Request for Proposals: 2016 Comprehensive Plan Update

The Town of Snowmass Village

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Request for Proposals: 2016 Comprehensive Plan Update
Town of Snowmass Village, Colorado
Release Date: June 22, 2016
Proposal Submittal Deadline: July 20, 2016 by 5:00 PM
http://co-snowmassvillage.civicplus.com/bids.aspx

Section 1: Introduction

Purpose: The purpose of this Request for Proposals(RFP) is to receive competitive proposals from qualified planning individuals and consultant teams (hereinafter referred to in the singular as “consultant”) who are interested in carrying out a comprehensive update to the Snowmass Village Comprehensive Plan (“Plan Update”), which was last adopted in 2010. The Plan Update should provide vision and policies that will guide the Town’s future land uses and will incorporate plans currently underway. A Plan Update will assist Town staff, Planning Commission, Town Council, and its advisory committees to gauge the direction that citizens and various other stakeholders within the community would like to see the Town move towards. The Plan Update must provide guidance to the Town on how to appropriately implement new development and redevelopment within the community while also meeting the service demands that come with community growth.

History and Background: The Town of Snowmass Village is located in Pitkin County off of Colorado Highway 82 in the Roaring Fork Valley, approximately 8 miles northwest of the City of Aspen. The total incorporated area of the Town is 25 square miles, and there is an estimated population of 2,889 (DOLA, 2014). In December of 1967, Snowmass-At-Aspen opened as the nation’s first fully ski-in, ski-out resort with five chairlifts, 50 miles of ski trails, seven hotels, and six restaurants. The Town has since evolved into a year-round community with a resort. Snowmass Village was incorporated in 1977, and will be celebrating its 40th year of incorporation in 2017.

Skiing and snowboarding are the most dominant economic activities in Snowmass Village. Snowmass Mountain is ranked as the second largest ski area in Colorado comprising 3,332 acres with the most vertical elevation descent of all ski areas in Colorado. Snowmass Tourism (a Town department) has focused its efforts to specifically enhance the summer events to increase occupancy in Snowmass Village during the summer. Flagship events such as the Free Concert Series, Snowmass Rodeo, Snowmass Wine and Balloon Festival and Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Festival have set precedence that Snowmass Village is a perfect host for special events. Summer also offers an array of activities that include hiking, white water rafting, jeeping, ballooning, horseback riding, and biking. The Aspen Skiing Company, in partnership with the Town’s Parks and Trails Department, have actively been expanding the on and off mountain trails for mountain biking in order to propel Snowmass Village to the forefront of this increasingly popular recreational activity.

In addition, Snowmass Village offers several unique community amenities that set it apart from other communities, including the Snowmass Club Golf Course, an 18-hole semi-private course, and the well-
appointed Snowmass Village Recreation Center in Town Park. The Snowmass Village Town Hall was constructed in 2006 and is located next to the Snowmass Center which provides local services such as a grocery store, postal services, a gas station, and bank. A large mixed-use project known as Base Village broke ground at the base of Snowmass Mountain in 2006. After stalling during the recession in 2008, the current developer was approved in 2015 to move forward with the next phase of development. Infrastructure improvements in preparation for phase 2 construction, including two roundabouts, are currently underway.

The Town is also unique in that it has three commercial nodes: the new Base Village, the Snowmass Center, and the Snowmass Mall, often referred to as West Village. Developing strong connectivity between the commercial nodes and further enhancing recreational areas and their connectivity throughout town is an important goal of the Town and Comprehensive Plan. The Town anticipates steady growth in the coming years, but is currently 90% built-out. Redevelopment is an expected opportunity for updating of aging condominiums and mixed-use areas throughout the Town.

Section 2: Scope of the Project

Expectations: The Plan will guide decisions affecting the physical development and redevelopment within the Town’s planning area. The process for the Plan Update will be critical to its success and must ensure that the final document reflects the desired vision for the community as determined by citizens, developers, land owners, business leaders, second-homeowners, appointed and elected officials, and other stakeholders through community participation. The Plan will be a guiding document that reflects the community’s unique natural character and provides a clear process, together with specified objectives and policies, of how the Town can build upon its strengths while becoming more economically resilient.

