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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19860326Continued Meeting Aspen-City Council March 26, 1986 Mayor Stirling called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m, with Councilmembers Isaac and Collins present. Mayor Stirling recapped the issues from the previous meeting of open space, skier drop off, visual impact, shadows, pedestrian gateway, encroachments, lift building design, lift service, snow shedding, and FAR variations. Alan Richman, planning director, submitted for the record the GMP/SPA precise plan, executive summary, plans and memoranda. Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. Hans Gramiger said the enough for everything Gramiger said the open open on Durant avenue. to the south; the city the front. The floor like the lodge zones. zoned CL at one time, area ratio of 2:1 was f there may have been a 1 and to the south and site would only be 22, that parcel were to be square feet. Little Nell site is not adequate or large the developer proposes to put on it. space should be between 25 and 35 percent The hotel has the amenity of open space should have the amenity of open space to area ratio should be a maximum o f 1. 5: 1 Gramiger pointed out this property was end was downzoned to CC because the floor elt to be too high. Gramiger pointed out zoning error in the past in adding extra coning it CC/SPA. Without this land their X00 square feet. Gramiger said even if included, the applicants are short 5 , 000 Gramiger said the parking is inadequate and the applicant should provide at least 211 parking spaces. Gramiger said it is unfair for an applicant to enhance his project by using public streets like it was theirs as it is the city's amenity already. Gramiger said the employee housing i s inadequate and the applicant ought to provide a list of the new jobs created by this project and also the skiing operation. Gramiger pointed out that the Bell Mountain lift ought to come all the way to Little Nell. Gramiger state d that the grading is not necessary for the ski operation but only so as not to interfere with the hotel. Gramiger said encroachment into the conservation zone is inappropriate for a hotel and would only be appropriate if the applicant gives the city something in return. Gramiger pointed out not every guest in this hotel will use Aspen mountain to ski; there are 3 other mountains. Gramiger said this parcel has a priority to function as a base area forever. Gramiger told Council it is inappropriate to favor an applicant just because this applicant is in a position to offer a gondola. Gramiger said there has no condition imposed on the applicant that the gondola will operate in the summer. 1 Continued Meetin4 Aspen -City Council___ __-March 26 ,- 1986 Gramiger said this development started with a mistaken priority of a hotel on this site. Gramiger said in the case of this applicant, every mistake they make effects the entire valley. Gramiger told Council it is feasible to move the proposed gondola 100 feet to the east. Gramiger said the city should negotiate with the Skiing Company and give back all the land deeded to the city in the lift 1 area of about 44,000 square feet. The Skiing Company could then improve that end of town with better uphill transportation. Gramiger showed his plans for Little Nell as a park with a parking garage underground. Gramiger said the Little Nell area is too small for the proposed development, and the improvements will be negated by the frustrations on the site. Councilman Collins asked for a map that defines the open space on the parcel. Bill Kane showed a map with the land zoned CC/SPA and the conservation/SPA proposed land. The parcels are 43 , 000 and 45,000 square feet. Councilman Collins said he would like to see the specific open space dedicated on this parcel. The staff has pointed out that open space should be on the front of the parcel not on the rear. Kane told Council the building has been moved from 6 feet off Durant to 26 feet off Durant, including landscaping and a drop off facility. Council's motion was to entertain the drop off as part of the open space if it were all included on the applicant's property. Mayor Stirling pointed out the executive summary states that 69 percent of the parcel will be retained as open space. Mayor Stirling q uestioned what percentage is on Durant. Kane said the open space on Durant is about 15 percent. Alan Richman, planning director, said he will calculate this for the next meeting. Kane said the Code states that 25 percent of the parcel must be open space, must be functional and there must be 10 feet of that on a public street. The applicant is proposing 26 feet on a public street. Councilman Collins asked about the depressed pit for the gondola, the length and depth. Peter Forsch, Skiing Company, pointed out the drawings