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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20111011 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 1«.. PROCLAMATION — Domestic Violence Awareness Month 2 PROCLAMATION — Environmental Award 2 CITIZEN COMMENTS 2 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 4 CONSENT CALENDAR 4 ❑ Resolution #69, 2011 — Contract Geothermal Test Well 5 ❑. Board Appointments — Commercial Core and Lodging Commission — Terry Butler, Don Sheeley, Riley Tippet, Kiki Raj 5 ❑ Minutes — August 30, September 26, October 3, 2011 5 ❑ Winter Snow Polo — Appeal of Decision of Special Events Committee — continue to 10/24 5 ORDINANCE #24, SERIES OF 2011 — Code Amendment Waste Reduction Single use Bags 5 ORDINANCE #28, SERIES OF 2011 — Lift One Lodge Final PUD 9 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 ..� Mayor Ireland called the meeting to order at 5:08 PM with Council members Skadron, Johnson, %o Torre and Frisch present. PROCLAMATION — Domestic Violence Awareness Month Mayor Ireland and Council proclaimed October to be domestic violence awareness month. Sandra Dukis, director of Response, said businesses have purple lights in their windows in recognition of domestic violence awareness month. Ms. Dukis told Council Response has services to help women with domestic violence issues. PROCLAMATION — Environmental Award Jannette Whitcomb, environmental health department, told Council last week the city was inducted as a gold leader in Colorado's environmental leadership program. Ms. Whitcomb said the city's chemical management program, composting program, urban runoff management plan, the ongoing program of reducing city greenhouse gas emissions, parks and trails that support clean air and water, the car to go program and the renewable energy mitigation program all go towards environmental leadership in Aspen. Mayor Ireland noted the Council has made environmental protection and stewardship the number one goal for several years and has had support from both the community and staff. CITIZEN COMMENTS 1. Emzy Veazy said bicyclists on sidewalks are a menace to pedestrians; bicyclists are restless and do not follow rules of the road. Veazy said there should be more enforcement on bicyclists. 2. Ward Hauenstein said he has concerns for the process used to enter into a decision to appeal to Court of Appeal ruling in Marks v. Koch. Hauenstein requested Council official notice a regular or special meeting in order to go into executive session and come into a meeting and make a motion. Hauenstein said this issue is of statewide importance and Aspen should show a leadership role in transparency and openness. Hauenstein said this issue is too important not to have public input on it. 3. Scott Writer said the city should think about whether viewing ballots is a good or bad thing and he accepts the premise ballots are anonymous and allowing public inspection of ballots is how Aspen should lead in the state. 4. Harvie Branscombe said the election laws adopted in 2011 were in the public interest with the exception about transparency. Branscombe said there was a court of appeals decision stating ballots in Colorado are public records except when identifiable. Branscombe said ballots can be made anonymous through proper procedures. Branscombe reiterated this is a state wide decision; appealing the recent decision endangers the public interest. Branscombe recommended 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 against an appeal as it is not valuable for the citizens of Aspen. Branscombe said his mammoth sculpture won the best animal award in the 4 of July parade and thanked the city for allowing the mammoth sculpture to remain on the streets of Aspen for several weeks. 5. Marilyn Marks agreed with comments about the appeal of the Court of Appeals decision. Ms. Marks said in deciding to go the Supreme Court, Council is affecting the rights of voters across the state. Ms. Marks said Council's decision to go to the Supreme Court deserves reconsideration and public discussion. Ms. Marks said if citizens cannot verify their own elections, they cannot govern themselves and Council is trying to change election transparency and citizen's rights. 6. Blanca O'Leary said the Council has attorney /client privilege and fiduciary duties to protect the city. Council has a right to meet with their lawyers to determine the best strategies on appeal or not. Ms. O'Leary said people who voted in the 2009 election thought their ballots would be secret, anonymous and protected and some citizens are uncomfortable that the ballots may be released. Councilman Johnson asked about the rules of the executive session. John Worcester, city attorney, said there is a Sunshine Law in Colorado and the city followed the procedures, properly noticed the meeting and discussed those issues that were announced. Councilman Johnson asked if Council can discuss what was discussed in an executive session. Worcester said Council is not allowed to discuss what was spoken about in executive session but can talk about their reasons for deciding as they