HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20160321Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 21, 2016
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CITIZEN COMMENTS ............................................................................................................................... 2
COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS ............................................................................................................ 2
CONSENT CALENDAR ............................................................................................................................. 3
ORDINANCE #5, SERIES OF 2016 – Rubey Subdivision Water Service Agreement ............................... 3
ORDINANCE #6, SERIES OF 2016 – 730 E. Cooper Ave (Base 1) Ordinance ......................................... 4
RESOLUTION #35, SERIES OF 2016 – Shadow Mountain Lodge addition to Small Lodge Preservation
Program ......................................................................................................................................................... 7
EXECUTIVE SESSION ............................................................................................................................... 8
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 21, 2016
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At 5:00 pm Mayor Skadron called the regular meeting to order with Councilmembers Myrin, Frisch, and
Daily present.
CITIZEN COMMENTS
1. Peter Greeney had some questions related to the moratorium and the entrance to Aspen traffic.
He said as a citizen who gets their information from the papers the reasons for the moratorium are
development activity have left basement and first floor commercial spaces vacant due to free
market residential uses above creating large areas of dead space in the commercial zones that
degrade the commercial vitality. How is this situation an emergency? What applications can
arise that are a risk to the health and safety to the community. The moratorium is not providing
residential development above commercial space. It if is purely about aligning the land use code
to the AACP it is not a prudent use of emergency action but a dangerous precedent to set. The
development community was largely unphased by the emergency action. As far as traffic
entering Aspen he said he is confused by what the community is trying to solve. What measure
of traffic are we trying to achieve. There are over 75 hospitality shuttles serving the needs of our
visitors. Rather than look for a magic bullet we should acknowledge we have reached a
successful level for mass transit. The national level for adoption of public transportation is 4
percent and we have reached 18 in the valley. Attempting to improve on that rate is foolishly
ambitious. He encouraged council to help by identifying who we are trying to get out of traffic
and by what measure and to consider low cost measures before considering major infrastructure
projects
2. Toni Kronberg asked council to pull from the consent calendar Resolution 34, Mill Street
complete streets.
COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS
Councilman Myrin thanked the Aspen Times for the editorial and it is nice to see community support for
the council decision last week.
Councilman Frisch said on the Cooper Street Pier there has been a fair bit of talk on space there. It was
reported that he wants to change the use or get rid of the restriction. What he meant was it needs to
remain some type of locally serving space. We are having a hard time seeing a restaurant pop up there
but he would be open to waiting it out a bit more. His relaxation of change of use would only be on the
restaurant aspect. At this time he is not up to relaxation completely. On the moratorium, there are 17
applications in the pipeline already. That is a five year run. There are questions about view planes and
nooks and crannies. The concern is sterilization of the commercial space. The number one goal of the
community is to match the land use code with the AACP and not see another 15 applications come in. He
is not saying residential can’t participate in SCI, NC or MU but it has a hard time being in the same
building. He is hoping we can get out of some of those moratorium zones a bit quicker. He thinks this
pause and reflect time is important. As far as the questions of how it affects the city and county office
buildings, we control the destiny and are not in the sterilization business. I do appreciate the issue that the
city lives up to the rules it puts in place. I think the bigger discussion is no stone has been left unturned
when the city has made a commitment of 50,000 square feet. I do know the city has spent a tremendous
amount of hours over the last year doing outreach. The physical landscape and the mental landscape of
what the community wants to see has grown. I want to commend staff for reaching out to the public.
Mayor Skadron wished everyone a happy spring. The ski season is rapidly coming to a close. He said he
got to ski today with his Brother Michael and niece Abby. Aspen is competing in the energy challenge as
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 21, 2016
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part of the Georgetown Energy Challenge. Go to aspenenergychallenge.com. We are in second place
behind Huntsville Alabama.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Resolution #33 Mill St storm water
Councilman Myrin asked what will we see above ground afterwards. Tyler Christoff, utilities, replied a
valve box in the pavement. There will be three of those. Councilman Myrin asked if this will impact the
electrical box on Rio and Mill. Will this impact that space or can it be moved. Mr. Christoff said that is a
switch gear for one of the circuits in the east side of town. Staff has investigated moving it but it is
expensive and complicated to move.
