Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20191217 1 REGULAR MEETING CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 17TH, 2019 Mayor Torre opened the meeting at 5:00 p.m. Councilmembers in attendance: Mayor Torre, Councilwoman Richards, Councilman Mesirow, Councilman Hauenstein. Absent was Councilwoman Mullins. Staff present: Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk James R True, City Attorney Sara Ott, City Manager SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCE: Swearing in of new City of Aspen police officers, Alyse Vollmer and Amanda Severin. PUBLIC COMMENT: Scott McDonald – Mr. McDonald read aloud a letter regarding 1000 E. Cooper and the Cleveland Street boundary encroachment anomaly. He he has already met with Torre about this issue and said that the GIS issue was reported to the engineering department three years ago and nothing has been done. He has also reported the issue to Jim True. Philip Wolf, Creator of Cultivating Spirits – Mr. Wolf said he spoke to council a few months back about the Cannabis Hospitality bill, which will take effect on January 21st, 2020. With this bill, there are three types of hospitality establishments that the state will allow: a mobile lounge, cannabis hospitality establishment, the third allows for the sale of cannabis onsite. This is an opportunity to fill in some gaps here in Aspen. It has been very successful in west Hollywood. Having this, gives another option for late night activity besides just drinking and helps with mental health to have this as another option. Toni Kronberg – Ms. Kronberg gave handouts to council. She said she was remiss when speaking about Galena plaza the previous night when she forgot to thank Bill Sterling and Harry Teague for their help in getting this project reconsidered. She asked council to pull the item on Maroon Creek for discussion to explain to the public what it involves. Ms. Kronberg thanked Linda Manning for her professionalism on her last day with the city. She continued to speak about Galena plaza and what she would like to see. Mayor Torre closed public comment. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Councilman Hauenstein wished everyone happy holidays and Councilman Mesirow seconded. Councilwoman Richards wished everyone happy holidays and said all she wants for Christmas is her democracy back. Tonight, is the eve of an impeachment vote in congress. This is a major breach of power. This is a solemn occasion in the country’s history. Mayor Torre said there is a march going on in the streets as we speak. He recognized Linda Manning and her work for the city and thanked her for all she’s done. All of the council member thanked her. He said there is a better meeting than this at the Aspen Historical Society for their annual cookie exchange. He said this is the last meeting of the year and six months for the new council in office and six months of learning how to be more effective. There are many challenges, but he vows his commitment to the community, environment, quality of life and prosperity for 2020. 2 REGULAR MEETING CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 17TH, 2019 AGENDA AMENDMENTS: None. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: Ms. Ott announced that Ms. Henning has accepted the interim city clerk position. The board welcomed Ms. Henning. BOARD REPORTS: Councilman Hauenstein commented that the Aspen Snowmass Nordic Council is meeting tomorrow, and he will be telling them how excited council is about cross-country day. CONSENT CALENDAR: Mayor Torre asked to call up resolution #118 regarding the roundabout improvements. Councilwoman Richards moved to approve resolutions #142, #148, #149 and the minutes of December 10th, 2019. Councilman Mesirow seconded. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #118: Jack Dannenberg and Pete Rice of the City Engineering Department Mr. Rice announced that Mr. Dannenberg just obtained his P.E., and everyone congratulated him. Mr. Rice said the original focus was more on Castle and Maroon and improving that to achieve a better flowing roundabout. So now, the focus is on Cemetery Lane and the transition point to the roundabout. The focus is still very data driven. There is a piece that is non infrastructure, but building into a project which CDOT will work on in a couple of years. CDOT also just notified us that they got some funding to help us with this project. Councilwoman Richards said she’s ready to move forward with this. Councilman Hauenstein said he has reservations and needs to be convinced that this is a productive expenditure of $97,000. Mr. Rice said this gives you choices to change things and a voice with CDOT to lead up to the bigger project. Mr. Dannenberg said this is a data driven project that will supply us with a lot of information and models to help make future decisions. This project will be tiered and phased, and the second part of the project will bring together some fixes or solutions, which can be implemented at a faster pace. Some of the non-infrastructure options include: metering, striping, signage and stakeholder involvement. They will look at the existing traffic lights at Cemetery and Truscott and use those as metering options to create gaps. The next step will be the infrastructure solutions and our consultant will provide several