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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20140527Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 27, 2014 1 SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES- Outstanding Employee Bonus Award .................................... 2 CITIZEN COMMENTS AND PETITION ................................................................................................... 2 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS ............................................................................................................ 2 BOARD REPORTS ...................................................................................................................................... 2 CONSENT CALENDAR ............................................................................................................................. 3 □ Lift One Restoration - Supplemental Budget Request ..................................................................... 3 □ Resolution #65, Series of 2014 – Cost sharing agreement between Pitkin County, and The City of Aspen for secondary containment wall at AABC ..................................................................................... 3 □ Buddy Bash Noise Variance ............................................................................................................. 3 □ Resolution #66 and #67, Series of 2014 – Burlingame construction Change Orders ....................... 3 □ Minutes – May 12, 2014 ................................................................................................................... 3 □ Resolution #59, Series of 2014 – Contract Peak Performance Imaging Solutions-Laserfiche Upgrage ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Ordinance #14, Seriesof 2014 – Red Butte Cemetery-PD Amendment and Growth Management ....... 3 Ordinance #15, Series of 2014 – Noise Ordinance Revisions ................................................................ 4 Ordinance #12, Series of 2014- Pfister Subdivision Amendment .......................................................... 5 Resolution #69, Series of 2014- Mixed Use Zone District Code Amendment-Policy Resolution .......... 5 Resolution #64, Series of 2014 – Lodge Incentive Program-Policy Resolution ...................................... 6 Ordinance #13, Series of 2014 – Pitkin County Library, 120 N. Mill Street, Ordinance Amendment ... 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 27, 2014 2 Mayor Skadron called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with Councilmembers Frisch, Romero and Daily present. SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES- Outstanding Employee Bonus Award Outstanding Employee Bonus Award was awarded to Hailey Gugliemo with the engineering department for her work on the trip reduction program. CITIZEN COMMENTS AND PETITION 1. Mike Maple told council he is supportive of the lift 1 restoration project but voiced concern over the study fee. He also talked about construction in Aspen and said the Rio Grande project has been going on for three summers. Mr. Maple said he is not too excited about a 4- 6 million dollar castle creek bridge project and there needs to be more thought of where you go once you cross the bridge. 2. David Lettingham, manager of the Snow Queen, said they are replacing some siding and stairs and last fall when they inquired about the permit fees they were $1,600. The new estimate is over $12,000. He encourages council look at the individual line items. 3. Norma Dolle, Snow Queen Lodge, said guests from the Limelight are parking in front of the Snow Queen. She said it is tough for them when there is no parking. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Romero said the Memorial Day service was a great event with a good turnout. 2. Mayor Skadron thanked Dan Gliden and Dick Merit for putting the Memorial service together and the Elks for the picnic. 3. Mayor Skadron also thanked the police for participating in the Special Olympics Torch run. 4. Mayor Skadron said the pass is open and it’s stunning. BOARD REPORTS 1. Councilman Frisch said the Nordic council is working on updating the master plan. 2. CORE has re-named some grants for Randy Udalh and will review the applications in June. 3. Councilman Romero attended the ACRA board meeting and there are new programs marketing directly to the bed base. 4. Mayor Shadron said there is a positive outlook to the summer season with ACRA. 5. Mayor Skadron said there will be a new airplane service at the airport run by Republic Airlines. 6. Food and wine is sold out. Applications for the 4th of July parade are being accepted and the parade time will start at 11:00am. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 27, 2014 3 CONSENT CALENDAR Mayor Skadron pulled Lift One Restoration-Supplemental Budget Request from the consent calendar. Sara Adams, community development, told council the lift was decommissioned in 1971 during which time there has been no maintenance on the lift. She said this is important on a state and national level. The study will determine if the lift is structurally sound. Ms. Adams said the 20,000 dollars will not be exceeded. 