of this in the executive summary. Forsch said the pit provides for the accelerator launching mechanism for the gondola. Forsch said the pit will also hold some of the storm water detention area in the event of the 100 year storm. Forsch said the applicant has raised the terminal building a little so that the gondola cars are not in a tunnel effect for long. Councilman Collins asked how deep the pit is. Forsch said 7-1/2 to 8 feet and 30 feet wide . Richman provided Council an analysis of the parking in the various categories of development of lodge, office space, retail and ski area expansion. Richman pointed out the CC zone district does not require parking. The staff used the requirements of the lodge and office standards for guidelines. Richman said the typical code requirement is above the standards used by the 2 Continued Meetin4 Aspen Citv Counc~l__ March 26. 1986 applicant. Richman pointed out f or the Aspen Mountain Lodge project, a parking standard of .7 per unit, including conference and accessory uses was used. Richman said for the retail spaces, using the Code would come up with a very large parking requirement, and for these particular retail uses would be an unreasonably high standard. Richman pointed out most of the retail space will draw from people already on site. Richman said the Code requirement seems to be excessive in the area of retail and restaurant. The applicant's standard in these areas is low. Richman said staff and P & Z concluded that 118 parking spaces provided by the applicant seems to be reasonable. Richman told Council the parking study came up with a supply and demand analysis concluding the applicant's supply a xceeded the demand for their facilities, and they should get a credit for the parking required for the ski area expansion. Richman told Council the applicant has agreed to provide 46 spaces for the ski area master plan. These spaces have no location designated. The county commissioners condition stated these spaces can be provided on site, off site, or a cash in lieu donation to the city for a parking facility or a transit related facility. Richman told Council he feels the Board applied the lowest parking standard for the ski area expansion and these 46 spaces should be the absolute minimum provided. Richman told Council the applicant's consultant at the time of the master plan hearings stated that 67 cars would be generated by the ski area expansion. P & Z recommended accepting the 118 parking spaces, which has increased from the original proposal of 77 spaces, and also require the 46 spaces provided as part of the master plan. Richman told Council the cash in 1 ieu f or these parking spaces would be between $460,000 to 5690,000. Richman told Council on the site plan, he has only counted 116 parkin g spaces. The applicant has represented they will supply 118 spaces . Mayor Stirling said the Council has j ust passed a 5 year capital improvement plan which includes 51 , 600 , 000 towards a parking garage. Councilman Isaac said he is concerned that 46 parking space requirement was arrived at by the county and does not meet the needs of the city. Councilman Isaac said he feels 46 parking spaces is inadequate. Council agreed the 118 parking spaces are only for the proposed development. Forsch said the applicant is requesting that the number of parking spaces they are providing is in excess of the consultant's demand figure be credited toward the requirement for the ski area expansion. Forsch said 46 parking space requirement was arrived at of ter a series of public meetings, negotiations and studies between the applicant and Pitkin County. Forsch said the Skiing Company is 3 Continued _Meetnq Aspen City Council - Marche- 26 , 1986 willing to work with the city on solving the parking problem. Mayor Stirling said the city has committed $50,000 towards a study. There is the possibility of forming a parking district of the downtown businesses. Gideon Kaufman pointed out the Code does not have a parking requirement for the CC zone but because this is an SPA, the applicant has acceded that 118 parking spaces would be beneficial to them and to the town. Mayor Stirling said the 118 parking spaces may be satisfactory but they have no bearing on the requirement for the 46 extra parking spaces. Councilman Coll ins said the issue of the 46 parking spaces belongs in a broader discussion having to do with parking structures and mass transit. Councilman Collins said the 118 parking spaces is acceptable for this project. Mayor Stirling said the gondola may draw even more numbers to this area than before. Forsch said Aspen is a very bed bound resort and the mountain won't often reach capacity. Forsch said the consultant did base his figures on the fact that more people may use the gondola than lift lA. Richman said it is incumbent on the city to insure there is a viable area at lift