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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.apz.20080916Aspen Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes September 16, 2008 COMMENTS ............................................................................................................ 2 MINUTES ................................................................................................................. 2 DECLARATION OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ............................................... 3 LIFT ONE COWOP MASTER PLAN ..................................................................... 3 ASPEN INSTITUTE, SPA AMENDMENT ............................................................ 4 LAUDER RESIDENCE, SPECIAL REVIEW ......................................................... 7 1 Aspen Plannine & Zoning Commission MeetinE Minutes September 16, 2008 LJ Erspamer opened the regular Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting at 4:30 pm in the Sister Cities Meeting Room. Commissioners present were Mike Wampler, Cliff Weiss, Jim DeFrancia, Stan Gibbs, Brian Speck and LJ Erspamer. Dina Bloom was excused. Staff present Jim True, Special Counsel; Chris Bendon, Jennifer Phelan, Jason Lasser, Errin Evans, Travis Goggins, Community Development; Trish Aragon, Engineering; Jackie Lothian, Deputy City Clerk. Jim DeFrancia had a budget task force meeting to attend at 6pm. LJ Erspamer asked the commissioners to think about large packets and wanted to conduct the meetings in a timelier manner. Jennifer Phelan stated that if it was a big item she tried to get the application to the commissioners ahead of time. Stan Gibbs asked that Community Development manage the size of the schedule so that there weren't too many big items piling up. Jim DeFrancia said that the public should adhere to the three minute rule and with an apparent redundancy the chair has to be polite but move along in the interest of time. DeFrancia said expeditious agenda items should be reordered on the agenda to get those items out of the way and leave a longer continuous period of time to deal with the substantive issues. Mike Wampler said that things should slow down and people have to be allowed to talk. Jennifer Phelan requested the order of the hearings be changed for Lift One to be first because it will be very short. Phelan said that October 14tH the Special Meeting would be held at the Aspen Institute in the Koch Building, the Allen Room from 4:30 - 7:30pm. Phelan noted that November 4m was Election Day so the question was did the commission want to switch the meeting date. The commissioners agreed to November l ltn Bill Wiener, public, distributed DVDs from his drawings regarding the Art Museum. Toni Kronberg, public, spoke about Planning & Zoning's importance. Kronberg distributed 3 pages regarding the people mover from Aspen to Buttermilk with an invitation to the Council Work Session on November 17tH. MINUTES Cliff Weiss corrected the minutes of August 19tH. Cliff Weiss, Stan Gibbs and LJ Erspamer made corrections to the minutes of August 26tH MOTION: Jim DeFrancia moved to approve the minutes of August 19`" as corrected; seconded by Stan Gibbs. All in favor, APPROVED. 2 Ashen Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes September 16, 2008 MOTION: Jim DeFrancia moved to approve the minutes ofAugust 26`has corrected,• seconded by Stan Gibbs. All in favor, APPROVED. DECLARATION OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Cliff Weiss disclosed that he sent a resume to the Meadows for marketing services. Jim True said that the Meadows contracts with the Institute for the operation of the Meadows so there is a displaced connection but there is none the less connection. LJ Erspamer said that he did go to the Institute and Roaring Fork Drive; Junee Kirk sent him something on the ZG Master Plan, which he forwarded to Jim True; Andy Ross called him about the Aspen Club; Colleen Burrows spoke to him about the ZG Master Plan. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING: LIFT ONE COWOP MASTER PLAN LJ Erspamer opened the continued public hearing on the Lift One COWOP Master Plan. Chris Bendon stated this was a continued public hearing on Lift One Neighborhood Master Plan and the last COWOP meeting brought the plan back to the basic core elements. Bendon said that the COWOP group will see on Thursday and continue the discussion. Bendon said that there was a site visit on September 9`h as a public hearing with commissioners LJ Erspamer, Dina Bloom, Stan Gibbs and Michael Wampler present. They walked the site for about an hour. There was a motion to continue by Stan Gibbs and seconded by Michael Wampler that was passed to continue the hearing to September 16`h at 4:30, which passed 4-0. Public Comments: 1. Bill Wiener, public, said that if we (the COWOP) come back on the 23`d to P&Z then you will be seeing material that the COWOP group has not seen. Bendon responded that what will be seen will be the result from this Thursday, 9/18/8 COWOP Meeting. 