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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20111025 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council October 25, 2011 ORDINANCE #28, SERIES OF 2011— Lift One Lodge Final PUD 2 RECONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION #69, 2011 — Contract Geothermal Test Well 4 1 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council October 25, 2011 Mayor Ireland called the continued meeting to order at 3 PM with Councilmembers Skadron, Frisch and Torre present. ORDINANCE #28, SERIES OF 2011— Lift One Lodge Final PUD Chris Bendon, community development department, reminded Council this is the third public hearing at Council on this project with two more Council meetings scheduled to finalize this project. Bendon said the applicant will present changes to the application that are a result of meetings with the city and with neighbors of the project. Bob Daniel, representing the applicant, said during land use applications, Council is often in the position of mediating between neighbors. Daniel said the applicants have worked hard with the neighbors, especially neighbors to the east, the Cascade townhomes, the Silver shadow and Caribou condominiums. Daniel said there will be a letter of support in the record from the owner of the Cascade properties as well as from the other two properties. Daniel reminded Council the concern of the Silver Shadow property was the upper level of the south most portion of the eastern building and the applicant has worked hard to come up with a solution. Daniel said the issue was the elevation and the upper free market unit was an area of concern. Daniel told Council they have removed that unit, taken off the upper level of the east building. Spaces on the western building have been filled in where there is not adjacency issue with neighbors; this is not increasing the mass but filling in decks. Units on the next level down have been shifted around, restaurant space has been moved and the size of the free market units has decreased to accomplish this change. Daniel showed the existing west elevation of the west building and where the spaces have been filled in. Daniel noted these changes create a reduction in the overall floor area and overall square footage of free market. Bendon said these are reasonable accommodation for the neighbors. Bendon pointed out the review criteria, the land use code provides decision making criteria and these are organized under the different reviews for Council, like consistency with the AACP to infrastructure. After the criteria are listed staff comments for each criterion. Staff found that each criterion complies or complies with condition and staff has provided a condition of approval if necessary and a note where that condition is spelled out in the ordinance. Bendon said each criterion has been met outright or with a condition of approval and the project meets the standards of the land use code. Bendon told Council the development review committee, made up of all the referral agencies, reviewed the application and the packet has a summary of their comments. Bendon went through the ordinance. One item is the requirement for ski easements for the construction, operation and maintenance of the lift, for the ski corridor, public pedestrian access through the ski corridor so people can walk through it; there is public access through the Porte cochere onto Lift One park, public recreation maintenance agreement for the parks department. Councilman Skadron asked if these public easements are noted to the public once the structure is built. Bendon pointed out the street and alley vacations, including phantom alleys and streets in Willoughby park. Bendon noted the zoning for the various parcels which the ordinance approves. There is a requirement to provide a public locker facility, which was an issue at P &Z, at no less than 900 square feet. There is an agreement about snow grooming between the city and the applicant, although a third party could do the grooming. There is a requirement to 2 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council October 25, 2011 disclose the ski operation and the lift corridor, that transfer documents disclose the potential for a lift developed through the ski corridor. There is a requirement for an occupancy report, a requirement for public rental for the time share units, a requirement for an employee general audit. The ordinances contains financial assurances, performance bond and site protection fund requirements. The employee mitigation requirement to provide housing is for 13.6 employees and the applicant is mitigating for 37 employees and the applicant has volunteered 100% mitigation. The mitigation off site can be new units, payment -in -lieu, and employee housing credits or buy downs. Mayor Ireland said he would prefer cash -in -lieu payment not be an option. Bendon said the construction mitigation plan includes a requirement to accommodate the Winternational event to the satisfaction of the local coordinator. The ordinance requires completion of the museum to a white box or to issuance of a CO. Bendon said there is significant green construction that is not required under city code and is something the applicant has chosen to do. Bendon reminded Council the AACP describes this area as appropriate for lodging. Bendon said staff feels the flexible room configuration is an asset in this application. Bendon said there are significant infrastructure improvements including accommodating the needs of the neighbors. Bendon noted the original application was a totally code compliant project; however, the inclusion of the lift corridor through the project required moving buildings on the site and doing street vacations. Bendon said staff recognizes all the benefits and recommends Council approval. Councilman Torre said he would like to know Ski Company's future vision for this side of the mountain. This project has the support of AVSC and the Ski Company and asked if these are in writing. Councilman Torre asked if the street and engineering departments have signed off on the whole product of the streets and sidewalks. Councilman Torre concurred about cash -in -lieu not being an option. Councilman Torre asked about the volleyball courts and if parks department has an alternate location. Bendon said there is a short list and he will get a note from them for the next meeting. Councilman Torre requested a southern elevation. Councilman Torre asked if the ground floor units are outside accessible. Daniel said that varies depending on location. Councilman Torre said he would like a better representation of the proposed street vacations which are a public property and the trade off for that is what the community wants to see on this property. Councilman Skadron asked what effect building only 60% affordable housing on site would have on the built environment, does it result in a substantial decrease in mass and scale. Bendon answered there are 16 FTEs housed in the Steak House building on site; the housing for the other 21 FTEs is off site. Lowering the percentage housed would not have a direct effect on the mass on site. Councilman Skadron said a sense of place is important to him and to the community and said he would like to see the transition from the built environment to the mountain and that the finished project fulfills the representations that have been made. One thing that is important is the welcoming nature of the project to the public. Bendon told Council the residents of Shadow Mountain Townhomes are concerned about parking in the right -of -way they have always used and recommended the parking numbers be increased to offset that parking accommodation of 8 spaces in the subgrade parking which would make the total 164, 50 of which will be public parking spaces. The public parking will be monitored by the city parking department who can dictate whether this is hourly or residential parking permit. 