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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20010529Regular Meeting Aspen Ci~ Council May 29, 2001 Mayor Richards called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. with Councilmembers Markalunas, Paulson, McCabe and Hershey present. OUTSTANDING EMPLOYEE BONUS AWARDS Karin Grance - finance department; Lynn Baker - transportation; Mark O'Meara - water; and the Wheeler Opera House staff were honored by Mayor and Council. CITIZEN COMMENTS 1. Paul Taddune requested Resolution #48, Series of 2001, Shelling Settlement for alleged HPC Violations, be taken off the consent calendar. 2. Gail Neben, Kinder Morgan natural gas, said last week a gas main was hit. Ms. Neben complimented the city and emergency personnel who all pulled together to make this a non-incident. Ms. Neben thanked everyone for their response and their professional manner. 3. Toni Kronberg thanked Jim Markalunas for the great job he has done on Council. Ms. Kronberg said she has asked for a feasibility study for the concept on the Iselin Pool. Ms. Kronberg said her questions have not been answered. Ms. Kronberg said she has heard that 3 out of the 4 ball fields are too short for men's league play. Ms. Kronberg said she is very concerned that the city has lost the outdoor pool, kids' pool and warm water pool. Ms. Kronberg told Council she has approached the adjacent property owner about relocating part of the pool so that everything can be built. This will require an amendment to the PUD. Ms. Kronberg said the building permit has not been issued and these changes could be accommodated. Ms. Kronberg told Council she would raise the money to fund these changes. Ms. Kronberg asked Council watch this video which will be broadcast on Grassroots. Jeff Woods, parks director, told Council 3 of the fields are adequate for recreation league COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Markalunas thanked and commended the Elk's Lodge for a great job they did in providing food for the Memorial Day celebration. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 29~ 2001 Councilman Markalunas said this was one of the nicest events he can remember. 2. Councilman Markalunas noted an article in U.S. News about traffic and how it is changing life in America. 3. Councilman Markalunas said train travel is being used in Copper Canyon, Mexico, in the Maritime Provinces in Canada and is a great way to travel. Councilman Markalunas said if tourism is waning in Aspen, one reason may be because people are tired of dealing with traffic and do not want to go to a resort that has traffic problems like where they live. 4. Councilman McCabe thanked the Elks and said hopefully the Memorial and Veteran's day celebrations will become regular community events. 5. Councilman Hershey thanked Council for allowing him to participate in the Allard Capital conference. Councilman Hershey said the attendees heard from Senators and members of the Cabinet. 6. Councilman Paulson said he has just come back from 10 days on an island. Councilman Paulson said this magnified to him the balance between the environment and what it takes to supply a population. Councilman Paulson urged everyone to think about this metaphor and to try and conserve on water, natural resources, etc. 7. Mayor Richards thanked Dan Glidden and Ann Owsley for the work they did in putting together the Memorial Day services. Mayor Richards said there should be some organization to put this event together. Council has discussed the police department take over the responsibility of organizing this as the parks department does the Arbor Day. 8. Mayor Richards thanked the streets department for the work in getting all the crosswalk painted and the repaving in the east end almost completed. 9. Randy Ready, assistant city manager, told Council the contract to purchase 70 acres of open space next to the North Star preserve has been negotiated for $6.7 million and will be on the agenda in June for approval. 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 29~ 2001 10. Jeff Woods, parks director, announced the grand opening of the Rio Grande skateboard park June 9th at noon and the grand opening of the athletic field at Rotary Park June 4th at 5 p.m. There will be ribbon cuttings and refreshments at both these events. Woods told Council a basketball court and playground equipment is being installed at the Yellow Brick and will be complete in July. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilman Hershey moved to adopt the consent calendar as amended: seconded by Councilman McCabe. Councilman McCabe said he would like the mall leases removed. The consent calendar is: · Resolution #62, 2001 - Contract Iselin Construction · Resolution #63,2001 - Contract Iselin Lighting Rising Sun · Resolution #64, 2001 - Contract - Truscott Trail and CMAQ · Resolution #60, 2001 - Contract - Streets Fleet · Resolution #61,2001 - Bar/X Annexation · Resolution #57, 2001 - Colorado River Conservation District Settlement · Resolution #58, 2001 - Deputy Municipal Judge for a Day/Ted Gardenswartz · Resolution #69, 2001 - Contract Tatanka Historical Associates - Ute Cemetery · Minutes - April 23, 24, May 14, 2001 All in favor, motion carried. 