HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.apz.20100406City Plannine & Zoning Meeting -Minutes -April 06 2010
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Minutes
Conflicts of Interest
Aspen Vallev Hospital -Final
Miscellaneous Code Amendments
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City Planning & Zoning Meeting -Minutes -April 06 2010
Stan Gibbs called the regular meeting in Sister Cities Meeting Room to order at
4:30pm. Commissioners present were Jasmine Tygre, Mike Wampler, Cliff Weiss,
Bert Myrin, LJ Erspamer, Brian Speck, Jim DeFrancia and Stan Gibbs. Staff
present were: Lynn Rumbaugh, Transportation; Tricia Aragon, Engineering;
Jennifer Phelan, Community Development; Jackie Lothian, Deputy City Clerk.
MINUTES
MOTION: Mike Wampler moved to approve the minutes from February 16,
March 2 and March 16, 2010, seconded by Brian Speck with the change on page 6
of the March 16`"minutes that Stan excused himself not recused. All in favor,
APPROVED.
CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING:
Aspen Valley Hospital -Final
Stan Gibbs opened the continued Public hearing on AVH Phase II final PUD.
Deputy Planning Director Jennifer Phelan noted tonight's hearing is the 3rd hearing
before the P&Z for the final PUD approval of Phase II of the master facilities plan
for Aspen Valley Hospital. It is also the 3rd step in a 4 step review process.
Jennifer then provided background on past reviews: Steps 1 and 2 were review of
the Conceptual PUD for the master facilities plan by the P&Z and City Council
resulting in Conceptual PUD approval of the expansion of the hospital with
medical office space, a parking garage, affordable housing and site improvements
over an anticipated multi-phase redevelopment process. Each phase of
redevelopment is required to receive final PUD approval from the Commission
(step 3) and City Council (step 4). Phase II contains the bulk of the site work,
development of AH, a parking garage and development of a two story addition of
the hospital containing medical office space.
At the last hearing, discussion centered on the draft resolution and issues such as
the AH component, vegetative screening, and parking. The draft resolution now
includes language on developing the AH with a neutral exterior color palette, the
design of the AH (providing high volume ceilings and additional glazing on the
top floor), reducing the on-site parking if future phases are not completed,
landscaping along Castle Creek Road, the allocation of parking for the AH and
Whitcomb Terrace component and the applicant has requested a requirement to
provide signage for the service loop road noting that it is for service use only.
Staff recommends approval of the resolution, with conditions and is available for
questions.
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Citv Planningz & Zoning Meeting -Minutes - Apri106 2010
Jennifer Phelan added to the record 2 letters one from Pete Yang in support and
one from David Ducote not in full support.
Stan Gibbs said that in the memo on page 2 paragraph 5 "Council's directive that
the housing not be adjacent to parking and should incorporate green space."
Jennifer Phelan said originally at the conceptual review it showed a parking area
right adjacent to the affordable housing and Council suggested that they be
adjacent to green not directly adjacent to a parking lot. Gibbs asked what was
supposed to happen with the parking in 10 years; do they withdraw the conceptual
application. Phelan stated there isn't a sunset on the conceptual approval so one of
the concerns that was raised at the last hearing what if Phase II is completed where
the hospital is essentially over parked and Phase III and IV are not completed will
they always have this extra parking and so the attempt in this paragraph was to say
that in the event 10 years after Phase II is approved by City Council and no other
Phases are completed then the excess parking will be removed or the hospital
withdraws the application early they would have to remove that parking.
LJ Erspamer asked if Jennifer went over all the figures and make sure that they are
accurate. Jennifer Phelan responded that the applicant has gone over the numbers
and they will have to live by those numbers. Erspamer said that his concern was
that somebody needs to recheck these figures to make sure they were accurate.
