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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20140728Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2014 1 SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES .................................................................................................. 2 CITIZEN COMMENTS AND PETITION ................................................................................................... 2 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS ............................................................................................................ 2 AGENDA DELETIONS and ADDITIONS ................................................................................................. 2 BOARD REPORTS ...................................................................................................................................... 2 CONSENT CALENDAR ............................................................................................................................. 2 Resolution #87, Series of 2014 - Burlingame Ph1 Expanded Parking Design ................................. 3 Resolution #88, Series of 2014 – Street Sweeper Contract .............................................................. 3 Resolution #89, Series of 2014 – Motor Grader Purchase ................................................................ 3 Resolution #90, Series of 2014 – Bucket Truck Purchase ................................................................ 3 Resolution #91, Series of 2014 – contract Approval of 2014 Hopkins Pedestrian Connectivity Improvements Project ....................................................................................................................... 3 Minutes – July 14, 2014 .................................................................................................................... 3 Resolution #92, Series of 2014 – 301 Lake Avenue – Extension of AspenModern Negotiation Period ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Ordinance # 22, Series of 2014 – Rubey Park – PD Amendment, GMQS Review ...................................... 4 Ordinance #21, Series of 2014 – 301 Lake Ave- Historic Designated ......................................................... 5 Ordinance #23, Series of 2014 – Revision of Transition Period for New Retail Marijuana Licenses .......... 6 Ordinance #19, Series of 2014 ...................................................................................................................... 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2014 2 Mayor Skadron called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with Councilmembers Mullins, Daily and Romero present. SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES 1. Bob Johnson Hockey School Official Day Proclamation. Mayor Skadron welcomed Mark Johnson, Tim and Sandy McConnell and read the proclamation declaring July 28th as Bob Johnson Hockey School official day. 2. Colorado Bike Share Day and WE-cycle Day. Mirte, Lizzie and Tim from We-cycle accepted the proclamation declaring August 1st as Colorado Bike Share Day and We-cycle Day. CITIZEN COMMENTS AND PETITION Jan Hamilton told the Council progress has been made in the arena of same gender marriages. She also said conversion therapy was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last month. Ms. Hamilton updated Council on her review of federal contracts to ensure no one is being discriminated against. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Romero thanked Jeff Woods and the Parks and Rec department and the Cozy Point team for the site visit. He said it was a great way to better understand and shape future visions. 2. Councilman Daily agreed with Councilman Romero. 3. Councilwoman Mullins stated she participated in the Komen races and it was a great event and appropriate for Aspen. 4. Mayor Skadron agreed with Councilman Romero on his Cozy Point comments and encouraged everyone to stop by. 5. Mayor Skadron told the Council he has received a number of travel invitations and would like Councils help in prioritizing them including the Mayors Innovation Project conference as well as an invitation from the Mayor of Bariloche for a potential Sister City and an environmental event in Jackson Hole. 6. Mayor Skadron stated August 2nd is the Maroon Bells birthday bash and encouraged everyone to attend. AGENDA DELETIONS and ADDITIONS Jim True would like to add Resolution #93 to appoint Brooke Peterson as an Administrative Hearing Officer to the consent calendar. BOARD REPORTS 1. Councilman Daily stated the Mayor of Garmisch is visiting to have lunch with the Sister Cities group along with the representatives of Garmisch. CONSENT CALENDAR Mayor Skadron pulled Resolution #87 Burlingame Phase 1 Expanded Parking Design – Councilwoman Mullins said parking is increasing from 1.67 spaces per condo to 2 and thought we were trying to reduce Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2014 