3 Regular Meeting Aspen Ci~ Council May 29~ 2001 RESOLUTION #59~ 2001 - Mall Restaurant Leases Councilman McCabe said he would prefer not to raise the mall lease rate 6% since the last two winter seasons have not been that great for businesses. Council agreed to a 3% increase. Councilman McCabe moved to adopt Resolution #59, Series of 2001, at 3% increase; seconded by Councilman Hershey. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #48~ 2001 - Shelling Settlement for Alleged HPC Violations Paul Taddune, representing the Black family, told Council in addition to the historically designated house being demolished, there are other violations of the building code that are causing damage to the Black house. Taddune requested this issue be continued for two weeks for more investigation. Taddune noted the roof overhangs onto the Black property and causes snow to cascade onto the Black property. Taddune said there has been subsidence on the Black property caused by overdigging. Taddune said the stipulation appears not to consider attorney's fees; it is to be paid over 3 years; and the city is going to take a promissory note. Councilman Hershey said it seems these issues should be solved between the two property owners, not the city. Taddune answered the city is giving concessions to a property that has no historic significance and these are affecting a house that has historic significance. Mr. Hinshaw, Black's son- in-law, told Council Shelling used her electrical connections, stored building materials on her yard, landscaping was trampled, and used her water connections. Hinshaw said the sideyard setback variances should be withdrawn. Hinshaw told Council allowing contractors to pay for demolishing historic homes may become common practice in Aspen. Hinshaw urged Council not to sell out preservation in Aspen. Susann Siebert told Council she owns property across the alley and agreed with Hinshaw and stated they have had the same problems with Shelling and his disregard for private property. Margaret McGovern, representing her mother, asked how can a project with no historic integrity remaining be granted historic sideyard setback variances that require building and maintenance be done from the adjacent property. How can a roofline design 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 29, 2001 be approved that dumps snow on the adjacent property. What assurance is there that Shelling will repair the damage to the adjacent property. David Hoefer, assistant city attorney, agreed there are litigation issues that can be resolved privately between these parties. Hoefer told Council the remediation plan that is part of the settlement will address issues like the roof, the over digging and the drainage issues. Hoefer reminded Council a building permit cannot be issued until the remediation plan is approved. Doug Allen, representing the Shellings, told Council they will deal with issues raised in Taddune's letter. Allen said Shelling will comply with the building code in order to complete this house. The remediation plan will be approved by HPC. Taddune said the building code violations were not discovered until after Council's hearing on this issue. John Worcester, city attorney, told Council the promissory note will be secured by a second deed of trust on the property, which will be recorded with the agreement. Worcester said no building permit will be issued until the applicant can satisfy the building department there are no violations. Mayor Richards recapped after a public hearing, Council agreed to allow a replication rather than historic remodel. The attorney's fees are included in the settlement account. Besides the fines, there has been a 6 month work stop and the applicant has been paying on a construction loan the entire time. The remediation plan will have to be reviewed and approved by HPC. Mayor Richards said Council expects to see the issues of snow shedding addressed in the remediation plan and that all building codes and technicalities should be abided by. Councilman Hershey moved to adopt Resolution #48, Series of 2001, amended to include the minutes of this meeting be forwarded to HPC for the remediation hearing, that this be retained on the historic inventory, and that the issues of snow shedding and building code technicalities be addressed; seconded by Councilman McCabe. Roll call vote; Councilmembers McCabe, yes; Hershey, yes; Paulson, yes; Markalunas, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. ASPEN MOUNTAIN CONCEPTUAL PUD Julie Ann Woods, community development department, reminded Council issues brought up at the last meeting were tax mitigation and height. Ms. 