did. Councilman Skadron said no formal action, no ordinance resolution or motion, took place in the executive session and action given was covered by attorney /client privilege. Councilman Skadron said Council did not do anything inappropriate. Councilman Skadron said he does not feel it is appropriate to debate the legal issues of the city's case in a public policy discussion. Councilman Torre agreed this is a state issue and the appropriate place to address this is the Colorado Supreme Court. Councilman Torre said he does not want ballot images released until the issue is settled by the Colorado Supreme Court. Councilman Torre said his charge is to represent the citizens of Aspen and he has not heard from them that they want their ballots turned over. Councilman Frisch said Council gave direction to legal counsel to take action and re- reading the Sunshine laws that action may not be appropriate. Councilman Frisch said he would like to see the ballots shown but be kept private. Councilman Frisch said there is a difference between anonymous and secrecy. Councilman Frisch said he would like a public policy discussion on ballots as public records but does not want to discuss the issues of the city's case. Mayor Ireland said during the 2009 election, the city released the results of how each ballot was cast in the interest of transparency so that one could view a string of numbers. After that release, there were requests to see those ballots. Mayor Ireland pointed out that some ballots by their nature of the contests can identify a group of voters, like voters in a small district with a unique ballot. Mayor Ireland noted that using ballots to try and figure out how people voted creates a danger to the public and voters who should not have to worry that other people are using that information to figure out who voted how. Mayor Ireland said releasing the ballot strings from the 2009 election was used to that end and that should not happen. Mayor Ireland said releasing 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 ballots should be decided by the state legislature with safeguards on how those ballots are % released. Mayor Ireland said Council should not make a decision about case law and legal strategy in a public hearing. Mayor Ireland pointed out the appellate court allows ballots with identifying marks to be removed from public inspection; however, there are no standards on which the clerk decides what are identifying marks nor can ballots be withheld if there is a small number of that style of ballot. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Torre said the Western Slope College Fair held last weekend was a successful event with 200 national colleges represented and high schools students from all over the western slope. Councilman Torre said the organizer, Kathy Klug, deserves recognition for making this event a success. 2. Councilman Torre said he would like to see traffic calming measures on the S -curve entrance to town. Steve Barwick, city manager, said new flashing pedestrian lights will be installed this fall. After trial period, if Council does not think the problem has been adequately addressed, more lights on Main street can be installed. Mayor Ireland suggested the engineering department give Council a range of possibilities for traffic calming and Council can consider these as part of the budget. 3. Councilman Frisch announced there are education seminars going on for HOA boards of affordable housing and over 30 HOA boards are attending these seminars. 4. Councilman Johnson agreed the college fair was a great event. It is football season, Aspen Skier's are 5 and 1 and many community members have been attending the football games. 5. Mayor Ireland commended Pitkin County Clerk Janice Vos Caudill who decided to mail ballots to every registered voter including those inactive voters. Mayor Ireland encouraged everyone to return their ballots. 6. Mayor Ireland added Winter Polo — Appeal of Special Events Decision and continuation to October 24 to the consent calendar. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilman Skadron asked what will be accomplished by the geothermal test well and if it is successful what will the benefit be. Lauren McDonell said the test will be to determine if there is geothermal activity below ground and temperatures in 90 to 100 degree range. If there is geothermal activity, an underground heating system could be created. This could replace natural gas and geothermal is carbon neutral. This is an exciting resource to explore and is using forward thinking. Some of the funding is a geo -grant from the governor's office to stimulate geothermal exploration. Councilman Skadron said he is excited to see the results of this test. Stir Councilman Frisch said if there is geothermal activity, is there a magnitude of what it will cost to 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 ,.. use this versus other methods of energy, is it financially viable. Ms. McDonell said the costs are '„ dependent on what is underground. Councilman Johnson asked if any test wells in this area have been drilled. Ms. McDonell