3 parking citywide and asked why we are upping the parking at Burlingame. Chris Everson, capital asset, said in 2008 there were two citizens group, Citizens Budget Taskforce and Construction Experts Group, who recommended the number of units be increased. The density was increased by 22 units. The current homeowners wanted an increase in parking and Ordinance 22-2011 said the parking for Phase II be increased to the 2.0 standard. This will bring Phase I current with Phase II. Councilwoman Mullins said she wanted to hear the reasoning and hopefully in the future we don’t jump to the conclusion of needing more parking. Mayor Skadron said he agrees with Councilwoman Mullins and it is a wrong way to go. Resolution #88 Street Sweeper Contract, #89 motor Grader Purchase, #90 Bucket Truck Purchase Councilwoman Mullins stated that between Resolutions 88, 89 and 90 it is almost $400,000 and asked if it was an anticipated expense. Steve Barwick, city manager, said they are all items that were in the budget to begin with and listed individually. Resolution # 91 Contract Approval of 2014 Hopkins Pedestrian Connectivity Improvement Project Councilwoman Mullins stated she is not a fan of putting sidewalks on streets that are not that busy. She said it is already a pedestrian street for part of the year and there are partial sidewalks on both sides. Councilwoman Mullins stated she is not in support of completing the links just to complete the links. She stated the money could go towards some other pedestrian amenity like lighting or additional crosswalks. Tyler Christoff, engineering, said because of the amount of use they feel a full connection is needed. He said it was a conscious decision to connect the south side and leave the north side disconnected as a cost saving measure. Councilwoman Mullins said she is not convinced it is necessary now and if it was a safety issue she could be convinced. Mr. Christoff said they have received favorable feedback from the link that was completed recently on Hopkins. Councilman Romero said he supportive and appreciates the analysis. Councilman Daily is also supportive and the continuity is important. Mayor Skadron asked Councilwoman Mullins if she has any thoughts on the light pole. She said it is very dark and is not a supporter of lighting up every street but that corner would benefit. Mayor Skadron said his objection to the light is it diminishes the character of the neighborhood and is one of the things that chips away the core values. Resolution #92 301 Lake Avenue Extension of AspenModern Negotiation Period. Amy Simon, community development, stated this is a request to extend the negotiation period. • Resolution #87, Series of 2014 - Burlingame Ph1 Expanded Parking Design • Resolution #88, Series of 2014 – Street Sweeper Contract • Resolution #89, Series of 2014 – Motor Grader Purchase • Resolution #90, Series of 2014 – Bucket Truck Purchase • Resolution #91, Series of 2014 – contract Approval of 2014 Hopkins Pedestrian Connectivity Improvements Project • Minutes – July 14, 2014 • Resolution #92, Series of 2014 – 301 Lake Avenue – Extension of AspenModern Negotiation Period Councilman Daily moved to approve the consent calendar; seconded by Councilwoman Mullins. All in favor, motion carried. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2014 4 Ordinance # 22, Series of 2014 – Rubey Park – PD Amendment, GMQS Review Justin Barker, community development, told the Council this application was submitted by the transportation department and is represented by Blue Green. He stated the goal is to right size the facility for the function including renovation of existing structure, site, adjacent right of ways as well as adding two new structures. The property is a 27,000 square foot zoned public with a planned development overlay and located on the edge of the commercial historic district. HPC approved conceptual design and P&Z has recommended PD approval and growth management. After Council review this will go back to P&Z. Staff recommends approval and the public hearing is scheduled for August 25. John Kruger, Sheri Sanzone, blue green and Gilbert Sanchez Studio B presented. Mr. Kruger stated Rubey Park is over 30 years old. It was a Council top ten goal in 2012 to make improvements. He said there was an opportunity for grant funding and they were awarded three million in funding. EOTC provided funding for schematics and public outreach as well as for final design. There are five funding partners; City of Aspen, RFTA, EOTC, State and Federal government. They recently completed a peer review with positive feedback. Ms. Sanzone stated that over 4 million people are served by Rubey Park. She said they have done extensive outreach including open houses and surveys. The major elements of the design include the central building which is flanked by restrooms and staff offices as well as two new staging areas for buses. There is a CDOT review coming up as well as Council. After that they will