alternatives. Mayor Torre said they came back with infrastructure and non-infrastructure options, so they’ve broadened the scope and maybe now we can make some actual improvements. They’ve brought this the right direction. Mr. Rice said these are little things to make incremental changes and they know they won’t solve all of the S curve problems, but metering can make a huge impact. It’s a method that has been very successful in other places. Mr. Rice said we need the data and info to give more answers and this gives CDOT a chance to do that. They wouldn’t put their time or money into this if they didn’t think something could be done and they called him frantically an hour ago with excitement about the funding for the project. Councilman Hauenstein said he’s not jumping with joy to approve this, but he will support it and hopes good things come of it. Councilwoman moved to approve resolution #118, Mr. Hauenstein seconded. All in favor, motion carried. 3 REGULAR MEETING CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 17TH, 2019 RESOLUTION #137, SERIES OF 2019: Grey Lady Temporary Use Kevin Rayes, City of Aspen Planner Mayor Torre recused himself. Mr. Rayes said this request is for a temporary placement of a plastic canvas tent on the trellis structure at the Grey Lady restaurant. This is for extended winter seating and a space for the Saturday winter market. The request is for 105 days to go from December 18th to March 31st. It is located just off the pedestrian mall and showed the proposed tent structure on the screen. According to the commercial design guidelines, a tent should be of non-reflective material and durable. Staff finds that the criteria is not met. They find that the canvas isn’t durable, and the weathering characteristics aren’t suitable for a mountain climate. Mr. Rayes continued to explain why the criteria isn’t met. He said this is the 6th annual request from Grey Lady and that staff has always recommended denial. There have been issues with the applicant erecting the tent before approval and after the deadline of removal. He showed a picture of the structure being constructed today before approval. Councilwoman Richards said it’s a hard edge and then it relaxes and seems to go in this pattern. Mr. Rayes said the reason it’s gone back and forth, is because there was an understanding over the years, that this building would be torn down at some point. Councilman Mesirow said there is a benefit to local businesses, and if they were to approve, could they enforce a fee or fine. Mr. Supino said they could charge a daily rate if not taken down by the deadline. Applicant Presentation: Ryan Chadwick Mr. Chadwick said the tent is custom built by a group out of Grand Junction and cost $30,000. It’s not just a tent, it’s more involved than that. He apologized for the delays on constructing and taking down but said the group from Grand Junction have to do that. He said the top of the tent is clear, so it is open to the sky. That area would just be a snow pit if he wasn’t doing the winter market. He said he doesn’t want to keep coming to council every year with this ask, but he thinks it’s probably the last season. He would really appreciate one more season. Councilman Mesirow said the main benefit to the community is the market. He asked if Mr. Chadwick would consider a weekend market and commit to both Saturday and Sunday. Mr. Chadwick said it is hard to get vendors to commit to it as well and it’s a great use of the space. Councilwoman Richards said she will approve this with the condition of the market being a weekend market. PUBLIC COMMENT: Linda Manning - Ms. Manning said she hates that Mr. Chadwick has to come back six years in a row while the Jerome continues to be approved, and the same with the St. Regis and Maroon Creek Club. She doesn’t know why the only local person that has to come back every year is Mr. Chadwick. He still pays rent for the patio and it is public amenity space, but the general can’t bring in food and sit there to eat. The weekend market is great, but the opportunity is great to get 40 extra seats out there in the winter time. 4 REGULAR MEETING CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 17TH, 2019 Patty clapper - Ms. Clapper said she is here supporting mostly the weekend market. It helps to sustain and promote Pitkin County’s sustainable agriculture. It’s been a hugely successful program and it would be nice for them to have a venue to share their products. It’s winter and it’s amazing to allow young people to market their wares. It’s hard in the winter to have all the qualities you’d like to see, as far as the tent goes. It’s manufactured to fit the space and to respect some of the historic nature of the corner. She encourages all three of you to support this. Yanna Blasi – Ms. Blasi said she is one of the vendors for the winter market and said it’s a very important venue for different artists. We can do two days if needed. There are plenty of people who need a place to sell their merchandise. She would love for this to be approved again for one more year. Toni Kronberg – Ms. Kronberg said this is a really important corner. She asked what would be worse, to have an eyesore or a beautiful market? She asked council to please grant the approval and said it’s a community gathering place. Public comment closed. Councilman Mesirow said he is supportive, and we need more vibrancy. Councilwoman Richards is supportive of the request and she hopes it’s the last year. She said it’s important to apply historic standards equally across the board. Councilwoman Richards motioned to approve Resolution #137, with an amendment to section 2, that this should be a weekend market, Councilman Mesirow seconded. Mr. Hauenstein made the request of using electric heat instead of natural gas and Mr. Chadwick said he can look and see what else he can find. He has two patio heaters out there now. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #146, SERIES OF 2019: Temporary Use of Commercial Parking 415 E. Dean St. Mike Kramer, City of Aspen Planner Mr. Kramer said that overall, staff is supportive. He said this request is the outcome of a work session with the parking department. At the work session, city council gave direction to eliminate the valet service at the base of the gondola. The parking director identified the Hyatt and the potential use of their subgrade parking structure. There are 30 underutilized spaces there. Overall, staff is supportive of this application. He’s been working with the applicant, and they’ve identified an operating plan and it was not attached to the packet but is showing on screen. The plan clearly shows short term and not long-term parking, related to skier parking. Some overnight parking has also been built into the plan. The applicant is proposing using sandwich board signage for directing motorists to the parking structure. APPLICANT PRESENTATION: Chris Bendon of Bendon Adams and Victor Gianelli, Manager for the Hyatt. Mr. Bendon said that in working with the city, this is not a commercial endeavor, but can fit in with their existing operations. The garage is 111 parking spaces and way under parked in the winter. Councilwoman Richards asked them to add how you are going to handle being full to your operation plan. She said this should have a little more about the promotion element beyond the signage issue as well. She said we could link this to the city website as well. 5 REGULAR MEETING CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 17TH, 2019 Public comment: Mario Zulian, owner of Eco Steam Wash – Mr. Zulian said he has had his business in Aspen for 12 years. He visited the Hyatt garage in the past and in his opinion, it’s the best garage in town. It’s well-kept and clean. He’s in support of this and will tell his clients. We are serving clients currently with a mobile unit. His support is unconditional. Public hearing closed. Councilman Mesirow moved to approve resolution #146, Councilwoman Richards seconded. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #33, SERIES OF 2019 – 1001 Ute Avenue Kevin Rayes, City of Aspen Planner Torre recused himself and exited council chambers. Mr. Rayes said the task for council is to decide which of these structures should be memorialized or rectified. He said this is located at the base of Aspen Mountain, across the street from the Gant hotel. Prior to 2006, this was an old mining claim. In 2006, the property owner decided he wanted to develop the property. As a result, the approvals by council and planning and zoning are reflected. As part of these approvals, the plan development was created for 7 parcels. The common area, Lot A, was created as open space, Lots 1 and 2 were approved as free market single family dwellings. Lot 3 was approved as an affordable housing unit, which was required for mitigation. Common area Lot B was approved as three tennis courts. Common area LOT C is the driveway connecting all parcels mentioned and common area Lot D, which was gifted to the city as part of the original approval process. A few months ago, the city received a complaint from a neighbor regarding the noise of some a/c units on lot A. Staff found that the a/c units did not receive appropriate permits or approvals. Mr. Rayes said that since staff conducted a site visit, the a/c units have been removed, but the concrete pads still exist. Mr. Rayes continued to explain how the different lots are out of compliance. Mr. True recommended going into executive session to discuss this item under C.R.S.4-6-402(b). He feels it’s important right now to discuss this further at this time with council. Councilwoman Richards motioned to go into executive session, Mr. Hauenstein seconded. All in favor, motion carried at 7:00 p.m. Councilman Hauenstein re- opened the meeting the meeting at 7:49 p.m. Mr. Rayes concluded his presentation with staff’s recommendations. He said that staff will visit the site and confirm the ADA on the tennis courts is acceptable. Staff is asking the applicant to rectify the concrete pads. We would like to memorialize the window well, stairwell encroachment, house elevations, and the front retaining walls. Public Works Director, Scott Miller, said this project is very complex and we’ve learned a lot of lessons in permit review and processing. All departments that touch building permits, for the past 8 years, have worked on improving the process. We have implemented electronic plans review which makes it a lot easier to review changes and overlay different information. We’ve created the permit coordinator positions to alleviate some of these issues that we are dealing with now. Things like grading heights are 6 REGULAR MEETING CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 17TH, 2019 coordinated amongst all departments and will not fall through the cracks. We’ve doubled our ComDev and engineering staff for site inspections. We still have a long way to go but have come a long way. APPLICANT PRESENTATION: Sarah Adams of Bendon Adams with Chris Lecroix of Garfield & Hecht and Leathem Stearn. Ms. Adams thanked Mr. Rayes and Mr. Miller. She showed the lots on screen along with a reminder of what the site looked like before. She said this is not your typical grading plan and it’s a very complicated project. The Gant is a co-applicant for the tennis courts lot. This needed a plan development amendment, but we didn’t get support from staff so withdrew the request. We thought there was a better solution. The a/c units were not on the original plan and she showed a preferred location for the ac units and an alternative location. Mr. True suggested staff and monitor work with them to decide on a preferred location. Ms. Adams showed the grading plan, which was submitted in 2008. Ms. Adams proceeded to read from an addendum letter submitted in 2008. She said that recalling something after 11 days is one thing, but this was issued 11 years ago and that is where our big concern is. The applicant acted in good faith. She continued telling the history of the project. She said they’ve been working on this for a year on connecting all of the dots on how we got here. Everything is where the city approved it to be. They would like to have the T.C.O. issued for this project. Councilwoman Richards said they’ve gone through this well and we are reaching a collaborative solution. She said they will extend the meeting until tomorrow and have staff write a new resolution they can approve. Ms. Adams said they are ok with this. Mr. Stearn thanked the council. He said they wanted to soften the two houses with landscaping and regraded everything and planted 400 replacement trees. We’ve done everything we can to make everything lush. Councilman Hauenstein said it would have been really beneficial for Mr. Stearn to have been here for first reading. Mr. Stearn said he’s done eight P&Z meetings and attended all of them. He said he lives in New York and was told not to come for the first reading. Ms. Adams said she and Mr. Lacroix will take the blame on that. Mr. Stearn said he’s a small-town type of guy and he wants this project to be an asset to the community. PUBLIC COMMENT: Heather Manolakas – Ms. Manolakas is representing the neighbor who made the complaint which prompted the review. She said it has been a long process for her client too. She attached Exhibit D, which their client commissioned when he noticed that soils were being stored on Lot A. He was concerned with his backyard being enclosed by the slopes and that did change significantly. He was also concerned about the ac units, but those are being rectified. Public comment closed. Mr. Kramer said that if the hearing gets continued to tomorrow, he would like to provide a draft ordinance to the applicant so their consultants can take a look. 7 REGULAR MEETING CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 17TH, 2019 Councilman Hauenstein said that the ordinance in the packet is substantially different then where they are now, so it is appropriate to continue to tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. to formalize ordinance 33. Councilwoman Richards motioned to continue ordinance 33 to tomorrow December 18th at 3:00 p.m., Councilman Mesirow seconded. All in favor, motion carried. All in favor, motion carried. Rachel modified her motion to include the agreements reached in the final slide of the staff presentation. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #147 – Escrow Agreement with Lift One Lodge Aspen Jim True, City Attorney Mr. True introduced the item pursuant to ordinance #38, series of 2016 that was approved by the voters in the March election. This required the city to enter into an escrow agreement with the applicant placing into escrow 4.36 million dollars for public improvements that the applicant would make during the process. There are also conditions for the money to be returned to the city if the project isn’t going forward. Any interest accrued, does revert to the city and will be paid annually. We recommended Wells Fargo as the escrow agent and they have agreed. The applicant has accepted, so we will finalize the agreement. This has to be completed by December 31st to fully comply with the conditions of ordinance #38. It’s important for the city to comply with its obligation. The lift would have to have its final approvals by the tramway passenger board, so it would have to be in a position to be turned on. This escrow agreement could be in place for a number of years. This will not be a quick project. Councilman Hauenstein motioned to pass resolution #147, Councilwoman Richards seconded. Torre noted that he didn’t agree with the vote nor the amount. He also stated he didn’t agree with the wording on the ballot, but he will vote to support this and wants to support the voters. All in favor, motion carried. Councilwoman Richards motioned to adjourn and continue the meeting on December 18th at 3:00 p.m., Councilman Hauenstein seconded. All in favor, motion carried. ______________________________ Nicole Henning, Deputy City Clerk