said there have been test wells; staff has contacted those people and has not received any information back. Ms McDonell said the private test wells have been fairly shallow and this test will be clown to 1000 feet. Councilman Torre said he feels paying for the possibility of geothermal is worth it. Mayor Ireland moved to adopt the consent calendar as amended; seconded by Councilman Johnson. The consent calendar is: • Resolution #69, 2011 — Contract Geothermal Test Well • Board Appointments — Commercial Core and Lodging Commission — Terry Butler, Don Sheeley, Riley Tippet, Kiki Raj • Minutes — August 30, September 26, October 3, 2011 • Winter Snow Polo — Appeal of Decision of Special Events Committee — continue to 10/24 All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #24, SERIES OF 2011— Code Amendment Waste Reduction Single use Bags Ashley Cantrell, environmental health department, told Council the ordinance contains a 20 cent fee on paper bags, which staff feels is the appropriate amount to actually change people's behavior. The 20 cents/bag fee is close to what San Francisco estimates it costs taxpayers to deal with single use bags. The ordinance has been amended to ban plastic bags. Ms. Cantrell noted that paper and plastic are both harmful to the environment; however, plastic bags are more of a waste concern and are considered more environmentally harmful. This ordinance attempts to address the use of plastic bags and paper bags differently since they cause different environmental concerns. Ms. Cantrell pointed out this ordinance applies only to grocery stores; the effective date is May 1, 2012, and the revenues can only be used for the implementation of the program and waste reduction projects in Aspen. Ms. Cantrell said staff will come back to Council one year after the effective date to discuss challenges and successes. This discussion could also cover whether to include other types of stores, information on compostable bags and plans for the future of the program. Ms. Cantrell noted the ordinance has been amended to allow grocers to keep a larger percentage of the bag fee and up to $12,000 /year for the first year. Ms. Cantrell said pushing people to use paper bags will have an increased cost to grocers and if their percentage does not cover the extra cost of paper bags, the grocers will add an additional fee to make sure they are covering the cost of providing paper bags. Ms. Cantrell noted where Council can find a list of some of the research on this topic. This proposed ordinance is based on research and discussion with over 15 other towns that have `` similar ordinances. Ms. Cantrell reminded Council Aspen has been coordinating with Basalt and Carbondale. The city of Boulder is discussing this topic; Steamboat Springs in considering a fee 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 ordinance. Carbondale held a public meeting and is considering a ban on plastic bags. Basalt passed on ordinance that charges a fee for both plastic and paper bags and is willing to amend their ordinance to be the same as Aspen's. Ms. Cantrell estimated it will cost $43,000 to implement this program and much of this estimates include the visitor population. Ms. Cantrell noted a ban on plastic bags would allow Aspen to significantly reduce the number of plastic bags entering the waste stream; the fee on paper bags should also reduce their waste. Ms. Cantrell said staff felt that a fee on both plastic and paper was an interim step and would be less effective than a ban. Ms. Cantrell stated there are pros and cons to both approaches. Ms. Cantrell told Council staff has met several times with the local grocers and the consensus is that whichever way this goes, the grocers want to partner to make this a successful program. Councilman Johnson asked what the enforcement section of the ordinance would entail. Ms. Cantrell said this would require additional city staff time and is not in the proposed budget, which is solely for implementation. Jason Haberman, CORE, told Council he has met with the grocery stores in the town of Telluride, one grocery store thought is was easily implemented and the other felt the opposite. The town of Telluride stated it was an easy program to administer. Councilman Skadron said his objective is to increase the awareness of excessive consumption and to decrease waste. Councilman Skadron said this ordinance directly correlates the bag fee with a corresponding benefit and addresses his policy goals of raising awareness of excessive consumption and decreasing waste. Mayor Ireland said at the Council retreat, Council agreed to do 5 things as a Council as personal commitment to the environment. Mayor Ireland asked Council to agree to go as bagless as possible for the next 60 days and journal what being plastic bagless means. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Georgeanne Waggaman applauded Council for this proposal; however, there may not be enough of a result to justify the hassle. Ms. Waggaman suggested putting pressure on bag manufacturers to make better bags. Ms. Waggaman suggested posters in hotels, grocery stores and other places to explain what this program is attempting to do. Ms. Waggaman said there could be courtesy reusable bags in every hotel room. Riley Tippet asked if there is a protocol on how the revenue will be managed. Tippet said there needs to be an education piece to go with this ordinance. Tippet said this is a good start. Jill Teehan stated she supports this ordinance and sees it as an opportunity for Aspen to show their leaderships in the environment. Ms. Teehan said the 20 cent fee on bags seems appropriate for people to consider their conduct. Katrina DeVore said she is for this ordinance with the ban. Sydney Cantrell stated she supports the ban on plastic bags. Jackie Welgos said she also supports the ban on plastic bags and the fee on paper bags and the idea of having bags in hotel rooms. Chad Hunter, recent tourist, said he feels a ban on plastic bags is the right direction and it will be enforcing education of environmentalism. William Feldman thanked the city for their work and research and stated he is in support of the bag ban and the fee on paper bags. Karinjo DeVore said it has not been that long that people have been using plastic bags. Ms. DeVore said it is not that difficult to stop using plastic bags. 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 Casey McConnell said banning plastic bags which only are '/2 percent of the municipal waste Star seems to be leading toward other bans in the community. McConnell said the entire community should be heard and this issue should be voted on at an election. McConnell said this is a regressive issue and only goes after two businesses in the community. Tom Marshall said there are many other plastic items in the community. This ordinance feels like tax and spend and getting added revenue. Marshall said the city should figure out a better way to recycle plastic. Marshall said Aspen is a tourist town and we should not make them angry. Marshall said he cannot figure out what people will use in place of bags. Gina Murdock said she supports the bag ban and bag fee. Ms. Murdock said she heard positive responses for the bag ban in Telluride. Ms. Murdock stated this should be for all businesses and volunteered to be on a citizen committee to work on getting all businesses to be part of the bag ban. Lindsey Gurley, CORE, said she supports the bag ban and fee on paper bags. Dan Sadowski said in Europe there are fully compostable bags and suggested these be included in the legislation. The bag ban will be instituted all over Italy. Ruben Sadowski said Aspen is on the forefront of environmentalism, activism and bringing awareness to all the visitors about using plastic and their consumption. John Haley, City Market, said paper and plastic both have impacts on the environment. Haley stated he is an advocate for the store's customers and does not want to increase costs to the customers. Haley said many customers have said they do not want to be told they have to pay for paper bags. Haley said he does not support an ordinance that bans only plastic bags. Haley told Council City Market educates their employees on how much to put in plastic bags; City Market donates thousands of reusable bags. Haley said they will support what the city does. Councilman Frisch asked if the projected revenue to the grocery t..r stores will cover the costs and if not, how short will it be and would like to know if the cost of groceries will go up as a result of this ordinance so that the city can address it. Eden Vardy said he supports the bag ban as this is a small simple step that will have ripple effects in the community. Councilman Skadron asked if the way the ordinance is written, a ban on plastic and a fee on paper bags, is more effective than a fee on both. Vardy said a ban on plastic bags will have the consumer thinking about use of bags. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Johnson asked if paper takes more energy to reduce and to recycle than plastic. Ms. Cantrell said paper requires water and energy and is heavier; both paper and plastic are bad for the environment in separate ways. Councilman Torre said community outreach and information will be important. Councilman Torre said he does not favor the city budgeting for reusable bags; Councilman Torre said he would prefer going toward biodegradable bags. Councilman Torre stated driving plastic bags to Kansas to be recycled is not environmentally sound. Councilman Torre said there are products that are compostable. Councilman Torre noted there could be a phasing to include other retailers in the plastic bag ban. This can be revisited after the first year of the ordinance. Councilman Torre suggested a change in the ordinance that allow for or encourages a biodegradable alternative. Councilman Torre said he would also like to see stronger language regarding grocer compliance in recycling and reusable efforts. Councilman Torre stated he prefers a ban on plastic over a bag fee. Councilman Johnson said he feels there will be an industry push toward compostable bags. Councilman Johnson stated he supports reducing single use bags, plastic or paper, in