go to the EOTC for additional funding and back to HPC and submit for the building permit in December. Councilman Romero asked if the CDOT review is required. Mr. Krueger said since they are receiving funding they are following the CDOT approval process. Councilman Romero asked if we are using any outside agencies for cost estimates. Mr. Krueger stated they are using RLB. Councilman Daily stated the prelim drawings are attractive and it will be a dramatic improvement to that part of town. He agrees that improvement to the pedestrian connections could be valuable to the pedestrian experience. Mayor Skadron asked if the height will increase. Mr. Sanchez stated it is currently 32 feet to the top of the clock tower and that will remain highest point. Mayor Skadron asked to define wonderful civic place. Mr. Sanchez said it is a place where people want to be. There will be opportunities to linger, places to sit, shade and trees giving people a notion to dwell. Mr. Sanchez said there are opportunities to linger while waiting for the bus and it will be a pleasant place to be. Mayor Skadron asked what the multi modal aspect is. Ms. Sanzone said there has been care taken to accommodate different modes of transportation. They also increased the number of bike racks and kept the footprint of the We-cycle station. They would like to designate spaces for hotel and van shuttle accommodations. Mayor Skadron stated that is an important value and it is not simply a bus terminal but multi-modal. Mayor Skadron asked about who is represented by the survey. Ms. Sanzone said they had about a 20 percent response rate. They surveyed bus riders plus people walking by. 62 percent live in valley and the remaining were visitors. Mayor Skadron asked about the response from adjacent neighbors. Ms. Sanzone said they have a great relationship with neighbors and they are very happy with the plans. Mayor Skadron asked about the elements of funding needed to move forward. Mr. Kruger said there are five partners, RFTA is in for half a million, City for half a million, one million FASTER grant, two million from CDOT, two million from FHWA and will go back to EOTC for the balance of construction funding. Councilman Romero moved to read Ordinance #22, Series of 2014; seconded by Councilwoman Mullins. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE NO. 22 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2014 5 (SERIES OF 2014) A ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN CITY COUNCIL APPROVING A PLANNED DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT TO THE PROJECT REVIEW AND GROWTH MANAGEMET REVIEW FOR AN ESSENTIAL PUBLIC FACILITY FOR THE PROPERTY COMMONLY KNOWN AS RUBEY PARK, LEGALLY DESCRIBED AS LOTS K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R AND S, BLOCK 90, CITY AND TOWNSITE OF ASPEN, COUNTY OF PITKIN, STATE OF COLORADO. Councilman Romero moved to approve Ordinance #22, Series of 2014 on first reading; seconded by Councilwoman Mullins. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Mullins, yes; Romero, yes; Daily, yes; Mayor Skadron, yes. Motion carried. Ordinance #21, Series of 2014 – 301 Lake Ave- Historic Designation Amy Simon, community development, told the Council the ordinance is for voluntary designation incentives. It is a 9,200 square foot lot in the west end adjacent to Triangle Park. The home was built in 1972 by and for Victor Lundy. He is a renowned architect and has two properties on the national register. The family recently sold the property and the buyer is interested in preserving the home. Ms. Simon stated this is a voluntary program and there are other things that could be done with the site. The home is around 2,000 square foot featuring an open room with two bedrooms. The house needs to be expanded for today’s market. HPC has conducted a conceptual review and provided recommendations to Council. Proposed is a one story addition only touching three sides of the building where the house will remain unaltered from the original design. Ms. Simon stated there is a significant amount of below grade used as well as a large light well. Staff is pleased with the one story addition. The addition is approximately 15 feet tall. The designation process is not the debated issue. HPC is enthusiastic about designation and five of the criteria were met. She stated the discussion is the incentives package. There has been a preservation program since 1972. The incentive package will be discussed at second reading. Staff recommends support of the project and this is a valuable addition to the program. Councilwoman Mullins said you can’t argue the designation of the property is important. She said it is quite a package of incentive requests and would like clarification at second reading regarding the 300 successful projects and asked for comparable projects regarding incentives, outcomes and failures of things lost because incentives could not be negotiated. She asked to hear more about the additional square