Community feedback on child education center helps shape design of proposal, city officials say
City of Aspen/Courtesy image
The city of Aspen last week wrapped up its third public outreach campaign for the proposed Burlingame Early Childhood Education Center.
The city began these in 2021 with community events like an ice-cream social and open houses, as well as an online survey on aspencommunityvoice.com. In total, about 150 people have weighed in on the center in the past two years.
The feedback helped shape the design of the proposed facility, city officials said, and a land-use application will be submitted to the city in the coming months.
“The open houses are an engagement opportunity for the community to see the continued design development of the Early Childhood Education Center and ask questions of/provide comments to the design team,” said Jennifer Phelan, development manager with the city Asset Management Department. “The design team is working towards the goal of submitting a land-use application that will go through a public review process.”
Last week’s open houses didn’t see the kind of attendance they did in 2022, despite the city using print advertising, social media, neighborhood posters and door hangers in advance of them.
“The intent of the open house last week was to update the community on continued design progress and have subject matter experts at the open houses — for example, the architect or traffic engineer — to be able to answer questions and take additional feedback as the project moves forward,” said Phelan. “Overall, I believe the advertising effort was well rounded, but it’s always hard to gauge what type of attendance to expect for any event.”
She noted that once the land-use application is submitted, some additional engagement is anticipated, as the project moves into the public hearing process. The project is still months away from being presented to the City Council.
“The outreach thus far, which included 150 people, has helped shaped the design and size of the facility. We anticipate more feedback during the public hearing process, which council weighs heavily in its decision-making process,” she said.
Burlingame Ranch, 3.5 miles west of Aspen, was developed by the city. The first and second phases brought 84 and 82 multifamily units, respectively, along with a combined 10 single-family homes. The third phase will be released this fall with an additional 79 condo units.
Efforts included a kick-off ice cream social at Burlingame on September 9, 2021, with 11 attendees. There was an open house at Burlingame, May 5, 2022, with approximately 20 attendees. Another open house at Burlingame was hosted on July 13, 2022, and had 20 attendees.
Last week, an open house was hosted at City Hall during lunchtime drew three community members. Later that evening at Burlingame, another open house was hosted, and four people attended.
Highlights from questions and comments from the community:
- Can an incubation space for the business be started now to provide care and test the model before we build a building that may or may not have staff?
- Will some units in phase 3 be reserved for the teachers who work at the childcare space?
- How is this childcare going to be staffed without siphoning teachers from existing programs – Early Learning Center, Aspen Mountain Tots, Cottage?
- Will Burlingame families have priority to reduce traffic?
- What other locations are being considered?