Aspen and 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 around the world. Councilman Johnson noted the movie, Bag It, had an impact on how he uses bags. Councilman Johnson said reducing bag usage through recycling is a better environmental message. Councilman Johnson said he is concemed that this will cost the city money. Councilman Johnson said he would prefer the choice of plastic or paper bags with a fee. Councilman Johnson said the community can make a stronger point with that choice. Councilman Skadron said Aspen is doing a better job of addressing environmental issues than other places. Councilman Skadron noted a tag line from an old public service announcement is that "people start pollution; people can stop it" from Keep America Beautiful, which resulted in a large reduction in litter. Councilman Skadron said it is important to have a long term view and to raise awareness of excessive consumption and to reduce waste. Councilman Skadron stated he supports a campaign that is best supported by the ordinance with a 20 cent fee on plastic and on paper, which would move the community towards long term behavioral changes. Councilman Frisch commended Carbondale for changing their ordinance to a ban on plastic bags. Councilman Frisch said he supported the ban from the beginning. Councilman Frisch noted there is a list of cities and countries that have been doing this for years, including high tourist locations. Councilman Frisch said he does not want to be behind many of these communities. Councilman Frisch said he is confident the grocers can be made whole so that a financial hardship is not passed on to the customers. Councilman Frisch said people come to Aspen because of the Community and trying to protect the beauty that surrounds Aspen. Councilman Frisch supports a ban on plastic and a fee on paper bags. Mayor Ireland reminded Council there was uproar about paid parking; the revenues were used for buses and other driving disincentives, not other projects. Mayor Ireland proposed a fee system and sunset it at two years at which time that fee would become a ban. The two years would give time for education. Mayor Ireland said at the end of the years, Council can examine the revenues to make sure they are being put to work on education and information. Mayor Ireland moved to adopt Ordinance #24 with a fee on both plastic and paper bags, amended that fee be sunsetted at the end of two years and a ban would automatically take effect unless Council revoked the ordinance; at the end of one year, Council review the possibility of alternative bags and also review the cost of this to the grocers to make sure they are fairly compensated; review the effectiveness to see how bag use has declined; trigger mechanism for evaluating whether the fund is accumulating too much money; the effective date of the ordinance is two weeks; Mayor Ireland said he would like revenues in order to supply hotels with reusable bags. Councilman Skadron said he would prefer the ban start at the end of one year rather than two. Councilman Torre said a ban is headed in the right direction, not putting it off for one or two years. Councilman Johnson said he would support an ordinance that includes education opportunities and the two years until a ban would better reinforce that. Councilman Torre stated he supports the ordinance as written. Councilman Frisch said the ordinance as written creates sufficient money to implement a good program and the grocers can come back and report the costs and experiences to Council. Councilman Frisch said a ban is a better wake up call for ^- consumers and he does not support a fee for plastic bags. 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 Mayor Ireland withdrew his motion. fir✓ Councilman Skadron moved to adopt Ordinance #24, Series of 2011; seconded by Councilman Torre. Mayor Ireland moved to amend the motion that each Council person commit to creating a site for sharing personal experiences on reducing bag usage; seconded by Councilman Torre. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Torre said compostable bags are not precluded in this ordinance so he can support the ordinance. Roll call vote; Skadron, yes; Johnson, no; Frisch, yes; Torre, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #28, SERIES OF 2011— Lift One Lodge Final PUD Councilman Johnson left the meeting as he lives within 300 feet of the development. Chris Bendon, community development department, reminded Council this is the second public hearing and at the last hearing, there was an overview of the history of the project. There was a site visit October 5` with Councilman Frisch who was not on Council for conceptual review. Bendon submitted to Council a site plan with the stops from the site visit. Bendon said the applicant will discuss scale and mass, architecture, building layouts, an overview of the review criteria. Bob Daniel, representing the applicants, told Council there were three presentations of this project to the P &Z. There is a model of the project. Daniel reminded Council at the last meeting, the applicants discussed the goals of the project