footage to see where the 750 came from. The footprint is 1,400 square feet larger than the 39 percent allowed and asked where that comes from and asked to see it visually. Councilwoman Mullins asked about the measurements of the light well. She asked for more discussion on other departments comments about the waivers and why they are ok with not getting those fees. Councilman Daily said the memo suggests a reduction in set back where it impacts the neighbor and would like more discussion on how the proposed reduction has been achieved. He would also like more discussion about lowering the height. He questioned the residential design standards noting the criteria that garages and car ports with access to the alley the standards shall apply, and asked if it is a fundamental rule. Ms. Simon replied yes. Councilman Romero asked if Staff has comments on substituting the fee waiver for a TDR. Ms. Simon stated they tried to show what the current value of a TDR is. One may be more in line with the requested waiver. Mayor Skadron compliment Ms. Simon on a good memo. Mayor Skadron asked what the total square footage is allowed if demolished and rebuilt. Ms. Simon replied approximately 4,100 square feet as a duplex and it could land 2 TDRs as a non-historic property which is comparable to what is proposed. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2014 6 Mayor Skadron asked for comparables for second reading as well as the importance of landscape and green space in historic preservation. Mayor Skadron said they need to address the trend in asking for the largest waiver of fees. He said he does not embrace the project as warmly as HPC did and does not believe the community interest is being served. He said the preservation incentives are excessive and punitive and fail to achieve the singular goal that the property contributes to the historic character of the West End. He said it is not sensitive enough in addressing the current character of the property. Mayor Skadron asked to hear more about setbacks, elimination of trees and green space and the fee waivers. Jim True, city attorney, stated he was delivered a letter for the Blocks, neighbors west of property who have requested another site visit to view the proposal from their property. Councilmembers Daily, Mullins and Romero agreed to the site visit. Mayor Skadron asked if a site visit to an adjacent property has been done before. Ms. Simon said she did not think it is inappropriate and the story poles have been revised. Mayor Skadron said to schedule the site visit. Councilman Daily moved to read Ordinance #23, Series of 2014; seconded by Councilwoman Mullins. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE NO. 21 (SERIES OF 2014) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO APPROVING ASPENMODERN HISTORIC LANDMARK DESIGNATION AND PRESERVATION BENEFITS FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 301 LAKE AVENUE, THE EAST ½ OF LOT 5 AND ALL OF LOTS 6 AND 7, BLOCK 40, HALLAM’S ADDITION TO THE CITY AND TOWNSITE OF ASPEN, COLORADO Councilwoman Mullins moved to adopt Ordinance #21, Series of 2014 on first reading; seconded by Councilman Daily. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Romero, yes; Daily, yes; Mullins, yes; Mayor Skadron, yes. All in favor, motion carried. Ordinance #23, Series of 2014 – Revision of Transition Period for New Retail Marijuana Licenses Debbie Quinn, attorney’s office, and Chris Bendon, community development told the Council they received feedback at the work session concerning the transition period. The current transition period for new retail shops expires October 1 when new applications will be accepted. New licenses will be issued beginning January 1 of 2015. The revisions would extend the transition period to April 15, 2015 and include existing establishing within the urban growth boundary. Mr. Bendon said the second part of the ordinance includes prohibitions on home occupation. Marijuana dispensary was included as a prohibited use but it is not a term anyone uses. This would clarify that marijuana related businesses are not allowed as a home occupation. This also clarifies that retail use prohibition does not prohibit off premise sales, for example selling at a farmers market. Councilwoman Mullins said you can’t sell out of your home but internet sales don’t count. Mr. Bendon said retail prohibited is a very broad term and they take issue when the retail activity takes place at the home. Councilman Romero asked if there is an intended follow up review of conditions prior to the April date. Ms. Quinn replied nothing has been scheduled yet. Councilman Romero said it would be a worthy step. Mayor Skadron said the general direction from the work session was to support an ordinance that would protect local retailers. He said he has been thinking about the date and it is relatively arbitrary and the March 1 date may be more appropriate. He said he has been rethinking how we let the free market