HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20181008Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 8, 2018
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SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES .................................................................................................. 2
CITIZEN COMMENTS ............................................................................................................................... 2
CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS ................................................................................................................... 3
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS ................................................................................................................ 4
CONSENT CALENDAR ............................................................................................................................. 4
Resolution #131, Series of 2018 – All wheel drive motor grater .......................................................... 4
Minutes – September 24, 2018 ............................................................................................................. 4
ORDINANCE #23, SERIES OF 2018 – Code Amendment – Traffic and Motor Vehicles ......................... 4
RESOLUTION #135, #136, #137 & #138 – Regarding State and Local Ballot Issues ................................ 7
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 8, 2018
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At 5:00 p.m. Mayor Skadron called the regular meeting to order with Councilmembers Hauenstein,
Mullins and Frisch present.
SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES
Janice Vos Caudill, Pitkin County Clerk and Recorder, spoke about the 2018 general election. This year
it is a two card ballot. Ballots drop on Monday October 15th. Last Friday we dropped the TABOR notice.
The week before the State wide blue book went out. They are online at pitkinvotes.com. Return your
ballot at one of our three drop off sites. We have a 24/7 drop off outside the Pitkin county office. There
are also drop boxes at Snowmass town hall and Basalt town hall. There will be three weeks of early
voting. Vote early or on election day. Election day voting will be at Snowmass town hall or Grace
Church in Emma. On election night, don’t come in to the office, go online at pitkinvotes. Uploads at 7
pm and 9 pm and the end of night. Get your ballots back early. The Motor vehicle department will be
closed on election day. We are still looking for judges.
George Newman, RFTA, spoke about question 7A asking to approve a 2.65 mill levy and bond authority.
There have been over two years of public outreach to determine RFTAs current ability to provide services
and future needs. RFTA 2040. From that outreach each community came up with wants and needs
including increased service and frequency, more park and rides, more infrastructure and upgrades to Rio
Grand trails and build of lower valley trail. We determined that we would be able to accomplish those
projects with this mill levy. For the upper valley it is an economic issue. We import about 66% of our
workforce. Critical for workforce to be able to come up and down the valley safely. Also an important
environmental aspect. RFTA will have 8 electric busses by the end of 2019. If this is not successful, we
may see the off season schedule become the full round schedule. He encouraged council to pass a
resolution endorsing 7A. Go to onboardwithrfta.org for more information.
Proclamation - National community planning month
Philip Supino, community development, said since 2007 the American Planning Association has
presented the award of great public spaces and streets. This year the pedestrian mall was selected as one
of five recipients of this national award. The design concepts for the mall were first introduced in 1956.
In 1961 council and volunteers tested the concept with a 90 day installation. In 1972, after Colorado
passed the public mall act, the city finally moved forward with a plan. Over the next few years a master
plan was developed with a finished product in 1976. In 2017 the malls were designated as a historic
landmark by city council.
Mayor Skadron read the proclamation.
CITIZEN COMMENTS
1. Diana Short, concerned parent, said she lives behind the Jerome in the Mill building. She has two
sons, 3 years and 7 months. Each day they walk to the ELC. There are no continuous sidewalk
from the library to the ELC. There are 10 to 11 classrooms in the ELC and each day the kids are
doing this walk. Mayor Skadron said Bert is taking this on and it is moving forward.
2. Ned Carter said he was here a few months ago about APCHA selective enforcement and did not
hear back from anyone. He said he refused to fill out the affidavit. The enforcement has been
done selectively. He brought up examples of people who are in violation of the rules but not
being enforced against. On RFTA if it more expensive to go from Aspen Village to the intercept
lot than to Basalt.
3. Peter Fornell said over the last four years the cash in lieu number has only gone up 7%. That
only happened when I pointed out it hadn’t gone up in three years. Asset management and
finance present construction numbers with a 10% annual increase. I use the same product to
build so why don’t your cost increases apply to housing development. My financial partner told
me without thoughtful increase to the affordable housing number by spring he will not be
financing the project at Park. A modest development of free market on that lot makes more
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 8, 2018
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money than affordable housing. If the compensation packet to the developer does not meet or
exceed the compensation for free market no one will build affordable housing. Developers are
asking to pay cash in lieu. If they can’t do it you can’t either. The current cash in lieu doesn’t
work. It works against the certificate program and needs immediate change.