and how these were met, the changes from the 2006 application, and the COWOP process and inclusion of the ski corridor. Daniel said tonight he will discuss how one gets to this area, what is done, and how does this project fit into the area. Daniel said the applicants have discussed the project's connectivity to town and alternative methods of connectivity. Daniel said this connectivity is most appreciated on foot; the walking distance from lift lA to Rubey Park is 1540 feet; however, there are impediments to pedestrian traffic between the project and the transit center. Daniel said proposed improvements in the project will improve the pedestrian experience to Rubey Park. Daniel noted according to transit studies if transit is located within % mile, it is considered convenient and accessible. Daniel said regular shuttle service is important to guests on whether cars are rented or not. Daniel pointed out all access, ingress and egress, will be off South Aspen street. The parking will be below grade to comply with the city's design guidelines for projects at the base of the mountain. The delivery dock, trash and recycling will be below grade; there is a space for the parks department to store some of their maintenance equipment. Daniel noted the guest entry experience has been changed. In the prior project, the drop off was at the top of the cul -de -sac. Changes were made to internalize the drop off under a Porte cochere and provides the opportunity to break up the streetscape and provides access into Lift One park off South Aspen street. 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 Daniel said they propose safety improvements like narrowing the streets, adding sidewalks, removing street parking and adding a turnaround at the top of the street. Daniel said the applicants looked at snow melting South Aspen street and discovered this takes up about 20% of the energy budget for the whole project and is not an environmentally responsible approach. The applicants propose to snowmelt the sidewalk to help with pedestrian access. Daniel said the applicants worked with city staff on solutions to include a rougher paving, using larger sand to provide traction, providing both a sand truck and supply of sand for this area. Daniel told Council they worked with city engineering and came up a series of vaults along the street as catch basins to catch the sediments so it will not flow into the storm water system. Daniel concurred this is not the most vital area of Aspen, 3% of Aspen mountain skiers start at Lift One. Daniel said they do not expect a gondola plaza but to improve an alternative area with some things that will add vitality to the area, like the historical society museum as a place for people to go and experience and understand the history of skiing. There is a restaurant and apres ski area located at the base of the lift where people will want to congregate. Daniel told Council the public component of the area coupled with the ski amenities is important. The proposal has 900 square feet free public lockers integrated into the lodge building programmed for seasonal or daily use. There is direct access to the ski corridor on the east portion, access to the public parking spaces in the garage on the west side. Daniel said this project will add guests and • residents to the lift one area; there is affordable housing for 16 employees in the relocated, refurbished Skier's Chalet and Steakhouse building. Daniel said the code requires mitigation for 30% of the employee generation, which is 13 employees. The applicants have committed to 100% mitigation for 37 employees, 16 to be housed on site. Daniel said the applicants are proposing flexible room configuration for both owners and for renting to the public. Daniel showed how units can be broken into different configurations. Daniel said a second corridor has to be provided so that there can be lock off units. This second corridor counts as part of the average key size because it is part of the lodging component. Daniel said the land use code is complex in trying to calculate room sizes and it requires taking all of the area devoted to lodging divided by the number of keys to come up with an average key size. This formula does not mean there are a lot of 537 square foot bedrooms; this includes the bedrooms, bathroom, closets, circulation space and mechanical. There are 4 units that cannot be locked off so that makes the average much larger. Daniel pointed out there are 62 keys that are 396 square feet. Daniel said they feel diversity of rooms offers more opportunities for rental. Daniel said incorporating all 80 key units, it averages 472 square foot units. The prior average size room of 612 square feet has been reduced by 12 %. Daniel told Council the fractional ownership program is 8 interests totaling 176; an owner has the right to 21 nights in the summer, 21 nights in the winter. Daniel noted statistics say that 80% of the owners use 100% of the time, leaving public availability. Daniel said the owners have to provide 30 day notice to use their units. The vacant time will be listed with Stay Aspen Snowmass