Leslie Lamont said that they did. Erspamer said the applicant did but did anybody
from the city recheck the figures. Phelan replied not at this point but they are in
the same vane with the conceptual approval with the square footages. Erspamer
said the last section 14 on page 17 you talked about the transportation department
to develop a detailed TDM Plan based on comments; will that plan be reviewed
and approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission or is that an administrative
move. Phelan responded that Transportation was pretty happy with the plan with a
little bit of change. Erspamer asked Lynn Rumbaugh if there were any traffic
analysis changes. Lynn Rumbaugh replied the traffic analysis and the TDM Plan
were two separate items; the TDM Plan was a plan for mitigating any traffic and
any transit service improvements that might be made. Tricia Aragon said the
traffic impact analysis had some comments from the conceptual.
Russ Sedmak stated there was follow up to design comments made at the last P&Z
meeting which was the treatment of the exterior skin material with particular
concern about the hardy board panels proposed to be used on the upper parts of the
employee housing buildings that would stand the weather. Sedmak utilized power
point to illustrate the composition of the hardy board to be utilized at 8 by 4 foot
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City Planning & Zoning Meeting -Minutes -April 06 2010
panels; the intent was to reduce the number of joints in the panels and use flashing
for the panels.
Sedmak said there were varying depths for the planters and eliminating the head in
parking spaces in front of approximately 6 patient rooms on the upper most part of
the deck so the lights of the cars don't project in towards the building, there is at
least an 8 foot separation and in some cases 12 between the windows of the
building and the planter wall. Sedmak said the planters will step down and give a
lot of greenery and interest from the view looking at the building as well as from
the building and the top of the parking deck falls away pretty dramatically from the
first floor of the building so when you pass these first 6 rooms the window sills of
the patient rooms are well above the tops of the cars and return to the normal deck
design once we get to a high enough elevation to where those views from those
patient rooms are not obstructed by cars parked.
Sedmak said that they have presentations from previous Council meetings.
LJ Erspamer asked how far away are these people going to walk. Sedmak asked if
it was with respect to residents or Whitcomb Terrace. Erspamer replied the
residents. Sedmak said there is a variation for the answer because most of the
residents will have parking below the units (14 of the 22 units) will have under
building sort of buried parking so that's a matter of parking in the garage and going
up a flight of steps or two to their units. Sedmak said at least two of the units will
have surface parking spaces associated with the housing development with one
wheel chair accessible and that distance is approximately 50 feet. Erspamer said
that a single mom with a kid under 5 carrying groceries can't take all at once
consequently they have to walk and asked how far will she have to walk from the
car to the house. Sedmak replied about 50 feet from that particular space and in
addition they are planning on having 1 to 2 short term parking spaces that can be
used by either residents or Whitcomb Terrace; they still need to go through the
utilization of that parking with Whitcomb Terrace and utilize the parking structure.
Erspamer asked if they were planning on putting trees in front of some windows.
Sedmak replied yes, they haven't completed the landscape plan design but they are
planning on buffering both sides of the building with appropriate sized landscape
features.
Cliff Weiss said that scenario of mother walking 50 feet with groceries is pretty
unlikely because most of the apartments will be filled with hospital employees
because these weren't family units. Dave Ressler said they don't have all of their
units finalized and the last time before P&Z there was no employee unit
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component; City Council requested that they make these accommodations and they
have not moved to construction documents and this is still being reviewed at a
schematic stage. Ressler said that they have been reviewing this with some
immediate neighbors and have put up some story poles to translate what these plan
would look like to these neighbors and would like the opportunity to work further
with those neighbors to reduce some of the impacts on them in terms of height
particularly on those western units and they haven't finalized that process yet but it
was an ongoing dialogue.
Weiss asked if there was a looming property tax increase as Mr. Ducote alludes to
in his letter. Ressler said that the whole project is going to be built in a series of
phases and they will identify the source of funds in each phase; we have a variety
of sources with bonds backed by taxes and philanthropists but what the proportion
will be to get through the many phases has not yet been determined.
