HomeMy WebLinkAboutagenda.drac.19970410AGENDA
DESIGN REVIEW APPEALS COMMITTEE
April 10, 7997
Regular Meeting
Sister Cities Room, City Hall
4:00 I. Roll Call
II. Comments (Committee members, Staff and public)
III. Old Business
4:05 A. 533 W. Smuggler
4:45 IV. New Business
A. Waterplace Housing- worksession
5:15 IV. Adjourn
AGENDA
DESIGN REVIEW APPEALS COMMITTEE
Apri110,1997
Thursday
Regular Meeting
City Council Chambers, City Hall
4:00 I. Roll Call
II. Minutes
III. Comments (Committee members, Staff and Public)
IV. Old Business
4:05 A. 533 Smuggler Street
Patrice Kahn, represented by Janver Derrington
Appeal of "Inflection" Standard
4:45 V. New Business
A. Waterplace Housing - Worksession
5:15 VI. Adjourn
REMINDER: THIS COMMITTEE MEETS THE SECOND THURSDAY
OF EVERY MONTH (IF NEEDED) AT 4:00 P.M.
MEMORANDUM
TO: Design Review Appeal Com1,mittee (DRAG)
FROM: Mitch Haas, City Planner II lA~ /~
THRU: Stan Clauson, Community"""D"Me"11velopment Directof-~r/
Julie Ann Woods, Deputy Director
RE: 533 West Smuggler Street, Appeal of "Inflection" Standazd
(26.58.040(E))
DATE: Mazch 27, 1997
SUMMARY: Pursuant to Chapter 26.58, Residential Design Standazds, Section
26.58.020(B), of the Aspen Municipal Code, "an applicant shall prepare an application
for review and approval by staff. In order to proceed with additional land use reviews or
obtain a Development Order, staff shall f:nd the submitted development application
consistent with the Residential Design Guidelines." This Section goes on to state that "if
an application is found to be inconsistent with any item of the Residential Design
Guidelines the applicant may either amend the application or appeal staffs findings to
the Design Review Appeal Board [DRAG] pursuant to Chapter 26.22, Design Review
Appeal Board. "
The applicant is requesting a variance from the "Inflection" standard (described below) in
order to allow the proposed design of asingle-family dwelling at 533 West Smuggler
Street. The application is attached as Exhibit "A."
APPLICANT: Patrice Kahn, represented by Janver Derrington of Chazles Cunniffe
Architects.
BACKGROUND: Community Development Department staff reviewed the application
to construct a residential unit at 533 West Smuggler Street for compliance with the
"Residential Design Standazds," (See attached Exhibit A). Staff found that the proposal
is not in compliance with the "Inflection" standazd, Section 26.58.040(E), which reads as
follows:
If the street frontage of an adjacent structure is one (I) story in height for
a distance of more than twelve (12) feet on the side facing a proposed
building, then the adjacent portion of the proposed building must also be
one (1) story in height for a distance of twelve (12) feet.
It is the Planning Director's interpretation that this standazd requires that, in those areas
where the house to the east of 533 W. Smuggler is one (1) story, all adjacent portions of
the house proposed for 533 W. Smuggler must also be one (1) story for a distance of at
EXHIBIT
least twelve (12) feet inwazd from that portion of the proposed structure closest to the
shazed lot line towazd the opposite lot line.
On February 27, 1997 the DRAC found that the design, as then proposed, did not comply
with standazd 26.58.040(E), and must be redesigned to comply with said standard. Since
then, the applicant has made a number of revisions to the proposed design. Staff
continues to find that the revised design does not comply with the "Inflection" standazd;
however, the applicant has requested that the DRAC review the revisions and consider
granting a variance.
Before taking into account the design revisions, the standazd under which the requested
variance is sought must be pointed out. The applicant is seeking a variance from the
"Residential Design Standards" pursuant to a finding by the DRAC that the proposed
x ` ~ design "more eJjectively addresses the issue or problem the given standard or provision
Y responds to."
In staffs opinion, the "Inflection" standazd is intended to respond to the issue of new
construction overshadowing and dwarfmg adjacent, existing structures by not respecting
or responding to, through sensitive design, the mass and scale of the portions of the
existing structure that are closest to the proposed building. In considering the variance
request, the DRAC must decide whether or not the proposed design more effectively
addresses this issue than would a redesign that meets the standard.