and all parties have a financial interest in seeing the rooms rented. The rental income goes toward mitigating expenses associated with operation of the facility and lodging components. Daniel reminded Council there has been a lot of community input on this project; before starting with Council there were 77 meetings and the 3 Council meetings bring it to a total of 80 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 meetings. Daniel agreed this project is better for the COWOP, HPC input, P &Z input, Council N,. input. Daniel said HPC ingrained in the applicants that the value of historic preservation is making sure that things are of their time and period and juxtaposing new things with old things so the relevance can be seen. Daniel noted this site has a lot of history and vitality in the past and the applicants would like to see it return to the area. The applicants will dedicate a ski corridor in perpetuity and the ordinance requires notification to buyers that this ski corridor is in perpetuity. Daniel showed the areas where setbacks are in excess of code requirements; these are primarily to the east area and for the ski corridor and ski lift corridor. Daniel said the areas for variances are lift one park where the buildings have been moved to give relief to adjacent property owners to the east. Daniel said some rights -of -way are being vacated in order to implement this plan; some of these have never been used. Daniel showed the rights -of -way at issue including Gilbert, Hill street and South Aspen and the end result is a dedicated ski corridor from the ski area to the south. There is a tramway approved setback corridor for a surface lift. Daniel pointed out the landing area for this lift is on property not controlled by this applicant. The applicants have looked at phasing this go to from a bottom terminal to just below the Hill street right of way vacation for a temporary top terminal, which is where an angle point was proposed earlier. Daniel showed the streets, street widths, parking, and no parking on South Aspen street. Daniel showed an image of South Aspen street with parking eliminated consistent with the design guidelines. Councilman Torre asked if there is budget for Deane street improvements by the city or is finishing Deane street incumbent on this applicant. Bendon said it is a combination of this applicant and city funds from other projects in the area. Councilman Torre asked if there is a delineated sidewalk in the current townhouse proposal across the street. Bendon said there is; however, he has just received an application for a do over on the project and the sidewalk will be an item for discussion. Councilman Torre said he does not want this project to result in people going up there and the feeling that the entrance to the World Cup venue or to Lift One has been lost. Councilman Torre said he would like guest transit usage numbers. Councilman Torre asked what "regular guest shuttle service" means. Councilman Frisch asked what exact rights -of -way are being lost. Bendon noted typical rights -of -way are 75' wide and the vacation request is for 37.5' and the remaining 29' wide curb to curb will be the street. Stephen Holly, Poss Architecture, pointed out the mountain is the dominant feature in architectural inspiration for any project and affects massing, layout, designing a building on a slope is different. This design honors the linking of the project to town. The design also has to deal with the slope of the town from east to west and there is a rise of 75' the length of the site. The city's design guidelines state that a building on a slope should be designed to reduce the perceived mass and scale and this design addresses that. Daniel showed a model of the project, pointing out adjacent properties. Daniel said the public will see this looking down from the mountain. Their goal was to create an inviting space slope side as people come off the mountain. Daniel pointed out the turnaround, the cascading roofs. Daniel said another view of the project is from South Aspen street and the building moves in and out. One can still see the access to the ski area and the terminus of the street. Daniel pointed out % bar they are maintaining the integrity of the ski corridor. 11 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 Councilman Skadron said he would like to know the point at which the developed property joins the undeveloped ski hill, specifically the transition characteristics. Councilman Skadron said his concern is the integrity of the ski experience. Councilman Skadron said the proposed structure is many times the size of what existed on this site and there is the juxtaposition with the historic buildings and what is the relationship between those two. Councilman Skadron asked to what degree room size is driving the total project. Councilman Torre said often new buildings made old buildings look diminutive and forgotten rather than revered and he hopes that is not the case in this project. Councilman Frisch said this project has a chance to revitalize the side of town. Daniel said one issue in trying to fit in is