deal Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2014 7 with the medical operators that came to town with no negative effects and he is leaning towards voting against the ordinance and maintaining the status quo to let the free market deal with this. He said this market should be dealt with like any other market. He said to let the free market address this rather than extend protection. Ms. Quinn stated one operator who presented at the work session has two additional retail licenses with the State but has not opened either a medical or retail shop within the City limits in connection with those licenses. There is an application pending to land one retail within the City but it may not qualify within existing transition period and Staff has not finalized its position for recommendation to the licensing authority. She stated it could be as many as seven retail locations including the one from the AABC. Mayor Skadron stated at the work session they liked the familiarity of operators and industry maturation but did not intend on a monopolization of market. It does not serve our interests or the communities and he suggested we maintain the status quo and take no action on the transition piece of the ordinance. Mr. True said they could move it on to second reading and drop it then. Councilman Romero asked about the rules relating to retail liquor licenses. Ms. Quinn replied they are the same as the State where the needs of the neighborhood not been met. Councilman Romero said he understands the concept of commercial selling of liquor where the needs of the neighborhood are required but we don’t have the same standard for marijuana retailing. Mr. True said they can set a limitation on number either by needs of the neighborhood or some other evaluation. Councilman Romero asked why we would not consider a parallel with the liquor rules to determine the needs of the neighborhood. Mr. True stated the policy of the City and the needs of neighborhood were never met. He said his point in the liquor context it’s the market forces that drive the number of licenses. Councilman Romero asked about a similar set of tests for retail marijuana. Mr. True said we are talking about limitation of other people applying that protect existing businesses without knowing what the market forces will do. He said limiting the number is a legitimate conversation. Councilman Romero asked that council consider a formula that mimics the neighborhood values for liquor licensing. Councilman Romero said we could see 25 shops where they may not care about p&l but want the Aspen brand. He said we could drop the transition period but keep the home occupation piece in play. He said there needs to be a larger conversation and Councilman Frisch should be here for it. Councilwoman Mullins stated she is not convinced the transition period is needed but at the work session it was wanted to get additional information and to support the local business. She said she is not convinced in the long run it will be local business if it is opened up in October or April. As far as more information it will be a few years before we understand the needs and impacts. She stated she would rather see it opened up sooner rather than later and we should stick with the October date. Councilwoman Mullins stated she would support the October transition period, the urban growth boundary piece as well as the home occupation changes. Mr. True said the urban growth boundary issue is only relevant if the transition period is extended. Councilman Daily said he agrees with the Mayor. The change to the transition period could have unintended consequences and we are better off leaving things the way they are. Mayor Skadron stated he concurs and Councilman Romero’s suggestions. Councilman Romero moved to read Ordinance #23, Series of 2014; seconded by Councilman Daily. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE NO. 23 (SERIES OF 2014) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO AMENDING SECTION 5.16.180 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE TO ALLOW FOR AN EXTENDED TRANSITION PERIOD FOR RETAIL MARIJUANA ESTABLISHMENT LICENSES, AMENDING THE CRITERIA Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2014 8 FOR QUALIFICATION FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD IN THE CITY OF ASPEN AND AMENDING SECTION 26.575.090 – HOME OCCUPATIONS Councilman Romero moved to approve Ordinance #23, Series of 2014 striking section 1 from the ordinance; seconded by Councilwoman Mullins. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Daily, yes; Romero, yes; Mullins, yes; Mayor Skadron; yes. Motion carried. Ordinance #19, Series of 2014 – Lodge Incentive Program Jessica Garrow and Chris Bendon, community development, stated this is the second of three public hearings. There are three main program goals targeted at existing lodges, condominium units and new lodges. They want to ensure existing lodges continue to operate as lodges and condominiums are upgraded to facilitate stays. The growth management piece encompasses allotments, multi family replacement program and mitigation levels. Growth management started in the mid to late 70’s and limits the amount of growth that can occur in any one year. For the past 15-20 years the goal has been to limit growth to 2 percent per year. For allotments there has been a longstanding goal to limit overall growth and Staff is proposing to lift the allotments for lodge development for 2014-2015. Multi family replacement has been in place since 1988. Currently if a free market residential unit has ever in its history housed a local worker it must be replaced on site with either 100 or 50 percent cap. Staff is proposing to amend the timeframe to a 20 year look back and 10 years for the lodge zone district. They are also proposing changes to how the replacement is done. For mitigation, commercial is currently 60 percent of full time equivalents (FTE’s) and Staff is proposing a reduction to 30 percent with free market residential units and 15 percent without. For free market residential the current mitigation level is 30 percent and if it is part of a lodge project it will be reduced to 15 percent. Vacation residence would have a base level of 15 percent and 10 percent with free market residential and 5 percent without. Lodge mitigation is currently required to mitigate 60 percent of the FTE’s generated. Staff is proposing two tiers. The decreases are more modest if not participating in the program. The decrease for the incentive program are based off of unit size. Ms. Garrow asked for Councils thoughts on: 1a. Do you support reducing timeframe to 10 years for lodge and 20 for other zones. 1b. Support for allowing mitigation to occur on site, off site or thru housing credits. 2. Support adding mitigation requirements for new vacation residence use. 3. Support reducing mitigation requirements for projects participating in incentive program. 4a. support growth management changes to remove restriction for lodges for 2014-2015. 4b. Support allowing separate free market and vacation residence allotments for lodge properties. Councilwoman Mullins asked if this addresses the program not being aggressive enough and what are the impacts on the employee housing program. Ms. Garrow said the multi family replacement program is a disincentive to upgrade units. They don’t see a lot of people triggering requirements. She stated she is not sure if will see a significant change but it will be a huge incentive to upgrade. Councilwoman Mullins said we may end up with more units under the proposed program. Councilman Romero said we should reduce the look back much further to 5-10 years. He supports the mitigation requirements as proposed and likes the further incentive to lowering the mitigation requirements. He agrees with question three and supports the changes to allotments. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2014 9 Councilman Daily said he is on the same page. He support reducing further the timeframe for use history to 5-10 years. He likes increasing the flexibility to allow mitigation to occur in one of several ways. The reduction in requirements for vacation residences is an appropriate idea. He also agrees with reducing mitigation for incentive program projects and supports the changes to the growth management allotments. Mayor Skadron asked the reason for reducing the timeframe. Ms. Garrow said it is a significant barrier to do upgrades, combine units or change units. She said the units are frozen in time because at some point a local working resident lived there. Lifting the historical restriction helps units continue to be in the short term rental pool. Mr. Bendon said the units are used part time or leased out but not leased out to long term local resident housing. Mr. Bendon said if the unit isn’t serving a local resident demolition doesn’t impact the housing inventory. Ms. Garrow said P&Z was concerned if there was no limit or a shorter limit it may encourage someone to kick out a local worker. Mayor Skadron said to support this he has to be certain that long term local residents are not being displaced to remodel or upgrade that creates rates beyond what a local can pay. Ms. Garrow said that is why they recommended 10 years. Mayor Skadron stated he is less concerned with the mitigation requirements. He said generally he is not opposed to the broad notion that a reduction in mitigation may be necessary to incentivize a property owner to move forward. He also is supportive of lifting the restrictions for 2014-2015. For special Review they are proposing new criteria related to purposeful reduction in lodge density. If unit size or height is increasing there would be a review. Staff is proposing a P&Z level review for increased unit sizes for lodges and vacation residences to ensure they provide adequate amenities. If the 4th floor discussion moves forward part of the planned development review would include the special review. A Council review would be required if an existing lodge is purposefully reducing the number of units. Questions for Council include: 5. Support special review for increase height and unit sizes. 