3 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council October 25, 2011 Mayor Ireland moved to continue Ordinance #28, 2011, to November 14, 2011; seconded by Councilman Torre. All in favor, motion carried. RECONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION #69, 2011— Contract Geothermal Test Well Lauren McDonnell, environmental initiatives program manager, told Council staff has tried to be sensitive to the impacts on the neighbors with this test well project. Ms. McDonnell said the time of year was chosen as there would be fewer parks users and part-time residents may not be here. Ms. McDonnell said staff has worked diligently on neighborhood outreach. Ms. McDonnell told Council the contractor was selected because of their experience in working in residential areas and meeting noise limits and preventing negative impacts. Ms. McDonnell told Council this project meets and in some aspects exceeds the requirements set by the city for development projects. There will be impacts and staff and the contractor are doing all they can to mitigate these impacts. Ms. McDonnell said once the test hole is drilled and the data is collected, it will be capped with a locking manhole in order to collect data in the future if necessary. Ms. McDonnell said as the test hole is being drilled, there will be casing injected to help prevent intrusion of the test hole water with ground water. Any water removed will be tested in order to confirm no toxicity exists. If the well produces more water than expected, there will be storage trucks on site and staff is working with the storm water manager to filter to the ordinance's standards. This will not be hot water. Ms. McDonnell told Council air pollution is not a big risk and the city's construction requirements for dust mitigation will be followed. There is a permit from the state division of water resources to drill the monitoring hole. In order to receive a grant from the Governor's energy office, the city has addressed NEPA requirements including water quality, flood plain, wildlife considerations and historic preservation. Ms. McDonnell said the project has support from the city's open space and trails board and is going through the city's CMP working with every department that has requirements for construction projects. Ms. McDonnell told Council the Leadville limestone formation is a geological feature where the drilling is taking place and the test well has to get through that to access the geothermal resource. This comes at a 50 degree slope and at the project this is 750 to 1000 feet below ground, which makes this an economical place to start the test. There is contingency up to 1500 feet because of the unknowns. Ms. McDonnell said staff has pursued private test wells in order to add to the data bank. So far none has been available and most of the holes drilled are shallower than this one. These private test wells will not replace the need for this project. Ms. McDonnell said the drill rig will be positioned to go towards the river and away from houses; there will be screening and sound walls used on areas closest to houses. The entire project will be fenced with fiber sound boards. Suppression will be used on the actual rig to keep the noise down. Ms. McDonnell said the initial drilling will be pulse sounds; after that it will be a rotary drill. This project is limited to 80 decibels by city ordinance. The total drilling will be 6 to 10 days. This project needs to keep on scheduled as the Governor's grant of $50,000 is only good until the end of 2011. The contractor is ready to mobilize. 4 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council October 25, 2011 Councilman Torre asked the diameter of the drill hole. Ms. McDonnell said the diameter is expected at 8" and specifications have changed on total footprint and noise since July based on the contractor chosen and what is feasible. The city's consultant initially thought the footprint for this would be about 500 square feet; after reassessing, it will take 3500 square feet to accommodate the fencing and sound mitigation. Councilman Torre asked for a description of the future of this experiment. Ms. McDonnell said the future of the project depends on what is discovered from the test well. It could be a district heating system as other communities have. Depending on temperatures and pressure, this would go through a heat exchanger in the large commercial buildings. Councilman Skadron noted the staff reports they have met and exceeded the city's mitigation standards, they have permitted every level of government; they have addressed and met NEPA standards, staff is going above and beyond construction mitigation standards and are exceeding noise mitigation. Councilman Skadron said hearing this, he concludes that all the neighbors' concerns have been addressed. Mayor Ireland asked if it is known whether there is water under pressure in this location. Ms McDonell said the city is not expecting a geyser but will test for a certain amount of pressure, which is what would make this project viable. Mayor Ireland asked if there is the possibility of penetration of a salt water layer. Ms. McDonnell said part of the purpose of the casing is to prevent intrusion between the aquifers and different levels. Ms McDonnell said staff is seeking data on the chemical composition of the water also. Mayor Ireland asked if there is any chance of hitting below - ground mining shafts. Ms. McDonnell said part of the reason this site was chosen is to be close to mining activity and according to the mine maps, this is avoiding mines. Mayor Ireland asked if there is any possibility this water could be hot enough to generate electricity. Ms. McDonnell said they are not expecting that temperature. Tom Isaac said many of his questions have been answered. Isaac pointed out some renters will be very close to this well drilling and they may not have been notified. Isaac said the river is very close to this dwell site and the river is a pristine benefit to the community; if there were leakage of heavy minerals or heated water, the impact would be huge. Mayor Ireland asked if, after the well is capped, are there tests to make sure the site is not leaking. Ms. McDonnell said they have not thought of that and it depends on how long this remains a monitoring hole. The city has permission to keep it as a monitoring hole for one year, based on what is found. If that time is extended, the well should be monitored to make sure the casing is holding and the water quality is being protected. Mayor Ireland said that is reasonable. Councilman Torre asked what happens at the end of one year. Ms. McDonnell said the well would be capped and the area restored. There is a process from the state engineer's office on how to cap wells, which would be followed. Mayor Ireland moved to approve Resolution #69, Series of 2011; seconded by Councilman Johnson. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Torre moved to adjourn at 4:55 PM; seconded by Mayor Ireland. All in favor, motion carried. elf Or i ii 1/41 fiet& 5