10,000 is reserved for the structural engineer and 10,000 for the conservator. Councilman Romero said he would like to know when they reach the five thousand dollar mark. Mayor Skadron asked what the roll of the conservator will be. Ms. Adams replied there are different levels of restoration the conservator will outline. They will request funds from the State to do the actual work. Scott Miller, asset department, said the deep powder cabins were originally from the limelight property. There was a public auction where one cabin was sold and removed. The other cabin has been sold three times but has never been removed. It will be dismantled and taken to the dump. Mayor Skadron pulled Resolution #65- Cost sharing agreement between Pitkin County and the City of Aspen for secondary containment wall at AABC. Mike McDill, utilities department, told Council they have been working on a reuse line to the sanitation district. They are limited to where the line can be physically placed. He said they need the letter of agreement bsince the County already has a contract for work. Mayor Skadron pulled the Buddy Bash noise variance and asked CJ Oliver with the environmental health department if the request complies with the proposed noise ordinance. Mr. Oliver said this is going through the special event process and it falls under a different section of the noise ordinance. Mayor Skadron said he is concerned with incidental noise and asked what the outreach to the neighbors has been. Nancy Leslie, special events, said the noise ordinance requires a seven day outreach but they will do 14 days. □ Lift One Restoration - Supplemental Budget Request □ Resolution #65, Series of 2014 – Cost sharing agreement between Pitkin County, and The City of Aspen for secondary containment wall at AABC □ Buddy Bash Noise Variance □ Resolution #66 and #67, Series of 2014 – Burlingame construction Change Orders □ Minutes – May 12, 2014 □ Resolution #59, Series of 2014 – Contract Peak Performance Imaging Solutions-Laserfiche Upgrage Councilman Frisch made a motion to adopt the consent calendar, seconded by Councilman Daily. All in favor, motion carried. Ordinance #14, Series of 2014 – Red Butte Cemetery-PD Amendment and Growth Management Justin Barker, community development, told the council that the applicant is requesting for a PD amendment and growth management (GM) review to use a portion of the existing maintenance facility as Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 27, 2014 4 a dwelling unit. The original ordinance contains a condition that states “it shall not be used as a living unit or a place to sleep overnight”. The applicant is looking to replace this condition with a new set of restrictions detailing how it will be used as a dwelling unit. Because this is considered an essential public facility, the GM review is required. The applicant is also requesting a fee waiver. Councilman Romero said he would like to review the use of the building from the original meeting for the second reading. Councilman Daily asked if there has been any reaction from the neighbors. Mr. Barker said there has been outreach and no negative feedback. Mayor Skadron said he would like more detail at second reading on how the deed restriction will keep this from being a free market unit. Councilman Romero moved to read Ordinance #14; seconded by Councilman Frisch. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE NO. 14 (SERIES OF 2014) AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL APPROVING A MINOR PLANNED DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT REVIEW FOR AN ESSENTIAL PUBLIC FACILITY FOR THE RED BUTTE CEMETERY PD, ON THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 808 CEMETERY LANE, LEGALLY DESCRIBED AS: RED BUTTE CEMETERY, ACCORDING TO THE FINAL PUD PLAT THEREOF RECORDED JULY 11, 2012 IN PLAT BOOK 100 AT PAGE 38. Councilman Frisch moved to adopt Ordinance # 14 on first reading; seconded by Councilman Daily. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Daily, yes; Romero, yes; Frisch, yes; Mayor Skadron, yes. Motion carried. Ordinance #15, Series of 2014 – Noise Ordinance Revisions CJ Oliver, environment health department, told the council this is an ordinance to revise the current noise ordinance. There are two versions of the proposed ordinance, version a, includes all of councils directions to change the night time decibel level from 60 to 65. This change would make a 24/7 65 decibel level in the commercial core. Noise readings would be taken inside of a closed building setting. Staff proposes version b, which would move night-time hours from nine to eleven. The decibel levels would stay the same. Noise readings would take place at the property line of the offended property. Currently, the readings are taken at the property of the noise source. Councilman Frisch said he is supportive of later and making sure the readings take place at the complaint location. Councilman Daily said version b still accomplishes the primary objective. He said taking the noise readings at the offended property is the most effective way to do it. Councilman Romero stated he supports staff’s recommendation. Mayor Skadron concurred with council and said version b is a bit less aggressive then they originally suggested. Barbara Young stated she would not be able to attend the June 9th meeting and asked to provide comment now. Ms. Young said she lives at 210 E Hyman Avenue. She stated she and her neighbors are concerned with the noise coming from the bars on Hyman Avenue. Ms. Young said on Sunday night the Square Grouper had speakers outside on the sidewalk causing the patrons to talk louder over the music. She is also concerned with late night activity taking place in Whitaker park. She asked what district decibel level her housing is considered. Mr. Oliver said she falls into the lodging zone and the decibel level is 55 for evening for her property line. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 27, 2014 5 Councilman Frisch moved to read Ordinance #15; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE NO. 15 (SERIES OF 2014) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO AMENDING CHAPTER 18.04 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE TO ALLOW FOR EXTENDED DAYTIME HOURS OF NOISE LEVELS IN THE CITY OF ASPEN AND TO REVISE NOISE READING COLLECTION LOCATIONS. Councilman Romero moved to approve version b Ordinance #15, Series of 2014, on first reading; seconded by Councilman Frisch. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Daily, yes; Romero, yes; Frisch, yes; Mayor Skadron, yes. Motion carried. Ordinance #12, Series of 2014- Pfister Subdivision Amendment Chris Bendon, community development, told the Council this is a three lot subdivision in the Maroon Creek Club area. The county approved the subdivision when the city annexed the property. He said there are both city and county regulations and the proposal is to replace all county approvals with city ones. Mr. Bendon said the development rights do not change and staff is recommending approval. Mayor Skadron opened the public comment. There was none. Mayor Skadron closed the public comment. Councilman Romero moved to adopt Ordinance #12, series of 2014; seconded by Councilman daily. Roll call vote; Councilmember Daily, yes; Romero, yes; Frisch, yes; Mayor Skadron, yes. Motion carried. Resolution #69, Series of 2014- Mixed Use Zone District Code Amendment-Policy Resolution Sara Adams, community development, said this would allow retail/restaurant uses in buildings other than just landmarks. She said this is part of councils top ten goal to expand business diversity and sustainability. This would expand to the Main Street historic district, on either side of the downtown core, behind the Hotel Jerome. Staff reached out to commercial brokers, the historic preservation commission and the planning and zoning commission. Councilman Frisch referenced the email from Bert Myrin and asked how this amendment would drive restaurants from downtown. Ms. Adams said that was one of the concerns from some of the P&Z members. She said that is not the opinion of Staff and the amount of commercial space in this district for a restaurant is limited. Councilman Romero said he is not sure what would compel someone to move from the core to Main Street. He said the goal is to entice more vitality and does not think this will drive businesses out. Councilman Daily said businesses relocating from the core is not a realistic concern. This will move us into the direction of council’s goal. Mayor Skadron said he likes the idea of restaurants off the beaten path. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 27, 2014 6 Mayor Skadron opened the public comment. 1. Dorothy Atkins said rents for restaurant spaces will be increased forcing out the restaurants and the only people who will be able to afford it is retail. She said opening up this space will add more to the pool driving up rent in the core. Councilman Romero said changing from a restaurant to retail is not an easy thing. He said he does not believe there will be a rush of restaurants going to these spaces. 2. Stan Clauson said he is representing the Hana Dustin building. There are many good reasons for considering this and will ultimately help the small lodges on Main Street. He said he does not see restaurants leaving the core because of this. 3. Patrick Segal told the council this is a good direction but only one example. He said this is urban sprawl and the long term effects have not been analyzed. He said residential units will be bought up for retail. Mayor Skadron closed the public comment. Councilman Frisch moved to approve Resolution #69; seconded by Councilman Frisch. All in favor, motion carried. Resolution #64, Series of 2014 – Lodge Incentive Program-Policy Resolution Jessica Garrow, community development, said they are not asking for a decision tonight. She told Council in the mid 90’s Stay Aspen Snowmass started tracking the pillow count. From 1994 to the 2005 ski season we lost 27 percent of the bed base. In 2012, council adopted the goal to complete a lodging study for Aspen. In 2009 MTRIP started working with the skiing company to track pillows and units. They found 40 percent of the bed base is in free market condominiums. The overall trends are the declining bed base is a serious economic threat, the land use code has a bias of traditional lodge over condominium products and the most requested properties are suites with hotel amenities. Ms. Garrow said more families are coming to aspen and desire more flexible, condo style units. She told council new units are being developed in competition resorts. Ms. Garrow said an incentive program would include addressing the City process, height, mitigation and free market residential uses. In 2013 Council adopted a second top ten goal to implement an incentive program for the short term bed base. There are three program levels proposed and three different land uses; lodging, vacation residences, and free market residential. The first program level is basic; minor infrastructure upgrades, exterior finishes and design changes. The standard program is the middle level; internal reconfiguration and small expansions. The standard plus is more intense; complete redevelopment and new product. Ms. Garrow said the response on height is that a fourth floor for lodging is critical and should only be allowed in very limited places. Staff is proposing this only be allowed in the lodge zone district and only through a heightened review. They are also proposing minor height increases in the multi-family district from 28-32 feet to 28-36 feet. The lodge preservation overlay includes a few properties and height ranges from 25-32 feet and staff is proposing 28-32 feet. Staff is proposing blanket unit sizes for lodging with the ability to expand the TDR to 1000 square feet. Base size for a lodge would be 1000 square feet. Time share uses would have a base of 1500 and vacation and free market residences would be 1500 up to 2500. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 27, 2014 7 Ms. Garrow said for lodge zone district there is a sliding scale of free market residential floor area. The code is dictating the size of the lodge. Staff proposes to move this to net livable. They want to make sure the lodge remains a primary use. Affordable housing requirements would be reduced by about two thirds for participation in the lodge incentive program for vacation and free market residential. Ms. Garrow told the Council that fees are a barrier for smaller lodges and Staff is proposing a sliding scale based on the program. The basic program would be a waiver and the other two programs would be a rebate. The number would change if there is free market residential associated with the project. She said they did specific outreach to the small lodges and they are more interested in non-development programs like a grant or loan to facilitate the upgrades. They are also interested in more parking including free and assigned parking. Councilman Romero suggested that for the basic program, if free market residential is located on the property the waiver should be the same for them as if it is not. He said these are the properties than could benefit the most from the program. Councilman Frisch said there is as much incentive to help the small lodges as well as build a new one. He said there should be a break for with or without residential. The incentives need to make sense for what the community wants. Councilman Daily asked what fees would be included. Mr. Bendon replied it is only general fund fees that the City controls. Ms. Garrow said a waiver would happen up front and a rebate is paid in full then a certain amount returned to the applicant. Mr. Bendon said the three big issues are height, free market component and affordable housing mitigation as opposed to fees. Mayor Skadron said he is not a fan of waiving fees for development. The ordinance to incentivize hotels should not be a vote to decrease parks and transit funding. He said we need to consider allocating money from the general fund to reimburse the ones that would be lost. Mr. Bendon agreed that it needs to be part of the budgeting process. Mayor Skadron asked about mitigation for affordable housing. Ms. Garrow said they could be waived entirely. Currently a 1-10 unit lodge needs to mitigate 1.08 to 3.6 FTE’s where this proposal would have no mitigation. An 11-25 unit lodge currently goes from 4-9 FTE’s the proposal would be 1.75 or equal to a one bedroom unit. 26-50 units is 9-18 FTE’s and would be changed to 3.5 or two–one bedroom units and 50 plus would be more than 18 FTE’s going to 5.25 or three-one bedroom units. Mr. Bendon said if there is a residential component there will be much higher affordable housing requirements. Mayor Skadron said he is not sure we have fully protected ourselves from the unintended consequences of the relaxation of these codes. He stated he is not against them but we need to scrutinize every step. Councilman Romero agreed. Councilman Frisch said we need to tackle the economic hurdle that affordable housing mitigation causes without dragging in the non-monetary issues. He would like to know what giving up the affordable housing mitigation gets the City. Councilman Daily said we do need to examine the potential negative consequences but we also need to look at the consequences if we don’t do it. He said we need to be cautious of increasing height and mass as a way to increasing the bed base. Mayor Skadron opened the public comment. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 27, 2014 8 1. Marcia Goshorn told the Council there has been a large number of lodges that are no longer operating since she has been tracking from 1999. She said she wants the incentive package to help the small lodges. Ms. Goshorn also said the small lodges need parking passes. She said it is important for small lodges to have employees housed on site. 2. LJ Erspamer said to be careful with TDR’s that they are currently not selling. He said the building code is outdated in parts and should be reviewed. He also said there needs to be dedicated staff to work on the process. Mr. Erspamer said free market residential is a nightmare and wish we could do away with it. 3. Stan Clauson said in 2002 the economic sustainability committee recommended incentives to help the lodging community. He said free market residential is the most important component in financing lodge development but it needs to be more flexible. Mr. Clauson said Council should look at the possibility of head in or diagonal parking. 4. Bill Tomsich told the Council that from 1995 to present, there are 27 small lodges that are no longer in business. In 2009 Aspen Skiing Company contracted with Amtrip to do an occupancy and inventory study for 2009 and 2012. He said there is a real decline in the bed base. 5. David Corbin said he agrees there has been a loss of bed base and we need to find a way to stop the loss and refurbish the aging one. It is critical competitively to appeal to a broad base of visitors. Mr. Corbin said the objectives and direction Staff has outlined is quite healthy and suggest Council adopts at their earliest convenience. 6. Patrick Segal stated the program should be the lodging incentive and sustainability program. Sustainability should be equal to the incentive. He said more analysis needs to be done to see what sustainability means for 10 years from now. 7. John Corcoran told the council that the nicest rooms get rented most and for the highest rate. He said to be viable in the lodging industry something needs to change to improve the lodging base. Aspens bed base is getting older and our visitors are going to other places. 