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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20121022 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22,2012 CITIZENPARTICIPATION ..........................................................................................................2 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS ..............................................................................................2 CONSENTCALENDAR................................................................................................................2 • Minutes—October 9, 2012 ...............................................................................................................3 • Resolution#97, 2012—Ordinance Legal Notice Procedures............................................................3 • Resolution#98, 2012—Bike Share Equipment Purchase Contract...................................................3 • Resolution#99, 2012—State of Colorado FASTER-Transit Grant Agreement..................................3 • Resolution#100, 2012—Contract Front End Loader........................................................................3 • Resolution#101, 2012—Contract John Deere Motor Grader..........................................................3 RESOLUTION#102, SERIES OF 2012 —Temporary Use Jewish Community Center................3 RESOLUTION #103, SERIES OF 2012— South Aspen Street Lodge...............................*............3 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22,2012 Mayor Ireland called the meeting to order at 5:08 PM with Councilmembers Torre, Frisch, Johnson and Skadron present. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION There were no comments. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Torre announced early voting started today at the Pitkin County Clerk's office. Councilman Torre stated he is supporting the hydropower question; there is no right or wrong on the issue and it is up to each voter to decide what is important to them. Councilman Torre said mistakes may have been made throughout the process. Councilman Torre said it is a better investment environmentally and financially to support the hydropower project going forward. 2. Councilman Torre said the Aspen High School Skier's final football game is Friday in Basalt. 3. Councilman Johnson encouraged voters to get educated on the state and local issues. Councilman Johnson agreed that hydropower should move forward. 4. Councilman Frisch noted skier Wiley Maple is on his way to the downhill ski team; there is a fund raiser at the Wheeler for Wiley November 9t". The cross country skiers, Simi Hamilton,Noah Hoffman and Michael Ward are having a fund raiser at the Limelight November 3`d. Councilman Frisch encouraged the community to support these athletes. 5. Councilman Skadron said he supports the hydro question as well conceived and financially responsible over the long term. Councilman Skadron said this is the kind of project communities like Aspen should invest in. 6. Mayor Ireland said he supports the hydro project. Mayor Ireland said it is appalling to have unlimited money spent by undisclosed parties in Aspen elections. Mayor Ireland said people should be skeptical when they are not told who is paying for studies that are being quoted as a for or against argument. 7. Councilman Frisch announced the Nordic Council is looking for volunteers for their board; they meet on the 3`d Wednesday monthly. 8. Councilman Skadron said RFTA's budget cycle is looking good. The BRT project is on schedule and the bus stops architectural elements will be used to run the electronics for the new system. CONSENT CALENDAR 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22,2012 Kathryn Koch, city clerk, pointed out the resolution regarding legal notices specifically states that the abbreviated notice will be published in a newspaper. Councilman Johnson asked about the bike share contract and if it is not successful and the funding comes from federal grants, how does the funding get unwound? John Krueger, transportation department, pointed out the city is only purchasing one kiosk and the net outlay is $6,000. Lynn Rumbaugh, transportation department, told Council the vendor is winning most bike share contracts and there will be an opportunity for resale. Councilman Torre moved to approve the consent calendar; seconded by Councilman Johnson. The consent calendar is: • Minutes—October 9, 2012 • Resolution#97, 2012—Ordinance Legal Notice Procedures • Resolution#98, 2012—Bike Share Equipment Purchase Contract • Resolution#99, 2012— State of Colorado FASTER-Transit Grant Agreement • Resolution#100, 2012 —Contract Front End Loader • Resolution#101, 2012—Contract John Deere Motor Grader All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION#102, SERIES OF 2012—Temporary Use Jewish Community Center Chris Bendon, community development department, said this application is for a temporary use at 557 North Mill street, formerly the Aspen Brewing Company, for the Jewish Community