Mayor Skadron asked how did this happen. Mr. Christoff replied it is a combination of the gravity fed
utility and we can’t see underground. When we started digging there were utilities where we thought they
were not going to be.
Resolution 34 – Mill St complete streets.
Councilman Myrin asked how the crossing from Mill to the new city offices will it be impacted. Justin
Forman, engineering, said as part of the library’s work they will have a crossing just north of the RFTA
stop. Councilman Myrin asked if there will there be one that connects to the Mill building. Trish
Aragon, engineering, replied we were not able to get one there because of the grades of the intersection.
Councilman Myrin asked for a short summary of the above grade changes. Mr. Forman said it is just for
the alley into the Rio Grande garage and the ADA ramp to the north. Ms. Aragon said on the library side
the sidewalk will be flattened out to be ADA compliant. The ramp next to the library will be ADA as
well.
Mayor Skadron asked what is the public outreach around this. Mr. Forman said they are working on a
notice for the paper as well as for the corridor. Mayor Skadron asked what about the intersection at Mill
and Main. Are we talking to CDOT about that. Mr. Forman said there is an application process with
CDOT and we have started that. Ms. Aragon said you will be able to go straight and left in one lane.
Toni Kronberg thanked council for supporting the bike lanes, it is much safer. There are still two areas
that are unsafe on Mill. Coming out of Rio Grande Place to Mill St where the generator box is you can’t
see the pedestrians and it is unsafe. She suggested taking as much around the box away as possible. Mr.
Christoff said that is the piece of switch gear he is referring to. Ms. Kronberg said the second safety issue
is the island in Mill Street where the bikes are going diagonally through the intersection. She suggested
diverting them through Rio Grande Park. Ms. Aragon said as part of next year’s budget they are looking
at additional signage for that area.
Councilman Frisch moved to adopt the Consent Calendar; seconded by Councilman Daily. All in favor,
motion carried.
ORDINANCE #5, SERIES OF 2016 – Rubey Subdivision Water Service Agreement
Debbie Quinn, assistant city attorney, said they have been working on this for the past year. The
subdivision was first developed in the county in 1976. There were water plans that were approved by the
city engineer at that time but there never was a council ordinance authorizing the expansion of the city
water system into the subdivision. This agreement dots the i’s and crosses the t’s. There are a number of
advantages that the city gets with the approval of this agreement including the as built easements for the
existing infrastructure. Those will be on consent agenda for second reading. We have worked with city
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staff to assure the annexation provisions are acceptable to city staff. This subdivision will comply with
our storm water provisions. The raw water agreement will be curtailed whenever there is an instream call
on hunter creek.
Councilman Myrin said it looks like a win on every issue for the city. Were there compromises made the
city would have liked to achieve. Ms. Quinn said it was a long process. They want to be on city water
and should have been a long time ago. It is a fair resolution for everyone.
Councilman Daily asked under what circumstances will we have annexation. Ms. Quinn replied there is
no plan for annexation. In every water service agreement that is extended extraterritorially it is a
requirement that properties agree to annex. Jodi Edwards, representing the owner, stated we agree to
annex if asked. We are not agreeing to it right now.
Councilman Frisch moved to read Ordinance #5, Series of 2016; seconded by Councilman Daily. All in
favor, motion carried.
ORDINANCE NO. 5
(SERIES OF 2016)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, APPROVING
A WATER SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH OWNERS OF LOTS WITHIN RUBEY SUBDIVISION,
NAMELY, HBARR, LLC, A COLORADO LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (LOT1); RED
MOUNTAIN ESTATES LLC, A COLORADO LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (LOT 2); MARIAN
RUBEY TRUST (LOT 3); LOT 4 RUBEY SUBDIVISION, LLC, A COLORADO LIMITED
LIABILITY COMPANY (LOT 4); HUNTER CURTIS BAAR, ROBERT NEAL RUBEY TRUST, AND
MARIAN RUBEY TURST (AS TO AN UNDIVIDED ONE-FOURTH INTEREST EACH) AND
ROBERT BONNER RUBEY, KAREN ELIZABETH RUBEY BERING, AND KATHERINE BONNER
RUBEY MCMURTRY (EACH AS TO AN UNDIVIDED ONE TWELFTH INTEREST) (LOT 5), AND
MARIAN NEAL RUBEY DAVIS (LIFE ESTATE IN LOTS 1,3,4 AND 5) FOR PROVISION OF
TREATED WATER SERVICE OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS.
