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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20150915Regular Meeting Aspen City Council September 15, 2015 1 CITIZEN COMMENTS & PETITIONS ...................................................................................................... 2 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS ............................................................................................................ 3 BOARD REPORTS ...................................................................................................................................... 3 CONSENT CALENDAR ............................................................................................................................. 3 Minutes – August 24 & 25, 2015 .......................................................................................................... 3 Resolution #99, Series of 2015 – Police/Community Health Services IGA ......................................... 3 ORDINANCE #36, SERIES OF 2015 –Timeshare Code Amendment ........................................................ 3 RESOLUTION #94, SERIES OF 2015 – Policy Resolution – Elevator and Emergency Access Code Amendment ................................................................................................................................................... 4 ORDINANCE #28, SERIES OF 2015 – 540 E. Main St. Rezoning ............................................................ 5 ORDINANCE #31, SERIES OF 2015 – 110 E. Bleeker Transferable Development Rights ....................... 5 ORDINANCE #34, SERIES OF 2015 – Housing Credits Code Amendment.............................................. 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council September 15, 2015 2 At 5:00 pm Mayor Skadron called the regular meeting to order with Councilmembers Daily and Frisch present. CITIZEN COMMENTS & PETITIONS 1. David Harris, 117 Neale Ave, spoke about the construction project at Heron Park. He stated he has communicated with the project and department managers as well as written to Mr. Barwick. There was a late start to the project and there is a safety issue is the cross walk. On 6/6 he received a communication from staff stating they are out of money but there would be an appropriation request from Council asking for funds to complete the cross walk. It is taking too long and safety is being ignored. He is asking Council to do something. There was a site visit today. The park is heavily used on the weekends. Please put the cross walk in. Scott Miller, public works, said the only bids on this project were above what was appropriated by Council. The plan is to build the cross walk portion next spring and the stormwater portion will be a request in the 2016 budget. It will get done and is a high priority. They tried to find other contractors to do the work and tried to do other approaches. Mr. Harris replied it is wrong that it took 14 weeks for Council to hear the request. 2. Emzy Vesey III is requesting a business sales tax holiday weekend. He also said in 10 years 50 percent of the employee housing will be retiree units. We need a system of people willing to take risks. 3. Neal Segal said he is speaking on behalf of the town house owners of 108 N 8th St. They are trying to install solar power and have been met with many problems. Rates are increasing and tiers keep rising. They have reduced consumption of the heat tape by four fold. Dealing with the city has not been an easy process. While the canary initiative may work from the top down it is not working from the bottom up. It is inefficient, inconsistent and inflexible. Four departments are needed to approve a solar array system. Why is the system so cumbersome. The city will not allow net aggregate metering. The city buys 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources, why not buy a portion from its customers. The process forces us to under design and rewards us with worthless credits. 4. Matthew Cull said this is his fourth season at the Marolt seasonal housing. The rent has gone from 773 dollars to 839 dollars per month. It is 75 dollars per month to park a car. The 91 dollar increase per month far exceeds the 3 percent CPI increase. No other place charges a rental for a car with a large parking lot. Being charged to park a car incentivizes you to use it. The parking fee penalizes long term residents. The housing increase is above the standards used by APCHA. Barry Crook, managers office, said the fee is not out of line with other seasonal housing or complexes in this town. Mr. Cull replied why should Aspen be a bubble of expense. Outside of Aspen when you rent a unit you get a parking space. 