Crested Butte council exploring economic development support

“It’s not a no-growth policy—it’s an appropriate growth policy”

Allowing people to eat and drink on Elk Avenue. Not closing Elk Avenue any more than the town already does. Opening up the Arts Festival tents so they don’t block existing businesses. These were some of the ideas discussed during a Tuesday morning brainstorming session between some Crested Butte business owners and some members of the Town Council and staff.

Those specific ideas—along with some general thoughts about working better with the ski resort and town of Mt. Crested Butte, diversifying the economy by supporting “intellectual” business opportunities such as high-speed wireless connections, providing more year-round affordable housing to strengthen a local economic presence, and in general instilling a more positive attitude overall toward local business—were all discussed for two hours.
Crested Butte building and zoning director Bob Gillie and mayor Leah Williams offered a comprehensive list of how the town supports business. Whether it is purchasing open space, planting flowers throughout town, or reconfiguring the main intersection at Sixth and Elk, the town invests in the business infrastructure, they said.
“We spend a lot of money to make the town attractive to the business community,” Williams said.
“It may not be obvious to the layman, but the long-term strategy has been to create a unique sense of place with its own niche,” said Gillie. “My gut feel is that Crested Butte is becoming more differentiated in the market by how we manage the scale and the place in the long run. You can either try to go toe-to-toe and do a better job than the competition or be a place that offers a different product. We’ve decided to be different. Other places like Telluride and Breckenridge have morphed away from the small-scale, historic pedestrian town.”
Gillie continued, “It’s not a no-growth policy—it’s an appropriate growth policy.”
Gillie and town finance director Lois Rozman noted some sales tax trends that seem to mirror the national economy. “Our basic trend is to follow the U.S. economy. We go up when it goes up and we go down when the national economy goes down,” Gillie said. “This is a down period.”
Rozman said starting in 1998, the town started collecting more sales tax revenue in the summer season (May to October) than in the winter season. “That might be different compared to other Colorado ski towns,” she observed.
Gillie pointed out there were 37 special events in Crested Butte in 2009. These were in part a boon to business. “I think we can and should do things to help the economy but the fact is that we are tied to the national economy.”
Councilperson Phoebe Wilson suggested turning some of the focus toward finding ways “to support light industries that might be attracted to the area. A wireless network is part of that path. It could be a buffer during a downturn in the tourist market,” she said. “I’d also like to get the local bankers in here and find ways to get them to help small businesses. Otherwise franchises might come in since they can weather a five-year downturn better than small local businesses.”
Longtime local businessman Eric Roemer said part of the problem is attitude. “Crested Butte’s biggest problem is that it seems to resist answering what it wants to be when it grows up,” he said. “All the amenities like open space, trails, the Center for the Arts are paid for through the tourism economy. Still, there seems to be resistance to acknowledge that we are a tourist town.”
Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum director Glo Cunningham said a better relationship with Mt. Crested Butte and Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) wouldn’t hurt. “We’ve always been a boom and bust economy,” she said. “But it’s very evident at the moment that we don’t have control over what’s going on with the mountain. I think there has to be a better working relationship with the mountain. I’m not sure how that will happen.”
Williams said efforts were under way to strengthen the relationship between the town and CBMR owners Tim and Diane Mueller, as well as with Mt. Crested Butte mayor William Buck.
“It is critical we start working together,” Williams said. “We need to not compete against each other but work together to compete against other resorts. It is critical we find common ground where we can start working together. We are tied to the mountain and they are tied to us.”
Local attorney David Leinsdorf said he was alarmed when he read that at least one councilperson wanted to close Elk Avenue to vehicles for an extended period on Sundays. “The first rule in economic development for a town is ‘Do No Harm.’ So don’t shut down Elk Avenue. The more people, the more Harleys, the more cars and activities, the better,” he said. “Rightly or wrongly, we have a very middle-class tourist economy. You might think everyone should be a hiker and a biker but they’re not. We attract our share of overweight middle-class tourists and they feel they need to drive up Elk Avenue and they do.
