CBMR asks DDA to help with update of parking lot shuttles

New vehicles will be street legal

The electric shuttles used by Crested Butte Mountain Resort to transport visitors between the parking lot and the base area were a hit last winter, and the resort is hoping to expand on that success by taking the shuttles along a different route that ends even closer to the ski hill. There’s just one catch.

 
The shuttles CBMR currently owns aren’t street-legal, and the new route follows Emmons Road. That’s why the resort is looking to buy two new, street-legal shuttles to make the journey, and they’re asking the Mt. Crested Butte Downtown Development Authority to provide a loan to get the vehicles rolling this season.
CBMR Vice President of Sales and Marketing Daren Cole spoke to the DDA board during their regular meeting on Monday, November 2.
“The shuttles we currently have cannot be licensed by the state of Colorado for a variety of reasons,” Cole said. “We’ve gone through every possible scenario out there but we just weren’t able to get it done.”
With no legal access to Emmons Road, the shuttles were confined to the resort’s parking lots last winter. The vehicles would pick up passengers from various points in the main parking lot, and drop them off approximately 100 yards away at the edge of the bus loop in Mountaineer Square.
Cole said it was still a great amenity that kept visitors from having to dodge cars and walk through a sometimes slushy parking lot. Unfortunately, he said, visitors using the shuttle would still have to negotiate the buses and other vehicles using the bus loop. Being confined to the parking lot also presented a problem with charging the electric shuttles each day, and a makeshift charging station had to be set up near the Grand Lodge. CBMR originally intended to park the vehicles in the Mountaineer Square garage, but that would require use of Gothic Road.
Cole said the shuttles were driven about 100 days last season, and they carried more than 20,000 guests to and from the parking lot.
Cole said the resort’s objective was to transport guests along Emmons Road and drop them off in front of the Outpost building. He said CBMR was planning to buy two new 14-passenger shuttles that are “virtually identical in terms of layout, design and functionality.”
More important, the new shuttles can be fully licensed and meet the definition of a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, or NEV. Last January, the town of Mt. Crested Butte passed an ordinance allowing NEVs to be used on town streets.
Crested Butte resident John O’Neal drove the electric shuttles for CBMR on occasion last winter. He said visitors greatly appreciated the service.
DDA chairman Allen Cox asked how many people using the shuttles were locals.
O’Neal said most of the people using the shuttle were from out of town. “Most of the locals take the bus,” he said.
Cole proposed that the DDA provide CBMR with a zero-interest loan of $48,000, which the resort would pay back over the course of three years. The resort intends to sell the current shuttles to recoup some of the costs.
DDA member Sara Morgan asked why CBMR was not going to CNL Lifestyle Properties to purchase the shuttles. Florida-based CNL purchased the resort last winter and crafted a lease-back agreement with Triple Peaks LLC owners Tim and Diane Mueller.
Cole said the electric shuttles would be outside the scope of what CNL was able to provide the resort. “We have to be pretty conservative with what we can do with CNL,” he said.
Cox said, “This is a loan, so did you ever consider interest payments? I’ve never had an interest-free loan in my life.”
 Cole said having a zero-interest loan was the resort’s ideal starting point, but the DDA could certainly discuss adding an interest rate.
Cox then asked whether using the new shuttle route would hurt businesses. “I think the DDA’s responsibility is to enhance the community. I think about that shuttle not going through the base area, and there are a few businesses in there that could get hurt by this,” Cox said.
At the same time, Cox said he also recognized the safety issues involved with having the shuttle stop next to the bus loop, as well as the added convenience with the proposed route along Emmons. “You were dropping them off in a chaotic place. I just don’t want the business community to think we’re taking people away from them,” he said.
Town Manager Joe Fitzpatrick agreed. “I carry a lot of concern about the businesses in Mountaineer Square and the money those businesses have to invest to be in there. That weighs pretty heavily on me.” He suggested allowing people to stop at the staircase leading to the bus loop and courtyard, or to have the shuttle driver mention what businesses were available in Mountaineer Square. “The function of the DDA is to support business in this town. It’s critical that we look really hard at what we’re doing or not doing for the business community,” Fitzpatrick said.
DDA board member Al Smith, who owns Camp 4 Coffee in Mountaineer Square, agreed with Cox and Fitzpatrick’s concerns about foot traffic. But from a practical point of view, he said, the new route makes sense. “For a lot of families that is going to be a real nice amenity,” Smith said. He agreed that having the shuttle driver mention the businesses in Mountaineer Square would be helpful.
Cox then suggested discussing an interest rate.
DDA member Gary Keiser said the town was looking at a 6 percent interest rate on the municipal bonds it hopes to withdraw for road improvements. He suggested using the same rate for the DDA’s loan to CBMR.
The other DDA members were comfortable with that.
DDA member Michael Kraatz had excused himself from the conversation as an employee of CBMR.
Cole said he would write up an agreement for the loan and bring it back to the DDA.
The board moved to grant Cox the approval to sign the agreement once it is written.