Councilman Frisch moved to adopt Ordinance #5, Series of 2016 on first reading; seconded by
Councilman Daily. Roll call vote. Councilmembers Daily, yes; Frisch, yes; Myrin, yes; Mayor Skadron,
yes. Motion carried.
ORDINANCE #6, SERIES OF 2016 – 730 E. Cooper Ave (Base 1) Ordinance
Jessica Garrow, community development, told the Council this is an amendment to Ordinance #2 of 2015
removing all variations proposed and approved in that ordinance. The height is proposed at 35 feet six
inches to the parapet and 48 feet to the top of the elevator. Both comply with Commercial Lodge zone
district. The height limit in this zone is 38 to 40 and elevators are allowed to be 10 feet higher. The
applicant is proposing 23 parking spaces in the subgrade garage for the lodge and commercial spaces.
Available for sole use of the lodge and commercial use. The applicant has proposed a few changes to the
ordinance. Section 1 would allow minor changes to lodge size for building code and technical uses.
“Minor dimensional changes during pd detailed review may be approved such they do not exceed those in
the underlying zone district. A minor reduction in the number of lodge units of not more than a reduction
of two units and a minor increase in the lodge unit size that results from building permit requirements or
other technical considerations up to not more than a ten percent increase in size of each individual unit are
permitted as an insubstantial amendment to this ordinance. No other reduction in the number of lodge
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units or an increase in the size of the lodge units for the project shall be permitted without an amendment
of this ordinance. No change in use shall be permitted for the property without an amendment to this
ordinance”. It is technical language but will enable the applicant to address the changes required for
building review. Part of the way the applicant has got away with the variations is removing the roof top
restrooms. Staff believes it makes sense to have this language change. Section 5B changes the parking
number from 24 to 23. Staff is proposing “additional parking may be provided, however there shall not
be a reduction of spaces below the 23 space requirement without an amendment to this ordinance”. The
final change is to Section 6 related to public amenity space. They are proposing to delete that section and
revert to the language in the original ordinance. The difference is the original ordinance allows for the
enclosure of the courtyard space that is located on the property line of the Bell Mountain condominiums.
That space is approximately 400 square feet. During the original review Staff recommended enclosure
since the space is not at street level and is interior to the lodge. The entire public amenity as proposed is
just over 6,700 square feet and a combination of roof top, right of way space as well as onsite with
internal walkway and spaces along Cooper. The code requirement is just above 1,200 square feet. Staff
is comfortable with the proposed change. The application is variation free and meets all the requirements
of the commercial lodge district.
Dwayne Romero, representing the owner Mark Hunt along with Spiro Tsaparas and Jody Edwards said
from a variance free prospective they have received a lot of positive feedback from the community. The
Valet service starts on Original with two dedicated parking spots. There is a series of right turns on
Cooper to Spring then Hyman and Original. Access to the garage is off of the alley with an elevator to
the garage. The garage is led by an attendant and the public will never be in that space. They will lose at
least one lodge room by moving the restrooms off the roof. For parking, they will commit to 23 but
aspire to 24. For public amenity and the courtyard, this project is five times the public amenity space. It
is completely complying with height.
Mr. Hunt said the fundamental goal is to create as many small lodge rooms as they can with a fun space
for the locals. They are roughly 200 square foot rooms. He is excited about the concept and the chance
to give people a great experience.
