2020 Building Permit Recap

A busy year of development and construction in Aspen was one of the few things that
didn’t change in 2020. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Aspen City Council sought to support the business community in a variety of ways. In preparation for winter, Council directed Community Development Department staff to help restaurants adapt by creating more outdoor and temporary seating spaces. In December 2020, the Department expedited their permit application process and turned around temporary structure permits within an average of two days. Seventeen such permits were issued to restaurants and hotels, expanding Aspen’s commercial space by 14,700 square feet.

In addition, the Community Development Department is proud to have issued
over 1,000 building-related permits last year (Building, Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical, &
Change Orders). Here is a run-down of the numbers:

Permits Applied for in 2020: 1,071
Permits Issued in 2020: 1,006

Building Permits Applied for in 2020: 431
Building Permits Issued in 2020: 381

Building Permits Currently Under Review: 169
Building Permits Currently in City Review Queue: 93
Building Permits Currently Awaiting Applicant Responses to Comments: 76

While wait times for permit review are longer than we would all like them to be, this is not due to a lack of action behind the scenes. If you submit for a building permit today, there will be about 93 projects ahead of yours in line! Every permit that gets submitted is of critical importance to someone, and we do our very best to treat all projects with transparency and fairness.

Process Adaptations for COVID-19

Since last March, the City of Aspen has taken several measures to respond to the increasing need for community development and planning amidst the changes that have occurred during COVID-19. It is a priority for City Council, The City Manager’s Office, and the Community Development Director to ensure that our permit process is as efficient as possible at ensuring regulatory compliance and issuing development permits. To that end, we have implemented the following:

reallocated staff to assist in permit review to meet increased demand
hired third-party plans review consultants to reduce review times
revised work hours in response to COVID-19 pressures on staff and ensure staff have focused work time for permit review

Like all sectors of the economy, the ongoing demands of pandemic restrictions continue to affect our building department staff, in particular. Our team is doing its best to juggle the influx of additional permit requests and workloads, as well as tend to at-home responsibilities. Unfortunately, this means that the City is not currently able to meet the review time estimates that we sent out in prior newsletters.

Rest assured that the City of Aspen's Community Development Department recognizes the importance of your building projects and is working hard to process your applications. We continue to evaluate additional opportunities to provide increased service to you all and will keep you updated with any new developments.

Revised Timeline Expectations

Below are the current projected turnaround times for all permits submitted in January 2021 from acceptance of an application for review to completing the first review round.

Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Permits: 4-5 Days
Repairs: 3-4 Weeks
Additional Information: 3-4 Weeks
Re-Roof Permits: 3-4 Weeks
IFFR Permits: 3-4 Weeks
EPIC Permits: 2-3 Weeks
Response to Comments: 10-12 Weeks
Simple Change Orders: 10-12 Weeks
New Minor Permits: 14-16 Weeks
Major Change Orders: 18-20 Weeks
New Major Permits: 18-20 Weeks

Change Order Permit Fees

As of January 1, 2021, the assessment of change order permit fees will be brought into compliance with the City fee ordinance. The revised policy is below:

Change Orders will be assessed permit fees in accordance with the adopted fee ordinance.
Applicants will submit the revised, total valuation of the project in question inclusive of all proposed changes at change order submittal.
5% of the standard building permit fee, based on the revised valuation, shall be assessed for change orders, in addition to a fee of $325/hour for all necessary reviews
- Fees for the previously submitted permit application shall not be refunded or credited towards change order fees.
If, in the opinion of the building official, proposed changes are field clarifications, or otherwise outside the control of the applicant, a building permit fee of $25 will be assessed in addition to applicable review fees.

City of Aspen Seeks Community Input on 50-Year Water Plan

Community input will help shape long-term plan for this shared resource

The City of Aspen’s Water Utility is offering its second of three community engagement sessions focused on its 50-year water plan on Thursday, January 14 from 5 – 6 p.m. on the Zoom platform.

The water planning process, also referred to as Integrated Resource Planning (IRP), is a holistic approach to the management of water systems that combines supply, demand, quality, environmental protection and enhancement, financial planning, and public engagement.

The second engagement focuses on several topics around water source security including: anticipated water supply shortages and potential supply options. City staff and consultants will share highlights of research to-date including threats and vulnerabilities to the community’s water supply and considerations of potential new supplies. Public input will contribute to how the City frames its future supply portfolio and analyzes its range of options as it develops a resilient water supply strategy through 2070.

Over the past several months, the City and its consultants have been analyzing the City’s water supply sources, demands, and future supply vulnerabilities. The team compiled a comprehensive list of the City’s existing water rights in creeks, raw water ditches, and groundwater. In addition, seasonal variation in water diversions and historical demands were analyzed by water use sector. Based on this data, a potential water supply gap assessment was done under various demand and hydrologic conditions, including multiple climate change scenarios.

The City’s supply vulnerabilities due to growth, hydrologic conditions, climate change, limited storage, and emergency conditions such as avalanches and wildfires are being assessed.

During this next engagement, the City seeks community feedback and input on these findings and potential solutions to create a resilient supply future for the City. The session will include a historical snapshot of the City’s water utility and supply, an overview of the vulnerabilities to the water system along with potential solutions and online polling and question and answer segments.

Public input will help shape the final report for the water plan, which is expected by mid-2021.

More information on the project and registration for the January 14, 2021 community engagement is available at www.aspencommunityvoice.com.

Tell us what think about the City of Aspen’s Communication?

The City of Aspen is developing a Communications Strategy to guide how we share information and engage with you. We invite you to take a 10-minute online survey, available in English and Spanish, now through January 4, 2021, to help us with our communication improvement efforts. The survey will help us measure the community’s satisfaction with our communications and better understand your communication preferences.

Take the Communications Satisfaction Survey