8. Maria Marrow said the lodging community is threatened. This code will create opportunity for our lodges. She said we can’t be afraid to take from parks and give to the lodges where it is needed. Ms. Marrow said the residential component needs to remain and is essential. 9. Ms. Garrow stated she received an email from Charile Bantis who could not attend and he supported the language as drafted. Mayor Skadron closed the public comment. Councilman Frisch said the multi-family replacement does not sit right with him. He said he would like to get rid of it as much as possible. He also does not like using a TDR to increase room size when there could be more rooms if one was not used. Councilman Daily said he is ready to move ahead and start talking about the code language. Councilman Romero stated he has some concerns with the direction of the proposed policy with the ratio of net livable free market residential as a percentage of the total project. He said using TDR’s is a tool for historic preservation and may be used to support multiple goals. Councilman Romero also supports the Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 27, 2014 9 idea of enhanced flexibility specifically concerning size. He also said a fourth floor would need to be part of a planned development review. Mayor Skadron said he has concerns with a forth story and it could easily result in a 63 foot tall building. Mayor Skadron moved to continue Resolution #64 to June 9, 2014; seconded by Councilman Frisch. All in favor, motion carried. Ordinance #13, Series of 2014 – Pitkin County Library, 120 N. Mill Street, Ordinance Amendment Jennifer Phelan, community development, told the Council the request is to amend the 2012 approvals to reflect the modified library expansion. The library has a 44 foot easement on the east side of the building, on the plaza, where the proposed addition will be. The proposed square footage is 71,000, around the same as the original plan but the way it is distributed results in a smaller footprint. The overall height will be lower than what was approved. Ordinance 19 of 2012 approved a site specific design and Staff finds this modified design still meets the SPA review criteria. Ms. Phelan stated that Staff recommends the ordinance be approved. This ordinance will also allow a new three year vesting period. Kathy Chandler, library, said since the library was built in 1991 there has been a lot of change in the way the public uses it. In 1991 they checked out 81,000 items compared to 237,000 last year. The major needs that were established through the open houses were to improve the children’s library, teens room, add meeting rooms, change the way the collection is laid out and improve the connection to the outdoors. Ms. Chandler said the new main lever will house the non-print collection and the children’s room. There will be a public meeting room off the east entrance that can be locked off from the main part of the library. The lower level will house the non-fiction collection, staff offices, teen library and creation lab. The mezzanine will contain the fiction and Spanish collection as well as many small meeting rooms. Pam Hopkins, architect, said they are going to create more green space including an amphitheater off the children’s space. They have enlarged the windows to show more views of the mountains. They also created a green deck off of the non-fiction area. They are using printed metal for the siding and a wooden soffit. Councilman Daily asked if the issues with the easement over the parking garage have been resolved. Mr. True said he is working with John Ely from the County and they are finalizing the wording. Councilman Frisch said it is a good design model and asked when the construction will begin. Ms. Chandler replied this fall. Mayor Skadron opened the public comment. 1. Bill Stirling told the Council the library is one of the last great places that makes up the community. He said the library is not just for the locals but the visitors as well. Mr. Stirling said the design compliments the proposed plaza design. 2. Rebecca Weiss encouraged Council to support this project and agrees it is a good approach to bring the library up to speed. She said the library is a cornerstone of a growing, healthy and vibrant community. 3. Michael Campbell said the current library has some shortfalls when it comes to being current with technology and the new design addresses this. He also said the library is a place for the jobless to stay connected. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 27, 2014 10 4. Jackie Kasabach told the Council the simplicity and modesty of the new design fits in with Aspen. She said the new design will take us further into the 21st century and will act as a community center. 5. John Wilkinson said the new design is vital to working with the youth of the community. He encourages the Council to approve this so work can begin on a product the entire community can be proud of. Mayor Skadron closed the public comment. Councilman Romero asked about the timing of the plaza work and the library construction. Mr. Miller said we are in good shape and getting closer to a final plan. Mayor Skaddron said the library is a community builder and a catalyst for addressing social issues. He said the design is culturally relevant and a champion of the youth. Mayor Skadron said he is thrilled to support it. Mayor Skadron moved to adopt Ordinance #13, Series of 2014 on second reading; seconded by Councilman Frisch. Roll Call Vote; Councilmembers Daily, yes; Romero, yes; Frisch, yes; Mayor Skadron, Yes. Motion carried. Councilman Frisch moved to adjourn at 9:45 pm, seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried.