Item 7A - Chautauqua Access Managment PlanC I T Y O F B O U L D E R
LANDMARKS BOARD
STAFF BRIEFING
MEETING DATE: June 1, 2016
AGENDA TITLE: Staff Briefing and Landmarks Board input regarding the Chautauqua
Access Management Plan (CAMP) 2016 work program
PRESENTER/S:
Molly Winter, Executive Director, Community Vitality
Susan Connelly, Deputy Director, Community Vitality
Bill Cowern, Transportation Operations Engineer
Deryn Wagner, Environmental Planner, Open Space and Mountain Parks
Jeff Haley, Parks Planning Manager, Parks and Recreation
Lisa Smith, Communications Specialist, Community Vitality
Amanda Nagl, Neighborhood Liaison, City Manager’s Office
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The purpose of this briefing is to provide to the Landmarks Board materials associated
with the 2016 work program for the development of the Chautauqua Access Management
Plan (CAMP).
The development of the CAMP is a process involving city staff from multiple
departments, including the Transportation Division of Public Works, Community
Vitality, Open Space and Mountain Parks, Parks and Recreation and the City Manager’s
Office. The CAMP will explore ways to manage existing demand for transportation
access (including parking) to and from the Chautauqua area in ways that minimize
vehicular and parking impacts to surrounding neighbors, visitors and the area’s natural
and cultural resources. The CAMP will not be exploring resource management or visitor
use of OSMP land in the Chautauqua area. At this early stage in the CAMP development
project, city staff are interested in gathering feedback from the public, city boards, and
city council on the proposed planning process, including the scope of work, schedule, and
community engagement.
City Council will be receiving an information item concerning this topic in its June 7th
packet. Input from the boards and commissions listed below will be provided in that
memorandum. Landmarks Board input will be communicated separately due to the date
of the Landmarks Board meeting and the date the IP will be finalized and sent to council.
Background
The City of Boulder enjoys a now-118-year-old public-private partnership with the
nonprofit Colorado Chautauqua Association (“CCA”) for shared stewardship of the
Colorado Chautauqua. The city owns the 40-underlying acres, three historic buildings
and a new building, and leases approximately 26 acres and those four buildings to CCA.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Department operates a city park on the north lawn
known as the Chautauqua Green. In addition to leasing the land and four buildings from
the city, CCA also owns 67 historic buildings, including 60 cottages. Year-round, CCA
offers lodging, programming, rental of historic venues and a full-service restaurant.
Private individuals own 39 historic cottages, most of which are used seasonally (typically
summer) but some of which are year-round owner-occupied residences. Chautauqua was
designated a Boulder Landmark District in 1979 and a National Historic Landmark in
2006. Physically, Chautauqua is surrounded on two sides by city open space that is not
part of the historic district. The Chautauqua Trailhead is one of the most popular
trailheads in the region. The Chautauqua Ranger Cottage, located within the historic
district adjacent to that trailhead, is staffed by Open Space and Mountain Parks and
provides information services to local and visiting hikers. The historic district abuts
single-family residential neighborhoods to its north across Baseline and to the east. This
brief description illustrates the number and variety of interests and uses/users associated
with “greater Chautauqua.”
The previous lease between the city and CCA (dated 1998, amended 2002) recognized
the negative impacts of parking demand exceeding supply and the unique conditions
within the historic Chautauqua. The 1998 lease authorized CCA to take a variety of
actions to limit access and parking under certain circumstances and anticipated that the
city would designate a residential permit parking or similar program within the historic
district to address the negative impacts on the Chautauqua operations and environment.
Many of these approaches were deemed infeasible to implement.
Actions that were taken over the years included:
CCA and the city, in collaboration with the Colorado Music Festival, in 2003
initiated free off-site parking and free shuttle service on event nights at the
Chautauqua Auditorium to mitigate traffic impacts within the historic district and
in the surrounding residential neighborhoods to the north and east. This free
service has continued yearly since inception and will continue in summer 2016.
The city issues a special event permit annually to permit temporary street closures
and limited access on these event evenings.
RTD discontinued the 210 bus route that stopped just east of 9th Street on
Baseline, leaving the closest transit stops at 9th and College and Broadway south
of Baseline.
The city funded a pilot Hop 2 Chautauqua daytime bus during the summer 2008
but ridership was low and the service was discontinued.
In 2011 the city and the CCA partnered to evaluate parking and access issues in
the leasehold area. As a part of this project, the partnership collected parking
utilization and parking duration data on all available parking within the leasehold
area and in the neighborhood to the north of Chautauqua on three separate days.
The results of that data collection showed some areas of high parking utilization
within the leasehold area, but very few areas of high parking utilization in the
neighborhood north of Chautauqua. Using the data and analyses from this study, a
series of pilot programs for the CCA leasehold area was advanced by staff for city
council’s consideration but none of these pilots were adopted for implementation.