headquarters and offices. Mayor Ireland said this seems appropriate. Councilman Skadron said he would like to make sure that the facility will be used as described. Councilman Johnson brought up changes to the S/C/I zone discussed by Council and staff. Bendon noted discussion of S/C/I is on the work program and one of Council's BYY goals is look at encouraging local businesses. Bendon said he receives frequent requests from business owners about locating in the S/C/I zone; however, most of them do not fit the nature of the zone district. Bendon stated this indicates that the S/C/I zone needs to be looked at. Rabbi Mendel Mintz told Council the Jewish Community Center looked at several alternatives for a temporary location and this fit more of the needs than others. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Johnson moved to adopt Resolution#102, Series of 2012; seconded by Councilman Frisch, All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #103, SERIES OF 2012—South Aspen Street Lodge 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22,2012 Councilman Johnson recused himself as he lives within 300 feet of the project. Chris Bendon, community development department, told Council the applicants are ASV LLC, represented by David Parker. This property is lots 1, 2, and 3 of the south Aspen street subdivision, west of South Aspen street, south of Dean street. This was previously reviewed as the Lodge at Aspen Mountain. There is a townhome approval for this property granted in 2003 for 14 free market units and 17 affordable housing units and is a fully entitled approval. Bendon reminded Council in 2008, four property owners including this property, the city of Aspen, Lift One Lodge and the Aspen Skiing Company, engaged in a master planning process known as COWOP I. This group presented a project to Council, which was not approved and the property owners separated. The Lift One Lodge received approval for its property across the street in 2011. Subsequently, there was a Lodge at Aspen Mountain COWOP, known as COWOP II. There were reductions in the overall scope and this received a recommendation of approval from the COWOP group but was never presented to Council. The property changed hands and is now owned by this applicant. The applicants presented a revised town home approval to Council, who requested the applicant look again at a lodging project. Council, P&Z and the applicant engaged in a sketch plan review in July 2012 to discuss parameters for a lodge project. Bendon said staff feels the townhome decision was unfortunate and it does little for the community and for the resort. Bendon noted the townhouses are 4500 square feet apiece; staff expects that these would be dormant much of the year and does not fill a need for the resort. This proposal is for a lodge on parcel 1, the lower parcel with 76 units at about above grade 84,000 square feet with a below grade parking garage. The building is 50' at its highest point. The two upper parcels contain 35 free market residences, each of which has a lock off unit that could be rented separately. These units range in size from 1800 square feet to 2250 square feet. These two buildings have about 85,000 square feet. The heights are mid-30' to mid-40' with some higher areas for mechanical. Bendon told Council the affordable housing requirement for the project is 43 FTEs, 19 on site and 24 off site. The FTEs will be housed in 6 dormitory units and 4 one-bedroom units. The off-site units would be located at the Airport Business Center and are 8 two-bedroom units. Bendon pointed out the land use code allows for incentives for on-site affordable housing versus off-site housing. If all affordable housing were on site, 39 FTEs would meet the city requirements; the applicant is providing 43 FTEs. If all housing was off-site and there were no incentives,the requirement would be 89 FTEs. Bendon said this application requests all reviews for full entitlement to final PUD, design review; staff and the applicant have agreed to restrict this is a conceptual PUD and focus on program, site plan, massing, and visual effect. Staff and the applicant said agreement on these issues is fundamental on whether to go forward or not. It would be a waste of time to talk about architectural if there is not agreement on the program. Bendon reminded Council the majority of heights for the Lift One Lodge project approved for across the street are in the upper 40's with the highest point being 56'. This project is roughly the same as the project across the street. Bendon said at the sketch plan, the 3 main points were the city's desire for short term lodging on this site, discussion about heights and anything starting with a 6 for height would be nixed; discussion about the desirability of affordable housing on site and provided by this project. Bendon noted P&Z's review focused on their concerns about the project and their suggestions 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22,2012 for the project. P&Z adopted a resolution outlining the concerns and