Services: The services provided by the chosen consultant will include, but not necessarily be limited to:

  1. A thorough evaluation of and recommendations for modifications to the existing plan, including its vision statement, guiding principles, goals, policies and elements.
  2. An analysis and incorporation of relevant data and trends related to population, employment and housing forecasts.
  3. An effective steering committee and public participation process to ensure community involvement in the Plan Update process. A proposed schedule of steering committee meetings, open houses and public meetings shall be proposed by the consultant at key points in the process.
  4. Effective coordination with staff, Planning Commission, and Town Council. The consultant will assist with the creation of a Comp Plan Steering Committee composed of the Planning Commission, Town Council and other community representatives.
  5. Recommendations and a plan for integration with other relevant plans and initiatives adopted by the Town. A list of plans currently underway to be integrated are included in this Section 2.
  6. Development of feasible and fiscally responsible recommendations as determined by the Plan Update process.
  7. Development of a sound economic development strategy that strengthens tourism while minimizing impacts from economic downturns and seasonality within the Village.
  8. Re-evaluation of the land use map and land use types and how they function with the existing zone districts adopted by the Town, as well as potential future zone districts, if any.
  9. Further clarity on the appropriate mix of development within the identified Comprehensively Planned Areas (CPAs, as defined in the 2010 Comprehensive Plan), especially the Rodeo Grounds/Entryway CPA, Snowmass Center CPA and West Village-Mixed Use CPA.
  10. The development of a final Comprehensive Plan that will be relevant to the needs of the Town and respects the culture and vision of the stakeholders and citizens of Snowmass Village.
  11. General recommendations on appropriate changes that should be made to the Land Use and Development Code to make it consistent with the Plan Update.

These are general requirements for the Plan Update and are not intended to be a comprehensive list of tasks and deliverables. It is expected that the chosen consultant will provide the Town with more specific recommendations for approaches, tasks and deliverables based on their experience and expertise from past work on comprehensive plan projects.

Community Involvement in Decision Making: The Town of Snowmass Village puts strong emphasis on ensuring participation of citizens in every stage of decision making. Participation of citizens, developers, land owners, business owners, second homeowners, appointed and elected officials, and other stakeholders throughout the community is paramount to success of the Plan Update; therefore, the Town will place a strong emphasis in the selection process in choosing a consultant that has strong facilitation skills with respect to the open house and public meeting process. The selected consultant will be responsible for organizing and either leading or co-leading public meetings with Town staff.

Existing Plans: The Plan Update should coordinate with other plans of the Town of Snowmass Village, so that all of the plans in the Town are mutually supportive and consistent with one another. These plans include:

Products and Deliverables: Some of the deliverables to be included with the Plan Update are expected to be, but not limited to the items below. Other areas of emphasis may be identified during the Plan Update process.

Comprehensive Plan Document: A completed Plan Update document that incorporates the required information outlined under the Services subparagraph found in Section 2 of this document. Consultant shall provide one (1) unbound copy and 25 bound copies of the final Plan document to the Town, including graphics. The consultant shall also provide (1) electronic submission of the Plan document, including attachments and other graphics, in an editable format commonly used by the Snowmass Village Community Development Department.

The Town will also require that drafts of the Plan be provided for review at the completion of various key phases of the project. The timing and number of copies to be submitted will be mutually agreed upon between the consultant and Town staff as the project moves forward. It should be noted that most Town staff and community members are used to accessing electronic documents in Snowmass Village, but some paper copies will need to be available.

Transportation and Parking Analysis: Snowmass Village was born as a ski-in ski-out resort with free shuttle service that boasted to its guests that they could leave the car behind. Today, the Village Shuttle continues to provide free transportation on both fixed routes and through on-demand service that reaches most areas of the Village and interfaces with the Roaring Fork Transit Agency (RFTA—the State’s second largest transit system) to provide free regional service into Aspen and low cost service to Glenwood Springs and beyond. One of the community’s goals is to continue encouraging guests to leave their cars at home by providing multi-modal transportation improvements and amenities to minimize the impact of automobiles in the community. An analysis of all of our transportation modes (including the enhancement of the aerial “skittles” system or alternatives to other areas of the community), parking opportunities and a “person trip” analysis that relates to our maximum skier days, must be included as a part of the Plan Update. The chosen consultant must ensure they coordinate the Plan Update land use policies with appropriate transportation policies that reduce the need for autos in the Village.

