Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19880523Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 23, 1988, PROCLAMATION - Public Health Day 1 PROCLAMATION - Older Coloradans Month 1 CITIZEN PARTICI PATION 1 COUNCILMEMBER C OMMENTS 2 ORDINANCE #15, SERIES OF 1988 - Adoption of New Zoning Maps 3 ORDINANCE #16, SERIES OF 1988 - Newspaper Racks 7 ORDINANCE #19, SERIES OF 1988 - Refunding Water Bonds 8 ORDINANCE #20, SERIES OF 1988 - Amending to Section 11- Fi replaces and Gas Logs 8 ORDINANCE #22, SERIES OF 1988 - Amending Section 3, Ordi- nance #30, 1985 15 LIQUOR LICENSE HEARING - Aspen Comedy Lift 15 RFTA FINAL 1987 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION 16 CASTLERIDGE REN T INCREASE 17 SPECIAL EVENT G UIDELINES 17 REQUEST TO USE CITY PROPERTY - Wing Ding '88 18 RESOLUTION #9, SERIES OF 1988 - Annexation Element 19 MALL LEASES 20 700 EAST MAIN - Ordinance #24, Final Plat and Vesting 22 28 Re9ula_r Meeting Aspen Citv Council __Mav 23, 1988 Mayor Stirling called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with Councilmembers Isaac, Fallin and Gassman present. PROCLAMATION - Public Health Day Mayor Stirling and Council declared Wednesday, June 1, 1988, as Colorado Public Health Day in Aspen and encouraged the continued promotion of a healthful environment and society through efforts of the Colorado Public Health Association. Tom Dunlop, environ- mental health department director, told Council the 50th anniver- sary of the Colorado Public Health Association will take place in Aspen June 1 - 3 and he will present this proclamation at that time. PROCLAMATION - Older Coloradans Month Mayor Stirling and Council proclaimed the month of May as Older Coloradans Month. Mayor Stirling said people need to use fully the talents, creativity and experience of older citizens and to encourage maximum oP~ __ .._....,ri,rV ivL ~.~~C~L involvement in regular employment, volunteer service, civic affairs and all aspects of community life. Marty Ames, director of senior services, accepted the proclamation and invited Council to a picnic celebrating Older Americans Month. Ms. Ames told Council there was a conference held at the Community Center to discuss services and needs in the community. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 1. Richard Roth said the food and wine classic is coming to Aspen as a special event. Roth said he has not been able to get any clarification of how the city is participating. Roth said he feels this is a great event f or the city; however, he is con- cerned that it is a for-profit event sponsored by American Express and Food and Wine magazine. Roth asked if the city is being compensated for the use of Wagner Park for this event. Bill Efting, leisure services director, told Council the city receives a damage deposit of $250; any damage over that, the sponsor would have to fix. Councilman Isaac said the Resort Association helps to put this event on and does get paid for it. Councilman Isaac said this event does bring a lot of money to the community. 2. Kiefer Mendenhall presented pictures of the Rio Grande trail where posts have been put up with "No Trespassing" signs put across the right-of-way. Rocks have been bulldozed into placed. Mendenhall said he believes this is public property and cannot be blocked off in that manner. People use this area for walking, running and horseback riding. Mendenhall requested that the city have the rocks and plantings removed from this area. Mayor 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 Stirling said the city would have to determine what is the right- of-way and what is not. Mayor Stirling moved to direct the city manager to look into this, find out the status, and report back as soon as possible; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. Councilman Gassman said he does not think this is public property but was traded in a development. All in favor, motion carried. 3. Perry Harvey requested a work session with Council and P & Z. Harvey told Council he has been doing research on the proposed skating rink and park. Harvey said he has a lot of issues regarding rezoning, uses, winter and summer, insurance. Harvey said he would like review the issues with the city. Council scheduled this for Wednesday, June 1, 1988, at 5:00 p.m. 4. Mari Peyton asked about the proposed work on the alley behind Rubey Park. Assistant City Manager Mitchell said money has been appropriated for this but it has not been scheduled because of the weather. It will be done this summer. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilwoman Fallin congratulated Mayor Stirling and Councilman Isaac on being elected delegates to the National Democratic Convention in July. 2. Mayor Stirling said there is a Snowmass/Maroon Bells wilderness paper that has been written. The period for comment ends May 23, today. Mayor Stirling said the local forest representative has agreed to extend that period. Mayor Stirling said he would circulate the draft to Council, if they have an interest in commenting. Mayor Stirling said this paper has to do with issues like the commercialization of Maroon Bells, dogs in the wilderness areas. Mayor Stirling said if the forest service will extend the comment period, Council can comment on it at the first meeting in June. 3. Mayor Stirling said there is a report on the contribution of skiing to the Colorado economy. The city paid for part of this report and the report is available to Council. 4. Mayor Stirling urged staff to coordinate the paving program to be done before the high season. City Manager Bob Anderson said almost all paving planned is in the Galena street improve- ment project and will be done before or after the high season. 2 Regular Meeting _Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 Bruce Abel, RFTA, told Council they are turning the money for the paving back over to the engineering department for completion. 5. City Manager Bob Anderson requested a special Council meeting Monday, June 6 to complete the contract for the Galena street project, reports on the parking structure and ice garden, and scheduling a special election August 9th. Mayor Stirling moved to have a special meeting June 6, 1988 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, motion carried. 6. Councilman Isaac suggested the bar at the golf course be closed by 9 p.m. to not disturb the people 1 iving at the Red Roof. Mayor Stirling said people can play golf until 9 p.m. and it is important to have a concession available. Councilwoman Fallin said the bar is far away and won't disturb people. Council was not interested in pursuing closing the bar at 9 a.m. 7. Mayor Stirling said he will go with City Manager Bob Anderson to the sanitation board meeting June 7th. 8. City Manager Bob Anderson told Council he will be attending the International City Manager Association conference on resort towns. Councilman Isaac moved to approve the consent agenda; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. The consent agenda is minutes May 5, 9, 1988; liquor license renewal - Aspen Art Museum. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #15, SERIES OF 1988 - Adoption of New Zoning Maps Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. Alan Richman, planning director, told Council these are being redone because a lot of zone districts have been changed as part of the code re-write. Some districts have been eliminated; some districts have been renamed. Richman said this is an opportunity to look at the zoning maps and make sure all the references are updated. Richman said there are some publicly-owned properties are that incorrectly zoned. Richman pointed out the areas zoned L-1, L-2 have been eliminated and combined into the L/TR district. No new property is being zoned L/TR. Richman told Council the L-3 zone district has been renamed Lodge preservation (LP). Richman reminded Council staff has committed to looking at the parcels zoned SPA and eliminate those that did not need that overlay category. Richman said the reason for the SPA zoning is if a parcel is still in a holding 3 Regular Meeting __ Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 category or it requires the use or density variation. Richman pointed out the Smuggler Mobile Home park is an example of a property that does not need the SPA designation anymore and can be accommodated by existing zone districts. Richman said the fire station and jail are both zoned public/SPA. Richman told Council in the previous code all public properties were processed by the SPA. The new code states that public properties are set by the PUD process. Richman said when the city is dealing with publicly zoned land, they know the uses but do not know the setback, FARs, etc. Richman suggested that the fire station and jail be zoned public, which will allow them to be processed by a PUD. Richman said the Koch lumber property was annexed into the city and zoned R-15. It was privately owned land, and there was a review process for that property. Richman recommended Koch be rezoned park. P & Z is recommending this land be rezoned public. P & Z feels Koch is a property for which many uses are being con- templated and if it is designated as a park, it will be impos- sible it to be used as employee housing. Richman said staff feels the approved master plan for Koch property is as a park. Councilman Gassman moved that the Koch property be designated park; seconded by Mayor Stirling. Mari Peyton said she was a minority on the P & Z wanting this designated as park. Ms. Peyton said this is an example of trying to target open space to solve community problems. Ms. Peyton said employee housing problems should be solved by looking at properties that are already developed. Ms. Peyton said this property was acquired by efforts of the open space committee negotiating with the Roberts hotel development in a trade for city-owned property on Mill street and f or Dean street. Mayor Stirling agreed there was a strong feeling on Council at the time to do a trade and not to do any street vacations outright. Norma Dolle told Council she was on the open space committee at that time, and they felt this property would be open space and would be a park. Ms. Dolle said she would like to see this property retained as a park and not turned into development. Si Coleman supported the zoning of the Koch property as park and said the support for park among the Council members who voted for this is a continuing obligation of the city. Richard Roth said he would like to see the city keep their options open in order to consider this for employee housing. Roth said if this is kept as open, it may be for tourists only because there are no local people left living in town. 4 Regular Meeting Aspen Citv Council Mav 23, 1988 Richman told Council a public designation is for public or community facilities, like a fire station, jail or library; buildings that the city might build to support the community. Land that is to be kept in open space for passive or active recreation would be zoned park. Richman said he feels it is no more difficult to go from park to employee housing than from public to employee housing if employee housing is the appropriate use and voters approve of that use. Bil Dunaway said it is more psychologically difficult to go from park to another zone. Dunaway said Council should keep some flexibility because public housing is becoming a greater problem than the lack of open space. Councilman Isaac said he would prefer the public zone. There are two large open space parcels within two blocks of this area. Councilman Isaac said there is a large need for employee housing; this is a good location for low cost housing. This parcel could be used for both housing and park. Councilwoman Fallin suggested this be zoned SPA to keep the options open. Richman said the current designation of the Koch property is R-15, which is not appropriate. The staff felt park zoning is most consistent with the master plan. Richman said he is concerned about SPA because is raises as many questions as any zone. Councilwoman Fallin said it is a large parcel that could have a couple of uses on it, like an extension of the trailhead and employee housing. Councilwoman Fallin said this parcel is in a high density area and is appropriate for employee housing. Mayor Stirling said the spirit in which the Council negotiated this trade was as a key park and open for access to the mountain. Councilman Gassman said this discussion is about zoning, and the entire town is zoned f or housing. Employee housing can be built all over the county; there are very few sites that are zoned for open space. Councilman Gassman withdrew his motion; Mayor Stirling withdrew his second. Councilman Isaac moved to leave the parcel R-15 for the time being; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. Councilman Isaac said at some point the city will have to plan this parcel and the city can just leave it R-15 until then. Councilmembers Isaac and Fallin in favor; Councilman Gassman and Mayor Stirling opposed. Motion NOT carried. Councilman Isaac moved to zone the Koch parcel public; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. Councilmembers Isaac and Fallin in 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 favor; Councilman Gassman and Mayor Stirling opposed. Motion NOT carried. Richman told Council the effective date of the new zoning code is May 25, and Council needs to adopt new zoning maps to match the code. Richman suggested this specific issue be brought back for resolution separate from the ordinance. Mayor Stirling said the Roch parcel is currently zoned R-15 and adopting Ordinance #15, 1988, would leave this parcel R-15. Richman told Council currently Wagner and Rubey are zoned park. Rubey is a public facility as a transit center and would be more appropriately zoned public. Council agreed. Richman pointed out a parcel on the river near the Rio Grande parcel has been zoned R-6 and has not been used for residential purposes. There are two other parcels zoned office. Richman said this would bring the entire Rio Grande parcel into public/SPA zoning. Councilman Isaac asked if storage of snow is allowed under the public/SPA zone. Richman said it is allowed as a community facility. The entire array of uses on the Rio Grande are allowed. Richman said Cap's has been left out and is zoned office. Richman told Council P & Z has been considered some type of gas station or local serving use in conjunction with the public facility on the Rio Grande. Council agreed. Richman told Council some area on King street should be zoned R- 15 rather than R-6. There is a correction on the Moses property which should be R-15/PUD. These are both corrections, not rezonings. Richman said the Shapery property should be changed from S/C/I to park. The Little Cloud parcels should be rezoned as park. The Art Museum is zoned H and should be zoned public/H. Richman pointed out two parcels the city has received; one in the Creektree and one in the 1010 Ute Avenue subdivisions. These should both be designated as park. Richman said the Crestahaus and Alpine Lodge east of town are both now shown as LP. Richman pointed out the Marolt and Thomas properties have various zonings. One on the Marolt is R-15/PUD/SPA, which staff is suggesting should be changed to park. Mayor Stirling moved to designate all of Thomas and Marolt as park zone; seconded by Councilman Gassman. Councilman Isaac said the southern corner of the Marolt parcel was donated to the city as a possible site f or employee housing. Councilman Isaac said he would like to see this preserved as a site f or the M.A.A. housing. Richman said the R-15 designation does not give any guidance in dealing with planning for the 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 23. 