raised the area and put signage. I’m having a hard time conceptualizing the cost-benefit analysis of closing the road. It is not obvious how to get to the park right now. I agree that pedestrian safety needs to be a high priority. Looking back at Avon Station, that has been successful at reducing traffic speeds. B. I would like to understand if it’s better to raise the crosswalks or put in the flashing crosswalk signs. C. I’ve noticed that most people do not hit the button for the flashing crosswalk signs. At least the raised crosswalk is a permanent structure that a car must pay attention to. D. What about the volume of traffic as it relates to the flashing lights versus the raised crosswalks? E. What if we put in a speed bump? F. I like the idea of closing Mikaela Way. Chief Cultural Officer Dempsey asked the group to vote by raising hands on the Mikaela Way closure. There were 5 in favor and 4 against the closure with one abstained. The Committee inquired/commented: A. I think closing the road puts more traffic on Lake Street, which is more of an issue. B. I think we can find something that enhances the space without having to close it. Town Planner Morgan asked the group to briefly review safety buffer options, mentioning that these were a more recent addition to the design. He stated that we do not want people driving into the park. He then asked the group if their preferred safety buffers were boulders or bollards. By show of hands, boulders as safety buffers received a majority of the vote. Town Planner Morgan mentioned that there is large support for the space in front of Town Hall to be a civic plaza, stating that right now it is designed to be a half-circle, but that can be modified. He also showed the group possible relocation options for the skier statue that is currently in front of Town Hall. The Committee inquired/commented: A. I want this group to weigh in on whether we should have permanent post structures or not for seasonal shade structures in the pedestrian mall. CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 20 FEBRUARY 2025 PAGE 7 | 7 B. The group agreed that post structures would be helpful for seasonal shades and that the pedestrian mall gets very hot in the summer. C. I am interested in lighting, and I also think that we should have our plaza in a place where there are good views of the mountains to the south. I don’t think in front of Town Hall is the best place for it. D. Could we add something to Possibilities Plaza? Does it have a good view? I’m thinking of times when we had musicians play on the mall, and they struggled in the heat. Pedestrians didn’t want to stop and enjoy the music because it was so hot and there was not a lot of shade. E. How will the plaza be programmed? What time of day and year will this happen? There is a large shadow from The Seasons’ building that is cast onto Town Hall. I like the idea of shade informing the location of a plaza. Town Planner Morgan thanked the group for their input, stating that we want to make sure we reach our conclusions with the input of our citizens’ committees. He also mentioned that there is a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on Monday, February 24 that is open to the public. 3. CURRENT ACTIVITY 4. PLANNING Chief Cultural Officer Dempsey reminded the CASE Committee members that CASE appointments will be made at next week’s Town Council meeting on Tuesday, February 25. She also encouraged CASE Committee members to begin thinking about the Colorado Creative Industries Summit happening on May 1-2, 2025, in Grand Junction. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 2:02 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Emily Dennis Special Events Coordinator