HomeMy WebLinkAbout1020 East Cooper AvenueFrom:Bukk Carleton
To:Amy Simon; Kevin Rayes
Subject:1020 East Cooper Avenue
Date:Monday, January 11, 2021 8:45:58 AM
RE: 1020 East Cooper Avenue
Dear HPC members:
As we all know, HPC stands for Historic Preservation Commission. Preservation means
not only keeping a few sticks from the past upright, but it means preserving the look, the
feel, and the property itself.
Your commission has various guidelines one must follow to be approved under yourrulings.
At the moment, you have a plan in front of you on 1020 East Cooper which pushes the
existing building as far to the front of the property line as possible – just feet from EastCooper Avenue and the sidewalk.
On the backside, the design pushes the building to the last inch of the 5’ setback,creating a need to place cars under the building and thus raising the building to a 3-storyheight.
To the west, they have pushed the building to 5’ of a lot line which they are not legallyallowed to do, as they have not properly assimilated that land obtained through adversepossession. In addition, the same illegal proposed location will result in the buildingbeing just 6 ½ feet from the existing building (1012 East Cooper) on the westside of theproperty which is a violation of the City’s fire code.
This is not preservation of property. All other historical buildings in the neighborhoodhave front lawns. All the buildings that use the alley have cars parked outside theirbuildings thus creating smaller structures and more land availability.
Your restrictions call for any new buildings on the site to be no more than 100% of whatexists. The proposed plan is 4x that amount.
Why is the HPC staff recommending approval of this application for the developer? Is itbecause the developer says it is providing affordable housing?
The HPC has received multiple complaints from the neighbors that the proposed plansare detrimental to the neighborhood- not only disrupting ways of living but also creatingdollar devaluation. This is all very true.
But what no one has discussed is what will happen to the people using this property ifbuilt as proposed?
Instead of enjoying a new home; they will be miserable. Where will they park their cars?Where will their guests park? Will they be forced to stand in lines for buses or walk thestreets of Aspen? Where will their children put their bikes? Where will their childrenplay? What about their pets? Why should a family with a child in a stroller be forced tolive on a third floor? Just because these people are earning less than others in Aspen,does not mean they should not be able to enjoy their lives.
The elephant in the room no one wants to talk about is the fact that the developers arenot interested in the welfare of the neighborhood, the City, or the people who will beliving in what they create- they are only in it to make tons of money. In fact, they statedin one of their neighborhood Zoom meetings that once it is built, they will sell- leavingall those living in, next to, or in the neighborhood in distress.
If the developers of this property were really interested in those needing affordablehousing, they would build on the land available by the airport, where there is enoughland and space where people living there can enjoy their lives. Or the developer couldplan a larger development on a larger parcel where a small fraction of the planned unitswould be affordable, and people could integrate in a normal way with the rest of thecommunity.
To get what they want, the developers have cleverly cherry-picked the City’s various
regulations. This should not be allowed.
For example, do not allow them to avail themselves to the benefits of historicalpreservation categorization but then avoid the requirement that any new building be lowin height by instead bringing in the height limits permitted under multifamily zoning. They continuously cherrypick and then if they cannot get what they want under eitherHPC or Zoning, they will pull out the affordable housing claim. The result is ahumongous structure that is no benefit to the neighborhood, the City, nor the peopledestined to live in it. The result is a massive use of a tiny historical property which has
never been contemplated by the City.
I have a simple request. If you are interested in preserving Aspen, please do your job. Ifthis developer wants to erect a structure that meets your requirements, I am sureeveryone would welcome it. But if not, let the developer walk away and do not feelguilty. The developer will have just proven it is not interested in the welfare of thosewho need affordable housing, the developer is just proving that its objective was to attaina massive profit by creating a structure that would yield retail values at $2,200 persquare foot.
The developer’s current plan has created a design using every square inch of land forbuilding- just like a can of sardines. And those people destined to live in that buildingwill have the same feeling- existing (not living) in a can of sardines.
Please do what you have been entrusted to do.
Best regards, Bukk Carleton
1012 E Cooper