“The most bang for the buck traditionally is to grow the existing industry,” Leinsdorf continued. “Our existing industry is tourism and that’s what we should focus on.”
Leinsdorf suggested the council could amend its regulations to allow restaurants and bars in town to situate seating outside their establishments in the summer. “Sidewalk cafés are very popular and provide a festive atmosphere. It’s very attractive,” he said, “plus, we all know it will only be good for a few months.”
Williams said the council was willing to show some flexibility. “We could perhaps try it for a limited time like the summer,” she said. “Any new idea should be given a test to evaluate its impact.”
Gillie commented the 12-foot sidewalk width could present some problems. “I’m just not sure we have the space to do it like other towns such as Aspen or Boulder,” he said. “It’s a practical matter and I think it could be problematic. But go ahead and try it.”
Williams said the council learned that engaging the business community for ideas was important. “The response to our Evenings on Elk idea when we closed it to traffic once a week was horrific,” she said. “Whatever we do shouldn’t be a top-down decision. It should come from the grass roots.”
“This is a real town and that’s part of the charm,” said Roemer, “but real towns have congestion. There is a hustle and bustle. If you want to close off a street for an event, maybe look at Third Street or some of the other streets.”
Kevin McGruther of the Crested Butte Farmer’s Market made it clear participants in his event didn’t want to expand beyond what they have on Sunday mornings, but suggested “broadening out events to places like Third Street could be good.”
Cunningham said she was on the fence about closing Elk Avenue. She liked the idea of a pedestrian feel but admitted her worst summer weekend at the museum as far as business was during the Arts Festival. “There will always be 9,000 sides to every story,” she said. “I agree with Eric that the town needs more hustle and bustle. In the ’80s this place was vibrant. There seemed like a lot was going on. We need some sort of partnership with Mt. Crested Butte to make things work better for us in the winter and get more people to come downtown.”
Williams suggested having a “point of contact person” in town who could help businesses jump through the necessary hoops when starting up or trying to hold an event.
McGruther said the ski resort needed to focus its marketing better. “This is a clean, healthy, authentic atmosphere and the wealth of the town is its lifestyle,” he said. “That message needs to get out better.”
Roemer suggested a banner or signage for drivers at the Four-way Stop intersection to direct them west on Elk Avenue to the business core. “Give people something to let them know there is stuff going on downtown both during the day and at night,” he suggested.
Gillie said for decades it has seemed the macro issues have remained the same as far as economic development in the valley: How do you get more people here when access to Crested Butte is not easy, diversification of business isn’t easy at 8,800 feet above sea level, and there is an obvious seasonality to when tourists want to come to the valley?
“The biggest trick is to get people here the first time,” responded Roemer. “Once here, they’ll come back. But we have to give them what they want—not just what we think they want. I love open space but if open space brought people here, we’d be overrun. We all get in our ruts sometimes and we have to think about what appeals to the customer. I sometimes put things on the menu I think will be great but if people don’t order it, I have to change my menu.”
Brick Oven Pizzeria co-owner Dan Loftus said the town isn’t always an easy place to do business. “When we started our building, which we thought was a great amenity, we felt like the town didn’t want us to build,” he said. “We were horrified. The town wanted a quarter million dollars for parking and we couldn’t do it. We still paid $100,000 but it wasn’t easy. So when I hear you talk about closing Elk Avenue, it concerns me. We always do worse when Elk is closed.
“Look at the bigger picture,” he continued. “Not everyone coming here is super-healthy. Make it easy for tourists.”
“I think overall we’ve been successful but we need to keep our eye on the big picture,” Williams said. “We need to cherish who we are and why we’re here. We need a positive attitudinal spin on really wanting success.”
Gillie said he’s suggested in the past that the Chamber of Commerce conduct surveys of the tourists in the summer. “Let’s find out what attracted them here and if they’ll come back. The resort does it in the winter. But the Chamber has never done it. It might be worthwhile.”
McGruther said he’s heard talk about the benefits of paving Kebler Pass Road. “It might be something to think about.”
And so it seems there are a few things for the council to think about and future discussion over economic development will continue to take place.