An outdoor shower, cauldrons emitting fog lit by LED lights and fake trees shooting fire into the atmosphere are just a few of the exterior features Scott DeGraff envisioned for his Base Village restaurant and bar/nightclub, Junk and Liquid Sky.

The entertainment mogul, who has built 30 or so restaurants and nightspots in places like Chicago and Las Vegas, including the Las Vegas Playboy Club, came before the Snowmass Village Town Council on Monday to plead his case for some exterior changes to the building on the Base Village plaza (next to the red barn) which is expected to open for business this winter.

Some of the ideas passed muster and others didn’t, although the decision technically rests in the hands of Snowmass’ planning director, Chris Conrad, who sought the guidance of the council because of the unusual nature of some of the items in the application.

In Aspen, DeGraff also owns the Red Onion, now called Junk at the Red Onion, and Worldwide Fun Lab, in the space vacated by the Cooking School of Aspen. Neither of those businesses are open to the public yet, but DeGraff hinted that the Fun Lab, a training ground for chefs with cooking classes for the public, would be open soon.

“We try to sell fun, and it’s hard,” DeGraff said by way of introducing his company, Fun Worldwide. “There are a lot of naysayers in this project. It’s not easy building in the mountains and it’s not easy building under a lot of different conditions.”

The key to success in his entertainment eateries in Snowmass, DeGraff told the council, is to serve the locals first so the tourists follow and “to do things that other people don’t do.”

DeGraff indicated that some of his concepts had met with some resistance, and in their staff memo Conrad and planner Jim Wahlstrom did in fact express some disapproval.

The memo recommended screening the outdoor shower from the pedestrian plaza, suggested that the fire sculpture trees and cauldrons might be “overdone animation” and antithetical to the town’s energy conservation principles, and expressed some skepticism of the outdoor lighting.

Council members’ reactions ran the gamut.

“I see myself as a reasonable person and I don’t like this,” said Councilwoman Sally Sparhawk. “The shower is a joke; we are a family resort. I don’t want a shower. Overall I burst out laughing when I read this.”

Councilman Arnie Mordkin, who wasn’t present but submitted written comments, said that while he was anxious to see the restaurant and bar open and to give the owner as much leeway as possible, “I don’t think we should do what may be great in Vegas but may not be that appropriate for us.”

“Hopefully it’s not clothing optional,” Councilman John Wilkinson quipped about the shower before throwing his OK for it.

Ultimately, the shower was allowed after a discussion whether it was age appropriate or could serve a function similar to Aspen’s dancing fountain.

“I’d like to host the first contest,” concluded Councilman Reed Lewis to laughter from the room.

DeGraff, recognizing the potential faux pas of flaming trees and smoking cauldrons in a town next door to the one that had a months-long debate over a gas-powered fire hearth, withdrew the trees from his plans and changed the cauldrons to be full of leaves with misters spraying them. He did say that there will be a fire in the bar area inside, where 13 different types of s’mores will come out, and some tiki-type torches near the entrance.

“I really appreciate your creative look at all of this,” said Wilkinson, prefacing his comment that the lighting must be in compliance with Snowmass’ “dark sky” ordinance and that he was concerned about the noise from multiple outdoor speakers and TVs. “This isn’t just a ski resort for people who come here to party. There’s people in bed at 9 p.m. getting ready for the next powder day.”

Other council members and a nearby condo complex manager also expressed concern about noise spilling over to nearby residences, although one local resident evoked music students playing at night in downtown Aspen and wished Snowmass could have something similar.

DeGraff responded that the lighting will be “subtly cool,” and the outdoor TVs wouldn’t have the sound on — they would play ski movies as an ambient background, for example.

“I think you’re hamstringing me,” he said when the council was debating an appropriate closing time for the outdoor area. “I deal with residents and tenants in every community I work in, and to just say you must go inside is a childish response. It would be nice for people to be able to get something to eat after 10 p.m. At least give me a chance.”

Lewis warned DeGraff, as one business owner to another (Lewis owns the Daly Bottle Shop and Fine Foods on the Snowmass Mall) that the off-seasons can be almost completely dead, so to not have high expectations of year-round business.

In the end, the council agreed to not impose any noise or closing-time restrictions, but if there are a number of complaints, the town will exercise it’s right to limit the hours.

The town also agreed to allow a new stairway connecting the lower and upper patios, a wood and metal trellis near the entrance and expanding the ground-floor patio from 3,500 to 4,500 square feet.

DeGraff, in his initial statements of the evening, assured the council that he knew what people wanted.

“I am a local,” he said, pointing out that he moved his family to the valley and enrolled his kids in local schools. “I made a point of skiing a lot on Snowmass last winter. Helping anchor that bottom [of the hill], I think I can do what’s necessary to be part of the greater Base Village.

“I don’t think a non-local can pull this one off,” he continued. “But I need the fire power that I have to design really unique, cool places.”

lutz@aspendailynews.com