1988 parcel and is not doing what the parcel was intended for. Richman said R-15 is misguiding people. Councilman Isaac asked if the park zone would be a barrier f or the use of the house on the Marolt property. Richman said as a caretaker house, the zone would be all right. This would make childcare on the Marolt property a problem. Nick McGrath told Council the lease will be terminated this June as Ruth Stone does not want to struggle with this location again. McGrath said this has been a terrific school location. City Manager Bob Anderson said there have been access problems to this property. Bruce Abel said the Marolt property is under consideration for an entrance to town and asked if the community wants to put additional hurdles on the con- sideration of this entrance by designating it park. Richard Roth said he feels park zone is too restrictive and the city needs to keep their options open. Roth said he supports both open space and employee housing, and this is a great area for both. Councilwoman Fallin said part of the Marolt property was purchased with sixth penny funds. The Thomas property was purchased with seventh penny funds, which is transportation. Councilwoman Fallin said the city should leave their options open on these two properties. Councilman Gassman and Mayor Stirling in favor; Councilmembers Isaac and Fallin opposed. Motion NOT carried. Councilman Isaac moved to leave the property as it is; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman. Motion carried. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Fallin moved to adopt Ordinance #15, Series of 1988; seconded by Councilman Isaac. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Isaac, yes; Gassman, yes; Fallin, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #16, SERIES OF 1988 - Newspaper Racks Mayor Stirling moved to table Ordinance #16, Series of 1988, until June 13, 1988; seconded by Councilman Isaac. Mayor Stirling told Council CCLC members have requested this be tabled until they are able to attend the meeting. Bil Dunaway asked if the staff has discussed this with newspaper vendors. Council asked staff to send copies of the ordinance to newspaper vendors. All in favor, with the exception of Councilwoman Fallin. Motion carried. 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 ORDINANCE #19, SERIES OF 1988 - Refunding Water Bonds Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. Cindy Shaf er-Wilson, finance director, told Council the city has obtained more savings than anticipated at first reading. There will be 5293,000 of present value saving; $207,000 of this will be realized in 1988. Ms. Shafer-Wilson said there were savings because of the timing when the issue hit the market and on the cost because the insurance on the bonds was at a low rate. Ms. Shaf er-Wilson told Council the city's bond rating was raised to an A by Moody's earlier this spring. One reason is that Aspen's sales tax revenue keeps increasing. Ms. Shafer-Wilson pointed out this ordinance does contain all the final rates. Ms. Shafer- Wilson told Council this issue is 58,040,000. Dan O'Meara, Kutak, Rock and Campbell, told Council if the city issues less than 510,000,000 a year in debt, it is a more attractive issue. Mayor Stirling said this ordinance states that the city will not issue more than 510,000,000 in 1988. What would this do to an issuance for a parking structure. O'Meara said this ordinance states it is Council's intention not to issue more than 510,000,000 and there would be 51,900,000 left in 1988. O'Meara said if Council issues more than 510,000,000 in 1988, it will change the character of this bond issue so that the banks lose the advantage of this issue. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Fallin moved to adopt Ordinance #19, Series of 1988, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Isaac. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Isaac, yes; Gassman, yes; Fallin, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #20, SERIES OF 1988 - Amending to Section 11 - Fire- places and Gas Logs Tom Dunlop, environmental health department director, said this legislation will have a dramatic impact on residents and visitors in Aspen. Dunlop said this was drafted after many months of study that have implicated fireplaces and wood burning stoves as a culprit to air pollution. Dunlop told Council this is one of many steps that will be necessary to offer healthful air and to comply with federal regulations. Dunlop said the city and county are faced with deciding their own future as relates to compliance with the PM 10 regulations. Dunlop said if the city does not take the appropriate corrective action now, the federal govern- ment has the ability to develop a compliance plan for Aspen, possibly with little local input. 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 Dunlop said Council and the Commissioners have chosen to assume a leadership role to reduce unhealthful levels of particulates by adopting this ordinance. Dunlop said varying part 4 of this ordinance was accomplished to protect this ordinance from defeat on second reading. Dunlop told Council he is confident that the conclusions reached by the Environmental Protection Agency and the state health department based on their computer models will be correct and Aspen will be in violation of PM 10 standards. Dunlop said rather than losing the conversion upon sale section, he would ask the Council to delay the implementation date until after the state has completed the PM 10 monitoring program next spring. Dunlop said conclusive data may not be available until next year or the year after. Dunlop pointed out that trends develop, weather patterns must be considered, technology may change which would allow wood burning with no emissions at all. Dunlop said Council should make the decision regarding the compliance date of the conversion upon sale section. Lee Cassin, environmental health department, reminded Council this ordinance is a result of Council determining the local implementation plan to be the most appropriate way to solve the PM 10 health problems. Ms. Cassin pointed out this ordinance and the local implementation plan are based on 13-1/2 years of total particulate monitoring. This is continuous data represent- ing whole years of monitoring beginning in 1975. Ms. Cassin said PM 10 is one part of the total particulates; it is not a separate type of pollution. Unhealthful particulate levels are made unhealthful by the PM 10 component of it. Ms. Cassin said the fact that PM 10 monitoring just began this winter does not discount the fact that Aspen has had unhealthy particulate levels for some time. Ms. Cassin told Council Aspen has had unhealthful levels of particulates in most of the past years. Ms. Cassin said there have been some questions about how the standards get set. The EPA reviews all the studies they can. Then an independent body of scientists (National Academy of Sciences) reviews all the data and studies on health, decreases in lung function and increases in pollution and determine which levels are associated with health effects and those that do not hav a any evidence of association with health effects. That is how it has been determined that Aspen's particulate levels are in the unhealthful category. Ms. Cassin told Council the National Academy of Sciences recommended the EPA make a PM 10 standard much stricter than the one proposed. Ms. Cassin said no one study of PM 10 will prove to everyone's satisfaction that peopl a will be effected by a certain level . Ms. Cassin said all studies have pointed to wood burning as a significant source of pollution in Aspen. The best data indi- 9 Rectular Meetin4 Aspen City Council Mav 23, 1988 Cates that wood burning is responsible for 57 percent of the PM 10 pollution and sanding is responsible for 36 percent. Ms. Cassin recommended that Council act now on the available data. Ms. Cassin said staff would recommend waiting f or more data if Aspen did not have a health problem now. However, the levels of particulates are unhealthful now. Ms. Cassin reminded Council the city is committed to doing everything they can to