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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.apz.20230815 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 15TH, 2023 City Attorney, James R. True officially moved the meeting to Council Chambers. Commissioners in attendance: Maryann Pitt, Marcus Blue, Eric Knight, Jason Suazo, Tom Gorman, Christine Benedetti, and Teraissa McGovern. Ken Canfield is absent. *Tracy Sutton entered the meeting at 4:33pm. Staff present: Ben Anderson, Deputy Community Development Director James R. True, City Attorney Luisa Berne, Assistant City Attorney Nicole Henning, City Clerk Tracy Terry, Deputy City Clerk COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Ms. McGovern ask which Resolution number they are using, Nicole replied #7. STAFF COMMENTS: Mr. Anderson said it is great to see a full P&Z board. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None. MINUTES: Ms. Pit mo�oned to approve the minutes for August 1st, 2023, and the mo�on was seconded by Mr. Knight. Ms. McGovern asked for a roll call: Ms. Pit, yes; Mr. Blue, yes; Mr. Knight, yes; Mr. Suazo, yes; Mr. Gorman, yes; Ms. Benede�, yes; Ms. McGovern, yes; for a total of six (6) in favor – zero (0) not in favor. The mo�on passed. DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: No Conflicts. SUBMISSION OF PUBLIC NOTICE FOR AGENDA ITEMS: Mr. True said the notice is acceptable. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 333 E. Durant Ave. – Mountain Chalet – Resolution #7 Mr. Anderson said this is for Mountain Chalet Lodge. Minor amendment to a planned development and related reviews. He explained the basics of a planned development to the board. Mountain chalet received approval in 2001 for a planned development that continues to serve as the basis for the property’s current development rights. He went over the 2001 approvals regarding the phased project and dimensions. He went through the steps they took to get here and the history of the project. Applicant Presenta�on: Chris Bendon - Bendon Adams Mr. Bendon introduced himself and said he is here on behalf of the applicant 2021 Aspen Mountain Chalet LLC. Also in attendance are Zach Pepperman and Larry McGuire, principals of the ownership group, Craig Melville, previous owner of the chalet. Craig is now the minority owner and still general manager. Jodi Surfas is the owner’s rep and project manager. Dave Ryback is the local architect for the project. Lake Flato is the design architect out of Austin. Paul Squadrito is the principal from design workshop. Roaring fork engineering is not here but involved in the project. Chris gave the history of the property, including the phases of construction and prior approvals. He spoke about parking spaces, balconies, the transformer on Durant, trash facilities, and the commercial versus lodge amenity spaces. He described the affordable housing plan as five onsite units, three studios and two one bedrooms. He said they are overproviding on affordable housing in exchange for affordable housing credits. REGULAR MEETING ASPEN PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 15TH, 2023 Craig Melville spoke and gave his family history and their involvement in the project. Their family has been here for 70 years, and it has been a very living part of their family and he still works there. He mentioned they are struggling with problems, including leaking pipes. They have always had offers to buy the Chalet and always said no. Larry and Zach came and they turned them down, but then after they presented their vision, the family agreed to sell it. They wanted to respect its past and bring it into the future. They got the family to finally agree to sell it because it fit what they see as the Mountain Chalet. The family is very supportive of the project. Larry McGuire spoke and said they’ve been active in the Aspen hospitality market since opening Clark’s about 6 years ago and more recently Las Montañas and Louis Swiss bakery. They are based in Austin as MML Hospitality. They partnered with a good friend Liz lambert who started a boutique hotel company called the Bunkhouse, so they are a full-service development management group who pride themselves on going after unique properties. They have one other hotel that they own and operate in New Orleans. They seem to go after tough projects and enjoy a mix of preservation and enhancement. Zack Cupperman spoke and said thank you to Ben and his team at the city. It’s been a long complex project with a lot of nuances. He is based in New Orleans and does a lot of preservation and hotel reno work. He is grateful for the opportunity to carry on the legacy and honored to carry forward what the Melville family has built. Mr. Bendon spoke again about the resolution. He said it provides flexibility on parking and the net leasable which is important to them. There is a requirement for a development agreement and a new set of development plans. It took a lot of work to get here, and they are happy to get to this point and appreciate staff effort. Ms. McGovern asked if the east building redevelopment is the original building. Mr. Bendon said yes. Mr. Gorman asked if the transformer location is in the public right of way. Mr. Bendon said the transformer sits on a pad that will be in the row by one foot which will allow for clearances. Ms. Pitt asked about adding an addition floor instead of adding another bike or ski shop. Mr. Bendon said that area is best suited for back of house or commercial. He said the ski and bike shops would be a guest amenity. Ms. Sutton asked if the gym will be part of the commercial space or just guest amenity and will the restaurant space be a breakfast and lunch space. Mr. Bendon said the gym that is there will not be coming back. There is currently a spa that is in the basement that is guest amenity space, and it will increase in space, but it is not a commercial space. There are two formal restaurants that are open to the public and a guest amenity area that will do breakfast service and après ski service. Staff Presenta�on: Ben Anderson – Deputy Community Development Director Mr. Anderson recapped the reviews this project has already been through. He said a big topic was whether this project would trigger demolition and that if they were thinking that this review would have been much different. He said a lot of the things are to be confirmed at building permit, the approval in front