whether this project is relevant for the future. Daniel said the applicants have learned a lot throughout the process, one of which is one cannot be trapped by the past. Daniel said the applicants are trying to look to the future, to preserve accessibility to the parks, to provide sustainable design, a flexible room mix, green roofs, energy sustainable, reuse of existing buildings, all of these go towards a future perspective than just thinking about today. Daniel stated it is important for the applicants to balance the economy and the environment. Daniel said this area has been longing for redevelopment for years. The applicants are reusing the structures on site for purposes meaningful to the community, housing and the museum. Daniel noted they propose a ground source heat pump system over standard mechanics, which is the right thing to do and there is a premium for that system. There is also a premium for green roofs. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Phyllis Bronson said she does not see this area as an eye sore but as one of the last wild untamed places in town. Ms. Bronson said the buildings are too big. The project has come along with in the past 3 years. Ms. Bronson said the applicants are ignoring what came out of community meetings, that people do not want big lodges. Ms. Bronson stated she is concerned about the addition of 84 high end rooms. Tim Clark, Frias properties, said he would like to see vitality return to the area; the scale of the project fits in with the community, fractional component works and there is a demand for those types of units for rental. Clark said there is a need for updated lodges in this community. Clark said he likes the flexibility of the room types of sizes. Eban Clark, representing Silver Shadow, told Council his clients have been working with the developer; however, they still have objections. They are working on improvements so that they can get behind the project. Their objections are the height and mass and the location of the top of the eastern building. Mary Janss reminded Council many people worked on the Lift One COWOP to try and revitalize this area. Ms. Janss said she would like to see the ski corridor up Aspen mountain and the proposed project welcomes one to the area. Ms. Janss said she likes that the historic chalets are being restored and put to good use. Ms. Janss noted a lot of time, energy and careful thought has gone into this project. Mark Cole, Aspen Valley Ski Club and member of COWOP, said he supports this project and the increased activity on this side of the mountain. Georgia Hanson, Historical Society, said there are places that need to be preserved and the spirit of place moves one when standing and looking up the ski corridor. Ms. Hanson said she hopes to create spirit of place at the museum and the sense of the birthplace of skiing is important. Debbie Braun, ACRA, said participating in the previous COWOPS was a great opportunity and to hear and understand different r... perspectives on this area. Ms. Braun said this project has been presented to the ACRA board. 12 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 11, 2011 Ms. Braun told Council the Chamber supports this project. Councilman Torre asked if there were comments from ACRA members. Ms. Braun said many of the comments centered around lock off units, the number of keys, the importance of additional vitality and the community tradeoffs. Mike Maple agreed this is the birthplace of Aspen; without skiing Aspen would still be a beautiful place but it would not be transformed into the community. Maple noted this area has been neglected since the 70's from both redevelopment and preservation and the lift one facility is in a state of disrepair and this community amenity should have been preserved. Maple said it is a positive that two buildings will be preserved and put to use as a museum and as affordable housing and to allow access to Aspen's jewel. Maple said Aspen should have a high quality facility for the World Cup races, which are an international event. Maple said 100% affordable housing mitigation may not be necessary due to the real estate transfer taxes this property will provide. Lucas Peck, Shadow Mountain homeowners, said the developers have been working with the homeowners on outstanding issues. One concern is parking and the narrowing of South Aspen streets and the turnaround at the top will eliminate 4 spaces that the Shadow Mountain homeowners have been using and this will be a loss of parking. The developer has offered to provide those spots and Peck supported any increase in parking the developer may request. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Bendon entered into the record e-mails from Penny Evans supporting the project; Chuck Frias supporting the project and Susan Gomes also supporting the project. Councilman Torre moved to continue Ordinance #28, Series of 2011, to October 24; seconded by Councilman Frisch. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Torre moved to adjourn at 10:40 PM; seconded by Mayor Ireland. All in favor, motion carried. K. lyn och City Clerk t.. 13