reduce sanding emissions. Unfortunately there are no solutions at hand which will solve that problem. Ms. Cassin told Council the data the city will receive in the summer of 1989 will not be definitive and will have an error of at least 20 percent. Ms. Cassin said there is one piece of data that was not available in the past. When the state projected the PM 10 levels, they assumed half of the total particulates would be PM 10 materials. So far the actual measured ratio has been 70 percent of the total in the PM 10 category. Ms. Cassin said controls on new fireplaces will do nothing to lower the PM 10 levels that are unhealthful now. Ms. Cassin told Council some questions have come up about voluntary no burn days and voluntary public education programs. Ms. Cassin recommended these programs be continued and expanded. These are not an alternative to other programs in the local implementation program. Staff recommends both approaches be pursued. Ms. Cassin said it is hard to get data on how much can be gained from a voluntary program. Ms. Cassin told Council the Denver Water Board and State Health Department have done voluntary programs. The Water Board found no compliance with people watering on days when they are supposed to; however, they may have gotten a 7 percent water reduction use because people are more aware. The State Health Department has found the same thing with the better air campaign. Ms. Cassin said Denver feels they may have gotten as much as a 9 percent reduction from people being more aware. Ms. Cassin said the city cannot predict or measure high pollution days but a voluntary program could be an awareness program. Ms. Cassin said there has been some questions about inserts. Staff recommends that inserts not be used as an alternative to gas logs. Certified inserts are designed solely f or heat, they are very efficient heaters. Fireplaces are almost always not used for heat because they are very inefficient. Ms. Cassin said if fireplaces with inserts are used with their doors open, they are high polluting fireplaces. Inserts could be removed and this could not be detected. All inserts become high pollution stoves after a number of years if they are not carefully maintained. Ms. Cassin told Council a certified insert is very difficult to operate cleanly. 10 Rectular Meeting Aspen Citv Council Mav 23, 1988 Mayor Stirling said the alternatives are to present the ordinance as written with Section 4 included and the start date November 1 for transfers of property being required to replace their dirty fireplaces. The second alternative would be to wait until September 1989 with the same ordinance. Fred Gannett, city attorney's office, pointed out in the second alternative includes within 5 years all fireplaces in the city have to be changed upon sale or within 5 years. This ordinance also includes that Council may, by resolution, delay implementation of the date on sale pending studies of clean air data. The third alternative has no section to address upgrading of fireplaces. The Council would address this as a separate ordinance. Councilman Isaac asked if it would be up to the seller or the buyer to remove the fireplaces and stoves. Gannett said it is up to the seller to show to the environmental health department that upon transfer the stove or fireplace has been upgraded. Gannett said the seller will have to take an affidavit to the environmen- tal health department. If the seller has complied, they will get a stamp which allows the buyer to take the deed to the Clerk and Recorder. Gannett told Council the affidavit could be inspected by staff if Council desired. Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. Mayor Stirling said there is a letter for the record on behalf of the Gant, Aspen Alps, Aspen Square, Aspen Club, Clarendon, Chateau Dumont, and 8 condominiums managed by Coates, Reid & Waldron from Nick McGrath. Nick McGrath said the most onerous provision is to install gas logs on sale provision. McGrath recommended that Council take out section 4 at this time. McGrath said the expense for replacing units far away f rom gas lines could be over $4,000. McGrath said adopting this section for November 1988 does not give the public and condominium associations time to figure out what to do. McGrath said it would be cheaper to comply with the law all at once and bring gas lines in. The requirement to do this for the first unit sold eliminates this as a possibility. McGrath said he will bring Council more data about valuations; there are regulations about taking property. McGrath told Council in New York, appraisers use a value of $17,000 per fireplace. McGrath said he does not know what the value of a fireplace is in Pitkin County. McGrath requested Council delete section 4, and condominiums will work with staff to see if they can come up with a better alternative than sale of the first unit. Si Coleman, Clean Air Board, told Council the membership of the Board has changed and has not acted on the local implementation 11 Regular Meeting _ Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 plan. Coleman said the Board should have the opportunity to discuss this and requested Council postpone their vote on these ordinances so the Clean Air Board can make some recommendations. Rick Lindner told Council he has not been able to get a lot of adequate, updated information about gas logs from Rocky Mountain Natural Gas or Public Service Company. Lindner said the industry is changing and in 1 or 2 years there will be better installa- tions. Lindner said this ordinance may be premature. Lindner told Council 95 percent of the visitors do not think there is an air pollution problem in Aspen. These people probably could be convinced to comply with a voluntary program. Lindner said in the future there will be a inversion kit for fireplaces which will close the flu when fires are not allowed. Molly Campbell, Gant, told Council she has tried to follow the process through the Clean Air Board. Ms. Campbell said she does not remember the transfer on sale of property being included in the local implementation plan. Ms. Cassin said this was added before the local implementation plan was adopted by Council. Ms. Campbell told Council voluntary programs do work in Aspen; the Gant has been extremely successful in substantially reducing the wood consumption. Ms. Campbell told Council she measures this by the amount of wood that is left. Ms. Campbell said Gant visitors consume 50 percent less wood this year than in the past. Ms. Campbell told Council the Gant did a thorough public information program with the guests. Ms. Campbell encouraged Council to keep working on voluntary programs. Roy urged Council not to make any hasty decisions. Roy said the city ought to go to a voluntary program. Roy said he feels gas is very dangerous. Roy said Council should give this more time. Alan Bush recommended Council do away with all 3 of the proposals and replace them with a voluntary approach or voluntary/mandatory usage reduction rather than the elimination of future and conversion of fireplaces. Bush said there are a number of approaches that have not been tried that would be much less expensive. Bush said in essence this is taking away of people's property. Bush said this is a tourist community and Aspen competes for the guest dollars. People do not have to come to Aspen. This would be asking people to go elsewhere and enjoy the type of vacation experience they want. Bush said there are economic impacts to property owners both in the conversion costs and in the reduction in value. Don reminded Council in the smoking ordinance there was clear evidence against smoking and a large segment of the community in f avor of this ordinance. Don said he is not in favor of this proposed ordinance. Don said Aspen is being scared by the federal government. Don said the city can use a lot of education to promote uses of stoves and fireplaces. Don said the Council 12 Regular Meeting Aspen Citv Council May 