Mr. Romero said relaxing the height to 38 feet allows for a better building that is still complying with the
zone district. Mr. Hunt said if it is not sunk it would be 35.6 on Cooper. Because of the grade it would
be 38 the way it is measured. Ms. Garrow said it is a 38 foot height limit in zone. The commercial
design standards call for entrances to be at street level. Staff would say we prefer the building to walk in
at grade. It is Council’s decision. Staff would prefer the project complies with the commercial lodge
district which is the most important thing. It can be engineered but is not the preference if 35.6 is the
benchmark.
Councilman Frisch said anything up to 38 does not need commercial design review. Whether it came at
35.6 or 38 they are asking it to be taller but in the zone district. From 38 and under everything is fine.
Ms. Garrow stated the recommendation in the ordinance is for the corner at Cooper to be at 35.6 and to
recognize the sloping that happens down Cooper and Original can exceed 35.6 but not 38. Councilman
Frisch said for parking there should be no ability to sell or rent spaces. They will try for 24 but no fewer
than 23. All lodges can buy street permits for one week. Was there discussion for not allowing the three
dollar a week permits. Ms. Garrow replied there was a general discussion on it. Any lodge can purchase
them. Our recommendation is to treat this lodge like any other lodge. Councilman Frisch said in an ideal
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world it would be great if you did not have to use them. How important are these in your business model.
Mr. Romero replied that they do not see it as make or break for the business model. Councilman Frisch
asked if all the lodges have unlimited access to these. Mitch Osur, parking, stated that all the lodges have
the right to purchase an unlimited number of passes but we are working on a plan for 2017.
Councilman Myrin said parking has been his big concern since day one. If someone offers three dollar
parking per night or 30 dollar per day. The utilization is very important. I don’t want to create a garage
that is never used. We have the ability to require the use of the parking by not allowing parking passes as
an alternative. If we don’t do something fairly assertive I don’t know we will have accomplished the goal
of keeping parking out of the residential neighborhood. It may require stepping out of what is applicable
to other lodges. Councilman Frisch said suggested not giving them out unless the garage is 100 percent
full. There is something to be said about prioritizing the use of the underground garage. Councilman
Myrin said to figure out how to get the cars stored not parked on the street. If there is an alternative that
is virtually free and easy access. Councilman Frisch said one of the main pushbacks from the community
was we don’t want people parking in our neighborhood.
Councilman Myrin said he is happy with the amendment measuring the height from Original and Cooper
to not exceed 38. He is OK with the change of 10 percent as well.
Councilman Daily asked about the lodge parking passes. Randy Ready, assistant city manager, said it is 3
dollars up to a week. The other issue is where the permits are valid. The most heavily used area is
around the Limelight. They are talking about exempting certain blocks, where they are valid and what
they costs. Councilman Daily said limiting the availability is an important part. It can’t be just pricing.
As for the valet, is it a functional solution for the community to have them moved with several right turns.
Ms. Garrow said it is a much better solution than the original proposal and similar to the Hotel Jerome. It
makes sense from a functional solution. Councilman Daily asked if it started originally with 42 units now
39. Mr. Romero said one maybe two will be removed for the restrooms. Mr. Hunt said one was lost
originally for the notch for the tree. Councilman Daily asked if as much as a 10 percent increase in the
size of rooms will that not contribute in the loss to the number of rooms. Mr. Romero said there are
building code compliance requirements only. Councilman Daily said he thinks the language is good.
Mayor Skadron asked what is the maximum height of the building. Ms. Garrow replied if Council moves
to allow the level walking surface it will be 38 in the north east corner of the alley. At the corner of
Original and Cooper it would be 35.6 and up to 38 going back west along Cooper to the adjacent Bell
Mountain. Mayor Skadron said regarding the parking permits we are allowing this building to be subject
to the more restrictive permit program that will be rolling out in a few weeks. Councilman Frisch said he
thinks we have ample time to change the parking program here. I’m ok leaving it as is.
Mr. Edwards said let’s say the new plan gets adopted and you find out that one doesn’t work. This is not
the type of thing vested rights is given. If you don’t want parking in the block around city market just
make sure the passes are not valid in that block.
Councilman Myrin said there still isn’t a clear solution for parking. Councilman Frisch said I think we
will have the right public policy by the time someone wants to park at the hotel.