lA and to provide circulation between the two areas. Richman recommended the Ski Company initiate a shuttle service between Little Nell and lift lA. Richman said the Ski Company has agreed to retain 30 parking spaces in the area of 1 if t lA or underground. Forsch said the Ski Company is willing to provide a taxi-auto drop off at lift lA. The Ski Company is also committed to retaining 30 parking spaces either on the site they are now located or a close by site. Mayor Stirling suggested the applicant contribute a shuttle system or contribute to RFTA to operate a shuttle system. Forsch said the applicant should be able to examine the traffic patterns between the two areas during the next winter. Councilman Collins asked the current distribution between the two areas. Forsch answered 70 percent Little Nell and 30 percent Lift lA. Councilman Isaac agreed this area should be watched, and if a shuttle is needed it should be provided. Jerry Blann, Skiing Company, said the City Council went through all the meetings on the master plan and agreed with the 46 parking spaces. Blann said he is willing to work with the city but is not willing to sign a blank check. Mayor Stirling said 46 parking spaces was a compromise number . Kane said one of the issues to be addressed is the adequacy of the surrounding streets. The applicant hired TDA to analyze the average daily traffic and peak hourly volumes capacity of surrounding streets. The consultant concluded the capacity of Durant street per lane per peak hour was rated at 900 capacity. There is a reliable count provided by the engineering department. 4 Continued Meetin4 Aspen Citv Council March 26, 1986 Kane told Council TDA degraded the capacity of Durant street to account for winter conditions to 400 cars per lane peak hourly capacity. Kane said currently the peak hourly demand on the street is 270. The added impact of the project will be peak 23. Kane said these 23 additional trips are related only to the project and not the expanded capacity of the ski area. Rane pointed out these figures are still below the peak capacity of 400. Hammond said he feels the consultant's figures are quite conservative, and the generation numbers are adequate. Hammond said he has some concern about the added ski area but does not feel this will exceed the capacity of the streets. Mayor Stirling asked about the neckdown on Hunter into Durant. Hammond said neckdowns protect pedestrians crossing the streets and also define the parking zones. Hammond said he is still working with the applicant on the final details of the neckdowns and the landscaping. Kane told Council one of the changes from conceptual to precise plan is to relocate the service entrance from Dean to Spring street. Kane illustrated the food service handling for the mountain restaurants. Kane said the applicants have 1 ooked at the viability of this service yard, the turning radius, how it would interface with traffic at the Aspen Club Lodge and the Aspen Alps. Kane presented drawings showing turning movement of different type delivery trucks. There is adequate room to pull in and out for these trucks. Kane presented a drawing of plans for a cul-de-sac at the end of Spring street. Kane told Council Spring street does not now have a logical terminus, this will formalize a turn around opportunity for cars. Kane said they hope this cul-de-sac will be a benefit to the adjacent property owners. Jerry Hewey, Aspen Alps, said they are concerned about having large trees on the corner of Durant and Spring. Hewey told Council the applicant has worked with the Alps, and Hewey feels this plan will work the best. Richman told Council in the CC zone there is a standard for length of trash facility, and this standard is a linear relationship. As the building gets bigger, the length of the trash facility gets bigger. Richman said for a building this size, the code would require a length of 83 feet, which would take the service up the ski hill. Richman said a trash facility this large would disrupt everything. Hammond agreed this variation should be granted. Councilman Collins asked if the trucks can go all the way into the building. Kane said they could. Councilman Collins said the cul-de-sac on Spring street would create another dead end. There are dead ends at the top of Aspen and Monarch. These all create circulation problems. Councilman Collins asked if the fire marshal has commented on this application. Richman said this has been reviewed by the fire marshal, and it is recognized that a fire truck cannot get 5 Continued Meeting -Aspen City -Council March 26. 