23, 1988 should not pass any kind of ordinance unless they have indis- putable evidence that this will hurt the health of the community. Don said stoves are a source of heat, if used properly, and can cut the electricity bill. David Danforth said the east part of town is polluted every single night during the winter. It is difficult to breathe and one's eyes sting. Danforth said it is time to let the tourists know that Aspen does have a pollution problem. Danforth said he does not believe that voluntary controls work in the city. Danforth said the taking of property rights is not as important as taking of rights to be able to breath in this community. Bob George urged Council to reconsider the date of the transfer provision. George said if the city finds fireplaces are not a problem, this will put a financial burden on a select group of people. This program is either right for the community or it isn't. George urged Council to wait for the outcome of more studies. John Faulkner suggested a publicized work session with the Clean Air Board on this topic alone. Coleman said these ordinances are not the way to solve the problem. Councilman Isaac agreed that this ordinance should apply to everyone or no one. Councilman Isaac said going after transfer of property is not the best method. Councilman Isaac said he would like to approve the ordinance without section 4. This will put a cap on how many stoves there are now and will give the testing equipment another year to get more complete data on PM 10. Mayor Stirling said he believes there is a danger in the pollu- tion problem and this is a health, safety and welfare issue. Mayor Stirling said a dramatic move by Council will make a more healthy environment. Mayor Stirling said he feels that clean air is Aspen's greatest "come on". The city has had a lot of discussions about this issue. Voluntary efforts should be continued but the city has had voluntary programs for years and they have not brought about the positive effect that is needed. Mayor Stirling said he prefers to pass Ordinance #20 and to change section 4 to require everyone to conform within a period of time. Councilman Gassman said earlier the Council was told contribution of the fireplaces was about 70 percent of the problem and sanding was about 30 percent. Now the relative contribution of fire- places is going down and sanding is going up. Councilman Gassman said the possibilities are that the programs are having an effect or that the numbers are changing by themselves. Either case indicates that the problem will solve itself. Suzanne Caskey, Clean Air Board, said feels this means the city has to do the 13 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council _ Mav 23, 1988 best they can and use the best technology with every source of pollution. Ms. Caskey said Councilman Gassman's vigilance on sanding has started new programs. Ms. Caskey pointed out the Clean Air Board is not recommending that fireplaces be torn out. Ms. Caskey said the city is telling people to use the best fuel and cleanest way. The ordinance has left open if there is cleaner technology, it can be used. Councilman Isaac moved to adopt Ordinance #20, as proposed in 1B eliminating Section 4. Motion DIES for lack of a second. Mayor Stirling moved to adopt Ordinance #20, Series of 1988, with a section 4 not just pertaining to transfer of property but pertain to all property owners who have fireplaces in the city of Aspen to conform with items 1 through 7 , effective Septembe r 1, 1989 Ms. Cassin pointed out version lA may accomplish what the Mayor is proposing to do. Full conformity would be required by 5 years from 1989. Gannett said the city would be requiring conformance either on sale of a property or by September 1, 1994, whichever comes f i r st . Mayor Stirling moved to adopt Ordinance #20, Series of 1988, as written and amend Section 4 stating that all owners of real property containing fireplaces or solid fuel burning devices on or before September 1, 1994, should retrofit all fireplaces with ga s log s and ga s service to f i r epl ace or replace stoves with certified devices in the f ollowing manner; 1 through 8 with some amendments; seconded by Councilman Isaac. Mayor Stirling asked if this would work under the dictates of the environmental protection agency. Ms. Cassin recommended Council do what they think is right amount, submit it to the EPA and let them decide. Mayor Stirling said in the next year, the city should work on the economics of this, what kind of incentives the city could give, if there will be economic incentives. Mayor Stirling said starting June 1, 1988, all new construction will be effected, which is making this change immediate. Mayor Stirling said what troubles him about the motion is that people can wait until the last minute before doing anything about the fireplaces. Mayor Stirling withdrew his motion. Mayor Stirling moved to table Ordinance #20, Series of 1988, to June 13 and require the Clean Air Board to have a public hearing on this ordinance and return to the Council with certain recom- mendations; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. 14 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council Mav 23, 1988 Mayor Stirling said the purpose of his motion is not to move away from passing this ordinance but to try and get a better balance and see what can be done immediately. Mayor Stirling said it is incumbent upon Council to take an assertive action to deal with the air pollution problems. Councilman Isaac said he would like to pass all of ordinance #20 except for Section 4 in order to stop more fireplaces from being built and deal with section 4 later. Councilman Isaac said he would like to have a schedule of eliminating existing fireplaces but would like to hav a an incentive program and to step the program up year after year. Mayor Stirling withdrew his motion. Councilman Isaac moved to adopt Ordinance #20, Series of 1988, in form 1B not including the abatement; seconded by Mayor Stirling. Councilwoman Fallin said she would prefer to have a hearing on the abatement. Councilwoman Fallin said she has a problem asking people to put gas into their homes when they were told 10 years ago to take natural gas out. Councilman Isaac withdrew his motion. Mayor Stirling moved to table this to June 27 and have the joint Clean Air Board have a hearing on section 4 and report back to Council; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. Mayor Stirling said he would like the Clean Air Board to address the time issue and abatement issue; how to have this apply broadly, have it be effective sooner but in a reasonable time, whether incentives are workable. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #22, SERIES OF 1988 - Amending Section 3, Ordinance #30 , 1985 Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. There were no com- ments. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Fallin moved to adopt Ordinance #22, Series of 1988, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Isaac. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Isaac, yes; Gassman, yes; Fallin, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. LIQUOR LICENSE HEARING - Aspen Comedy Lift Councilwoman Fallin moved to table to June 13, 1988; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, motion carried. 