Employee Housing Analysis: The Town has had an aggressive workforce housing program that has resulted in over 500 units being available to employees working in the Village as rental or for-sale housing. As much of this housing stock has aged over the years, the Town is currently upgrading units to extend their life. As part of the Plan Update, the consultant should provide a comprehensive analysis of our job generation rates, employee mitigation, and workforce housing and provide recommendations and identify new programs, opportunities and current underutilized resources to create more workforce housing to serve the community. A future demands analysis that will evaluate the impact of employees retiring in workforce housing will also need to be addressed.

Sustainability and Environmental Analysis: The consultant should evaluate policies and programs and provide recommendations on strengthening our stewardship of the natural environment while allowing appropriate development that is consistent with our green initiatives.

Urban Design: Although there were seven Comprehensively Planned Areas identified in the 2010 Plan with policy direction, little design work was completed to help the community visualize what these areas could look like if redeveloped. It is expected that a minimum of three CPA’s will require further clarity of policy through visualization and sketches that promote the type of development desired by the community.

Economic Analysis: The Town’s economic engine is tourism led by winter sports (skiing/snowboarding) and summer special events, festivals and biking. A comprehensive economic analysis of the Town’s resources and expenses with future projections should be included in the Plan Update. In addition to the economic analysis for the Town government, a broad based economic development plan that will identify opportunities to strengthen tourism and other economic engines in order for the Town to become more economically resilient, will be needed. The Town does not have an Economic Development department, but understands that economic development is important to sustaining a healthy local economy. The chosen consultant should understand the value that winter sports, the arts and festivals bring to the Village, but should be able to recommend a more well-rounded economic development strategy and identify additional necessary infrastructure that may be needed to support tourism and business and make Snowmass Village a more economically-balanced community.

Community Engagement Tools: The chosen consultant will be expected to assist the Town staff with developing and implementing community engagement tools that should foster public outreach and citizen participation. The Town of Snowmass Village website should be used in disseminating information related to the Plan Update, while providing avenues for feedback that can be incorporated into the Plan Update. The consultant should also collaborate with Town staff to utilize social media to keep the public informed on the Plan Update process. Other public input outreach methods should be recommended by the chosen consultant, such as meetings, mailings, phone apps, questionnaires and specialized websites and the firm should implement these outreach efforts or assist Town staff with their implementation. In addition, the consultant shall provide assistance to the Town with the development of a Plan Update Steering committee.

Meetings and Presentations: The consultant is expected to attend key meetings with Town staff, citizens, developers, land owners, business leaders, second homeowners, appointed and elected officials, and other stakeholders. The consultant will prepare and conduct key presentations as appropriate. The Town is equipped to conduct virtual meetings with the consultant when appropriate to save travel time and expense.

GIS Data: Relevant GIS data and digital map documents used in the creation of maps and other supporting documentation in the Plan Update shall be provided to the Town at the end of the project. GIS data formats and standards shall be created in consultation with Snowmass Village’s GIS team to ensure the data can be used later in Town operations. Relevant metadata, if applicable, shall be created and provided to the Town as well.

Section 3: Proposal Requirements

Proposal Submission Requirements:  The consultant shall submit one (1) unbound original, eight (8) copies and one (1) digital copy of the proposal submittal. The Town encourages the use of recycled paper products and double sided print. The Town discourages the use of plastic products including three-ring binders, plastic folders, etc. for all submissions. The deadline to submit proposals is no later than Wednesday, July 20, 2016 at 5:00 PM. The proposal submittal should be submitted in an envelope labeled “2016 Comprehensive Plan Proposal” and delivered to
Chase Anderson, Town Planner
Town of Snowmass Village
Community Development Department
130 Kearns Road (if by Fed-Ex or similar)
PO Box 5010 (if by US mail)
​Snowmass Village, CO 81615

Information about Proposal Format, Tentative Schedule, Selection Process, Evaluation Criteria, Consulting Agreement, Insurance, Reference Materials, and Authorization can all be found in the Full RFP Description below.

Questions: The deadline for questions regarding the proposal is July 8, 2016. Questions can be directed to Chase Anderson, Town Planner by e-mail only at canderson@tosv.com. Responses to questions and/or addenda determined to be required by Town staff to further clarify this RFP will be posted to the Town’s RFP webpage at http://co-snowmassvillage.civicplus.com/bids.aspx no later than July 13, 2016 at 5:00 PM.