The Proposal
The applicant has, as mentioned above, made a number of revisions to the proposed
design since the February 27, 1997 DRAC hearing. Most notably, the applicant has
shifted the location of the proposed structure as faz to the west as possible while still
complying with the minimum side yazd setback of five (5) feet. The lot adjacent to the
proposed five (5) foot setback is vacant. This shift enabled an extension of the one-story
porch on the front (north elevation) of the house so that it wraps azound to the east side of
the house and provides aone-story element adjacent to the one-story portions of the
existing structure on the adjoining lot.
This porch would, it should be noted, be set back ten (10) feet from the shared property
line. In effect, the closest two-story element of the proposed structure would be
approximately twenty-seven (27) feet away from the one-story portions of the existing
structure on the adjoining lot. The reason that this revised design still does not comply
with the "Inflection" standazd is the fact that the one-story element (porch) of the
proposed structure would have a depth ofjust six and one-half (6.5) feet, as opposed to
the required twelve (12) feet.
The applicant points out the fact that the distance from the easternmost portion of the
one-story porch to the westernmost portion of the porch is some twenty-six (26) feet.
However, as staff notes, the one-story element of the proposed building closest to the
adjacent structure has a width of only six and one-half (6.5) feet. The twenty-six (26)
foot width is arrived at by wrapping cone-story element of six and one-half (6.5) feet in
width azound a two-story section of the structure.
Although granting of a variance based on the circumstances of one specific situation
should not be construed as a precedent for granting similaz variances (i.e., based on same
design standazd or variance criterion) in other situations with differing circumstances, the
applicant has requested that a particulaz case involving a variance from the "Inflection"
criterion be brought to the attention of the DRAC.
The particulaz case of interest was located at 923 East Hyman Avenue (Schrager House).
In 923 East Hyman case, the applicant was granted a variance permitting cone-story
element of seven (7) feet in width for the length of its entire east facade. While this
project was granted a variance from the inflection standazd, the variance was granted "for
reasons of fairness related to unusual site specific constraints," namely, a setback
requirement established in the contract to purchase the property. The lot now in question,
533 West Smuggler Street, does not contain any unusual site specific constraints that
require a variance for reasons of fairness. Rather, the site in question has inherently more
flexibility than most lots because both it and the adjacent property to the west aze vacant.
.RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the DRAC review the proposed design
and site circumstances in order to determine whether the proposed design "more
effectively addresses the issues" that the inflection standazd responds to than would a
redesign that meets the standard.
ATTACHMENTS:
Exhibit "A" -Submitted application package
March 17, 1997
Design Review Appeals Committee
ASPEN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
City of Aspen, Colorado
re: Re-submission for appeal review residence
for 533 West Smuggler Aspen, Colorado
Gentlemen:
ARCHITECTURE
PLANNING
INTERIORS
Following your review and rejection of our previous proposal as not conforming to the side
yard Inflection Standard of Ordinance 30 on February 27, 1997, we have revised our proposal.
We took your suggestion to study extending the one story porch element back around the stair
tower and revised our sketches and the study model to show it to the City Planning staff.
We had a meeting with them on March 7 and discussed the merits of our proposal. We have
pushed the house to the West as far as possible, which allows the porch roof to be 8 ft. deep at
the stair tower and still fit inside the required East side yard setback. The staff commented that
this does not technically meet the minimum 12 ft. depth in their interpretation of the Inflection
Standard. However, we pointed out that along the street frontage elevation, the width of the
porch is now 27.75 ft., narrows to 8 ft. and then widens to 11 ft. at the point where it is parallel
with the back edge of the one story garage of the adjoining house. Thus, the average width
(depth) of the proposed one story element adjoining the neighbor's house is equal to or
greater than the minimum 12 ft. standard.
We believe this is in compliance with the spirit and intent of the side yard inflection standard, if
not the letter of the technical interpretation by staff and is deserving of a variance by DRAC.
Particularly in view of the precedent set by your having granted a variance for the residence
at 923 East Hyman in August of 1996.
In that proposal, the street elevation one story porch element was interrupted by a two story
element toward the front of the lot which extends 17 ft. back before a 4 ft. deep stepped-
down one story roof element is introduced which then extends on back to a one story element,
which is a roof deck over the garage, similar to our proposal. The two story element at 923 East
Hyman is only 9ft. away from the adjoining one story element on the lot to the East as
compared to our proposal of 15 ft. at the narrowest point which is 56 ft. back from the front
(street] property line. At the closest point to the street, the two houses in our proposal are 50.5
ft. apart.. We believe this is much more gentle on the "streetscape" than the one which you
granted a variance to last August.
