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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.regular.20211109 1 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 9, 2021 At 5:00 p.m. Mayor Torre called the regular meeting to order with Councilors Doyle, Hauenstein, Mesirow and Richards in person. CITIZEN COMMENTS: Cindy Houben & Alain Sunier – Ms. Houben said that she and Mr. Sunier live in the same Midland Park Avenue neighborhood. They are concerned and did an informal petition to limit vacation rentals. She said they want to be supportive of the city’s efforts. There issues they have seen in the neighborhood are regarding parking, noise, and trash and have taken before and after pictures. They have also had to call the police. They have concerns about wildlife and turning the neighborhood into a hotel type zone. We are ripe for redevelopment and are really concerned about how that comes to be. Mr. Sunier said this is an issue coming up in a lot of Colorado towns. There is a struggle to balance the tourism and a need to maintain the organic community feel. Short term rentals have fallen between the cracks over the past few years. Our land use code is based on some more classic old school forms of lodging. Ms. Houben handed the petition packet to the mayor. Mayor Torre said you have an audience in us, and we receive daily emails on this. We are looking at different communities doing different restrictions. Scott McDonald – Mr. McDonald said he lives at 1000 E. Cooper and said it has been over three years since he informed the city of the Cleveland Street east boundary from a straight line. This 7-foot jog east, makes Cleveland Street 82 feet wide. Is it possible the City of Aspen has been turning a blind eye for the last 60 years? To his knowledge, the city hasn’t published an accurate plat mat after the 1959 survey. After three years of letter writing and multiple meetings, they could have cleared this up. No staff or council have made verbal or written acknowledgement to the existence of this error. He’s asking how they can sit back over the past three years and wants some action. City Attorney, James R. True, said there is no error. He said the 1959 survey was adopted by council. His property had a frontage consistent with every plot in town. There is no error or non-feasance or issue. He has explained this to the McDonalds over and over. He is focusing on these informational only lines in GIS, and the 1959 replatting of the city, clearly specifies what those lots in his area are. It’s difficult to provide an answer that they do not want to hear, and he doesn’t know what else to tell them. Mayor Torre said he’s interested in resolve. Mr. McDonald said they are being lead down the merry path, and the city is digging a deep hole that you can’t get out of. Mr. True said what is relevant to the issue, the replatting confirmed the size of his lot. Surveys since then have confirmed the size of his lot. He said to pursue a quiet title action, which is their only real recourse, through the court system. That is the path they can follow. City council at this point cannot resolve this issue. Jackie Long – Ms. Long said she’s not coming next time. She came to talk about drugs and alcohol in our community. We have a mom and a dad here and two young men speaking. She’s also handing out some information, which she titled, “the party’s over”. There was a young man, a lot of teen drinking in the west end on Halloween weekend, and this young man died of alcohol poisoning. There was no 911 call. This is about our community… what have you done? There were a hundred and fifty kids that swarmed 2 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 9, 2021 this house. Everyone was scared to call 911. She thinks a drug and alcohol czar is needed. Appoint one. She asked about police funds. Who will be the leader in this town? Mike Senna – Mr. Senna said there is a huge drug issue in town. He has been in recovery for 16 months today. He’s been on both sides of it. He moved here in January 2000. The same people are selling drugs today that were selling drugs then. For a town that seems to be wrapped up in statistics, it’s a war. We need to bring awareness to the town that nothing is being done. People come here and sell drugs because they can get away with it and nothing is done. Aspen police won’t work with Trident. We need a task force and someone bigger than the police. People come here and get chewed up and spit out quick. The availability is out of control. Ozzie Mannos – Mr. Mannos said he is from Aspen since 1989. He grew up here, and is one of most damaging places to grow up. It’s scary to him that the same mentality exists. He is also in recovery. There isn’t enough done to talk about it and discuss. The pressure the kids are constantly under in this town, is a community problem. There is an identity crisis in this town. The dark side of Aspen must be addressed because he has close to 40 friends that he went to school with who are dead, gone. It’s not getting any easier. Caroline McDonald – Ms. McDonald said she’s here for climate change. You need to implement a five- year moratorium on building and on carbon. She addressed Mr. Doyle and said she hoped that the city would come up with a carbon imprint on 11,000 dump trucks for 1A. We need to rebuild what we have, and we need to keep it as its own size. Your names will be plastered along