suggestions. P&Z was concerned about free market residential, that it may feel like a private enclave, that it may be over balanced on free market; however, it might not be as bad as the townhouses. P&Z was concerned about the vehicular access point for the lodge on Garmisch street and the applicant relocated it to South Aspen street. P&Z suggested the free market portion function more lodge-like and assist the hotel to increase short term rental in the neighborhood. P&Z commented on maximizing on-street parking; discussions on vacating Juan street; increasing and/or decreasing affordable housing; clarification on the massing impacts. Bendon said the aim of this conceptual review is to garner a resolution from Council that approves of the program, site planning and massing and outlines requirements for final application. David Parker, representing the applicant, told Council they purchased the site in 2010 and purchased it with the hopes of building a hotel on site. Parker said after 12 months of study, they could not make it work and changed to work on making the existing townhomes better. When the revised townhouse plan was presented to Council, they requested to work together to see if a lodge could be built on this property. Parker said this hotel plan has the hotel building at the north end of the site, closer to downtown and across from the future surface lift. The size of the building has been increased to hold the 75 key-minimum hotel operators want. The upper two buildings are the same size. The affordable housing building was integrated into the lodge building. This is the project that was reviewed by P&Z where changes were made; the garage access was moved from Garmisch to Aspen, making Juan street just for residents. Vacating Juan street and moving the hotel into Juan street was discussed. P&Z requested sight lines and Parker showed elevations from the Lift One project, and compared to what COWOP II proposed and what the sight lines could be, the sight lines of the approved townhome plan and the previous hotel. Parker said the affordable housing is in two separate spots. Parker showed the proximity to Juan street with 10' clearance to the entrance to the parking garage. Parker pointed out some of the proposed heights, tall as 58' in some places. Parker showed renderings of the garage entrance, the upper and middle building from across the street and looking up the street. Parker noted at the sketch plan meeting, the applicants heard some support for this approach and willingness to discuss concessions on the city's part in parking, fees and affordable housing. Parker said P&Z expressed support for a hotel; however, they had concerns about mass, height, the number of residential units and the configuration as free market residential, long term financial viability and affordable housing. Parker stated the applicants cannot put affordable housing on site and maintain the scale the community is looking for. Parker told Council hotel operators prefer 100 hotel rooms or more because of the seasonality of the market. Parker said the applicants are aware of the COWOP review and the community input on what is acceptable on this site. The applicants have concern about making a hotel work on this site and whether or not that size structure would be appropriate for the neighborhood. Councilman Skadron asked the size of the project from COWOP 11. Parker said it was 131,000 square feet; this project is 170,000 square feet. The approved townhome project is 75,000 square feet including the affordable housing. Bendon said the townhome project also consumes the entire site. Councilman Skadron asked if the above ground massing has increased from 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22,2012 Council's previous review. Parker said it has by another floor to the lower building to try and get more lodge rooms in the project. Councilman Skadron noted the applicants are asking for a decrease in impacts by about 70%; the FAR of the project has increased by 30%. Councilman Skadron said what is driving this proposal is Council's desire and staff's recommendation for a project that activates this part of town. Councilman Skadron asked if a hotel component subordinate to the free market units achieves that. Bendon said the townhouse project would have lower utilization of the property, given the size and value of the units. There will be more people on this property if it is a lodge. The proposed smaller free market units and more of them may have a higher utilization. Bendon said it would be interesting to discover at what point a size of a free market unit lend itself to staying in a short term rental pool. Bendon noted the market for timeshare units has decreased, thus a reluctance to build more fractional units. Bendon said staff's position is that with this proposal, the entire property will act as a hotel. Councilman Skadron said some of his issues are that the buildings remain distinct, that gaps to Shadow mountain be appropriate, impacts to Juan street be mitigated as much as possible. Parker said