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 29~ 2001 Woods noted there is a letter from Hyatt outlining details of their management. Ms. Woods pointed out the applicants have said the mitigation fee will be paid at the time of certificate of occupancy. Normally, any fees are paid at the time of building permit issuance, which is included in the resolution. Exhibit G is detail of what the heights are throughout the project and what the variances from underlying zoning are. Ms. Woods used a drawing to show that the mass and scale of the buildings in the area are very similar to that proposed by the applicant. Staff believes the mass and scale are appropriate for the project. Ms. Woods reminded Council the AACP has goals that address the economic diversity and year round economy, and that there is a balance between Aspen the resort and Aspen the community. In order to achieve goals, Council adopted a lodge preservation ordinance that would reinstitute a bed base to support the resort. Ms. Woods noted there is an infill study, which is focusing on reinvestment in the community. Ms. Woods said the infill calls for potentially larger buildings in the commercial areas to accommodate on-site housing and reinvestment in the commercial areas. Ms. Woods said this project is a good example of achieving these goals. Ms. Woods said community members have stated they did not object when this was a hotel as it was a community goal to try and capture bed base that has been lost over the years. Ms. Woods said staff believes this project will provide that bed base. The project will be sold in 1/20ths. Ms. Woods said in talking with communities that have interval ownership projects indicate that owners come to the facilities even when it is a bad snow year or off season times. Ms. Woods said these owners tend to use local facilities, like restaurants and shops. Ms. Woods told Council units that are not being used by owners or for exchanges, will be part of a rental pool available through ACRA or Hyatt. Ms. Woods said this is a premier location and is located with many short term accommodations. Staff feels it is important to have a building with scale and size to it in this location. Ms. Woods told Council the Little Nell is 45 feet high, the North of Nell, 45 feet; St. Regis, 62 feet, Wheeler, 66 feet and the Hyatt is proposed at 43'5" Ms. Woods noted exhibit F shows that using underlying zoning of 28 feet, this project could be built higher than the proposed. Ms. Woods said this is related to the way height is measured 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 29~ 2001 depending on the pitch of the roof. The land use code measures height to the 1/3 point of a pitched roof; this building could achieve a height of 47'4-1/2". Ms. Woods presented computer drawings showing approximately the mass and scale of the proposed building. Ms. Woods reminded Council a PUD does not grant variances but is a flexible zone district in order to achieve other community goals. Ms. Woods said the worst case portion of the height of the building is a 55% increase over the height. Ms. Woods pointed out the mass of this hotel is along Dean street to address the streetscape. This project will be reviewed again at final PUD. Bill Kane, Aspen Skiing Company, told Council a land use inventory was prepared in 1975 and the growth management was adopted in 1977. At that time there were 13,500 guest beds in Aspen. Most of these lodges are not longer operating. There has been 26 years of attrition in lodging; the tourism infrastructure has gone through a serious detraction. This is a key lodging property. Kane told Council very few people are pursuing traditional hotel development because of seasonality and high operations cost. Kane noted where integral ownership has been tested, it outperforms traditional hotels. Kane supports the proposal as a quality addition to short term accommodations. Bill Poss, architect for the applicant, told Council this design attempts to minimize the impacts and to achieve the room count for short term accommodations and to work within the conceptually approved Aspen Mountain PUD. Poss pointed out the original residential project containing townhouses up to 35 feet high on the back of the parcel. Council requested the applicants bring back a lodge project. The applicants brought back several different plans including the I plan, which allows open space around the perimeter of the structure rather than in the interior; allows height in the center of the site; increases the distance of the building from neighbors. Poss pointed out this building is over 150 feet from Durant street. Poss showed this building varies from 10 feet above the 28 foot height limit to 4 feet below the 28 foot height limit; about 1/3 of the project is 10 feet above and about 1/3 is at or below the 28 foot height limit. Poss said with a steeper pitch roof measured to the 1/3 point, the roof could be as high as 47 feet. John Burlingame, Hyatt, noted his letter includes demographics on the customer, mix of use by exchanges, owner-use or rental. Mayor Richards 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 29~ 2001 asked if there is anything that prohibits an owner from renting his unit for less than market price. Burlingame said there is not. Bill Tomcich, Central Reservations, told Council 80% of Aspen's reservations are made 60 days or less out in the winter and in the summer, it is 90%. In the summer, walk in traffic is 8% and in the winter, it is 1%. Scott Writer told Council there are 51 units; 33 three-bedroom and 18 two- bedroom. The units are configured so that as many as the rooms in each unit can be rented, the lock off bedrooms, as if they were hotel units. The lobby has been designed as a hotel lobby. Vann said an outstanding issue is the impact fee, which is designed to offset lost tax revenue, which the city would incur if this were