CHARLES CUNNIFFE ARCHITECTS 520 EAST HYMAN SUITE 301 ASPEN, COLORADO 81611 970/925-5590 FAX 970/925-5076
In consideration of the above, we respectfully request that you grant a variance to the side
yard Inflection Standard for 533 West Smuggler at your next meeting on March 27, 1997. Thank
you for your cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely,
QItu~1
Ja er Derringtc
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County of Pitkin } AFFIDAVIT OF NOTICE PURSUANT
} ss. TO ASPEN LAND USE REGULATION
~ State of Colorado } SECTION 2652.060 (E)
I, aV1 V ~ I ?n 'C'~~ being or representing an
Applicant to the City of Aspen, person certify that I have complied with the public notice
requirements pursuant to Section 26.52.060 (F7 of the Aspen }rand U Regulations in the
following manner. ~o r a ~a ri a Kc~ re~cc~~,,..U. °~-~ ~}- ~ ~{j r-~ -~-{~_ ~S+.o~ r^
~Z~,vcaw ~ ~a ( 'P~oar-d CD(~~G~ V
1.
NA
on the attached list, on the day of
2. By posting a sign in a conspicuous place on the subject property (as it could be
seen from the nearest public way) and that the said sign was posted and visible
continuously from the 2.15'~' day of a~Ll 199 (Must be posted for
~~~
at least fu 1 days before the hearing date). A photograph of the posted
sign is attached hereto.
Mail to all owners of property
WITNESS MY HAND A
My commission expires
Notary Public's Signature
SEAL
D~' Ca~bYQ~o
EXHIBIT
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CHARLES CUNNIFFE ARCHITECTS
520 E. HYMAN SUITE 301 ASPEN, CO 81611
PHONE (970) 925-5590 FAX (970) 925-5076
ARCHITECTURE
PLANNING
INTERIORS
DATE: March 26, 1997
TO: Design Review Appeal Committee (DRAG)
FROM: Janver Denington, AIA
CHARLES CUNNIFFE ARCHITECTS
RE: 533 West Smuggler St.
Appeal of "Inflection" Standard [26.58.040 (Ejj
Gentlemen:
We have reviewed the memorandum from Mitch Haas which sets forth the City
Planning Staff position on the revised variance request we submitted on March 17,
1997. We believe our submission is worthy of a variance as stated in the cover letter
and will discuss its merits in the public hearing. However, we wish to clear up some
mistaken representations of the facts contained in Mitch's memo regarding the
variance that was granted for a similar situation at 923 East Hyman Avenue.
After reviewing the submittal documents and the DRAG hearing minutes, it is correct
that staff recommended a 7 ft. deep one story element the full length of the east
facade of the structure. In the motion that was passed by DRAG to grant a variance,
no mention of the 7 ft. element is made, but a requirement that the second story on
the east elevation (kitchen element on north/street facing end) be moved in between
12 and 24 inches.
What is cunently being constructed aT 923 East Hyman is as follows:
The second story kitchen facade element (which is 18 ft. long on the North end of the
East elevation) has been set back 12 inches from the facade of the first story below.
With a 16 inch roof eave overhang, this provides a 2 ft. 4 inch "eyebrow" roof for The
first 18 fT. back from the street behind the entry porch roof as shown on the photos we
will submit at the hearing.
This is certainly not the 7 ft. deep element Mitch says was to have been approved.
Going on toward the South, the second story wall steps back another 3 ft. and again
has a 16 inch overhang for the roof, thus providing a 5 ft. 4 inch deep roof element.
This is still not the 7 ft. that planning staff recommended let alone the 12 ft. minimum
requirement of the "inflection" standard.
What is interesting about this is that in our submittal, the roof element of the porch at
it's narrowest point alongside the stair element is 8 ft., not 6.5 ft. as stated in Mitch's
memo. Although he states that a previously granted variance should not be construed "~"
as a precedent for this project, we submit that it should be used as a frame of
reference to establish an even handed approach to a similar situation.
Derringtoi
cc: farrell and Patric
Ted Gardenschwartz
Mitch Haas