Mike Wampler said there was a growing concern with Meadwood residents about
the noise and lights and it seems like this will get worse with the addition of a
second floor; have we addressed that. Sedmak replied that they were in the process
of finalizing the construction documents on the Phase II portion of the hospital
addition that include various engineering considerations to try to mitigate the
potential for light pollution and for noise. Sedmak said the design of the building
will incorporate some relatively new technologies regarding light sensitive
detection that will control motorized blinds, the lowering of blinds at night so we
don't have the opportunity for individual decisions to be made to close their blinds
at night; once it gets dark outside regardless of the occupancy of the space inside
the blinds will be closed in the building. Sedmak said as a sustainably designed
hospital it's fairly customary to have occupancy sensors on most rooms for lighting
controls; that means at night the upper floor of the building that is out-patient
orientated most hours at night those spaces will be unoccupied. Sedmak said the
operational protocol in terms of housekeeping they will turn on the lights to clean
and the occupancy sensors will help to shut off those lights when finished with the
exception of emergency light in the corridors. Sedmak said they intend to get back
with the neighbors who have had concern about lights so there is a higher comfort
level then there has been to this point.
Sedmak said that the noise that the hospital generates presently is mostly
mechanical equipment and probably the chilled water machines and some air
handling; they have an acoustical consultant that has been working with them on
the design and are replacing over time through the master plan all of the
mechanical throughout the entire building and that equipment is about at the end of
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its useful life; it was not designed with the modern acoustical controls or vibration
controls or noise deflectors that modern equipment has so they have engineered the
building to actually reduce the amount of noise generated from the mechanical
equipment; obviously the proof will be once the building is completed but they are
taking all the necessary steps from an engineering perspective to make the noise
from the mechanical equipment as small as possible in term of how we are able to
measure that from an engineering perspective. Sedmak said they are also
providing screens on the roof for mechanical equipment; those are not largely
enclosed air handling units but the machines that will be on the roof will be
virtually silent, the issue still is the major equipment that is in the central plan and
that's where their focus is on their engineering and they believe they will improve
the sound coming from the building and becoming quieter. Leslie Lamont stated
that they were willing to add a condition of approval into Resolution with regard to
light and noise; they will continue to work with neighbors prior to Council and
outline specifically what those strategies are to be implemented. Wampler said
that there has to be something on the back with the exterior lights. Phelan
responded that they were required to be fully shielded; the city has outdoor lighting
regulations but do not regulate interior lighting. Phelan said that there is a city
noise ordinance so they are subject to that ordinance. Sedmak said there were light
calculations for all of the fixtures on the site to show that there is no spillage of
light transferred from any fixtures off of the property and was part of the LEED
certification process.
Wampler said that he is having trouble with the second floor and asked if we really
need 27,000 square feet of office space; do we really need the doctors up there and
if so how many are we going to have and how do we determine who they are.
Ressler said that the medical office space concept is one that is intended to serve
the needs of the physicians and the patients at the hospital. Ressler said that
27,000 square feet was tied to a programming analysis that they did that is taking
the current complement of physicians, not taking into account the current
compliment of specialist physicians and what the design standards are for their
office space, in order to accommodate those physicians that currently practice in
town. Ressler said that it may be a soft market now but it typically difficult for the
physicians to obtain and afford office space in the area. Ressler said that they
would not be able to offer the space for free but we are not going to charge free
market values. Ressler said that right now many of our physicians were operating
out of very substandard sized practices so that's why we included all the physicians
in that 27,000 square feet; the second Phase, which is before you now, we basically
have that filled with desiring physicians to be in the facility and they are where
they need to be so they do not have to travel back and forth. Ressler said that when
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they get to Phase III if we don't have a demand for all of the space we will address
that at that stage, but that is hard to imagine. Ressler responded size, why we are
doing it, and the fact that the second floor is above the hospital has operational
advantages and as they went through the entire conceptual review they
demonstrated that they were trying to build a building into the land as much as they
possibly can to minimize that impact. Sedmak said the location of the Medical
Office Space that's being proposed for the Phase II expansion that is before you
right now is in a location that is the only portion of the existing hospital that's
capable of supporting the second floor; if we don't build that properly now whether
used by Medical Office Space or it's used for some other Medical use in the future;
we will probably never have the opportunity to build it again so this is part of what
the master plan addresses. Sedmak said that over the last year and half with P&Z
and Council is the long term picture of Aspen Valley Hospital; long after we are all
gone. Sedmak asked if they were doing the right thing for the community because
we will never have the same opportunity to make sure that the future of the
hospital and its facility, infrastructure is capable of adapting to growth and change
and modifications as they might occur 15-20 years from now. Sedmak said they
had to be very careful in how they do this design so they don't lose an opportunity
that exists right now and make sure that we are doing something for the
community in the long run and that's part of this design.
