Aspen Community Vision

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Managing Growth

City of Aspen
Although the City of Aspen has had a growth management system in place for more than 30 years, not every type of construction is tracked, limited or required to provide mitigation to offset impacts. The 2000 AACP stated as a goal to "Revise the Growth Management System to implement a true rate of growth that counts all of the growth occurring locally..."

An extensive study on all construction activity from 2000 - 2007 revealed a number of interesting facts.

There were 10,000 building permits issues by the City of Aspen since 2000, with a total worth of more than $2.4 billion.
Of that total value, more than 20% (more than $500 million) was for the demolition and replacement of residential structures - mostly single-family homes and duplexes. Roughly 10% (more than $200 million) was for major remodeling or additions.
In terms of size, the average "scrape and replace" project nearly doubles the size of the original home. In other words, many modest structures are being replaced with homes that maximize the allowed square footage on the lot.
The Midland and Park neighborhood accounts for 28% of all demolition and replacement projects in the past eight years, with the West End and Cemetery Land neighborhoods both accounting for 21%.
Since 2000, the Cemetery Lane neighborhood has seen almost one in six of its residential structures demolished and replaced. Mountain Valley has experienced demolition and replacement of about one in seven structures, while the West End has had more than one in 10 of its residential structures demolished and replaced.

Linkage to other issues

There are precious few issues in the Aspen area that exist in a vacuum. Here are a few topics that are directly related to Aspen's growth management.

Transportation. The upward trend in construction has resulted in a greater presence of construction-related travel on local roads and highways, which has been a source of frustration for local residents and visitors.

Historic Preservation. The increasing prevalence of demolition and replacement projects has resulted in heightened concerns about the demolition of properties that are not historically designated, but may have some potential historic integrity.

Pitkin County
Although the area of study for Pitkin County only includes areas outside the City limits but within the Urban Growth Boundary, similar trends may be at work. Many property owners are choosing development or redevelopment options that don't require proceeding through the County Growth Management Quota System.

There were a total of 156 existing homes (20.8 per year average) that were either demolished or remodeled with additional square footage.
A close second (124 permits) was the construction of primarily interior remodel improvements that did not add additional square footage to the home.
Regarding new home construction, there were 21 new free market homes built (an average of 2.8 new single-family homes per year), along with 73 new affordable housing units (an average of 9.7 per year).
Although Pitkin County has established a "soft" cap on house size at 5,750 square feet, a property owner can buy a Transferable Development Right (which extinguishes development rights on backcountry mining claims) in order to exceed that cap.
One TDR can provide an additional 2,500 sq. ft. in house size (or establish a new development right), and a total of 33 TDRs have "landed" in the study area since 1998.

Pitkin County updated its Land Use Code in 2006, but those code changes were targeted primarily at various rural areas of the County. After the Aspen Area Community Plan is updated, the County is likely to re-examine code language that affects the more urban areas of the County, such as the AABC.

Linkage to other issues

There are precious few issues in the Aspen area that exist in a vacuum. Here are a few topics that are directly related to managing growth in Pitkin County.

Economics. Real estate and construction have become the dominant industry sector in the Aspen area. Although the number of construction jobs based in Pitkin County has dropped, constructions jobs based in Garfield County are substantially up.

Governance. The upward trend in construction has resulted in a greater presence of construction-related travel on local roads and highways, with heavy loads causing damage over the years. Pitkin County may be seeking additional revenues to pay for the upkeep of county roads in November 2008.