2. Toni Kronberg, public, said that what was missing from the COWOP plan was what is the true community benefit and it was unfortunate that a true expert was not on board to answer the question if the lift could be brought down. MOTION: Jim DeFrancia moved to continue the Lift One COWOP Master Plan to September 23'd; seconded by Mike Wampler. All in favor, APPROVED. 3 Aspen Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes September 16, 2008 LJ Erspamer asked who conducted the pillow survey in 2005. Chris Bendon replied that Stay Aspen/Snowmass tracks those pillows and there is a report that City Community Development produced. Erspamer asked for the update. Bendon said there was an update in 2006 on the website. PUBLIC HEARING: ASPEN INSTITUTE, SPA AMENDMENT LJ Erspamer opened the public hearing. Jason Lasser stated this was a public hearing for the Aspen Institute Paepcke Auditorium. Lasser said this was a SPA Amendment and consolidated review so conceptual and final and growth management would be reviewed tonight and waive the affordable housing requirements. Lasser said the application was for the addition of 60 seats to Paepcke; to upgrade the building for efficiency; redo the mechanical equipment; move the projection room inside and reconfigure for ADA compliance. Lasser said that exhibit C addressed the employee mitigation with additional information. Lasser said the traffic study was not complete so they were looking to place that information with the tent application in December. Lasser said that the application has gone through conceptual at HPC and their final review was coming up in November. Lasser said there was a geo thermal pond that was part of the application process but was not finished. Jennifer Phelan said the Aspen Institute property was reviewed under historic preservation and P&Z was reviewing for growth management for an essential public facility and a recommendation for an amendment to the SPA. Phelan said HPC has not seen the landscape feature (the geothermal pond) but will review it at final. Phelan said that all that P&Z is reviewing is the plan before them and to recommend to the City Council a growth management review and amendment to the SPA. Lasser said that HPC looked at this as a historic park and that was why it was in the purview because it modifies the landscape plan of the existing SPA. Lasser said staff recommends approval with the conditions in the Resolution; an audit of existing employees and in 2 years another audit and to continue to work with Engineering on the pedestrian walkway and transportation plan. Weiss asked where HPC signed off on some of the specifics on materials and glazing. Phelan replied that P&Z does not review materials and glazing; it would come under the HPC purview. Jim Curtis, planner for the applicant, introduced Amy Margerum, the manager, and Michael Shoring, architect. Curtis stated the Paepcke Auditorium and Greenwald 4 Aspen Plannine & Zoning Commission MeetinE Minutes September 16, 2008 tent were separate applications. Curtis said that the Greenwald application would deal with the details left out of the Paepcke amendment. Curtis added to the resolution on page 2 under Section 3 to the last sentence "and recommends the City of Aspen, MAA, West End Neighborhood work together on the components of traffic, parking, parking enforcement, transit, pedestrian paths and cleaning up rights-of-ways." Curtis said the Institute will volunteer to participate in that with the key players and the Institute's objective would be to have something in place by the summer of 2009. Curtis said the geothermal pond was looked at with the Parks Department for placement; the pond would be for Paepcke; the tent has no heating, no cooling and no need for a pond. Stan Gibbs asked the length of construction. Jim Curtis responded that they were proposing to initiate construction either August 18`h or August 25, 2009 and have substantial completion by June 15, 2010, which was a very aggressive schedule and in terms of the Institute's operation they need to meet that schedule. LJ Erspamer asked if the mechanical was finalized. Curtis replied that it would not be on the roof. Erspamer asked about the updated traffic study. Amy Margerum replied that it was updated and they were still implementing. Public Comments: 1. Steve Falender, public, stated that he was an immediate neighbor; Jim