the approved townhouse project is 5' off the 2' wall. This project is 10' off the parking garage and the building is set back from that. Councilman Skadron asked what impact the garage wall will have on the quality of life for Juan street residents. The applicant pointed out this design is an improvement over the approved design for the property. Councilman Skadron asked the experience of accessing the mountain from this property as a local resident and is there drive up access to the lift. Bendon said there is drive up public access to Lift IA. Councilman Skadron asked if this project detracts or enhances Aspen's pursuit of small down character. Bendon said in general staff looks at how parcels in town can be leveraged for the entire Aspen experience. As a guest, an in-town lodge where you do not need a car and can walk is an Aspen experience for which guests pay money to do. This parcel can leverage those attributes. For the last 10 years, the city has said this parcel should be lodging. This property represents an opportunity for an Aspen experience. Councilman Torre asked the maximum occupancy for the lodge and for the free market. Parker said 150 in the hotel building and including the free market, 250 guests. Councilman Frisch and Mayor Ireland agreed the vitality in free market units has not proven to be the case. Mayor Ireland said the issue for Council is to choose between townhouse development and lodge development. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Paul Taddune, representing Lift One Condominiums, pointed out the P&Z resolution states certain aspects of the project are hard to understand and that a 3-D rendering of the project would help understand the scale and mass of the project. Taddune requested that the applicant provide a 3-D rendering. Taddune noted there have been a cannibalization of the Lift One's views and a diminution of experience to renters of the units. The proposed project has gone from 3 to 4 stories. Taddune reminded Council the previous applicant had conversations with surrounding property owners resulting in more positive experiences. Michael Morgan, Juan street homeowners, told Council he was a member of COWOP II and in favor of that project. Morgan said their HOA has been involved in almost all iterations of this project. Morgan said their concerns were addressed with the developer in the townhouse II 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22,2012 project. The major issues with this proposal are the loss of on street parking on Juan street; vacation of Juan street to allow for a hotel arrival/departure area, a 24 hour active business area 10' from houses; air quality from idling vehicles, and safety for the children of the area. Morgan said they would like that entrance moved either farther east or to Aspen street. The height of 59'6" is an issue and is directly east of the Juan street units and Shadow mountain makes this area canyon-like. Kerri Johnson, Juan street, told Council her family, with 3 kids, has been a resident of Juan street for over 12 years. Ms. Johnson said this proposal has had no public outreach or regard for the families on Juan street. Ms. Johnson said there are 11 on street parking spaces, used by visitors, service people; the current plan has no on street parking with the closest parking 300 yards away. Ms. Johnson said they have enjoyed their side yards for 12 years and have worked with every other developer to maintain the side yard. This proposal will have the play area adjacent to a garage entrance. Juan street will be replaced by a large transit center and the entrance to the project will become the front yard for Juan street residents. Ms. Johnson noted Council is proposing reducing heights in the downtown core to 28' and this proposal has 58'6"heights in a residential neighborhood. Ms. Johnson said the residents have worked with all former developers to address the concerns and allow the project to move forward. This plan is a disappointment and a step backwards. Ms. Johnson said the residents are open to working with applicants as they feel a lodge project in this location makes sense for the community and there are changes that can make the project work for the applicant and for the residents. Denis Murray, Trainer's Landing, reminded Council mass and scale was a large debate in the COWOP process and people accepted 130,000 square feet. This project is above that size. The COWOP was in favor of"lights on" and this will be a private enclave for the upper two lots. Murray told Council one of the reasons for a favorable vote for the previous project was the 17 on-site affordable housing units. Mayor Ireland continued the public hearing. Councilman Torre said this proposal is further away from what he would support for this site. Councilman Torre agreed with P&Z comments that a majority of the square footage is given over to the free market portion of the project. Councilman Torre said he does not think the lock off units is viable. Moving the free market units up the hill seems to serve to increase