Wampler asked if there has been a study done for creating facilities that have
repetitive services with the Glenwood Hospital; that hospital has grown by leaps
and bounds and he questioned whether we were creating any repetitive services
that are expensive services that we need here; if they do why we would do it in a
valley of 50,000 people. Ressler responded that was an excellent question and the
simple answer is we are simply building the right size for what we do today and
have been providing all along. Ressler said this does not anticipate any additional
services so your point is taken and their view is appropriately developing the
services that they have; AVH doesn't have the regional center that Glenwood does
with a cardiac catheter lab, they are developing a radiology oncology program.
Ressler said people don't want to drive 40 or 50 miles for diagnostics, fairly simple
admissions like general surgery and medical admissions. Wampler said that he
was talking more expensive type of stuff. Ressler replied that they do things that
make sense for this size of a community and the volumes of services that they do
and the practical reason was that they stick to the services that are in repetition to
provide the high standard of service. Wampler said that he was concerned about
the cost and we don't know what's going to happen in the future and he assumed
that the hospital would have to ask for a mill levy increase; he would like
something to say that the city will not come to your aid if you run out of money
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and you have to figure out. Ressler said this was a matter of a long term master
facilities plan; we watched the economic conditions very closely and know what
our own internal capacity is; we are only going to proceed with what we have.
Jim DeFrancia stated it was not their purview as the Planning Commission to
worry about the finances; they were looking at land use issues, they were looking
at construction issues. DeFrancia said that the hospital demonstrated a sense
through their management, their board, that there are services they are offering.
Bert Myrin asked that the increase of 4400 square feet was not in the conceptual so
was it justified. Ressler said that the additional square footage not the additional
construction; they have flip-flopped some spaces and they do not want to
undersize.
Cliff Weiss asked the Commission if they say building 27,000 square feet of
additional Medical Office space as having an effect on other medical use over time
and is not going to change the space of doctors who not are participating at AVH;
the concern is that much office space may or may not have an effect on the overall
use or value. Ressler said that 12,000 square feet is in Phase II. Jennifer Phelan
said that there were requesting 27,000 square feet of essentially office medical
space, commercial net leasable from the 2010alloment year which is capped at
33,300 per year; this Phase II is vesting 12,000 square feet of the medical office
space; the remaining allotments will be available to be vested and mitigated for
Phase III. Stan Gibbs said that was different than approving the construction of
that extra 15,000. Phelan replied that the allotments were available but it doesn't
memorialize the 15,000 to be constructed. Gibbs asked how many doctors does
this medical space or offices does this actually translate to. Sedmak responded
depending on the specialty of the physician 1000 to 1200 square feet per doctor's
office is about an appropriate amount of square feet for the number of patients that
that doctor sees on a daily basis, the number of exam rooms required, staff to
support that service and that visit. Sedmak said that they haven't detailed that
design of each of those 10 spaces yet to know exactly how many will be practicing
3 days a week versus 5 but rule of thumb is roughly 1,000 to 1,200 square feet per
practitioner. Sedmak said as a point of interest the doctor's offices that he has seen
in the core or as Dave mentioned were substandard in space, accessibility, lack of
elevators, lack of clearances for doorways and hallways, lack of toilet facilities,
and lack of hand washing facilities.
