Basalt Town Council talks current projects
Discussions include Basalt Regional Library, Midland Avenue, Center Circle, Commercial Park and Original Road

Courtesy Photo
The Basalt Town Council discussed several major municipal projects during its Tuesday meeting.
Library update
Amy Shipley, executive director at the Basalt Regional Library, presented a library strategic plan update and the results of the community listening tour.
From late April to early June, library staff interviewed 52 community members. Staff also estimated community demographics. The largest age group is 18-64 years old, followed by 65 years old and older and under 18. The largest race/origin was white only, followed by Latino and other.
“It’s a trend in libraries to come from a place of community needs,” Shipley said. “I just wanted to demonstrate that we tried to talk to a variety across different walks of life, not just focusing on library users or any one particular demographic.”
The feedback from these community members will be considered when formulating themes and strategic initiatives and goals at the library.
The main themes the library will focus on are basic needs, community connection, lifelong learning opportunities, arts and recreation, youth wellbeing and environmental stewardship. Secondary themes are civic engagement, need a place to talk about difficult topics and too many silos.
Library staff will publish a new plan in December 2024 and begin implementing it in January 2025.
Midland Avenue project
Midland Avenue continues to undergo construction in downtown Basalt for the streetscape project.
According to a June 19 project report, the construction is in Phase 2.
Phase 1 has been completed with landscaping and electricity. The first part of Phase 2 was completed with waterline work.
The second part of Phase 2, with completion expected for fall, includes surface improvements, like grading, concrete and rebar placement, as well as electrical and infrastructure work, like retaining walls, brick pavers and hardscapes.
Crews have made progress under good weather conditions and appropriate staffing. There are no delays to report.
“For all intents and purposes, budgets are very healthy,” Catherine Christoff of Wember, Inc. said. “Otherwise, you’ve been able to access businesses because there is a little bit of a maze here and there, but we put up some additional signage today and continue to try to stay nimble and lay signs out as we move up and down the street.”

Basalt Center Circle
The Basalt Center Circle (BCC) underwent a second hearing after an initial one at a July 9 Town Council meeting.
Tim Belinski and Andrew Light, who spearheaded the BCC project, are looking to completely sell both the residential units and commercial spaces in the building.
Before selling the space, though, a new ordinance has been proposed.
Ordinance No. 9 looks to condominiumize the units, among other things. This will allow independent ownership of each one of the 65 units. The other part of the ordinance also adjusts the sizing of some of the units. Per the original ordinance, there must be 12 studios, four one-bedroom and one two-bedroom units. The ordinance requests 13 studios, three one-bedroom and one two-bedroom units.
These units are requested to be built with modular construction for cost effectiveness. The request is meant to accommodate for the dimensional limitations of modular construction.
Despite the changing of the construction method, Belinski and Light maintain that the outer look will stay the same as the original design.
“In advance of the July 23 meeting Tim and I would like to review the two items that are being clarified for the second reading of the proposed ordinance. As for the proposed items that amend the original 2022 approvals, our intention is to honor the existing approvals to the greatest extent possible,” Light said in a memo. “The priority of offer of the category unit residences comes directly from the approval language. Similarly, the proposed category unit change will result in greater than 25% of the square footage of the units being category units and allows all units to meet the minimum unit size in the Town’s housing guidelines. Finally, the parking management and oversight will not change with a change of ownership form. Parking enforcement will very likely be handled by the same management company whether that company is reporting to an apartment owner or an association board.”
The new ordinance passed 6-1.
A public reading and first hearing of another ordinance regarding two construction projects were also heard.

Basalt Commercial Park
Fork Front Basalt, LLC, requested minor subdivision approval to condominiumize the 12 residential units approved to be constructed on Lot J of the Basalt Commercial Park Subdivision. Of the 12 units approved in this project, three are required to be deed-restricted as category-level units, according to agenda documents.
The Basalt Affordable Community Housing Commission (BACH) reviewed the request and did not express any issues with the proposal.
After minimal discussion, however, the town council voted to hold a second hearing during their Tuesday, Aug.13, meeting.
Michael Fox, an attorney, requested approval of a minor subdivision, slope Review, community housing and site plan reviews to subdivide the property at 168 Original Road into two lots and construct a new single-family residence on the lot to be created through the subdivision.
The property is .93 acres and includes half of a duplex. It is zoned R-2 and is part of the Dillion Subdivision.
Written consent from the other property owners in the Dillion Subdivision has been provided to remove the restriction against developing more than the existing duplex on the properties within the Dillion Subdivision.
Fox proposed to subdivide the property into two lots containing 21,500 square feet and 18,098 square feet. On the 21,500-square-foot lot proposed for the upper portion of the fathering parcel, Fox proposed to construct a 3,999-gross-square-foot single-family residence. The existing half duplex is proposed to remain on Parcel B-2.
Planning and Zoning reviewed the application and recommended that the town council approve the request with conditions, including the requirement to convert the existing dwelling unit to a resident-occupied unit, according to agenda documents.
The vote did not come in upon press time.
Regan Mertz can be reached at 970-429-9153 or rmertz@aspentimes.com.
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