their value. Councilman Torre said he favored the mixed use project in COWOP IL Councilman Torre stated he is still interested in trying to make a lodge work for this site. Councilman Frisch said the community and Council need to think big picture and it will be a failure if this site is only townhouses. Councilman Frisch said hotels need some financial support, like fractional units and Aspen has large mitigation fees/unit. Councilman Frisch asked why another 25 hotel rooms, for a total of 100, cannot be produced on site. Parker said they cannot put lodge rooms in the upper two buildings and every hotel room loses money; they do not pay for themselves. Parker said if two floors could be added to the lower building, they could add more hotel rooms. Councilman Frisch asked if the developer could produce another 25 rooms if the mitigation was zero. Parker said that would not produce more hotel rooms. Councilman Frisch said two issues that might help are height and mitigation; Councilman Frisch stated he is sensitive to the bulk and mass issues, which is a visible reminder for a long time. Parker said hotels are their specialty and the applicants have not been able to make a hotel work 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22,2012 on this site due to the general economics, the economics of Aspen and the seasonality of the market in Aspen. Councilman Frisch said his preference is to stay with the mass and scale and get more hotel rooms. Bendon told Council the focus is on the program, the uses, and their amount, the site plan and the massing. Bendon said Council should discuss the fees, possible abatements, where they are coming from, etc. Mayor Ireland said the applicant should meet with the neighbors, especially about the garage, to see what solutions can be worked out. Mayor Ireland noted how to pay for the fees is another issue. Mayor Ireland said the community looks for 60% affordable housing from developments; this project proposes 43 full time equivalents and 89 FTE represents 60. Units on site are counted more toward total mitigation and 19 units are on site, which would be a 38 FTE credit and 39 more units would be needed. Mayor Ireland noted projects have sold for$2500/square foot and $3000/square foot for on mountain luxury units does not seem unreasonable. Using this number, the project could garner $258 million in gross sales. Mayor Ireland proposed a tax of .000796% of fair market value assessed against the project on an annual basis through a homeowner's association. Mayor Ireland said multiplying the $258 million times .000796 equals $20 million of assessed value and every mil of property taxes raises $1/thousand. One mil would raise $25,000 and the revenue stream could pay for the impacts from the owners of this property and would not be an upfront burden on the developer. Mayor Ireland said this seems to be a fair way to pay these impacts and spreads the costs over more owners. Mayor Ireland stated he is not supportive of building affordable housing at the Airport Business Center. Mayor Ireland said it is appropriate that the owners who are having an impact on the community should carry the burden. The burden on the homeowners would be tax deductible. Councilman Frisch asked the total FAR of the townhouse project. Parker said including affordable housing, it is about 75,000 square feet; this proposal is 170,000 square feet. Councilman Torre questioned the impact of 2 large buildings on the neighborhood and the community for 35 free market units; the community should not give up everything for 76 hotel units. Councilman Torre agreed he does not support affordable housing going out to the AABC. Parker said the developers can draw anything on this site; however, in order to make it financially feasible, they have parameters. Parker told Council the investors develop hotels for their living and they cannot make this site work as a hotel. Mayor Ireland stated his choice is whether to have 17 townhouses or something else and stated he would like to see a hotel on this site and is willing to make some compromises. Mayor Ireland said he would like this applicant to meet with the neighbors. Councilmembers Skadron and Frisch agreed. Councilman Skadron said the goal is to make Aspen better without making it bigger. Councilman Skadron stated this is predominantly a free market project with a lodging component; however, he will support moving forward. Mayor Ireland said he would like to see more affordable housing and would like to see those in town. Parker said the proposed mil levy only offsets for housing impacts, not hotel operations, which are a loss. Parker told Council the applicants have not met with the neighbors because they are trying to define the box. Mayor Ireland moved to continue the public hearing to November 12, 2012; seconded by Councilman Frisch. All in favor, motion carried. 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22,2012 Mayor Ireland moved to adjourn at 7:55 PM; seconded by Councilman Torre. All in favor, motion carried. Kathryn Koch City Clerk 9