Curtis and Amy Margerum were also neighbors and have been very good about talking to us about parking. There was no question there were issues; it would be wonderful to hold a hammer over their head and not let them do anything until they completely resolve the parking to my satisfaction but it is pretty clear that it is a combined effort with the Music Festival and in particularly with the City. It requires a comprehensive evaluation of everything and realistically getting that done in a way not to delay their construction and processes. Falendar said that he was reasonably comfortable that they meet the commitments that they are talking about today to work with the Music Festival, City and neighbors. Trish Aragon, City Engineer, stated the Institute idea about the comprehensive plan and agreed that it was not just their issue but a bigger issue. They were a part of the whole plan and asked to identify what part was the Institute's responsibility to identify the impact with only increasing 60 seats. Aragon applauds their plan. Amy Margerum said they do not think it is an impact with adding 60 seats to Paepcke Auditorium; people were now crammed into Paepcke and this will allow not to have seats along the isles and not have people standing outside; it won't 5 Aspen Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes September 16, 2008 change the number of people that come to the events now; it's 600 square feet minimal expansion. Margerum said they sell tickets to their events and overflow tickets with speakers outside for people to hear the speakers. Margerum noted the for 9 weeks in the summer with the Music Tent that holds 2,000 people inside and over 1,000 people outside. Margerum said the cut through traffic from Highway 82 through the West End is probably 10 to 15 times greater than the music tent. Lasser said there were reviews for the essential public facility, SPA and the waiver for the affordable housing mitigation requirement. The commission agreed there was no change in the SPA. The commission said that there were not additional employees being added with the addition of the 60 seats to Paepcke. Weiss asked if the addition of 60 seats was enough. Margerum replied that with just an interior remodel on an old building they did not want to lose seats. Curtis stated that in the last 2 years the whole Institute has been connected with fiber optics they can beam between any of the buildings; they were contemplating putting up outside monitors on the opposite side of the building so that people could bring blankets. Cliff Weiss suggested adding RFTA to the mix of City of Aspen, MAA and West End Neighborhood working together on the components. Mike Wampler voiced concern for parking and noted if it really was a problem then there would be a room full of people but there was not. Weiss said the traffic issues and parking had a lot more to do with the MAA. Margerum stated that the Institute has been meeting with the neighbors and the MAA and she thinks that they are angry at the City of Aspen. Margerum said the West End was a neighborhood and they had a meeting with 50 residents of the West End; the West End was a thriving neighborhood with kids, dogs and full time residents. Margerum said the traffic problems occur during 3 to 6 pm for rush hour during the weekdays and Sunday and Friday nights. Margerum said that the Dali Lama Event was the least impact because they told people that there was no where to park and provided and paid for buses all around town; she said that they do take care of the big events. Erspamer asked Trish Aragon what she suggested for the traffic impacts. Aragon replied that her understanding was their goal was to come up with an overall plan on how to manage and how it was handled in that neighborhood; what portion will come to fruition. Jim Curtis said that defining what the implementation steps might be to associate costs with them and then seeing if the groups can mutually agree on giving out the costs. Curtis said that he could not see how a financial 6 Ashen Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes Seatember 16, 2008 commitment could be defined on behalf of the Institute until some agreement is reached by the activities. Steve Falendar, public, said that there were traffic problems but for the first time Amy Margerum and the Institute have helped coordinate some effort with the MAA and the City. Falendar said it was difficult to get the City to look at the different rules and regulations that they have, which make it difficult to deal with some of the problems that they have. Cliff Weiss voiced concern for the rush hour traffic through the West End to avoid the back ups on Highway 82. Amy Margerum invited everyone