Stan Gibbs explained that there were three minutes allotted to each member of the
public for comment and please state your name for the record.
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PUBLIC COMMENTS
1. Carlie Siema, public, asked that a segment of the construction on top of the
existing building that had to be built now or it would never be built and he
didn't understand what that meant.
2. Frank Goldsmith, public, said that he was one of the neighbors that Dave
met with and he lives in Meadowood; the hospital has been great in caring
for what the neighbors feel. Goldsmith said the hospital presented what was
going on and was happy with that. Goldsmith addressed the employee
housing section was going to be very massive and would like to see the mass
reduced on that because it is a tremendous mass from Meadowood and
Castle Creek Road. Goldsmith asked them to work on landscaping in
minimizing the impact and make sure that gets addressed.
3. Steve Wix, public, said that back in the 1990s he was co-chair of the
committee to pass the mill levy so in terms of full disclosure he is a big fan
of Aspen Valley Hospital. Wix said that he was also a board member in
Meadowood; he has raised the issue of light pollution, they have listened but
hasn't heard any solutions, the first was automated blinds that were not the
answer, there needs to be a real solution. Wix said the second issue that they
have been very good at listening to but haven't heard any response to is this
new road, which is squeezed in between the hospital and Meadowoood
Drive; signs on that road that say service vehicles only is not a good
solution; right now the west side of the hospital is very dark and shielded
from Meadowood but a lot of activity is moving to the west side of the
hospital. Wix said there was proposed physical therapy on the second floor
of the northeast corner of the building and will be visible from Highway 82
all the way from the round about to Castle Creek Bridge. Wix said there is a
large area of windows and no other amount of windows visible as one
approaches the town; he thought when this gets built people will be
wondering did anybody ask how this will look as you come into town.
Meadowood and the hospital have had a good history of cooperating during
the last expansion we worked this out in anon-adversarial relationship and
he was hopeful that this happens this time and he wanted to get these
comments out at this time to guarantee these things happen.
4. King Woodord, public, said that he has lived in the Meadowood Subdivision
since 1966 before the hospital was built. Woodward suggested story poles
in place to see where these facilities will be put and how high they are going
to be.
5. Roine St. Andre, public, said that she was with Michael in not competing
with Glenwood; her big concern was there was so much going on in the west
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end. St. Andre said this not the time and the place and the economy is bad
and was totally against it even though she doesn't mind paying taxes for it.
6. John Keleher, public, said that the wind was blowing so hard that they didn't
get much of a look at the story poles; he would like to see the story poles go
up so they could all see what it looks like. Keleher voiced concern about the
impact of the size of the employee housing and the light pollution that would
come from there and would like to talk to Russ about that. Keleher said that
Dick Meeker was really strong on the trees between Meadowood and the
hospital and there were trees in that area.
7. Bill Stirling, public, stated that he lived in the west end and just received his
mill levy election notice and there was no information for what we were
talking about tonight. Stirling said it seems just like another step to raise the
mill levy for the hospital over the years; the expansion is next to a residential
neighborhood. Stirling asked if there were not enough patient rooms.
Stirling said that there are a lot of different uses in the hospital compound
over the course of time and it seems like a good idea to add more rooms to
the assisted living facility because it's probably at or often near capacity all
of the time and I think people are being turned away there. Stirling said
there were significant Medical Centers in Grand Junction, Glenwood
Springs, Edwards, Aspen and Vail; so which communities are next; there
was some redundancy at each of these mountain town facilities.