Councilman Hauenstein said I agree with you that cash in lieu doesn’t come close. I would like
to do away with it except for very small fractions.
Councilman Frisch said after you were her last month I’ve had some discussions. Part is to use a
different matrix than Boulder and Denver. Another problem that will be really hard is when you
started this is there weren’t developers offering a higher and better use.
Councilwoman Mullins said we are slow moving but the bottom line is we need to figure out a
way to get the housing. We are talking about this.
4. Sandy Mulcahy said you said last time you are not the judge and jurors, I disagree with you. You
have to make the hard decisions and act on it. You did that when you met with the BOCC and
determined there were problems with APCHA and they needed to reorganize. She asked if it was
wrong for APCHA to send out a premature notice of violation. They then used that to deny any
kind of public hearing. Judge Selden then ignored a document demanding a conference with Lee.
Both APCHA and the courts ignored the law.
5. Amanda Tucker said she made a special arrangement with the judge to stop the APCHA attorney
from being abusive at the trial on Friday. The key issue is selective enforcement.
6. Lee Mulcahy said he feels like the city of Aspen is out of control.
7. Toni Kronberg said she would prefer that the cash in lieu is bumped up. In less than 30 days we
will know where the city offices will be located. She asked if we can agree on the facts. There is
some disagreement on the website. On the fact sheet for option A it says 3 offices and 2 for B.
there will only be 2 for each options. For the cost, A has a set contract price of 45 million. The
city bumped it up by 5 million for over run. There is no set price for B but an estimate. Those 2
numbers should reflect a set price of 45 million for A and an estimated price for B. She does not
see a loss of parking spaces for either option. The city is saying that Option B does not go on the
Galena plaza open space, but it does.
CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS
Councilwoman Mullins commended the city on the mall. It is wonderful we got the award for that. They
are a treasured part of the city.
Councilman Hauenstein said the Bronco’s got spanked, the Rockies got swept, CU Buffs are on a roll.
Skiers did a thumping. They didn’t need all those points. There is still time to catch some of the movies
at the Wheeler for Indigenous Peoples Day.
Councilman Frisch said he missed the Shining Mountains festival, mall festival and college fair being in
Minnesota. Appreciate all the work Kathy Klug did on the college fair.
Mayor Skadron said the Shining Mountains film festival at the Wheeler was really well attended. Last
year on October 9, council passed a resolution officially recognizing the second Monday in October as
Indigenous Peoples Day recognizing that we white folks were not here first, not in Aspen and not in
America. Council passed this resolution because it is past time to publicly acknowledge the first people
who inhabited North America and begin to dissolve the discrimination that has existed since Europeans
have first set foot on our shores. Passing the resolution last year was one step in our process of
acknowledgment but we wanted something bigger. The film festival is a big part of turning our vision of
honoring native American culture and we’re proud to sponsor this event.
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 8, 2018
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CITY MANAGER COMMENTS
Sara Ott, assistant city manager, said fact sheets on all ballot questions are available on the website.
There is an option on the website where folks can submit a question and we will answer it on line.
CONSENT CALENDAR
• Resolution #131, Series of 2018 – All wheel drive motor grater
• Minutes – September 24, 2018
Councilman Frisch moved to adopt the consent calendar; seconded by Councilwoman Mullins. All in
favor, motion carried.
ORDINANCE #23, SERIES OF 2018 – Code Amendment – Traffic and Motor Vehicles
Mitch Osur, parking, told the council there were two work sessions in April and June recommending
changes. We are concerned with quality of life, esthetics and safety. The first change is no unattached
non- motorized vehicles without a permit. You can get up to 3 permits per year limited to 3 consecutive
days. There are a fair amount of people storing trailers on the street. This forces more people to park in
the residential zones.
Councilman Frisch said we are in the minority of communities that don’t have some type of regulation.
Mr. Osur said we looked at 30 city ordinances. This comes from people parking boat, snowmobile and
landscaping trailers and storing them on the street.
Councilman Frisch said we talked about if it stands now the plan is to start in mid November. Mr. Osur
said that is when the permit renewal starts. There might be some people having difficulty finding storage.
