HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.apz.20130917 Regular Meeting Planning and Zoning Commission September 17, 2013
U Erspamer,chair, called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m.with members Tygre, Weiss, Gibbs and Ryan
present.
Also present from City staff, Debbie Quinn,Sara Nadolny and Jennifer Phelan.
Reed Patterson introduced Linda Manning who has joined the city clerk's office and will be staffing P&Z
meetings.
COMMISSIONER COMMENTS
Cliff Weiss told the Commission he has purchased a house outside the city limits and will be resigning
from P&Z.
MINUTES
Gibbs noted his name was spelled Gibb in the minutes. Weiss moved to approve the minutes of August
6, 2013; seconded by Ryan. All in favor, motion carried.
DECLARATION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST
There were none.
PUD AMENDMENT— St. Regis 325 E. Dean Street
Sara Nadolny, community development department,added exhibit D, listing other hotel closures, which
was submitted after the packet deadline. P&Z will make a recommendation to Council,the final
authority on PUD amendments. The applicant, St. Regis, is requesting an amendment to the Aspen
Mountain PUD to remove a requirement that the hotel portion of the St. Regis be open year round. The
St. Regis has 159 hotel rooms, 24 timeshare units with amenities available to all rooms and a spa
available to the public. In 2003,the applicant went to Council for a PUD amendment to convert some
existing hotel rooms to timeshare units. As a condition of that approval, P&Z recommended to Council
that the hotel remain open year round. This condition resulted from a concern over loss of hotel rooms.
The applicant would like to have the condition removed and have the ability to close during off seasons
due to low occupancy rates,financial loss, and the lack of ability to perform maintenance.
Ms. Nadolny said staff looked at the criteria for PUD amendment and finds this meets the criteria; no
changes are being proposed to the physical characteristics of the PUD, no changes in uses to the hotel
rooms. Ms. Nadolny told P&Z there is an 8 week period the timeshare units are not in use and the units
can be rented as hotel rooms to the general public. The amenities will remain open to the owners of the
fractional fee units and the spa will remain open to the public. Ms. Nadolny said closing during off
season is a common practice. Staff recommends approval of this request.
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Regular Meeting Planning and Zoning Commission September 17, 2013
Alan Richman, representing the applicant, said one issue was that by staying open the St. Regis would
attract off season conference business. That has not happened over the past 10 years. Richman said if
someone booked a large number of rooms during a proposed close time,the St. Regis would stay open.
If the business is there,the hotel would stay open. Richman told P&Z the business is not there and the
occupancy rates are very low during these times. Gibbs asked if there is anything in the land use code
that would require hotels to stay open. Jennifer Phelan, community development department, said
there is not.
Richman reiterated this request is a single amendment to the PUD approval of 2003 when the time
share was granted. A condition was imposed that requires the hotel to remain open year round.
Richman said this condition was volunteered by the applicant rather than being a code requirement.
Richman said the request would allow the St. Regis to operate the way other hotels in Aspen work by
choosing to close when there is little or no demand for the facility. Richman said renovations and
maintenance can be done when the building is not occupied. Richman said if any employees want to
work during this closure period,they could be transferred to another Starwood property. Richman said
if the St. Regis is closed during off season it would allow other hotel properties to have those guests.
The time share portion does stay open and is available to guests other than owners.
Erspamer asked if the applicants have addressed concerns from the time share owners, like the value of
their units if the amenities are not open. Richman said they have listed the amenities that will be
staying open when the hotel is closed. Erspamer asked the timing and length of proposed closures.
Richman said, based on demand,they will close several weeks in the spring and the fall off seasons.
Erspamer opened the public comments.
David Kahn,owner Residence Club unit,told P&Z when this property was converted to a residence and
hotel, it was owned by Starwood, who has since sold it to a foreign corporation. Starwood has a
management agreement which was part of the sale agreement. Kahn said because of the different
ownership, employees may not be allowed to be moved to another Starwood property. Kahn said it is
unclear how many weeks the hotel will be closed; the residence-owners are compelled to buy one week
in the shoulder season as part of their package which is%of their total price. Kahn said the residence
owners need to know that the services contracted for will be available to them during this closure.
Taking away the restaurants is an important element; staffing the lobby is important. Eliminating those
two is impactive on the sales of time share units and would minimize the value of these units. Kahn
noted the owners of the hotel do not have loyalty to the owners of the residence units;the units were
purchased from Starwood. Kahn pointed out during the hearing for the change to time share,the
applicants stated this hotel would absolutely remain open. Kahn stated he is concerned the residents
of the residence club will not be treated fairly if the hotel is given the opportunity to close when they
want to.
Erspamer closed the public comments.