6. Support review for lodges that decrease the number of lodge units. Councilman Romero stated he agrees with both. Councilwoman Mullins asked if these are for lodges that have not participated. Ms. Garrow replied it would be required for any lodge regardless of participation. Councilwoman Mullins asked if they are not participating in the program how do we have control over what they actually do with their lodge. Mr. Bendon said there are broad land use controls and is an important check in. Councilwoman Mullins said she understands if they are in the program and they have a development agreement we can put down conditions but outside the program she does not understand how we can make requirements. She stated she supports it but want to make sure we can follow through. Councilman Daily stated he supports both. He likes establishing review criteria and it gives Council and Staff a lot to work with. There will be more product available for short term rentals. Ms. Garrow said there are also miscellaneous code changes related to vesting, commercial design, definitions, trash areas and fixing references. She said the main change is on vesting and they are proposing a project with a significant change be subject to the current code. Questions for Council: 7. Support change in vesting approval. 8. Support other changes. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2014 10 Councilman Romero stated he supports the other changes. He asked how much of the vesting has been tested with Jim True. Mr. Bendon said they walked through it extensively. There has been frustration from P&Z where they are faced with a project that was approved in 2006 and are here now to make changes. He said they would honor vesting but fundamental substantial changes would be under the current code and they would like some guidance in the land use code on minor vs substantial change. Councilwoman Mullins said she agrees with the concept but we need to define a threshold to differentiate minor and major. Councilman Daily said it comes down to how major amendment is defined. Ms. Garrow wanted to answer the questions from last meeting. They are proposing that lodge unit size is 1,000 square feet and timeshares can be 1,500 and either could be expanded to 2,000 square feet with a TDR. For vacation residences the base size is 1,500 and could be expanded to 2,500 with a TDR and special review. Free market residential unit size max is 1,500 square feet that could be expanded to 2,500 with a TDR. Currently a TDR is worth 500 square feet of net livable space and they are proposing it be increase to 1,000. Questions for Council: 9. Support unit size caps. 10. Support using TDR’s to increase unit size. 11. Prefer special review in addition to or instead of TDR’s. 12. Support eliminating TDR’s as a requirement for lodge preservation overlay. 13. Support lifting unit size cap in LP overlay. Councilman Romero stated landing a TDR doesn’t increase overall FAR but only reallocates the foot print. Mr. Bendon said the only place where it add square footage is in the residential zone. He said for the money, to only be able to move around the footage it doesn’t work. He said to support the TDR program there should be some modest square footage. Councilwoman Mullins said maybe there are two ways to use a TDR, buy and move around in the same foot print or get additional FAR. Councilman Daily said it is essential to make TDR’s a viable incentive. He is not opposed to creating a better market and function for TDR’s but it needs to be studied more. Mayor Skadron said he needs a better sense of what the physical build out will be with all of these components. Councilwoman Mullins stated she does not agree with 13 and we need to cap unit size. She said she is afraid it will get out of control with enormous units. She said we are trying to not downsize but exercise some control. Ms. Garrow reviewed the incentive program for basic, standard and standard plus. Staff is proposing for height in the multi family district that if a vacation residence project had more short term rentals they would be allowed to go to 36 feet or a four foot increase over today’s code. They are also proposing a modest floor area increase based on density. Height in the lodge zone would be maintained at the existing 45 feet and an increase would only be permitted south of Durant for a lodge project and participation in the standard plus program. For the lodge preservation overlay Staff is proposing a height limit of 28-32 feet. Questions for Council: 14. Support applicant asking for a 4th story in lodge zone district south of Durant thru a planned development review and with participation in standard plus program. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2014 11 15. Support same conversation for commercial zone 4th story. 