We are more than willing to write warnings until December 31st. We did send letters out to 1,500 permit
holders letting them know this was coming. It did produce some phone calls. 90 % of those calls were
positive.
Mayor Skadron opened the public comment.
Robert Ryan, speaking on behalf of his friend Diane, said he has a camper trailer. I live in employee
housing at the end of Main Street. There are a few spaces at the ABC for 100 dollars a month. I’ve been
camping 8 times this summer. I park on a Thursday, plug it in and fill it up and leave on Friday and
return on Sunday and take it back on Monday. I would have to leave on Friday and drive to El Jebel to
pick it up and drive back then do the same thing on Monday. That’s driving 800 miles or camp less. I
used to have an old work van and people complained about it because it was old. I now have a new van
and no one complains about it. I’m hoping you can look at a better permit solution, maybe a recreation
permit. The other option is to get rid of the trailers because people don’t like the looks of them.
Diane said it seems to be under a quality of life situation. Who’s quality of life are we talking about. Is it
the people who should be riding the bus. Is it quality of life for the visitors and tourists or the workers
who are commuting from down valley. I feel like my quality of life as an Aspen resident is being
compromised for the benefit of the tourist and down valley commuter. I don’t think I’m asking too much
to be able to park my camper during the summer to improve my quality of life. I store it all winter long.
Mr. Osur said we have a much bigger parking problem in the summer than we do in the winter.
Councilwoman Mullins said what is proposed is 3 times per year for 3 days. Is there any way to change 2
tags for a camper. You make a really valid point.
Councilman Hauenstein said I share your concerns. I have a trailer myself. Is there any property that the
city has that could be conducive for parking/permitting of trailers that wouldn’t be in the residential
zones. Mr. Osur said we can’t even find an impound lot for the vehicles we tow.
Peter Fornell said how many oversized vehicles are registered in Aspen. Mr. Osur replied I don’t have an
answer. Mr. Fornell said it would be good to know the answer to that before we start legislating that. We
don’t know what the size of our problem is. How many complaints were filed in regard to those vehicles.
If we know that answer I would like it. We may be legislating something that is not an issue.
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 8, 2018
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Brian Dougherty said he is also concerned about the trailer legislation. He is curious about the number of
complaints. Around 30 per year. Last meeting he said it was 40. There are 2400 parking spaces. It is 1
%.
Amos Underwood said he sent a letter last week. He is not sure if he should register his oversized
vehicle in a place he can’t park it. He specifically asked the parking department if he could park it before
he bought it. He was told yes. The city should use engineering standards for a parking space instead of
measuring vehicles. If it fits in a space it should be legal. Anything that doesn’t fit is oversized.
Mr. Dougherty said he also has concerns with the dimensional requirements. Full size pick up trucks can
be over the weight limit. It does not feel that the numbers are set the way they should be. The numbers
are not set in the code. Height does not include roof racks. He would like to see those numbers defined.
Councilman Frisch said he thinks the plan was to try to separate daily use vehicles from recreation ones
that don’t get used very much. A 4 door duly pick up versus a sprinter van. We are trying to figure out
how to support daily use vehicles. We are a toy town, whether it is snowmobiles, boats, campers, trying
to figure out the best way to manage it. Most towns don’t allow storage on their streets. The discussion
gets to what is the hierarchy of needs. I think what is at the top is the residents, then at some part is the
work force and the tourists. We are trying to balance what is the right thing to do. I’m not sure how
many complaints we’ve had. Any time we do anything with parking it turns into a big issue. The thought
is if someone has a parking pass they should be able to use it for an unattached vehicle. It doesn’t matter
what is sitting there. A parking space is a parking space.
Mr. Osur said the reason there aren’t complaints logged about oversized vehicles is we don’t log them and
it’s not against the rules. There are 3200 parking spaces in the residential zones. 1700 residential passes.
400 people take the car pool. 10,000 people come in over the bridge.
Diane said we’ve gone from a system that is complaint based to a system that is no way.
Amos said there is only 5 months a year that this is a problem. Maybe there is an option for seasonality.
Right now there is no issue.
Councilman Frisch said most camper people want access in the summer and snowmobile people want it
in the winter.