8. Bob Glay, public, Homeowners Association Meadowood Board Member
and Aspen School Board, said that he lived in Meadowood for almost 10
years. Glay said his block was very impacted by the hospital because they
lived almost in the middle of the meadow and are extremely impacted by the
existing lighting, impacted by the ambient noise of the hospital and the air
gas system that sounds like a whale spewing; he didn't know what new
technologies were around. Glay said that they have just undergone a 2 year
improvement in their neighborhood and would like to have dialogue in what
the reasonable working hours would be since this would probably be a 10
year project with all of the phases. Glay said that he would like helicopter
traffic be identified with acceptable vectors. Glay said that he couldn't
believe that architects couldn't do a better job with the design of the
employee housing.
9. Jeannie Dyche, employee of AVH since 1984, stated that she supported the
hospital master plan and in part she sees the challenges everyday in the delivery
of patient care because of the deficiencies of the physical plant. Dyche said that
she and her family have used the hospital over the last 30 years off and on and
for that reason she also wants a quality facility.
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10. Peggy Carlson, public and member of the Meadowood Board, said she was
speaking for herself and went to a presentation on the hospital and had the
opportunity to have a walk around with Dave Ressler. Carlson said that she had
a concern about the mechanical and sees that the new mechanical is an
additional 5 feet which still needs to be added to those buildings. Carlson said
that the berm between Meadowood and the hospital was only about 6 feet and
the 16 foot road that would be paved, lit, guttered and curbed right on the
property line. Carlson said that in Phase I the maternity ward is there and there
was no lighting plan and that it lit from morning to night and there is no further
plan to shade or landscape that area.
Stan Gibbs closed the public comments portion of the hearing.
Dave Ressler responded the public comments were very thoughtful and appropriate
and raised concerns. Ressler stated that the future of the hospital is and as we
translate those needs into what the facilities are necessary to accommodate those
needs; it becomes a very detailed analytical process. Ressler said that they have a
good architectural team and want to continue to work with the neighbors to make
sure that it is a workable solution. Ressler said that obviously they can't be
invisible; there are certain impacts that a hospital has on a community but they will
do everything they can to mitigate them. Ressler said that story poles and really
understanding what it is going to look like when it is completed will offer that as
they report back to the City Council.
Ressler asked Jason James to address berms and vegetation, shielding, etc. Jason
James, Design Workshop, said the section of the loop road that comes closest to
the property line as it turns the corner of the northwest corner of the hospital and
like other areas on the site. Coming up Castle Creek Road and looking up the road
at that corner of the roof and extending all along that boundary between the
hospital and Meadowood Drive they will pay attention to the way that they deal
with the landscaping. James said they will have to replace material that comes out
and add more material and they are aware of the fact that is a potential place of
increased impact between the hospital and Meadowood and will be focusing on
that area.
Russ Sedmak said that it was important to address the second floor being designed
to go on top of the existing patient care unit; there were logistics of building that
second floor while the renovation below is taking place because technically by
code you cannot build on top of an occupied hospital; you need to de-occupy that
space. Sedmak said the renovation of the building is part of Phase II then they
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have to move those services out of the building so in the future they could add onto
the building. Sedmak said can imagine having to relocate the intensive care unit
and half of the patient care units and a portion of the OB all at the same time; the
logistics and cost would probably prevent the hospital from ever being able to
logistically make that addition happen in the future so it needs to happen as part of
the sequence of the overall phasing and construction that's going on now that's
part of the Phase II project.
Dave Ressler said that a lot of time and energy has been spent on pedestrian safety
with RFTA and Transportation so there were a number of changes to the civil
engineering to accommodate that. Ressler said there were about 50 helicopter
flights a year and they do work closely with the helicopter providers that the
helicopters use particular corridors of approach that are as safe as possible;
sometimes the winds create reasons that they would have diverted from these
corridors. They have hired a noise consultant who did an assessment and there will
not be any change to the community with the change in the relocation of the
helicopter. Ressler said that the board is aware of the cost and ability to service the
debt, the phased approach to the construction, mitigating the impacts, a green
sustainability; this has been a work in progress and they look forward to the
comments.
Commissioner Comments: Cliff Weiss recommended to the applicants after 7
meetings he noted the neighborhood concerns and the community outreach has to
communicate more with your neighbors. Weiss said there was a lot of screening
from the parking garage to protect car lights from the parking structure.
MOTION: Jim DeFrancia moved to approve Resolution #008 and recommend to
City Council to approve the AVHMaster Facilities Plan for Phase II with the
conditions as delineated. Seconded by Brian Speck.
Discussion prior to the vote on the motion: LJ Erspamer said that he did not think
that it was being redundant in all aspects because AVH is a day surgery facility and
not a long term stay. Erspamer said that consolidating the medical offices at the
hospital would mean more trips out to the hospital but it was good and the bus
system could work. Erspamer said that the pedestrian issue and undergrounding
through Castle Creek; he thought anybody's life was worth it but that was a
political issue and that would not hold up his vote. Erspamer said that you cannot
restrict the mechanical to 5 feet. Erspamer said that light and sound pollution have
been brought up and they have a code and they have looked at this at other
applications and the code is very strict. Erspamer said that there should be a
mandate that they do story poles. Erspamer said that the air gas system and the
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City Planning & Zoning Meeting -Minutes - Apri106, 2010
applicant said it would be done better. Sedmak said that it would be a self-
contained unit and they are sealed and designed much differently than they were 30
years ago. Erspamer said if the neighbors find it too noisy then the applicant
should be able to put some sound proofing around it. Jennifer Phelan said there
was a noise ordinance in place and that's what the baseline should be. Erspamer
asked the setback requirement between the service road and the Meadowood Road.
Phelan replied that there was no setback. Erspamer asked if they could put trees in
there. Sedmak replied they were putting additional trees in there. Erspamer
recommended an amendment to the resolution if there was an adverse reaction
from the neighborhoods about the sound on the mechanicals on the roof that the
applicant would be required to sound-proof it. Brian seconded. Jim DeFrancia
said that he supported that but there had to be criteria. Stan Gibbs also supported it
but said there should be a number that is practiced and made better if possible since
it was close to a residential neighborhood; it would be below the noise level and
we ask for a significant reduction below the normal noise levels. Stan Gibbs
suggested the amendment be that the applicants work with the city to come up with
a significant reduction in noise; so you can leave it the way LJ stated it. Cliff
Weiss said there were three common things from Meadowood noise pollution and
light pollution. Phelan said you should be making a recommendation to Council
that can be resolved at Council because right now we have a noise ordinance in
place so if you are asking them to exceed the minimum requirements then that's
what they would need to evaluate and take to Council. Gibbs said they wish to
require the applicant to significantly perform better than the noise ordinance
limits; Erspamer accepted the amendment to his amendment, seconded by Brian
Speck. All in favor this amendment.
Mike Wampler reminded the commissioners that we live in an extremely small
town and an extremely small part of the valley and we have been fighting with the
current AACP for over a year and every time we turn around it's about growth.
Wampler said that he personally thought that this plan is too big; Dave himself has
said that Glenwood Springs is becoming a regional center for a major hospital and
he didn't like the answer that he got that we are repeating and have repetitive
specialty doctors and services in this town who would build a hospital around
duplication of what's happening in Glenwood. Wampler said he was not for the
second floor offices and the hospital is going to get the doctors they want up there
and keep those offices filled. Wampler said that he was concerned for the views
from Highway 82 and what really concerns him that there wasn't one doctor to
speak up and say they wanted to go to these offices.