16. Support multi family added height. 17. Support 36 feet for three story buildings in the mixed use zone. Councilman Daily stated he is supportive of providing the ability to apply in a narrow area for 4th story. But it belongs south of Durant. He likes the review criteria and control mechanisms. Councilwoman Mullins said it is hard to argue against a 4th floor when there are the three models described in the packet. She said she would still want to see it work with three stories. She said perhaps if the district was pushed further up the mountain further south of Durant. Councilwoman Mullins stated she can’t support it now. She stated 16 and 17 are fine. Mr. Bendon commented on 17. The mixed use zone has a lot of variability and more than 32 feet may push limits in parts of the zone. He suggested they might split applicability to address Main Street. Councilman Romero said 14 yes, 15 no, 16 yes, 17 no. Mayor Skadron said 14 is the wrong direction to go. He said for 16 he is open to consideration for three stories. 15 no. For 17 he likes the suggestion of splitting into two. Councilwoman Mullins asked procedurally where Staff goes with the 4th story. Mayor Skadron said one issue does not have to stop the ordinance from going forward. Councilwoman Mullins suggested beefing up other incentives. Ms. Garrow stated they did an informal survey with the small lodges and received nine responses. Four were not interested in participating in a transit service but five would. The lodges not on an existing route felt they would benefit. Question for Council: 18. Should Staff examine cost and route for transit service for small lodges. Councilman Romero said yes. Councilmembers Mullins and Daily agreed. Ms. Garrow said the last sections are related to fees. They have proposed different levels of waivers and rebates. Staff suggests creating a flat fee rebate and waiver of 50 percent for projects with a free-market component and 75 percent without or flipping the levels so basic receives the larger rebate/waiver instead of standard plus. Question for Council: 19. Support either option. Mr. Barwick said it is an important point. He said Staff is generally supportive as long as it is incremental and is important for the future of the City’s economy to keep these businesses here. Councilman Romero supports the larger incentives for small projects and Councilman Daily agreed. Ms. Garrow stated Staff proposes that structural work be included in the program and mechanical, electrical and plumbing permits be waived. Question for Council: 20. Support both options for lodges and vacation residences. Councilmembers Mullins, Romero and Daily agree these are reasonable. Mayor Skadron opened the public comment. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2014 12 1. Lise Adams, stay aspen snowmass, said it is tougher to place people in appropriate lodging for them because the options are not that broad. She would like to see anything to help the lodges grow and affordable options are suffering. 2. Michael Brown said as it relates to the LP zone it does nothing materially to move the needle. Ms. Garrow said the lodge overlay properties include the Barvarian, Cresthouse, Bell Mountain Lodge, Boomerang, St Moritz, Shadow Mountain, Little Red Ski House, Snow Queen, Dancing Bear, Mountain Chalet, Mountain House, Hotel Lenado, Molly Gibson, Innsbruck, Aspen Mountain Lodge, Annabel Inn and Hotel Aspen. Mr. Brown said a lot of those properties have already redeveloped and maybe five properties impacted. TDR’s give lodges free market for meeting what the experts stated needs to be done and it is counterintuitive to reduce. There should not be a cap on unit size and TDR’s deserve their own discussion. TDR’s were utilized in the core and now they can’t be and the price is benchmarked off the core. As for the Triumph report, he would like to see more detail. He also said fees should be waived entirely for the LP overlay district. 3. Carlie Umbarger stated she supports the program. She said we need to look at years to come in Aspen and bring more economic things to do in Aspen. 4. David Corbin told the Council he agrees with the conclusions of the Triumph report. He said he hopes Council takes the study to heart and it is an accurate depiction of reality. 5. Ziska Childs stated she accepts the bed base is dropping and occupancy rates follow the economy. We have an aging bed base and a lower client base. She said the lower client base is driving the aging bed base. She suggest we work on the affordable side and open up employee housing to something like air b&b. 6. Ms. Garrow entered letters from LJ Erspamer, Chuck Frias, Kristi Kavanaugh, Paige Price, Leslie Shacklette, Nina Eisenstat, RJ Gallagher, and Crystal Logan into the record. Councilman Romero moved to continue to August 11; seconded by Councilman Daily. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Romero moved to adjourn meeting at 9:25 pm; seconded by Councilman Daily. All in favor, motion carried.