Council members’ concerns at that time included the concept of restricting
parking on streets near open space and park property. Following the Council
meeting in spring 2012 it was jointly determined that access and parking
management at Chautauqua should be addressed through the upcoming lease
renegotiation rather than through a pilot program.
In late 2012, the city and CCA adopted Collaborative Stewardship of the Colorado
Chautauqua: Guiding Principles for Place Management and Fiscal Sustainability
(hereinafter “the Guiding Principles”) as a shared statement about the nature of the
Colorado Chautauqua and the manner in which its primary stewards, the city and CCA,
intend to collaborate in the planning and management of Chautauqua’s future. The
Collaborative Stewardship Guiding Principles are summarized as follows:
1. A Public Place
2. A Historic Landmark
3. A Historic Mission
4. A Balanced Approach
5. Collaborative Place Management
6. A Cautious Approach to Change
7. Shared Financial Responsibility
The city and CCA entered into a new lease effective Jan. 1, 2016 (“the Lease”). The
“Access and Parking Management” section of the Lease acknowledges the need for a
tailored access management strategy to balance the access of the variety of users and
modes while also maintaining the natural, built and historic environments. The Lease
reiterates the recognition that during peak periods, parking demand for all uses within and
around Chautauqua far exceeds supply, and acknowledges that the movement of vehicles
looking for parking presents safety issues and degrades the visitor experience. The lease
contains the commitment of the city and CCA to develop a Chautauqua Access
management Plan (“CAMP”) within the first year of the new lease according to the
CAMP Governing Principles:
Chautauqua is a unique shared resource requiring unique solutions.
Chautauqua is a National Historic Landmark.
The needs of all stakeholders, including the Association, cottage owners, park
users, open space users and neighbors should be considered.
A mix of uses must be accommodated.
Pedestrians must be given priority on the narrow streets without sidewalks.
Traffic circulation should be minimized in the interests of pedestrian safety and
user experience.
Parking demand is seasonal and solutions need not address time periods during
which access is readily available.
During peak periods, the parking needs of users in the historic core should be
prioritized, but not exclusive.
A seasonal transportation demand management (TDM) plan for employees should
be implemented.
The right of public access should not be restricted except for good cause, with
such restrictions minimized as appropriate.
The interests of the surrounding neighbors should be addressed.
Any plan should be flexible to address changing circumstances.
Access management should be consistent with the Guiding Principles for Place
Management and Fiscal Sustainability.
Consistent with the city’s climate commitment and sustainability and resilience
goals, any plan should support public transit, alternative modes of transportation,
a reduction in vehicle miles traveled and a reduction in visits in single-occupant
vehicles.
In 2015 resident-owners in the neighborhood north of Baseline adjacent to the
Chautauqua historic district and Chautauqua Meadow open space (“Sustainable
Chautauqua”) approached the city with parking-related issues including: parking too
close to or in front of driveways, stop signs, and hydrants; litter and dog waste; speeding
and u-turns; general disrespect and noise; overuse of resource/environmental impacts;
and lack of parking enforcement. Some improvements have been implemented already,
including placement of trash receptacles and enhanced parking enforcement in the area.
Temporary pavement markings have been installed to help delineate where parking is
legal. It is anticipated that the Chautauqua-area activity-related issues will be addressed
during the CAMP process.
At a study session on Feb. 9, 2016, staff sought council feedback on the process for
development of the CAMP. One option identified was to move forward with developing a
CAMP for implementation in the summer of 2016 utilizing parking utilization and
duration data from 2011 that may be different today because of increased visitation to
Chautauqua. This approach would have the advantage of providing mitigation this
summer but would have the disadvantage of being based on data that may be out of date1
and may be questionable to use as baseline data for future comparison. Another option
would be to collect new data in summer 2016 to use to develop the CAMP for
implementation and monitoring in summer 2017, thus delaying mitigation until 2017.
Council members supported staff’s recommendation to pursue the second option – to
collect new data this summer, followed by the development of a CAMP for
implementation in 2017.
After discussions with the City Council at the February 9, 2016 study session, city staff
identified the following actions to incorporate into the 2016 work plan for development
of the CAMP:
Develop a data collection/evaluation plan and a public process plan for Council’s
review prior to this summer
Gather data including parking utilization and duration and an updated user
intercept survey this summer
Work with OSMP to coordinate data collection and outreach and to understand
data and system-wide options
Explore transit options and other ideas for Baseline as part of CAMP
development.