1 986 into all sides of this building. The building has been sprinkled to Code. Mayor Stirling said moving the trail from above the gondola to below seems to mix the urban socializing and the trail and asked if there is an alternative. Kane told Council for a fair distance from the terminal, the head room is not adequate to go under the lift. Kane said the trail would have to be at least 170 feet from the terminal building and would be a 15 percent grade uphill. Kane said he feels the trail would become unusable. Mayor Stirling said he would like to see the trail segregated from the socializing experience. Forsch said they will sign that portion of the trail to tell people to walk their bikes. Richman told Council P & Z set a requirement for the higher trail that it be a graded trail, not a paved trail, so that it will not interfere with the skiing activity. The Skiing Company is working with the Nordic council on a trail in the vicinity of 8100 feet. The applicant is willing to accommodate this request recognizing the primacy of alpine skiing over Nordic skiing in this area. Richman said the studies are recommending continuing studies in the areas of groundwater conditions, foundation studies, slope stability analysis, and hydrology. Hammond told Council concerns of the geotechnical consultant involve ground stability relate d to the cut and fill , groundwater conditions as they effect both the cut and the hotel structure, and surface hydrology including water flows from Spar and Vallejo gulch. Hammond said the indications are that there are no profound instabilities on Little Nell. Hammond told Council Chen & Associates indicates fills between 10 and 15 feet are probably acceptable. The applicant has adjusted the grading plans in response to these concerns. Hammond said if the Chen report does turn up profound problems, the design will not be passed on. Richman said the city wants to make sure that they have an active partner in the study as well as the eventual mitigation of any geological problems. Richman is not asking for a commitment to a specific share, the financial share will be determined by the study. Forsch stated the Skiing Company is willing to continue with the county and the city in the study and eventual mitigation of these concerns. Forsch said although they are willing to participate, they are unwilling to write a blank check. Richman said staff feels comfortable with the storm drainage proposal and the analysis to date, that there is mitigation going on. Richman said staff needs to feel comfortable that the overall problem can be mitigated, and to do that may require participation of the Skiing Company physically and economically. 6 Continued Meeting Aspen City-Council March 26. 1986 Councilman Collins asked if the mitigation solution for the Aspen Mountain Lodge has been costed out. Jim Pavisha said the estimate is 5370,000 to mitigate the debris flow on site. Councilman Collins asked who is putting all the mitigation solutions together from the Alps to Shadow mountain. Hammond said the city has received a proposal from Chen to undertake further work to define the extent of the hazard. Hammond is asking for further breakdown on prices for different areas across the mountain. Hammond told Council he has discussed with the lodge improvement district whether they ought to take on certain improvements to intercept some of the flows on the mountain. The Aspen Skiing Company ought to be part of this. Richman told Council P & Z gave 8040 greenline approval to this project for lift placement and grading. Rane went over the grading plans contained in the executive summary, and pointed out the depression for the launching mechanism. Kane said the grading plan will take the existing toe of the slope and move it south 100 feet and regrade the slope into a configuration that works better for skiing. The bottom part of the hill will grade at 25 percent. Kane told Council the cut represents about 54,000 cubic yards of material. Kane said the plan for the disposal of that cut is still being evaluated, and the applicant is waiting for the final report from Chen to see how much can be relocated on the slope. Forsch said this regrading will result in a more consistent fall line for the mountain. Councilman Collins said he would like to see section drawings detailing the trench for the gondola and the treatment around it. Mayor Stirling said the applicant will provide a solution for the relocation of the pumphouse at their cost. Hewey pointed out the drainage is now intercepted by the Aspen Mountain road. Hewey said the applicant will have to replace this road and they would like the applicant to consider bringing the drainage so that it does not wash out the road. Richman told Council he has required the applicant to satisfy the county engineer in terms of drainage. Mayor Stirling noted the water department supports the solution of the applicant regarding the pump house. Councilman Collins left Chambers at 7:07 p.m. , Council then lost its quorum. Mayor Stirling outlined the schedule for Monday March 31, at 4 p.m. and Tuesday, April 1, 1986 at 5 p. m. Kathryn S, ch, City Clerk 7