15 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 RFTA FINAL 1987 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION Bruce Abel, general manager RFTA, reminded Council all budget amendments that are $10,000 and 10 percent after they are approved by the RFTA Board have to be approved by the city and county. The final figures for 1987 were reviewed by the RFTA Board at their April meeting. Abel told Council on the operating side of the budget, there were no variances that were grater than 10 percent and $10,000. Abel stated 1987 was a very successful year. Due to the ability to come in under budget on expenses and increased revenues because of sales tax and ridership, RFTA was able to generate a $300,000 operating surplus in 1987. Abel told Council on the capital side of the budget a number of items did vary. On the unanticipated expenditure side, there were expenditures relative to the final outcome of the fuel spill at the maintenance facility during 1984. Funds were withheld from the contractor as this proceeded through litigation to determine the liability. The case was heard in March and the determination was that RFTA owed the contract $166,000 that was withheld. Abel said the county and RFTA will share in the cost of the mitigation of the fuel spill. On the unanticipated revenue side, there are increases on the interest earnings on the capital fund, unexpected revenues from the sale of surplus equipment, $30,000 funds not needed for Rubey park and a corresponding decrease in the budget f or Rubey Park. This was due to an inability to get the alley paving scheduled last fall, and the funds are being returned to the city. Abel told Council RFTA did get an engineering firm hired in 1987 for the high occupancy vehicle lane study. The firm was hired and a report expected in June 1988. This unappropriates the funds from 1987. Abel said the funds not expended in 1987 for the bus maintenance facility are f or the bus stop shelter project. Funds not spent in park and ride were deobligated in 1987 and moved to 1988. The lockers planned for Rubey park were budgeted in 1987 but were received in 1988. This expense has been deobligated from 1987 and moved to 1988. Councilman Isaac moved to approve the RFTA final 1987 supplemen- tal budget appropriation; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, motion carried. Abel told Council RFTA anticipates expanding the van pool program, continuing half hour headways on the down valley routes, and are discussing with Glenwood Springs and Garfield county about extensions down valley. 16 Regular Meetincr Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 CASTLERIDGE RENT INCREASE Assistant City Manager Mitchell told Council Castleridge Assoc- iates has submitted a rent increase in accordance with the existing contract. Mitchell said he has reviewed all their submittals and they meet the requirements of the contract. Mitchell recommended in favor of the request for a 6.5 percent rent increase across the board. Mitchell said the conditions of approval are that Castleridge associates will set aside repair and replacement reserve of 580,710. Castleridge Associates has agreed to do that and to bring the land lease payments current, which Council has suspended since February. Mitchell told Council Castleridge Associates concurs with the recommendation. Mitchell said staff has met with Castleridge to discuss long term issues of cash flow problems due to the change in tax laws and the effect this may have on rents. Mitchell said Castleridge will be presenting proposals for staff to review. Councilman Isaac asked if these rents include utilities. Tom Lacy said they do not and the tenants pay for electric. Water and trash is paid for by Castleridge. Councilman Isaac asked who is responsible for planting on the hillside. Mitchell answered that was part of the landscaping attempted when the project was sold. Castleridge is attempting to work on the landscaping for the entire project. Councilman Isaac moved to approve the 6.5 percent rent increase at Castleridge to be applied across the board; this approval is conditioned upon replacement reserve being set aside in a separate account in the amount of 580,710 to be applied to maintenance problems that current exist (carpets, painting, and roof problem s and revegetation of that hillside) and the land lease payments being brought current (515,000 outstanding); seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. Councilwoman Fallin asked if 580,000 is enough to do all the items listed. Mitchell said that is all Castleridge is required to do under the contract. All in favor, motion carried. SPECIAL EVENT GUIDELINES Mayor Stirling said the CCLC has been working on these guide- lines. The CCLC members have requested that this be tabled to June 13th. Councilman Isaac said these guidelines do not say anything about a sales tax license. The guidelines do not address the small vendors, like musicians or people selling balloons. Mayor Stirling said these guidelines are for special event s as opposed to small vendors. Richard Roth told Council 17 ReQUlar Meeting Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 the Wine Classic is being advertised at $250 per head, which does not include housing. Roth said if there are 1500 people attend- ing, this will gross 5375,000. Roth asked how much is coming back to the city for the use of a city park. Spence Videon, ARA, said the event will contribute between 512,000 and 515,000 to the city tax fund which is significant. Videon told Council he has discussed with the sponsors making a contribution to the Founda- tion; however, this is not a firm commitment. Mayor Stirling moved to table the discussion of special event guidelines to June 13, 1988; seconded by Councilman Isaac. Councilman Gassman said one reason this issue came up was because of advertising and promotional items. These guidelines omit any discussion of advertising. Mayor Stirling requested this be addressed during the discussion. All in favor, motion carried. REQUEST TO USE CITY PROPERTY - Wing Ding '88 Patsy Malone, personnel director, told Council this event is being held mainly in Snowmass. The organization has asked to bring the event to Aspen one evening and a parade the following day. Ms. Malone told Council the city has not received state highway department approval for the parade; therefore, this is not a discussion item at this meeting. The requests are to use the Rio Grande park from 7 p.m. to midnight on Wednesday, August 3, and the adjacent public parking area from 6:00 p.m. until midnight; a request that the city prepare and let them use the snowmelt area for parking from 6 p.m. to midnight. The third request is a closure of Mill street from Puppy Smith street to Main street. Ms. Malone told Council the request has been changed to a street closure from Puppy Smith street to Bleeker street from 7 p.m. to midnight. The organization is also asking for a brief closure of Main street in front of the Jerome for 40 minutes to put on a drill team performance. Ms. Malone told Council all of these requests have been discussed by staff and with RFTA. Ms. Malone said staff feels that these requests can be accommodated with coordination. Ms. Malone said the use of the snowmelt will require oiling the property. Mayor Stirling asked about the theatre tent on the snowmelt property. City Manager Bob Anderson said the theatre people have requested some arrangements to make sure their tent does not get vandal- ized. Spence Videon, ARA, told Council this group goes all over the country and has massive gatherings. Videon told Council this is a motorcycle group. About one-third of them will sleep in Aspen, 18 Regular Meeting _Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 which is very beneficial to town, and will accrue sales tax revenues. Videon said there are 5500 people. Snowmass developed this group, and they would like to come to Aspen one night. This will be a non-discriminatory, non-alcoholic event. The event is open to the public for no fee. Councilman Gassman said the community has spent years in develop- ing a summer business based on M.A.A., ballet and theatre. Councilman Gassman said summer tourists have been coming to town for years and are committed to the arts. Councilman Gassman said to put 5000 motorcycle riders in the midst of the summer season runs counter to long term economic interest. Councilman Gassman said this would be forgetting what the community has developed into in the summer. Councilman Gassman said this conflicts with what the community is and what the summer visitor wants. Councilwoman Fallin agreed