Diane said I want my camper to be looked at like one of my vehicles and I will abide by those rules.
Mr. Osur said the maximum number of residential permits is 4 with 1 guest. Next year that will go to 3
with one guest.
Councilman Frisch said Diane mentioned she has a 3 bedroom with 3 passes. Does a one bedroom get
one pass. Mr. Osur said if your vehicle is registered to your address you get a pass. It is based on the
number of cars. Mr. True said this proposal is to change that.
Mr. Osur said next is the oversized vehicle. 24 feet in length is the max, 8 in width and 10 in height.
Sprinter vans are not considered oversized. On weight, from a Ford 350, Chevy Silverado would all fit
that.
Councilman Frisch asked if we should have a weight in there at all. We are not going to have a scale, is
there a point.
Mr. Osur said time restricted zones only allow one visit a day per time zone.
Councilman Frisch said there probably should be zones in every residential area of Aspen. One thing we
are trying to do is make sure residents have a chance to park their car. Don’t we need to have the same
rules. Barry Crook, assistant city manager, said Mitch plans to have a work session on zones throughout
the community. Councilman Frisch said assuming it is based on density, I’m still supportive of us
supporting the 4 hour rule. Is it better to wait or should we put it in place.
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 8, 2018
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Mr. Osur said the last item is EV’s and NEV’s will be able to park in the residential zones for free. NEVs
can park in the downtown core for free but enforce the 4 hours. For Hybrids, they are no longer state of
the art, our suggestion is on January 31st they will have to pay for parking like everybody else.
Councilman Frisch said the question is on the hybrids, there are lots of reasons to care about gas mileage,
this is an emission question. Hybrids are spewing out less emissions than other vehicles. We decided to
put vehicles into 2 categories, tailpipe and no tailpipe. Do we want a third category for hybrid. Mr. Osur
said our goal is to have less vehicles come in to town. As you let people park for free why would they
ride RFTA. Councilman Frisch said cost is one factor to the town if we want to give hybrids an option.
Mr. Osur said residential zone is $8 a day. It is hard to do by the day since I don’t have a way to charge
them less money. Councilwoman Mullins said you are saying they are no longer a cutting edge vehicle. I
don’t know why we are rewarding hybrids if they are no better than gas vehicles. Mr. Osur said they are
better than a lot of cars but there are gas vehicles that are close. Councilman Frisch said its’ not a gas
mileage issue. From a community standpoint I think we would want more hybrids than traditional cars.
From a policy point I think we need to figure out if we want 3 tiers or 2 tiers.
Councilman Hauenstein said I think 2 tiers is enough that we should be encouraging the latest technology.
Continuing to give free parking for a hybrid, I think the time for that has come and gone.
Councilwoman Mullins said I talked to a lot of people about these changes and someone told me their
employees parked on Lone Pine and their employees will have to move their cars every 4 hours. I
wondered why they weren’t taking the bus. I think we need to get more people on the bus. The parking
is for the residents except down town. I would like to see something figured out for the campers. If t here
is some how to equate a hang tag to a trailer.
Councilman Hauenstein said to pull unattached vehicles from ordinance and section D, oversized vehicles
for more discussion and pass the rest.
Councilman Frisch asked what about the oversized, the weight issue.
Councilman Hauenstein said there is logic if it doesn’t fit in the space it is oversized and perhaps not
allowed. I don’t know that I want to sit here and come up with this. Councilman Frisch said on the
oversized, if we take it off the table, I think staff is going to want to know what we don’t like about it.
Councilman Hauenstein said I would go along with what Amos is saying, if it doesn’t fit in a regular spot
it isn’t allowed.
Councilman Hauenstein moved to approve Ordinance #23 excluding unattached and oversized.
Councilman Frisch said between efficiency and fair he would rather see hybrid get half price parking. He
still thinks there is value to any community that is supporting hybrid. The only thing he would want to
change on the oversize is the weight. He supports the idea we are trying to focus on as to what can be
considered a daily use vehicle. On the un attached, while I don’t think it is a problem now, I think it is
growing.