of you is not approving a whole lot of new things, the restaurants as a conditional use, but we wanted to make sure as this project moves from its fairly far along conceptual schematic design to construction documents that it remains in conformance that will be confirmed during zoning and other reviews. Staff recommends approval of the resolution provided. REGULAR MEETING ASPEN PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 15TH, 2023 Mr. Gorman asked about % of demoli�on and what if they must go over. Mr. Anderson said there are allowances for these types of situa�ons regarding mold, etc. Ms. McGovern clarified that it must be put back in the same exact way. Mr. Sua zo asked why the fifth floor wasn’t added to net leasable space and how does it change the GQMS, if it changes the pedestrian amenity, and if they could change it. Mr. Anderson said that was something they thought about, they tried to give definition to lodge amenity spaces and net leasable spaces in hotels and it’s a really difficult thing for staff to evaluate. If five years from now that space starts to be advertised as a separate space, that might get re-evaluated. We have some guard rails around it, but staff agrees with how its depicted. They had a conversation surrounding this topic. Mr. Bendon said there would be two big impacts to them. They did the audit to lessen the number of moving pieces. To the extent that was opened up it would open up other things. It’s also not something that they are proposing, they are proposing to have the space function as it does today, for guests to use and possibly a non-profit occasionally. Ms. Benedetti asked about a trigger in the future for something to be re-evaluated. Mr. Bendon said they plan on using the space in the same way as it has been used. If that is considered net leasable, it provides them more flexibility. He wanted to respect Ben and the process they have been through because it’s a benefit to arrive here both saying the same thing but said if they feel it’s net leasable and can be used that way in the future he won’t quarrel with that position. Ms. McGovern asked if there is a provision in the code to allow for a lodge audit in the future. Mr. Anderson said they can include that as a future provision, but he said those things are carefully evaluated by Zoning during any building permit review. Ms. Pitt asked if the five proposed APCHA units will be built and how many onsite employees will use those units. Mr. Bendon replied yes, they will be built, and they will be filled 100%. They wish they could have more. Ms. Pitt asked what the height of the elevator shaft is. Mr. Anderson replied that elevators get a 10-foot exemption and that it is not taller that the highest point of the building. Ms. McGovern asked if the commission is willing to extend this meeting or if they need to reschedule as they are getting close to 7pm. Commission said yes to extending. Ms. McGovern closed the presentation portion of the hearing and opened public comment. PUBLIC COMMENT: Ms. Susan Melville Warren, sibling of Craig, said this is an awesome project. She said if Ralph was here, he would be thrilled, he always loved to build. She said that Marian loved the presenta�on as well and would be thrilled to see this happening. Mr. Lex Tarumianz said this group will be great stewards of this building and of our community. He thinks it’s a great project and thinks the community is in full support of it too. Ms. McGovern closed the public comment por�on of the hearing and opened board discussion. REGULAR MEETING ASPEN PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 15TH, 2023 BOARD DISCUSSION: Mr. Suazo supports amending the proposal to include net leasable. He thinks it’s marketed and used as net leasable space currently. Ms. McGovern asks what they get from that. Ms. Sutton agrees with Teraissa that there is more benefit to leave it as is. Ms. Benedetti agrees that if they come back and ask for net leasable in the future, the community benefits from that. Mr. Blue agrees with the others. He said that right now, this isn’t their issue to decide. He loves the design and that it keeps and improves on the historical aspect. He appreciates the thoughtfulness of the whole design. Ms. Sutton said she likes the design and thinks staff has answered the questions she had. They are preserving an asset of the community that she agrees with. It’s keeping with the character of the town and is a nod to our history since the 50’s. Mr. Gorman said this is not an easy project, it’s complex. He’s looking forward to seeing what happens. Ms. Pitt agrees with the project. Ms. Benedetti agrees and thank you for all the work on this. Mr. Knight said he likes the design and how it respects the history of the building. Ms. McGovern said she has some issues with housing credits. They are over mitigating and asking for the ability to sell these credits on units that are not top-notch units. Mr. Knight and Mr. Suazo agree. Ms. McGovern doesn’t want to approve the affordable housing credits. She wants to see credits sold for great units. She asked if they as a board want to approve credits for below grade units all the time. Ms. Sutton asked what her solution for that is. Mr. Bendon said that these are killer units. He said we as a community have an affordable housing crunch and for a long time, we have looked for opportunity to squeeze in affordable housing units. They are not forever units but have great light and come with extra storage and a parking space. Ms. McGovern asked for a motion to extend the meeting. Ms. Benedetti motioned to extend the meeting to 7:15, Mr. Blue seconded, All in Favor, motion carried. Ms. McGovern said she is willing to accept the credits but would like to state that if we are going to over mitigate on site that there not be accommodations made. Mr. Suazo said he is ok leaving the amenity space as it. MOTION: Mr. Blue mo�oned to approve resolu�on #7. Mr. Gorman seconded. Jim True suggested a minor amendment that the numbering be corrected, there are two 8’s and two 12’s. REGULAR MEETING ASPEN PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION AUGUST 15TH, 2023 Roll call vote: Ms. Blue, yes; Mr. Knight, yes; Mr. Suazo, yes; Mr. Gorman, yes; Mr. Benede�, yes; Ms. McGovern, yes; Ms. Pit, yes. 7-0 vote, mo�on passes. Ms. Pit mo�oned to adjourn the mee�ng. Mr. Blue seconded. All in favor, mee�ng adjourned. Tracy Terry, Deputy City Clerk