Councilman Frisch made a motion to incorporate the changes referenced by Ms. Garrow as well as
incorporate the height at Original and Cooper at 35.6 and the heights at the other corners not to exceed 38
feet.
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Mayor Skadron said to Councilman Myrin in two to three years there will be a policy in place where
lodges will not have access to 67 cent parking. You are demanding a change tonight, correct. It sounds
like there are only three lodges that use it now.
Mayor Skadron said the theory behind this when it was put in place was to help smaller lodges. For the
most part it is not being abused with the exception of the limelight. Ms. Garrow said a middle ground
could be a lodge could not use street passes unless the garage is full. Councilman Myrin said he could be
happy with that. It is based on intent. Ms. Garrow suggested a condition added to Section 5B, only use
street passes when the onsite garage is full.
Mayor Skadron opened the public comment. There was none. Mayor Skadron closed the public
comment. Ms. Garrow stated she received an email from Phyllis Bronson
Councilman Frisch moved to adopt Ordinance #6, Series of 2016 with the conditions about parking and
the dimensional table and other changes outlined by Ms. Garrow.
Councilman Myrin asked about the We-cycle passes and RFTA passes. Are they provided free. Mr.
Hunt said they work closely with we cycle and our employees get free passes.
Seconded by Councilman Daily. Roll call vote. Councilmembers Frisch, yes; Myrin, yes; Daily, yes;
Mayor Skadron, yes. Motion carried
RESOLUTION #35, SERIES OF 2016 – Shadow Mountain Lodge addition to Small Lodge
Preservation Program
Reilly Thimons, community development, told the Council this is an amendment to the small lodge
preservation program. The program was established with the intention to minimize further loss to the
lodging inventory, increase diversity of lodging options, bolster the bed base and create incentives to
assist the lodges with redevelopment and efficiency updates. Shadow Mountain Lodge was not originally
included in the program due to the fractional ownership. They have requested to be formally included.
The HOA has 10 condo units each divided into 15 fractions. When the units are not being used by the
owners they are placed in a rental pool enabling nightly rentals like a traditional lodge. Council has sole
discretion to add lodges to the program. New lodges must meet the following criteria. They must contain
50 or few rooms and in be in one of the lodge zones. Shadow Mountain Lodge meets the criteria. There
is no financial impact to program. Staff recommends approval.
Councilman Myrin asked if there is criteria to apply to make this decision. Ms. Garrow said Council can
change the list. There are criteria for new lodge. 50 or fewer rooms and in be located in one of the lodge
districts. Councilman Myrin asked what if they want to leave the program. Ms. Garrow said it is an
incentive based program with a lot of carrots and no sticks. Councilman Myrin asked about the fractional
ownership, are there others that might want to come in. Ms. Garrow said she does not think so.
Councilman Myrin asked if it cost money. Ms. Garrow said there is an application fee to be added but it
is minimal.
Councilman Frisch said this is great. We set up criteria and this meets it.
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Mayor Skadron said his concern is these are fractionals. He wants to make sure the Hyatt and Residences
will not be showing up for this. Ms. Garrow said each application is judged on its merits. It makes sense
for this lodge to be included.
Mayor Skadron opened the public comment. There was none. Mayor Skadron closed the public
comment.
Councilman Daily moved to adopt Resolution #35, Series of 2016; seconded by Councilman Frisch. All
in favor, motion carried.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mr. True stated Staff recommends executive session pursuant to C.R.S. 24.6.4024 (a) purchase, lease,
transfer or sale of property, (b) conference with attorney for the local public body for the purposes of
receiving legal advice on specific questions and (e) determining positions relative to matters subject to
negotiation relating to purchase, lease, transfer or sale of property.
Councilman Frisch moved to go in to executive session at 7:15 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Daily. All
in favor, motion carried.
Councilman Daily moved to come out of executive session at 8:10p.m.; seconded by Councilman Frisch.
All in favor, motion carried.
Councilman Frisch moved to adjourn at 8:10p.m.; seconded by Councilman Daily. All in favor, motion
carried.
Linda Manning, City Clerk