a interval ownership project rather than a hotel. The applicants have been working with staff on the amount of this fee. The applicants suggest this fee be paid at time of certificate of occupancy as there are no lost revenues realized prior to the functioning of this facility. The city's argument is that other impact fees are paid at building permit issuance and if the fee is paid then, there will be interest accruing until the project opens. Vann said the applicants will have to look at whether paying at building permit time is feasible or not. They will be prepared to discuss this in more detail at final review. Steve Barwick, city manager, told Council the applicants have done an analysis and made assumptions to feed into analysis, which show the net impact to taxes is positive under the time share proposal. Barwick said the applicants used 88% occupancy for a time share project versus 60% for a hotel; staff used 80% occupancy for a time share and 64% for a hotel. Staff is trying to estimate the tax differences; the city will get less direct tax from a time share hotel than a traditional hotel. Staff is looking at the direct tax loss and the indirect tax gain. Barwick said staff did find agreement that with time share, more people visit and they tend to spend more money. The applicants presented information the average time share visitor tends to spend about 20% more in the community on non- lodging expenses; staff used 10%. Barwick told Council staff feels the city could lose about $170,000/annual tax revenue. If that is capitalized, the fee would be $4.2 to 4.6 million. Staff would like to do more research before final approval. This amount would make the city whole in all its funds if this were a traditional hotel. The city will get more real estate transfer tax 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 29~ 2001 fees from this type of ownership, which they would not get as often if this were a traditional hotel. Mayor Richards said the numbers used for this impact fee are important because of the various city funds that depend on its income. Mayor Richards said she is not comfortable using consumer expenditures as part of the equation. Mayor Richards said the sales tax base generated from a hotel are the general services needed by that hotel. An increase of 20% may require a 20% increase in city services. Mayor Richards requested staff take that into account in their figuring of the impact fee. Councilman McCabe said he would like some comfort level that the rents for these units will be affordable and that this project is successful for the community. Writer pointed out Council cannot control prices of a hotel. A hotel makes its money on how much rooms are rented for; their goal is to rent rooms for as much as they can to generate revenue. Writer said an interval ownership can be much more affordable to owners, to exchange users and for general rental. The rental is extra and there is incentive for interval ownership projects to rent these units for an affordable rate. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. Bill Tomcich, Aspen Central Reservations, said they support this project. Hotel room prices are dictated by supply and demand. Tomcich noted that the supply of hotel rooms in other resorts has grown while it has not grown in Aspen and Aspen has become less competitive. Peter Thomas said the infill is a report by a citizen committee and should not be relied upon as a guiding document or as justification for the height of this building. Thomas said stating this building could be up to 47 feet under the code is a misrepresentation. Thomas said the code requires Council to consider the underlying zone when looking at height in a PUD. Thomas said this building is too high and is a wall in front of neighbors' buildings. Thomas said he would like a condition to see more circumscribed dimensions at final review. Jerry Moncarsh, Galena Place Condominiums, told Council their request for a height variance when his building was built was denied as adjacent residents complained. Tom Griffiths, Vectra Bank, told Council the bank got involved in a interval ownership project. Griffiths said they did research 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 29~ 2001 on about 50 projects like this. Griffiths said the project they got involved with is about sold out. Griffiths told Council he likes the fact that this project has about 1,000 intervals, he likes the demographics, he likes that this project will not compete with restaurants, conference facilities or other retail. Griffiths said he hopes the city supports this project. Marcia Goshorn noted Aspen has lost a lot of rooms and quality rooms over the years and supports this project. Steve Falender said this project is requesting a variance from the underlying zoning and the Council should ad&ess the reason for this variance. Falender said he would like to see drawings showing the differences in height and in underlying zoning. Falender said he would like to know how the 18 "over" parking spaces will benefit the community. Falender requested Council continue to look at the height to see if there are compromises. Steve Siefert told Council he has been in hotel management for 20 years. Siefert said Council needs to look at its business plan, how to bring customers into this community to support the things that community members want. Siefert said this project would be adding an important segment to Aspen's visitor base. David Walbert, owner of Red Onion, supports this project as it looks like it will bring in more people and will not compete with local residents. Toni Kronberg said she thinks this is a good project. Karen Cribbs, Alpinblick owner, asked if there has been an attempt to design a project without a height variance. Ms. Cribbs asked if it is a foregone conclusion this can be built bigger than is allowed. Ms. Cribbs said she understands the balance between generated beds, generating sales tax, and keeping buildings on a reasonable scale. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. Vann said because this is a different type of ownership structure than that previously approved, it is the same type of public building. This has a lobby, it is the same building, there have been improvements made, the room count is similar to that previously approved. The applicants started with the premise they were going to take an approved project and make it better. The impact on tax revenues to the community is being addressed. Councilman Hershey moved to adopt Resolution #47, Series of 2001; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 29~ 2001 Councilman Markalunas said design is key to functional use of a property as well as attractiveness. Councilman Markalunas said Aspen is a resort and the community needs skiers on the slopes and visitors to the shops. Councilman McCabe said he would like to see this project succeed for the community. He is pleased that the affordable housing and parking are taken care of mostly on site. Councilman Paulson said he hopes everyone can work together as a community; the community needs tourists. Mayor Richards said it is important to have competition to stir upgrading. Mayor Richards said this project will bring in new guests. Council has to look at Aspen in an overall picture, which includes a diversity of accommodations. Mayor Richards said buyers of fractional fee units are permanently loyal to that community. Mayor Richards said she would like the resolution amended to include "It is the intent that the interest earned from this offset will be allocated proportionally to the existing sales tax structure". Councilman Hershey amended his motion to include the above language; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. All in favor, motion carried. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Markalunas, yes; Paulson, yes; Hershey, yes; McCabe, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. Councilman Hershey moved to adopt Resolution #50, Series of 2001; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Hershey, yes; Paulson, yes; McCabe, yes; Markalunas, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. Councilman McCabe moved to continue Ordinance #44, Series of 2000 to August 13,2001; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman McCabe moved to continue Ordinance #48, Series of 2000 to August 13,2001; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman McCabe moved to continue Resolution #155, Series of 2000 to June 11,2001; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. All in favor, motion carried. 11 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 29~ 2001 Councilman Markalunas moved to adjourn at 8:30 p.m.; seconded by Councilman McCabe. All in favor, motion carried. Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk 12 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 29~ 2001 OUTSTANDING EMPLOYEE BONUS AWARDS ................................... 1 CITIZEN COMMENTS .............................................................................. 1 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS ........................................................... 1 CONSENT CALENDAR ............................................................................. 3 · Resolution #62, 2001 - Contract Iselin Construction ............................ 3 · Resolution #63,2001 - Contract Iselin Lighting Rising Sun ................. 3 · Resolution #64, 2001 - Contract - Truscott Trail and CMAQ ............... 3 · Resolution #60, 2001 - Contract - Streets Fleet .................................... 3 · Resolution #61,2001 - Bar/X Annexation ............................................ 3 · Resolution #57,2001 - Colorado River Conservation District Settlement ................................................................................................ 3 · Resolution #58, 2001 - Deputy Municipal Judge for a Day/Ted Gardenswartz ........................................................................................... 3 · Resolution #69, 2001 - Contract Tatanka Historical Associates - Ute Cemetery .................................................................................................. 3 · Minutes - April 23, 24, May 14, 2001 .................................................. 3 RESOLUTION #59, 2001 - Mall Restaurant Leases .................................... 4 RESOLUTION #48, 2001 - Shelling Settlement for Alleged HPC Violations ASPEN MOUNTAIN CONCEPTUAL PUD ............................................... 5 13