HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20220517
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SPECIAL MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL MAY 17, 2022
At 5:20 p.m. Mayor Torre called the special meeting to order with Councilors Doyle, Mesirow, and
Hauenstein present and Councilor Richards via Zoom.
Mayor Torre said there are three appeals in front of us tonight and the first being the Bryce Johnson and
Laura Biel appeal regarding a permit that was submitted March 15th, 2022.
Consideration of Bryce Johnson and Laura Biel Appeal:
Assistant City Attorney, Kate Johnson, introduced the item. The community development department
received an application for 506 W. Hallam. The application was rejected as incomplete, and the owners
of the property have appealed the decisions. Chris Bryan of Garfield & Hecht is here on behalf of the
applicants. In the past you have taken argument and you can do that again here today.
Mayor Torre said he would like to know what the deficiencies were and what deemed it incomplete.
Ms. Johnson said that Bonnie Muhigirwa, Deputy Chief Building Official, issued the determination, and
there is a link in the record with documents needed for a building permit. Ms. Johnson listed the
deficiencies as provided in an email to the applicant and said this application was submitted before
Ordinance #06, Series of 2022, was passed. The dispute is as to whether it was complete or not.
Mr. Bryan said the building department exceeded its jurisdiction over what your own Ordinance says.
This isn’t what you voted on. He said it took Bonnie 15 days to respond as to whether these permits
were accepted or not. You need to grant this appeal or you’re opening this up to a lawsuit. This is an
easy way to consider the Ordinance was not drafted as tightly as was needed. There will be no negative
impacts for overturning this as it’s an interior remodel.
Councilor Mesirow asked Mr. Bryan if he agrees that the application was not complete. Mr. Bryan said it
was not complete according to what the city told us upon submission. Councilor Mesirow asked Ms.
Johnson about the pace of response, and she said two weeks is average time for completeness reviews.
Councilor Hauenstein said as he reads the Ordinance, it says the submission should be complete. There
were a number of items not completed. He thinks just based on the information here, it’s within the
jurisdiction of community development to deal with this. The submission needed to be deemed
complete to meet the exemption in Ordinance #06, so he does not find the grounds to reverse
community development’s decision.
Councilor Richards motioned to approve Resolution #073, Series of 2022, upholding the community
development decision; Councilor Mesirow seconded.
Councilor Mesirow likened this to being at the golf course naked and said he does have sympathy for the
client, and we would all like to see the pace on submissions improve. This is our normal pace of
business, and he can’t find any of the arguments worth overturning. We have laws and timelines for a
reason. He’s supportive of this.
Councilor Doyle said both groups of people know what happens when you show up with an incomplete
building permit.
Councilor Hauenstein requested the resolution be read into the record. He read the affirmative
resolution to clarify what they are voting on.
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SPECIAL MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL MAY 17, 2022
Mayor Torre said he appreciates what was brought to them, and he doesn’t read the statement the
same. For him it says, “and deemed complete”. Mr. Bryan asked for a clarification on record of what
deemed complete means. Mayor Torre and Councilor Hauenstein explained.
Mr. True said there is a motion on the table, so that is what we need to be discussing.
Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried.
Consideration of KDR Trust Appeal:
City Attorney, James R. True introduced the item and said this appeal is substantially similar to the
previous one. Two resolutions were submitted for this as well: one in affirmation and one denying the
decision. Ms. Johnson said this is an appeal of community development’s decision to reject building
permit application at 800 Roaring Fork Rd. She listed the reasons why the application was deemed
incomplete.
Mayor Torre asked if this contractor has submitted previously with the building department. Mr. Bryan
said he doesn’t know and it’s not part of the record.
Councilor Hauenstein said the application was deemed incomplete. It’s not the duty of the community
development department to hold the hands of the applicants and it’s their responsibility to submit a
complete application. His inclination is that he will be upholding Resolution #074 to uphold the decision
of community development.
Councilor Mesirow asked if they have any evidence that the permit was complete at the time of
submittal.
Councilor Richards motioned to approve Resolution #074 affirming the community development
director’s decision in this matter. There has not been an abuse of discretion or an issue of exceeding
jurisdiction. The processes are quite clear.
Councilor Hauenstein seconded. He said clearly this application was missing a number of components
and he also feels that due process was followed, and a review of the application was conducted.
Councilor Mesirow said his reasoning is the same on this as the last. This was also incomplete.
Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried.
Consideration of 308 North First Street LLC Appeal:
Mr. True said this is involving Ms. Johnson said this application is an appeal of the community
development director’s decision to deny the application for the development of the property. Ms.
Johnson said the application was missing several items and she listed those.
Mr. Bryan said this one is different and was submitted March 14th by Chris Bendon. This was submitted
to construct a single-family home on the lot. On March 16th, the building department provided notice of
the missing items. At the end of the same day, the owners’ reps submitted everything requested to
complete the review.
Ms. Johnson confirmed the application was cured the next day. The missing documents were received
shortly after the passage of Ordinance #06.
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SPECIAL MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL MAY 17, 2022
Councilor Hauenstein said he does think this applies to new construction and the intent of Ordinance
#06 is creating a new or existing structure. The timing of the curing makes it a different animal.
Councilor Richards likened this to a lottery. This appears a little different because they were able to get
in completed documents, but the same argument holds of whether it was a complete application when
it came in the door. We should go back to that standard.
Councilor Doyle said this one is slightly different for him because Bendon Adams worked for the city at
one time and are fully aware of deadlines that need to be met. The planners knew there was a deadline,
and they weren’t prepared.
Councilor Mesirow said it does feel a bit different with the timeline, but the logic is the same. This
project was waiting for this moment because this was the intent.
Councilor Hauenstein said he finds this to be a near miss and it missed the completion or curing by a
day, but it did miss it. Even though the missing items were noticed more quickly than in the other cases,
it was still after the adoption of Ordinance #06.
Councilor Hauenstein motioned to adopt Resolution #075, Series of 2022 in affirmation of upholding the
community development decision; Councilor Doyle seconded.
Councilor Richards said she supports the motion and thanked Councilor Hauenstein for making it. She
doesn’t believe there was a denial of due process.
Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried.
Councilor Hauenstein motioned to adjourn; Councilor Doyle seconded.
Roll call vote: Doyle, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 6:52 pm.
_____________________________
Nicole Henning, City Clerk
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SPECIAL MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL MAY 17, 2022