John Scarffe, Boulder County. The Boulder County Commission approved expanded parking with conditions for Eldora Mountain Resort during a regular meeting on Tuesday, February 11, 2020, at the Boulder County Courthouse. Eldora Property, LLC, requested amending a Special Use Review (SUR) that would allow the construction of a 568-space parking lot at 2861 Lake Eldora Ski Road. 

The Boulder County Land Use Planning Commission approved the request for the SUR on December 18, 2019, and it was presented to the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners at a public hearing on Tuesday, January 28, 2020.

Boulder County Staff Planner Summer Frederick presented the request from Eldora Mountain Resort and owners, Ertl, Inc., Donna Cartwright and General Manager Brent Tregaskis to modify the SUR allowing the expansion of a northern parking lot and an addition to the existing main parking lot.

The request includes improvements to County Road 140, as well as new and expanded buildings. The applicant requested to allow the construction of 568 parking spaces in a new lot and 237 parking spaces in an existing lot. The subject properties are located in the Forestry (F) zoning district, according to background. 

During the January 28 hearing, both the Commissioners and members of the public raised concerns regarding the lack of Conditions of Approval, which require the implementation of specific policies and Transportation Demand Management measures. By unanimous vote, the Commissioners tabled the docket to give the staff time to draft recommended Conditions of Approval, requiring the implementation of Transportation Demand Management related measures and policies. 

At the February 11 meeting, Frederick told the board that they were building on the information found in the October 1, 2019, document submitted by the applicant as well as direction provided by the Commissioners at the January 28 public hearing. Community Planning and Permitting staff drafted recommended Conditions of Approval. These conditions are intended to ensure the implementation of practices and policies that are anticipated to have a significant mitigating impact on existing traffic related issues such as extensive queueing and the number of single-occupancy vehicles driving to the resort.  

For purposes of the recommended conditions of approval, “Peak Days” are defined as weekends, holidays, and any weekday that has had 10 or more inches of new snow in the previous 24-hour period.

Since the January 28 meeting, staff members have met a number of times with Eldora staff regarding the extent of traffic waiting through town, causing high density traffic.

The plan proposed will take affect for the next skiing season. Staff recommended 13 Conditions for Approval:

1. On Peak Days, as defined previously, single-occupancy vehicles shall be required to park in the upper parking lot. Parking attendants and signage shall be on-site to direct single-occupancy vehicles to the correct parking areas. 

2. 200 spaces in the westernmost area of the lower parking lot shall be permanently designated as parking for high-occupancy vehicles at all times.

3. The applicant shall provide free bus service to and from the Resort all day on weekends and holidays. 

4. The applicant shall provide an additional bus service during peak hours beyond what is being provided in 2019-2020. 

5. A Communication Plan shall be developed and provided to Boulder County Community Planning & Permitting staff prior to the beginning of each season.

6. Single-occupancy vehicles are required to purchase parking passes for Peak Days. 

7. Parking passes shall be priced at 15 percent above a standard round-trip bus ticket. 

8. The applicants shall submit annual reports to Boulder County Community Planning & Permitting staff with information specifying parking programs, policies, and efficacy of queueing mitigation measures.  

9. If Average Vehicle Occupancy does not reach 2.0 by 2023, the applicant and Boulder County staff shall meet to discuss additional mitigation measures to be considered and implemented. 

10. The applicant and Boulder County staff shall continue discussions to finalize monitoring protocols. 

11. The applicant shall submit a pre-season schedule of events and activities to Community Planning and Permitting staff to ensure scheduling is done in a manner to stagger start and finish times to reduce potential impacts to traffic congestion.  

12. The County Engineer shall approve the event plan and any subsequent amendments.

13. On Peak days all employees shall park off-site. Free shuttles and bus vouchers shall be provided to employees. 

Eldora Mountain Resort General Manager Brent Tregaskis thanked the board for tabling this while allowing everyone to get more comfortable with where they are going. Eldora has been trying to be very environmentally responsible and get along with the board, as well as the public. 

Tregaskis said that the first option he has, with the recommendations staff put together, is to treat mid-week days with snow of more than 10 inches the same as the weekend. During a weekday, they don’t have access to offsite parking in the area that they can use on the weekends, so he requested separating out mid-week days from weekends.

“Saturday and Sunday, we can do what you are asking,” Tregaskis said. “We have no problem with the single occupancy rate and will put kiosks in each lot. We can get them to go up to the back lot, but when traffic starts to back up, it could take two to three hours to get everyone in. We want to park people as fast as we can and will have kiosks in the lot.” 

For number 6, triggering a mid-week snow day, they picked 10 inches after looking through history, and it’s typically when Eldora has gotten a foot of snow, that they get busy. Working with staff, they came up with 10 inches. Eldora has about three days per year with a foot or more. 

Tregaskis said the biggest discussion regards the county desiring Eldora to start charging for parking. Staff recommended that the price be 15 percent above the bus price, which would put the price at $12.07. He has done research, and most resorts are charging $10 to $20 to park.

“We would like to start this at $10 and see how things evolve. We can go to $15 next, but would rather start at $10 than $12.07 and would argue that most people have an Ecopass bus pass. 

The project has gotten so big, it might not be done in one year, and bids coming in are more than expected, Tregaskis said. 

During public comment, five residents spoke in favor of the parking lot expansion. Matt Phillips, of Copperdale Lane, owns property in the Eldora area and is a dedicated employee at the ski area. He pointed out that snowmakers and the ski patrol begin work at 5:30 a.m., so requiring that all employees park offsite isn’t realistic. “This is an impossible condition to meet,” he said. 

After public comment, the Commissioners agreed to go through the conditions and the ones they agreed with or want to alter. The board agreed to conditions one and two. For condition three, they agreed not to use the name RTD. For number 4, the board agreed, using the words adding an additional bus trip. 

Bus service would be free all day on Peak Days and would create an incentive for the afternoon crowd to ride the bus. The board agreed that the bus would be free until the 12:10 p.m. to the resort and then anytime coming back and will add an additional shuttle in the morning peak from the Justice Center. 

Commissioner Elise Jones said they should make an adjustment earlier than 2023 regarding monitoring the 5,000 per day limit and have a contingency plan for later, and the board agreed. Frederick said the $10 for single-occupancy parking will be re-examined after next season. 

On condition 13, employees working during daytime hours on holidays and weekends between 6:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. with an exemption for ski patrol and snow blowers, will be required to park offsite. 

The board approved the SUR with the conditions as outlined in staff memo and edits we’ve made during the hearing.

(Originally published in the February 6, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)