Chris brings over 25 years of municipal planning management, community visioning, and public engagement to BendonAdams. Chris spent 11 years as Aspen’s Community Development Director guiding development policies and managing all aspects of development review, permitting, and inspection services. Previous work focused on development review, facilitation of long-range planning and development policy, large-scale urban design, and transportation planning.

Chris facilitated the development, adoption and successful implementation of the 2012 Aspen Area Community Plan, which engaged thousands of citizens through multiple techniques ranging from personal interviews to “clicker sessions” to web-based venues. Chris has created design guidelines, affordable housing policy, impact mitigation requirements, zoning and development codes, lighting and signage codes, and construction management strategies. Chris facilitated the revision of Aspen’s Commercial and Residential Design Guidelines, and Aspen’s award-winning Affordable Housing Certificates Program.

Chris led a comprehensive effort to revise Aspen’s Land Use Code, making it user-friendly through simple language and illustrations. In a similar vein, Chris streamlined Aspen’s building permit process, dramatically improving the department’s performance during periods of intense construction activity.

In 2017, Chris facilitated a comprehensive analysis of the planning and permitting process in Anchorage, Alaska. A series of short, medium, and long-term budget-neutral recommendations are being used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Development Services Division.

Chris has been an invited speaker for several regional, state and national functions and has received state and national recognition for public engagement, citizen participation, historic preservation, and downtown development. Chris is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and has mentored emerging leaders through his volunteer work with Roaring Fork Leadership.

Education
Master of City Planning, University of Pennsylvania
Bachelor of Environmental Design, University of Colorado, Boulder

Sara has more than 17 years of creative planning, urban design, historic preservation and community outreach experience. Her passion for and expertise in historic preservation and urban planning and design informs all aspects of the studio’s work. Sara provides a comprehensive review of complex land use cases, researches properties for historic significance, manages historic restorations and rehabilitations, and coordinates with referral agencies and private developers to create partnerships. She authors in-depth historic city and county reports documenting the story of each property, and has co-produced short film documentaries on historic preservation.  She has led numerous commercial projects in the downtown core from conception through the entitlement process, including the HP award winning project at 301 East Hopkins, which involved the restoration of two structures within one parcel: a historic Victorian cottage now operating as a popular restaurant, and a three-story mixed-use building. Sara’s efforts have also helped to add to the affordable housing inventory, implementing recent projects that strike a balance between preserving historic structures while adding livable units for the community’s employees. With a strong background in research, Sara is able to piece together complicated property history to inform future redevelopment. She excels at creative solutions to tricky properties throughout the Roaring Fork Valley.

During her time at the City of Aspen, Sara was integral to amendments to the land-use code, such as rewriting Aspen’s short term rental program. Sara provided local leadership through writing and managing all aspects of state grants to develop preservation plans for both private and public historic properties. Sara and Aspen’s Historic Preservation Officer developed an AspenModern program that preserves existing 20th century assets within Aspen. AspenModern has been recognized with State and National awards.

Sara has a passion for crafting meaningful, clear and user-friendly design guidelines that address neighborhood character, historic district context, and timeless urban design. She co-authored a rewrite of the Aspen Historic Preservation Design Guidelines in 2015 and wrote the City of Aspen’s Commercial Design Standards and Guidelines in 2016.

Like Chris, Sara’s experience expands beyond the Roaring Fork Valley. She wrote historic design guidelines in Rochester, New Hampshire and recommendations for a more robust historic preservation program.  Sara completed a comprehensive analysis and audit of the neighborhood conservation overlay district in Bozeman, Montana with recommendations for future amendments.  Sara created and led a windshield survey of Bozeman’s downtown neighborhoods with local volunteers to highlight development patterns and potential areas for future historic districts.  She was hired by the city of Aspen in 2019 to update hundreds of historic preservation inventory forms per History Colorado standards.

Sara has presented at numerous conferences and authored articles about historic preservation. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and meets National Park Service Professional Qualification Standards for Architectural History. Her projects have received numerous awards, including the 2020 Preservation Award from the Historic Preservation Commission for her work on 301 East Hopkins. While at Columbia University, she received a conservation honor award for the development of design guidelines to preserve historic graffiti. Sara previously served on Pitkin County’s Agricultural Board and regularly volunteers at the Aspen Community School.

Education
Master of Historic Preservation with honors, Columbia University
Bachelor of Fine Arts with honors, Dickinson College

Erin is a Planner at BendonAdams, handling project management, research and analysis, studio management and marketing. She supports all aspects of land use applications in multiple jurisdictions and leads design teams in the collaboration of county site plan and activity envelope submissions. Erin was the lead planner for the second phase of the Response project, a mixed-use development consisting of office and shelter space in Basalt to serve survivors of domestic abuse in the Roaring Fork Valley. She oversees all of BendonAdams’ quality control efforts, making sure land use reports are free of gibberish and use words commonly recognized in the English language.

Prior to BendonAdams, Erin worked in marketing at Design Workshop, where her work was critical to the firm’s success in numerous large-scale projects involving public- and private-sector partners. Erin is a talented planner, creative thinker, and dedicated worker who is working toward certification with the American Institute for Certified Planners.

Education
Bachelors of Business Management and Marketing from the University of Montana