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City Planning & Zoning Meeting -Minutes - Apri106, 2010
Weiss said that the hospital has presented to P&Z that there are departments that
exist now that are in extremely tight spaces. Weiss said that there were certain
things that he was willing to drive 50 miles to deal with; he didn't know that they
were repeating services; there were services that you need immediately. Physical
therapy is terribly overcrowded, the surgery rooms were overcrowded and you
have a mixture of things going on in the hallways and they have presented all of
this to P&Z. Weiss said he wants to defend the basic services that this hospital
presents; the emergency room is inadequate. Weiss said a lot of this expansion has
to do with basic needs of the community right here right now and for the next 20 or
30 years.
Jim DeFrancia supported everything that Cliff said and P&Z owes some deference
to the topic that was studied in consideration by the hospital management and
hospital board and should not second guess them.
Wampler said that he wasn't against the hospital and not necessarily against
expansion but just certain parts of it that he was having a lot of difficulty with.
Wampler said it was antiquated and needs certain things remodeled but it should be
rethought out because it was a large remodel.
Bert Myrin asked to delete on page 12 of the resolution "Additionally, 29 spaces
will be decommissioned in the parking garage. " LJ Erspamer seconded, all in
favor, APPROVED.
Bert Myrin said that there was a problem with our current lighting code. Myrin
thought there was too much medical space. Myrin said that P&Z should have a
complete solution to Council and not all the contingencies to Council and the story
poles should include that mechanical on the roof; he felt there were a lot of
unanswered questions. Phelan noted that P&Z was making a recommendation on a
final plan unit development and were not the final decision makers on the
development plan that talks about outdoor lighting and landscaping.
MOTION.' Jim DeFrancia moved to extend the meeting until 7:15 pm, seconded
by LJErspamer, All in favor, APPROVED.
Cliff Weiss said the garages were all on the east side of the employee units and it
was on a slope so he said that he was confused with mass and scale because it was
basically facing Castle Creek Road. Bert Myrin spoke about story poles for the
community. Dave Ressler said that the immediate neighbors that they were
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City Planning & Zoning Meeting -Minutes -April 06, 2010
working with on the west side remain concerned about the west side employee
housing.
Stan Gibbs said that he understands that this will be taller as a building but the
footprint is only 40% bigger than it is today; that is an important issue even though
the square footage numbers seem large the actual footprint is not that much bigger.
Gibbs said that he had to agree with Jeannie Dyche that this is all about quality
care; they are just trying to bring this hospital into the 215` century. Gibbs said that
the noise pollution and lights were issues and would like to see some kind of
quantitative measures put on all of that but he would like to see a section in the
resolution that basically specifically with community outreach. Gibbs said that
story poles should be a requirement; the hospital has to make that one of the tools
to make this awin-win situation with the community. Gibbs amendment includes
noise and light pollution issues need to be measured quantitatively, community
outreach needs to be addressed, story poles be required and the service road needs
to be looked at; seconded by Erspamer, 6 in favor, Myrin no. Myrin said they
were handing too much off to Council.
Phelan summarized Stan's amendment to carefully consider requiring the applicant
meet a higher standard than the noise ordinance in place to minimize neighborhood
impacts, same language: carefully consider the applicant be required to minimize
the effects of indoor and outdoor lighting on the site, strike the decommissioning
of the 29 spaces, provide story poles with a delineation for the roof for the Council
review and carefully consider landscaping on Castle Creek Road, the loop service
road, and the affordable housing.
Roll call vote with the amendments as stated: Speck, yes; Weiss, yes; Erspamer,
yes; Myrin, no; Wampler, no (in a protest vote to keep a small town small);
DeFrancia, yes; Gibbs, yes. APPROVED 5-2.
CONT1NiJED PUBLIC HEARING:
Miscellaneous Code Amendments
Stan opened.
MOTION: Jasmine Tygre moved to continue the Miscellaneous Code
Amendments to April 20, 2010, seconded by Jim DeFrancia. All in favor,
APPROVED.
Adjourned at :25 pm.
ackie Lothian, Deputy City Clerk
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