with that idol on top of that hill. You have the opportunity to start a moratorium and she hopes they do. Clay Wells – Mr. Wells said he is here in support of Jackie Long. He said his daughter has benefitted immensely from Jackie. His former father-in-law was a deputy and was a member of the Aspen Club, which helped his daughter to have a place to go after school and people to talk to doing healthy things. There are a lot of people who support Jackie and her efforts. Janice – she said she’s a single mother in Aspen. She found out this past summer that her son was smoking pot at the skateboard park. Someone over there is buying pot for these kids. She’s horrified. He’s a sophomore in high school and there is all this partying going on. She finds it very disturbing that it’s ok. She’s a supporter of Jackie. She goes to my church, and she is doing amazing things in this community. Please work with her and help make a difference. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS: Councilor Hauenstein said there should be an amnesty for kids who are overindulging. There should never be a repercussion that makes kids afraid to call for help. Councilor Mesirow said we also need to find ways to heal. A way to heal is through the arts. Big ups to everyone who supported this effort on the ballot. Councilor Richards said she can really only say they are bringing us a serious and ongoing problem. It is going on everywhere. She was also a mother with a son who got into trouble as he was approaching adulthood. She recalled a story from when her son was in high school about a girl who was passed out drunk. This is the same type of incident as what Jackie spoke about. This problem never really goes away. She’s happy to work towards more efforts. She also wanted to thank her council members who 3 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 9, 2021 supported the Wheeler and thank you to the arts group and to Cristal Logan and Mick Ireland. They really deserve congratulations. Councilor Doyle said he has more fun facts to share about the environment. He spoke about other countries halting fossil fuels. The bad news is, we are still not even close to reaching goals. He said if he could turn back the clock regarding Carolyn McDonald’s comments, he might seriously consider a moratorium. He knows that we can and need to do more. Mayor Torre started with a thank you to the community for working with our utility department on upgrading the water and electric meters. We’re about 60 percent done with this project. The city has embarked on a program where we will be supporting some events and putting on our own event in town to help us deal with some depression and suicidality in this community. Please stay tuned for more information. BOARD REPORTS: Councilor Richards said she has Reudi Water and Power next week and APCHA tomorrow. Councilor Mesirow said he had NWCOG and moved their budget forward. Councilor Hauenstein said he had CCLC, and they reviewed the summer market. Nothing really substantial, but a really successful summer. The City of Aspen only turned up three times for their booth. Mayor Torre said he has BOH on Thursday and Wheeler tomorrow. Today he took part in a CAST housing taskforce. They went over some of the legislative actions. Had a big conversation on short term rentals. We went back and spoke about the mountain migration report that came out. He printed out the report in case anyone wants to look. We are having a work session on STR’s next week. Councilor Richards said to make sure Tara Nelson is looped in on items, and that you are pulling her in as a legislative liaison for us. Torre said he would like her in on some of these meetings. Mayor Torre said he has BOH coming up and doesn’t think the mask mandate is on the agenda. But he does want their input on some other things. Our state numbers aren’t good at all and it’s impacting us. CONSENT CALENDAR: Councilor Hauenstein has a couple of comments on Resolution #92. There are primary concerns with the eight non theater uses. He’s concerned about the impact on residents and neighbors and the John Denver Sanctuary. Matt Kuhn, Parks Director, said he wants to recognize that as a nonprofit, this is a potential resource for them to augment their operations. We wanted to put a limit to this which is why it’s limited to eight events. Theater Aspen has agreed to it, and it does not include the John Denver Sanctuary. Councilor Richards agrees and supports the management approach, but it’s important to pay attention to the neighbors there. Councilor Doyle’s concern is with their quest to keep this up year-round. It says to him, they will eventually want to make it permanent and that’s a slippery slope. 4 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 9, 2021 Mr. Kuhn said the lease is specific to the tent structure. Councilor Mesirow said he has questions on the lighting Resolution #101, and his questions are around scope. The dark skies initiative died without anyone talking about it. How are we using smart lighting? Ben Anderson, City Planner, said this firm set up this model that the Dark Skies Association uses and it’s on their website. There is a standard we can pursue. There will be a lot of conversation of color of light, technology and compliance with future building code. It’s really important for us to have consistency and not contrary to what Pitkin County is doing. Councilor Richards motioned to approve; Councilor Doyle seconded. Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES: Ordinance #20, Series of 2021 - Tyler Christoff, Director of Utilities Mr. Christoff said this ordinance contains their annual updates to the utility rates and fees. No changes have been made to the document since council’s last review. Councilor Richards said she reached out to Tyler asking about the senior discount. She applauds him for his work on this. Councilor Richards motioned to read Ordinance #20; Council Mesirow seconded. Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. City Clerk, Nicole Henning, read the ordinance. Councilor Richards motioned to approve Ordinance #20; Councilor Mesirow seconded. Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Councilor Richards motioned to read Ordinance #21; Councilor Hauenstein seconded. Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Ms. Henning read the ordinance. Ordinance #21, Series of 2021 - Pete Strecker, Finance Director Mr. Strecker summarized the ordinance. Councilor Richards motioned to approve Ordinance #21; Councilor Doyle seconded. Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Councilor Richards motioned to read Ordinance #22; Councilor Mesirow seconded. Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Ms. Henning read the ordinance. Ordinance #22, Series of 2021 - Andrew Kramer, Budget Manager Mr. Kramer said this is something they do every year. In this case, a lot of the changes are to address inflationary needs. Mr. Doyle said this seems pretty straight forward, and costs always goes up. 5 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 9, 2021 Councilor Doyle motioned to approve Ordinance #22; Councilor Mesirow seconded. Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Councilor Richards motioned to read Ordinance #23; Councilor Doyle seconded. Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Ms. Henning read the ordinance. Ordinance #23, Series of 2021 – Pete Strecker, Finance Director Mr. Strecker said this is a clerical correction for the Department of Revenue who asked for some clarity in our tax code. Councilor Richards motioned to approve Ordinance #23; Mayor Torre seconded. Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. PUBLIC HEARINGS: Resolution #093, Series of 2021 – 2022 Budget Resolution – Andrew Kramer, Budget Manager Mr. Kramer recapped what has been discussed over the past month and a half. This will pass the budget for 2022. Mayor Torre opened public comment. Mayor Torre closed public comment. Councilor Richards motioned to approve Resolution #093; Councilor Hauenstein seconded. Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Resolution #106, Series of 2021 – Proposed Land Use Code Changes Calculation of Single-Family and Duplex Residential Affordable Housing Mitigation - Ben Anderson, City Planner Mr. Anderson shared his screen and said that policy resolution is the action city council can take in making a code amendment. The requirements for single-family and duplex affordable housing mitigation requirements are a) credit for existing floor area and b) gross floor area, rather than net floor area basements, garages, and vertical circulation. The review criteria for initiation of a code amendment are to gauge whether there exists a community interest to pursue the amendment, whether it furthers an adopted policy, community goal or objective of the city, and whether it is compatible with the community character. Staff’s view is that these criteria have been met. He further explained the calculation changes. The proposed schedule for an ordinance if council approves the policy resolution will be: November 16th at the Planning & Zoning commission, November 23rd at city council for first reading, and December 14th at city council for the public hearing. Staff recommends approval. PUBLIC COMMENT: Mike Maple - Mr. Maple said the public outreach of city council has a long way to go. He said affordable housing mitigation is a sound concept, but he’s disturbed with how it’s being thought about. It is not appropriate to use one denominator to arrive at an impasse and then use a different formula to apply that. He’s asking them to take a hard look at how they treat residents and how it’s computed, and by recognizing how the occupancy of a house mitigates the housing impact. 6 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 9, 2021 Councilor Mesirow said he thinks Mr. Maple isn’t understanding the deferment piece and explained it to him. Mayor Torre asked if things that Mr. Maple brought up will be discussed in the steps moving forward if this is approved tonight. Mr. Supino said yes. Councilor Hauenstein thanked Mr. Maple and said he remembers him making the same comments in 2015. Deferred mitigation is fair. He fully supports this and it’s a good first step. Councilor Hauenstein motioned to approve Resolution #106; Councilor Mesirow seconded. Councilor Mesirow said you have 100 percent support from me on this. This doesn’t come close to addressing the real housing shortage though. Councilor Doyle thanked Phillip and Ben for their work on this. We need to do more, but it’s a great first step. Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Councilor Richards motioned to adjourn; Councilor Mesirow seconded. Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. ______________________________ City Clerk, Nicole Henning