5. Frank Hager said he has been the Aspen Goldsmith for over 20 years. He is concerned about the character of Aspen and it is going down the drain. Mark Hunt wants to put a building where he has his business. The current owner is Guido Myer. He keeps it well maintained and Mr. Hunt wants to destroy that and put in a larger building. If he succeeds in building all the buildings he wants there will be no local character left and no small businesses will be able to afford the rent. 6. Mark Goodman stated he is concerned about the 447 E Cooper application that received conceptual approval by HPC. Currently there is affordable housing, parking and local businesses and the new building will have none of these. The application is tone deaf to what the citizens of Aspen want. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council September 15, 2015 3 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Frisch thank staff and the community for the picnic. It was a great day. 2. The Motherlode is one of the events that brought him to this town and it is great that it keeps coming back every year. 3. In response to Mr. Segal, maximizing renewable energy is great and he is happy to follow up on that. He hopes we can figure out a way to bring some common sense to that stand point. 4. To Mr. Haber and Mr. Goodwin, Debbie Quinn is the person to follow up with legally. When it comes to does the town need more retail or office space I’m not sure. It is important to make sure the land use code solidifies what you are talking about. 5. Mayor Skadron thanked City staff and special events, Mitzi and the volunteers who pulled off the picnic. All the food was organically and locally sourced. It was a success and delicious. 6. He Congratulated the Motherlode participants. The occupancy rates were up that weekend. Ruggerfest is next weekend. 7. Congrats to former Mayor Mick Ireland who is getting married next weekend! 8. Good wishes to city manager Steve Barwick who is having knee replacement surgery. BOARD REPORTS 1. Mayor Skadron said there will be a Sister Cities Visit from Abetone in October where they will be officially named a Sister City. 2. Mayor Skadron stated RFTA met and the drivers are unionizing. They also discussed trail access on the Rio Grande. He is concerned there is too much access on the trail and no policy as to who can have access. CONSENT CALENDAR  Minutes – August 24 & 25, 2015  Resolution #99, Series of 2015 – Police/Community Health Services IGA Councilman Frisch moved to adopt the consent calendar; seconded by Councilman Daily. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #36, SERIES OF 2015 –Timeshare Code Amendment Jessica Garrow, community development, stated the public hearing is scheduled for September 28. Last December Council approved a policy resolution related to lodging after rescinding ordinance 19. It included amendments related to small lodges and other basic updates including timeshares. This amendment simplifies the process and includes safeguards to make sure units are available for nightly rentals when not being used by an owner. The current process requires a full planned development review as well as a Council level subdivision review even if the proposed project meets all requirements of the underlying zone district. Staff is proposing it be simplified and be more of an administrative process. The current process also conflicts with other parts of the code including how HOAs need to operate related to timeshares. This proposal clarifies the rental requirements. Staff has researched other communities and will provide more details at second reading. The trend is to simplify or eliminate timeshare requirements including at Steamboat. Staff is recommending simplify and not eliminate. It is important to ensure operation as close to a traditional lodge as possible. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council September 15, 2015 4 Councilman Frisch asked for more clarity as to the goal. His personal view is timeshares bring a wider variety of people to town than a traditional higher end lodge. They are hot beds. Is the goal to get more timeshares. Overall it is on the right track. Councilman Daily said it is on the right track. Simplification is the way to go. He asked about the inclusion of the availability for nightly rentals and HOA documents and if this is complete timeshare projects or ones with only some of the units being converted. Ms. Garrow replied one of the changes is with multi family buildings the entire complex needs to change. One unit in a multi family cannot change without the entire complex changing. Mayor Skadron asked if this distinguishes between timeshare and fractional. Ms. Garrow said they are the same thing. They are both deeded. Mayor Skadron asked if it necessary to hear pros and cons to doing or not doing this. Ms. Garrow said they can provide that for second reading. Councilman Frisch moved to read Ordinance #36, Series of 2015; seconded by Councilman Daily. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE NO. 36 (SERIES OF 2015) AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL ADOPTING LAND USE CODE AMENDMENTS RELATED TO TIMESHARE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CITY OF ASPEN. Councilman Daily moved to adopt Ordinance #36; Series of 2015 on first reading; seconded by Councilman Frisch. Roll call vote. Councilmembers Frisch, yes; Daily, yes; Mayor, Skadron, yes. Motion carried. RESOLUTION #94, SERIES OF 2015 – Policy Resolution – Elevator and Emergency Access Code Amendment Ms. Garrow told the Council this would propose a new code requirement that would ensure access to all commercial tenant spaces on all levels through elevator access. It would not prohibit individual elevators to access certain units but would require common elevator access. It would also require commercial tenants have access to a delivery area as well as trash/recycle areas with an ADA compliant path. Currently we see buildings come in without elevator access to all commercial tenant spaces and end up later on with a retro fit. Staff is also proposing to eliminate use of the alley as the ADA path. P&Z is supportive of the amendment. Councilman Daily said the recommendations makes sense. Councilman Frisch said if this was in place it might have saved some people in the community some hassle factor. Mayor Skadron said he has no questions either. Mayor Skadron opened the public comment. There was none. Mayor Skadron closed the public comment. Councilman Daily moved to adopt Resolution #94, Series of 2015; seconded by Councilman Frisch. All in favor, motion carried. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council September 15, 2015 5 ORDINANCE #28, SERIES OF 2015 – 540 E. Main St. Rezoning Hillary Seminick, community development, stated this is the rezoning of 540 E Main Street. The City of Aspen is requesting to rezone from SCI, CC and C1 to Public. The site is being considered for a new police department. The property is about 27,000 square feet and currently houses the parking department. There is an accessory building in the rear that is designated historic as well as three 19th century cabins at the rear of the lot. Staff finds the public zone district is appropriate and cleans up the lot. It enhances the suitability of development of public facilities on the lot. Parking is considered a public use and not allowed in SCI but allowed in CC and C1 but only on the ground floor. This restriction means that over 16,000 square feet of the lot cannot be developed as a public use. The public zone district does require a PD be established when development occurs on the property. Dimensional characterizes will be determined during the planned development process. HPC and P&Z are supportive of the rezoning. At first reading, Council was concerned with the loss of the SCI. Rezoning of the parcel will result in a loss of three percent of SCI but this would never be utilized as SCI since it will continue as municipal use. SCI does not permit public use. The Commercial Core allows for public on the ground floor and office on the second if they are set back by 40 feet. The Commercial allows for public on the ground and office on all floors. The PD process is exhaustive and necessary and takes into account public input. The AACP states the potential loss of civic buildings shall be addressed. The rezoning will help address the loss of the police department. Alan Richman, representing the applicant, stated the lot was purchased in 2002 by the City to use as a civic function. The public designation is an appropriate way to introduce it to the public. It is a centrally located property next to other civic uses. Councilman Daily said it is an appropriate next step for this property. Councilman Frisch said it meets the review criteria. Mayor Skadron said the issue with rezoning to pubic is the dimensional requirements are determined through the PD process. Council is not left with a clear idea of what will be there. How does Council feel about that. Councilman Frisch replied he does not think he will be surprised with what he will see there. He thinks the community has a very good idea of what is coming. Mr. Richman said the PD review criteria requires a context sensitive review. Mayor Skadron said with the rezoned to public the future is unknown. Mayor Skadron opened the public comment. There was none. Mayor Skadron closed the public comment. Councilman Frisch moved to adopt Ordinance #28, Series of 2015; seconded by Councilman Daily. Roll call vote. Councilmembers Daily, yes; Frisch, yes; Mayor Skadron, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #31, SERIES OF 2015 – 110 E. Bleeker Transferable Development Rights Amy Simon, community development, told the Council the owners request approval to create two TDRs and remove them from the historic property to be landed elsewhere. It went through HPC and received approval for the renovation. There will be a major restoration with the original features put back in place including correcting the non-historic