with Gassman and said this group should stay at Snowmass with their motorcycles. Councilwoman Fallin said this is a quiet community in the summer and she does not want motorcycles here in the summer. Videon said a one night event will not seriously offend Aspen's guests. Videon said Aspen prides itself on being heterogeneous. Videon said in the spirit of the things Snowmass does, Aspen has a responsibility to assist and complement them. Videon pointed out this is only 5 or 6 hours on one night and will not have a negative impact. Videon said this is a mid-week function, not a weekend function. Councilman Isaac said variety is the spice of life. The group is putting on a parade and having a party for the community and is not costing the city any money. Councilman Isaac said this will not upset the way of life in Aspen. Mayor Stirling said he likes the diversity of events in Aspen. Mayor Stirling said this is for a short period of time. The group has made a lot of plans in advance and it is difficult to say no at this point. Mayor Stirling suggested events like this be brought to Council sooner. Mayor Stirling agreed with the sentiments expressed by Councilmembers Fallin and Gassman, but in light of the groundwork that has been laid, he is willing to make an exception. Mayor Stirling moved to accept the street closures and uses of public property on Wednesday, August 3; seconded by Councilman Isaac. Councilman Isaac and Mayor Stirling in favor; Council- members Gassman and Fallin opposed. Motion NOT carried. RESOLUTION ~9, SERIES OF 1988 - Annexation Element Mayor Stirling suggested Council schedule a work session to go over this report. Councilman Gassman said he feels this is clear 19 Regular Meeting ___ Aspen Citv Council Mav 23. 1988 and includes everything Council has discussed. Mayor Stirling said he would like to discuss recommendations that have been made for targeted areas. Mayor Stirling said one guidelines is that the city not annex any undeveloped territory. Mayor Stirling said there is a way the city can annex undeveloped territory by designating SPA in the interim. Mayor Stirling moved to add this as a work session from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 1. All in favor, motion carried. MALL LEASES Mayor Stirling said there are 4 mall lease requests from the Aspen Mine Company, Paragon, Red Onion, and the Grill. The Grill is requesting to change from 10 to 12-1/2 feet. Additionally there are requests for new mall leases for Pinocchio's and Toro's. There is a recommendation that Toro's lease be for 7 feet into the mall rather than 10 feet. Assistant City Manager Mitchell told Council after the study session with CCLC, they looked at the mall leases, and they recommend approval of the 4 existing mall leases and the 2 new requests with conditions indicated in the memorandum. Councilwoman Fallin said she did not see the necessity for the Grill to be exempt from the 10 feet, and they should be at 10 feet like everyone else. Councilwoman Fallin moved to accept the mall leases for the Mine Company, Red Onion and Paragon; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, motion carried. Councilwoman Fallin moved that the Grill be granted a mall lease for a 10 foot maximum; seconded by Councilman Gassman. Mickey Herron, representing the Grill, told Council the reasons Council gave the Grill 12-1/2 feet was the configuration of the restaurant. There are windows and trees in the space. Herron said the Grill is located in a different area that the other three mall leases and is not restricted by the streams and the park on the other two malls. Herron said the 12-1/2 feet does not offend anybody, and it does not make sense to tell the Grill to cut back 2-1/2 feet. Herron said the other restaurants and the trucks do not complain about this 12-1/2. Herron pointed out the criteria adopted for 10 feet is not applicable to the Mill street mall. Herron urged Council not to pick 10 feet as cast in stone. Herron told Council the mall lease at the Grill has been 12-1/2 feet since the beginning. Herron said the city gets revenue for this 12-1/2 feet. Herron said with the trees and windows, the Grill does not have any more net feet than any other mall space. 20 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 Councilman Isaac said no one did complain about this and it should be continued for this summer. Lita Heller said the Red Onion mall space is very obnoxious to the adjacent property owners. Customers bring dogs and bicycles which they put up against windows and this does not make a nice element in the mall. Kiefer Mendenhall said he would like to talk about all six of the mall leases at once. Councilwoman Fallin said at the work session, Council agreed the mall leases would be done for this year. During the summer, the CCLC is to hold public hearings to evaluate the mall leases. Mendenhall said one suggestion is to have only one restaurant per side of the mall. Mendenhall said if this is harmful to adjacent businesses, allowing the mall leases for this summer is not benefit to a retailer who will suffer during the summer. Mendenhall said he would like Council to open this discussion up. Councilman Isaac said he would stick to the decision made at the study session and to allow these leases for this summer. Councilman Gassman said he favored the 12-1/2 feet last year but has been concerned about that since. Councilman Gassman said it is not right to treat one business different from the others. Herron said this is only 20 feet across. The other mall tenants do not have a problem with this request. Herron reiterated the net space is no different from the other lessees. Mayor Stirling said he did not favor the 12-1/2 feet last year and is not convinced by arguments to change it. Mayor Stirling said everyone would like to be out in the mall. The city has an ordinance which only allows restaurants in the mall, which Council and CCLC have continued to support. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Isaac. Motion carried. Councilman Isaac moved to approve Toro's and Pinocchio's exten- sion into the mall as outlined by the CCLC memorandum with a 45 degree angle 5 feet from the property line of Pinocchio's and a 7 foot maximum on Toro's; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. Kiefer Mendenhall said no one disputes the advantage to Aspen of having outdoor dining. Mendenhall said based on the criteria for allowing restaurants onto the mall, the worst case scenario based on the existing restaurants and food operations, every non- re staurant business on the mall would be blocked off except a few. Mendenhall said it is important for Council to take this under consideration. The city could be painted into a corner by dealing on each application on an ad hoc basis without looking at the long term consequences. Mendenhall said this is the first instance where there have been mall leases where some businesses will be fenced off and pedestrian traffic will be pushed 10 to 15 21 Regular Meeting __As~en City Council May 23. 1988 feet away from the windows. Mendenhall said he feels the policy of allowing one restaurant per side should be pursued, which allows some fairness and no business would be fully fenced off. The desire to have the ambience of outside dining will be than satisfied by having six restaurants on the mall, one per side. Lita Heller said the location of Pinocchio's mall extension will block the mall. This will be difficult for traffic. .Mendenhall said there are no rules, and the implications are great. Grey Young said the ordinance for sidewalk cafes needs to be applied in a evenhanded way. Young said the city cannot single out the new applicants and deny these applications without rethinking the entire policy. Young said the evidence is not in that there will be a negative impact on the bu s i ne s se s on the mall from the restaurant extensions. Young said the city should approve all the mall leases for this summer, and if there are negative impacts, Council and CCLC should review these next year. All in favor, motion carried. 