to come out to see the rush hour traffic. Stan Gibbs said that adding 60 seats would not make a difference in traffic but requested that the Institute, MAA, RFTA, West End Neighborhood and the City be involved to figure out how to solve the traffic problem in some way; this applicant doesn't need to be involved to the greatest degree. Phelan said that this language could be placed into the resolution. Lasser said that they would clean up Section 3. MOTION: Cliff Weiss moved to approve Resolution #29-08 with the changes to Sections 1 and 3 for the consolidated approval with conditions of the Specially Planned Area (SPA) Amendment to the Paepcke Auditorium; seconded by Mike Wampler. Roll call vote: Speck, yes; Gibbs, yes; Wampler, yes; Weiss, yes; Erspamer, yes. All in favor, APPROVED S-0. Discussion: Brian Speck said that a bigger picture was of how people are moved through the site with additional parking. Amy Margerum said that they have proposed additional parking to the City and the City has turned it down. Margerum noted the music festival has about 3,000 people and the parking lot holds 300 cars. PUBLIC HEARING: LADDER RESIDENCE, SPECIAL REVIEW LJ Erspamer opened the public hearing for the Lauder Residence Special Review. Errin Evans explained the purpose of the application was to review an addition to the carriage house that was currently non-conforming at 860 Roaring Fork Road to get approval for this addition. Evans said there were 3 reviews. The applicant was permitted to apply for the addition because there was a provision in the code to allow for non-conforming ADUs and carriage houses to apply for more floor area if they were registered with 7 Aspen Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes September 16, 2008 the housing authority as a mandatory occupancy unit. Evans noted there was floor area and net livable area. The first review was to consider whether or not there was a greater benefit than potential impacts to increase the size of the unit. Public Comments: 1. Chris Seamon, public, stated this addition was important to him because he actually lived in the unit. Seamon introduced his 3 children and wife and hoped that he and his family can stay in the community. 2. Doug Lavenger, public, supported this family to remain in the valley and in the carriage house. Lavenger said to keep the family dynamic going the house needed to be larger. 3. Margaret Romero, public, stated that she had 3 kids and that Chris and Lynn were a remarkable family and wanted to see them stay in Aspen. 4. Elizabeth Miller, public, said that she lived in employee housing and she has 2 kids. Miller supported the Seamon's. Errin Evans said that when the carriage house was originally constructed it was considered conforming at that time since then changes to the land use code have created anon-conforming property with respect to floor area. If approved the floor area to increase the size of the carriage house would come from unused floor area from a sending vacant lot in the same subdivision. Evans stated there were 2 design variances requested to constmct a portion of the addition below grade, the lower level addition is partially garden level and partially sub grade. The second variance was to exceed the maximum amount of net livable area; the current net livable size was 1287 square feet and the proposed amount was 1718 square feet, which would be 431 square feet larger than the net livable area permitted in the code. Staff supports the application with concerns for future use of the property and suggests adding anon-compliant clause to the resolution that would require the applicant to remove the addition to the carriage house if the use was to change and the unit was no longer used as mandatory occupancy for an employee. Community Development staff recommend approval of the 3 special reviews for the addition to the carriage house. Gideon Kaufman agreed with the staff findings, memo and resolution. Kaufman said there were 2 letters of support from adjacent properly owners. Cliff Weiss said that Chris Seamon must be an amazing person. 8 Asaen Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes Seatember 16, 2008 MOTION.• Brian Speck moved to approve Resolution #30-08 to approve the special review procedures for the variance from the residential design standards for a sub grade area and net livable area shown as permitted and the increase in permitted floor area for non-conforming structures for the carriage house located at 860 Roaring Fork Road with amendments. Seconded by Cliff Weiss. Roll call vote: Wampler, yes; Gibbs, yes; Weiss, yes; Speck, yes; Erspamer, yes. All in favor, APPROVED S-0. Adjourned at 6:45 pm. lc.G~ ckie Lothian, Deputy City Clerk 9