Weiss agreed an open ended number of weeks to be closed is not fair. The month of September is a
shoulder season, not an offseason—like October and November. Weiss stated he does not understand
the distinction between ownership and operating company. Kahn told the Board owners are assessed
annually for the amenities to be available. Ryan said it seems there has to be a separation between the
hotel and the residential component and it appears the amenities will be open and available. There is
an ability to rent to the resident units if not occupied by owners.
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Regular Meeting Planning and Zoning Commission September 17, 2013
Erspamer agreed the fractional group is a separate entity than the hotel. There is a common area;
Erspamer asked how the common area is handled. Richman told the Commission there is a hotel
amenities use and access agreement between the Aspen Residence Club and the hotel, which is a
condominium unit. Richman read from the agreement "the amenities will be maintained or operated in
good condition and repair notwithstanding anything in this agreement to the contrary. Hotel owner
may from time to time alter, modify, replace, relocate, enlarge, discontinue or temporarily or
permanently close the hotel and/or any of the amenities provided that the amenities to which club unit
owners have rights under this agreement shall remain available to the club unit users to the same extent
such amenities continue to be used in the operation of the hotel and made available to hotel guests".
This means the hotel has the ability to temporarily or permanently close the hotel and club unit users
shall have access to the amenities. Also, "closure of the entire portion of the amenities from time to
time for group use and special events and for maintenance and repairs, space availability is reasonable
determined by the hotel owner or hotel manager through the policies and procedures of the hotel
owner." Richman noted the agreement between the hotel and the residence club anticipated the
possibility the hotel might close from time to time and the amenities might not be available from time to
time. Richman said the letter sent by the St. Regis to the residence club owners lists the facilities that
will be available; the pool, hot tub, housekeeping, concierge, locker storage, and the bar.
Ms.Tygre said her concern is with the operations and the original approvals. Ms.Tygre said during a
PUD process there is a large amount of negotiations to the final agreement. Several years after that, an
applicant asks for an amendment rescinding what was approved before. The commitment to keep the
hotel open year round was an important factor in the approval decision. The original approval was
based on the need of a year round hotel with conference facilities and one of the reasons for the size of
the hotel. People voted in favor of the project because it was to be a year round facility that the
community needed. Now the request is to close the hotel for an indeterminate number of weeks; this is
not a benefit to the community. Ms.Tygre stated she sympathizes with staying open and losing money;
however,those are the conditions the applicant agreed to.
Weiss said he feels there are unrealistic expectations for off season in Aspen, especially regarding the
lodges. Weiss noted during off season, the occupancy can go to less than 10%. Weiss stated he is not
comfortable with an open-ended closing. Erspamer agreed the request is too open-ended. Erspamer
suggested a sunset date with a review in 3 years to see how this is working. Weiss noted this
experiment has gone on for 10 years, since the previous approval and the results have not proven to
assure staying open during the off season.
Gibbs pointed out no other hotels have a requirement to stay open year round, so that condition seems
unfair. Gibbs said there is the issue of conditions made during approvals. Erspamer said he would like
to see specific times or windows of times that the hotel could be closed as well as a specific list of
amenities that will remain open. Debbie Quinn, assistant city attorney, pointed out P&Z has to
determine whether a request for an amendment to the PUD is consistent or an enhancement of the
prior approvals.
Ryan said he does not feel that condition should have been included in a PUD; a PUD is about
development and that condition is legislating how someone has to run their business. Ryan suggested
the amenities that will not be open should be listed as it seems all amenities will be included for the
benefit of the time share owners.
Richman said telling the dates the hotel is likely to close seems to be the same as requiring the hotel to
stay open and is setting the business plan for the hotel. Richman reiterated the applicants want the
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Regular Meeting Planning and Zoning Commission September 17, 2013
opportunity to close if there is no business rather than have specific dates. Ms.Tygre agreed it is not
appropriate for operational conditions to be part of a PUD and conditions for operating timeshares fall
under the timeshare regulations,which are part of the approval process and are very detailed. Ms.
Tygre said the city is working on incentivizing lodges and it causes problems when telling lodges how to
operate businesses. Ms.Tygre agreed she would be willing to say this criterion should not be part of the
PUD. Gibbs agreed the city should stay out of private businesses' plans.
Ryan moved to approve Resolution#20 recommending approval of a PUD amendment for the St. Regis
hotel property; seconded by Weiss.
Erspamer moved to include the list of what will stay open in the resolution. Motion dies for lack of a
second.
Roll call vote; Ryan,yes; Weiss,yes; Gibbs,yes; Tygre,yes; Erspamer,yes. Motion carried.
Pursuant to C.R.S. 24-6-402(4)(b) Conferences with an attorney for the local public body for the
purposes of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions, P&Z went into executive session at 6:00
p.m. P&Z came out of executive session at 6:22 p.m.
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