1 The 2011 parking utilization and duration data and corresponding analyses could form
the foundation of the development of the 2016 CAMP, but recent data from an Open
Space and Mountain Parks Chautauqua Study Area Visitation Monitoring Report (2015)
suggest that visitation to Chautauqua has increased substantially since 2005. Whether this
increase occurred since the 2011 data collection is unclear. The substantial increase in
visitation over time suggests that parking utilization within the leasehold and in the
surrounding neighborhood potentially could be higher than previously studied, thus
suggesting the necessity of data collection and evaluation of current conditions.
Operating Assumptions for the Development of the CAMP
As discussed at the Feb. 9, 2016 City Council study session, options for the development
of the CAMP may include consideration of:
Some degree of managed parking within the Chautauqua leasehold area and
possibly in the surrounding neighborhood as well. This could include parking
restrictions similar to those provided by the Neighborhood Parking Permit
Program.
Some degree of paid parking, possibly in the Ranger Cottage lot, on the loop
surrounding the park and/or on Baseline Road.
Enhancements to other modes of transportation including but not limited to
restoration of transit service to the Chautauqua area.
Relevant guidance for this plan includes the city’s Access Management and Parking
Strategy (AMPS) guiding principles:
Provide for all transportation modes
Support a diversity of people
Customize tools by area
Seek solutions with co-benefits
Plan for the present and the future
Cultivate partnerships
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Proposed CAMP Process -
Subject to modification based on feedback received from the community, CCA and the
city boards and commissions, and city council, the project team anticipates the following
project steps:
1. Initial Community Engagement including Check-ins with boards and
commissions, CCA and council – late April to early June 2016 (see detailed
schedule below)
2. Data Collection – Summer 2016
3. Evaluation of Data, Initial Formulation of Menu of Possible Approaches/Pilots for
summer 2017 and Consultation with Potential Community Working Group – Fall
2016
4. Formulation of Recommended Approaches/Pilots – Winter 2016-2017
5. Consultation with Boards and Commissions, presentation to City Council – Q2
2017
6. Preparation for implementation of pilot project – Q2 2017
7. Implementation of pilot project – Summer 2017
8. Finalization of plan – Fall/Winter 2017
Data collection efforts in summer 2016 may include:
User intercept survey to understand more about the people arriving at
Chautauqua, why they are there and where they are coming from (funds being
requested)
New parking utilization and duration data to be collected within the CCA
leasehold and in the neighborhood to the north and east of the leasehold
Speed and volume data to be collected on key roadways within the leasehold and
in the surrounding neighborhood
Coordination with OSMP on a system-wide visitor survey to understand current
visitor use and demographics at Chautauqua
A map showing the proposed boundary of the parking utilization and duration data
collection and speed and volume data collection is provided as Attachment A.
The CAMP Community Engagement Process -
To gain feedback on the many perspectives on Chautauqua from the variety of users and
stakeholders, the project team will pursue some combination of the following
communication tools to foster ongoing outreach and engagement throughout the project:
Email newsletters through the city and the Colorado Chautauqua Association
Press releases
Direct mail postcards
Social media, including Facebook, Twitter and Nextdoor
Flyers around town
Signs around Chautauqua (e.g., at trailheads)
Online and/or intercept surveys
A community working group to offer periodic feedback
Presentations to city boards and city council
To date, the project team has received input from approximately 50 community members
who attended the CAMP Community Open House on April 28th as well as from the
Colorado Chautauqua Association (CCA) board of directors, the Open Space Board of
Trustees (OSBT) and the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB).
Community Open House input centered on limited parking availability, parking
limits and/or permits, pedestrian safety, interest in pedestrian and cycling data
collection, support for transit and also concerns about neighborhood impacts and
best practices; and interest in a community working group.
CCA board input included interest in the community working group and in the
scope of the data collection.
OSBT input included recommendations to proactively reach out to occasional
users and not just those with ownership interests, to use the CCA and Colorado
Music Festival e-mail lists and the Camera for outreach, and to have meetings
both in and outside Chautauqua to try and attract a range of attendees (e.g.,
meetings for the North Trail Study Area Plan were held at various locations
around the city). Questions raised were whether the project schedule is too
ambitious and what impact the new sidewalk on Baseline might have.
TAB input included concerns re: safety at the main Chautauqua entrance, whether
a Park’n’Ride would be considered, whether the study area could be extended to
include Gregory Canyon, and comments that paid parking can help make parking
more accessible and that the proposed communications plan looks good.
Upcoming Meetings
The project team will continue to seek feedback on the project schedule and work plan
during the following meetings:
May 23 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board
June 1 Landmarks Board
June 7 Information Packet [memo] to City Council
Questions for the Board:
1. Do you have any questions about or feedback on the project schedule or scope of
work?
2. What feedback do you have on the possible community outreach and engagement
approaches?
3. Is there anything else you would like to share at this point in the process?
ATTACHMENTS
A. Map of proposed 2016 Summer data collection area