garage. HPC found the project to be very successful. The project received the floor area bonus in recognition of all the restoration efforts and they are not picking up the Regular Meeting Aspen City Council September 15, 2015 6 house to put a basement under it. Staff is supporting the creation of the two TDRs and find it is better to remove them from the site then to increase the size of the new addition. Kim Raymond, architect, read section 26.415.110 benefits to encourage good restoration include floor area bonus, waiving impact fees, variances and the floor area bonus. She thinks it is appropriate they are awarded the TDRs. They did not want to overwhelm the property by putting the square feet back on the property. Councilman Frisch said the existing FAR is 2,249 and the plan is to go to 3,240 on a 6,000 square foot lot. This project is not asking for financial waivers. Ms. Simon replied they are not asking for anything beyond what is standard. Councilman Daily said he struggled at first reading with the play on words with the bonus being awarded then converted to TDRs. The more he thought about it he supports it. It encourages substantial restoration. It is good for the community and exactly why we have this policy. Mayor Skadron asked for a comment on the principle and intent of the TDR program itself. At what point are the incentives to preserve the property abused. Is that a concern of yours. We are seeing speculative development. Mr. Raymond said if the owner built that and put it on the property he would make more money. He could max out everything on the lot. We meet seven criteria of the eight criteria to be granted the bonus. Ms. Simon stated this is an incentive HPC has had for 25 years and they are very careful about. If every project you see was awarded a bonus don’t look at that as a bad thing. That means we are getting good projects. Bigger lots can handle the bonus. This is not the first time we have seen a property receive a bonus and sever TDRs. Councilman Frisch said it would be helpful to check in with HPC. Ms. Simon said they are coming to Council in November. Mayor Skadron opened the public comment. There was none. Mayor Skadron closed the public comment. Chris Bendon, community development, reminded Council of the trap of applying current laws differently to the next person who comes in. Mayor Skadron said it is a good project. He thanked Ms. Raymond for letting Council discuss policy issues. Councilman Frisch moved to adopt Ordinance #31, Series of 2015; seconded by Councilman Daily. Roll call vote. Councilmembers Frisch, yes; Daily, yes; Mayor Skadron, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #34, SERIES OF 2015 – Housing Credits Code Amendment Ms. Garrow stated the program was adopted in 2010. It is intended to encourage the private sector to assist in the development of affordable housing units. There are six proposed changes to the code. 1. Limit to private sector 2. Limit to studio and larger units 3. Housing credits units within a mixed use building be designated as for sale or other permanent deed restriction 4. Allow developer to establish credits for fractional or whole units Regular Meeting Aspen City Council September 15, 2015 7 5. Credits can be established at any housing category that has an established cash in lieu rate within the guidelines 6. Limit to within City of Aspen boundaries Councilman Frisch said the limit to the public sector and dormitory are correct. Rentals are allowed with pretty heavy details. He appreciates the sales aspect but is not against rentals. For fractionals, it makes sense. He also supports category limitations. He asked about the location limitations and thought it was more specific at first reading. Ms. Garrow said they are suggesting it may be premature to limit it to the round-a-bout now. Councilman Daily said he agrees with Councilman Frisch. This is consistent with the policy resolution. He likes the approach of the category limitations. They are consistent with P&Z and APCHA. This is the right step for today. He agrees we are not ready for location limitations. Mayor Skasron said his primary concern is with the category limitations. If changes are needed APCHA can change the guidelines so cash in lieu can be created higher than four. Ms. Garrow replied that is correct. It would be a future policy for APCHA. Mayor Skadron opened the public comment. 1. Marcia Goshorn said she agrees with the comments about tying just within the Aspen city limits. She agrees with future discussion with APCHA for higher categories. Mayor Skadron closed the public comment. Councilman Frisch moved to adopt Ordinance #34, Series of 2015, seconded by Councilman Daily. Roll call vote. Councilmembers Daily, yes; Frisch, yes; Mayor Skadron, yes. Motion carried. Councilmember Frisch moved to adjourn at 6:45 p.m.; seconded by Councilmember Daily. All in favor, motion carried. Linda Manning, City Clerk