Mayor Skadron said on the hybrid, Mitch you are saying it is a mileage thing. Mr. Osur said canary is
saying the hybrid program was put in place to adopt a new technology, mainly higher mile technology to
reduce GHG emissions. Since that program was put in place EVs are becoming widely available with no
tailpipe emissions and zero GHG emissions.
Councilman Hauenstein said he agrees with what Adam said about no free parking in the core for EVs.
Mayor Skadron said there are 2 issues here. Providing a benefit to hybrid owners. Where I’m unsettled is
there are benefits beyond gas mileage.
Councilman Frisch said while I appreciate 58 is not 112 it is a heck of a lot better than 20. If the goal is
only rewarding the highest and best than it makes sense to follow this policy. If an A minus is ok maybe
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 8, 2018
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we should reward these types of vehicles with something. Gas mileage is important but the GHG burnoff
that we are worried about is still accomplished with these vehicles.
Mayor Skadron said for purposes of this discussion we should also remove from the ordinance the hybrid
vehicle registration fee. Mr. True said to delete section 1, amend section 2 subparagraph D and delete
section 3 only hybrid. We could also delete section 4.
Mr. True said Section 3 gets amended so that it states chapter 24.25 is added. It means 24.24 stays. We
don’t delete 24.24. We change what is in front of us to 24.25. There is another alternative, it is a little
weird. We’ve got to get 24.16.050 passed tonight in order for it to be effective Nov 15. You could delete
section 3 for now and Section 1. You could pass Section 2 amended. Delete Section 3 and bring that
back before the end of the year. You could also delete section 4.
Councilman Hauenstein accepted the amendments. Councilwoman Mullins seconded the amendment.
Mr. True said all Section 2 does is amends 24.16 by amending 24.16.050 commencing on November 15
get a max of 4 resident permits and 1 guest permits per residents. Mr. Osur said one visit per day per time
zone.
Councilman Frisch said do we have a date when we will talk about everything else. Mr. Osur said we
will be back in November for EVs. Councilman Frisch said the majority of council supports the EV
benefits. What will be discussed further is the hybrid issue.
RESOLUTION #135, #136, #137 & #138 – Regarding State and Local Ballot Issues
Mr. True said there are four resolutions in the action item. It is not appropriate for staff to advocate for or
against any of these items.
135 – endorsement of ballot issue 1A – dedicated property tax for healthy community fund.
Councilman Hauenstein moved to adopt Resolution #135, Series of 2018; seconded by Councilwoman
Mullins. All in favor, motion carried.
136 – endorsing RFTA ballot issue 7A property tax and mill levy.
Councilwoman Mullins moved to adopt Resolution #136, Series of 2018, seconded by Councilman
Frisch. All in favor, motion carried.
137 - amendment 74 – statewide ballot initiative. Amend Colorado constitution limiting government
regulatory authority. CML presented a lengthy discussion regarding the impact. Pitkin County has or
will adopt a resolution similar to this. Groups like CML believe the impacts will be significantly negative
for all communities. Mayor Skadron asked does council have any reservations passing resolutions on
statewide ballot issues. Councilwoman Mullins said I asked to talk about these separately. I see opposing
74 as protecting 100% of our citizens. I’d be more hesitant supporting the next one. Though they are
very good arguments, it is a really divisive issue. As I understand it 74 was put together by the groups
that oppose the 2,500 foot setback. Part of me doesn’t want to enter that conversation.
Councilman Frisch said you asked the question should we. I do not support staying out of state issues as
a blanket thing. I’m happy to support the resolution opposing 74. I know CML is against 138 but they
have a wider audience to look after. I’m happy to take a stand even though it is divisive.
Councilman Hauenstein said I think we should speak up when we think issues affect us. The damage that
fracking does to the drinking water affects us. It is appropriate to take a position on this. I would support
the appropriateness of council taking a stand. I support both of the resolutions.
Councilwoman Mullins moved to adopt Resolution #137, Series of 2018; seconded by Councilman
Hauenstein. All in favor, motion carried.
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 8, 2018
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Councilwoman Mullins moved to adopt Resolution #138, Series of 2018. Seconded by Councilman
Hauenstein. All in favor, motion carried.
At 7:50 p.m. Councilman Hauenstein moved to adjourn; seconded by Councilwoman Mullins. All in
favor, motion carried.
Linda Manning
City Clerk