700 EAST MAIN - Ordinance #24, Final Plat and Vesting (Mayor Stirling left due to a conflict of interest) Cindy Houben, planning office, said this request is to review the final plat and first reading of an ordinance for vesting of rights for the project. Ms. Houben said the project is basically as Council saw it at conceptual. The P & Z added conditions that were different from those put on by Council at conceptual level. Ms. Houben reminded Council one of their conditions at conceptual was that the corner park at Spring and Main would be accessible to the public and would contain some benches. Ms. Houben said at preliminary stage at P & Z, the applicant stated that wa s not their intention and felt this should be used as private property. P & Z determined it was not important that this park be acces- sible to the public and that the benches outside in the public right-of-way were fine. Ms. Houben said these benches will not block the right-of-way. Ms. Houben said Council wanted the applicant to look at the number of parking spaces that may be reduced by the development of this project. This was looked at at preliminary stage. Ms. Houben said currently people park along Main street and Original curve. P & Z had an alternative different from the one preferred by the engineering department and the applicant. Ms. Houben said in both of the alternatives 3 spaces are lost along Main and Spring streets. Ms. Houben said the parking on Original Curve is dangerous. Ms. Houben showed a plan outlined in blue. The State Highway Department did not like the idea that the P ~ Z came up with. 22 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 Councilman Isaac asked how the parking plans would effect the sidewalk plan along Main street. Person told Council they will still have 7 feet of area f or sidewalk in all the alternatives. Bil Dunaway asked if the park was open to the public in the GMP scoring. Ms. Houben answered that is how she reviewed it and how the planning office scored the application. The P & Z said they did not feel this was a substantial amendment to their plan because they did not take it into consideration in their scoring. Richard Roth asked how much housing is being provided for employees. Ms. Houben said 1 one-bedroom on-site unit, and cash- in-lieu for 5685,000. Councilwoman Fallin asked about condition 8, the encroachment permits for the light posts. Ms. Houben told Council the engineering department determined these were not in the right-of- way. Ms. Houben pointed out condition E is that the applications shall have a guard rail along the north side of the area where the bank drops off to the river. The applicants have said they wanted a handrail because this will be on the pedestrian side of the slope. Ms. Houben said cars will not be in this area. Ms. Houben said the grading plan shows a slope away from the sidewalk down to the units. Ms. Houben told Council the engineering department determined there should not be that much grade change on public right-of-way. Ms. Houben said the applicants would like to discuss this. Ms. Houben said the applicants are still working on the storm drainage with the engineering department. Marty Pickett, representing the applicant, said they would like to modify the first condition to state "All representations of the applicant agreed to by the city and reduced to writing the in PUD agreement and recorded final plat shall be conditions of approval". Ms. Pickett said in this process, there have been conflicting representations because of changes the applicant has made at Council's request. Council agreed with that wording change. Don Ensign, Design Workshop, told Council the open space at Spring and Main was to give some relief and to avoid the wall of buildings. Ensign said it was never the intent to have public access to this area for liability, privacy and maintenance reasons. It was the intent to keep the public seating in the right-of-way. This would be visual open space not park space. Ensign told Council when P & Z reviewed the preliminary plat, it was specifically asked if public park space influenced the voting. P & Z said no. The same thing is true for the other park. Councilman Isaac said he thought it was presented to Council that the space at Spring and Main was going to be for the use of the public. Councilman Isaac said he did not see it as a useful park; it's not large enough to use. Ms. Houben said at 23 Regular Meeting Aspen Citv Council Mav 23,__1.988 conceptual the condition was written that the park at Spring and Main will be accessible to the public and benches will be included. Ms. Houben said whether or not this makes a difference to Council is the issue. Ensign said their intention was that this area be dedicated open space but not a park. Councilman Gassman said he does not see this area has to be public. Councilman Isaac said he would like it to stay open space. The benches should be out of the way of the sidewalk. Councilwoman Fallin said this should remain public open space visually. Ms. Houben said this will not have to be a condition; it is part of the PUD plan. Ms. Pickett said the applicants need to resolve the handrail versus the guard rail on Original Curve and the parking along Main street. Ms. Pickett said the applicants would like final PUD approval at this meeting. Councilman Isaac moved to extend the meeting 15 minutes. Motion DIES for lack of a second. Mayor Stirling moved to extend the meeting for 30 minutes; Motion DIES for lack of a second. Mayor Stirling moved to extend the meeting for 20 minutes; seconded by Councilman Isaac. Councilman Isaac and Mayor Stirling in favor; Councilmembers Fallin and Gassman opposed. Motion NOT carried. Mayor Stirling appealed to Council to extend the meeting in order to get the business done. Some of the issues put the Council meeting behind. Councilwoman Fallin moved to reconsider; seconded by Mayor Stirling. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman. Motion carried. Mayor Stirling moved to extend the meeting for 15 minutes; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in f avor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman. Motion carried. Michael Thompson, Hagman Yaw, said the handrail on Original Curve adjacent to the river bank was a recommendation made by staff and the applicant can provide this. Councilman Isaac asked if this is in addition to the guard rail. Thompson said the state highway department indicates the curb is adequate to prevent cars from jumping the curb. Thompson said the applicants are request- ing that the curb be higher than 6 inches and be 8 inches. Councilman Isaac said he would like to see the design as he is concerned for the safety of pedestrians. Thompson said the 24 Regular Meeting Aspen Citv Council Mav 23, 1988 applicants will show Council a design as recommended by the staff. The handrail is 42 inches high and has an intermediate rail. Thompson said from a liability standpoint, this is preferable to a guard rail. Thompson told Council the applicants agree with the engineering department assessment which allows more parking spaces and extends the elephant ear into the right-of-way on the back of the site allowing 8 cars total on Main street. That is more than can park there now. Councilwoman Fallin asked why parking spaces are being eliminated on Spring street. Thompson said currently there is one narrow drive. The applicants are providing a looped drive, which takes out two spaces. On Main street there is a driveway, which the applicants are taking out. The P & Z alternative widened Main street east of the intersection and eliminates more parking. Thompson pointed out the applicants design gives a net gain of 1 or 2 parking spaces. Councilwoman Fallin said she is opposed to putting any more parking on Main street. Councilman Isaac said he does not want any parking in the curve and is concerned about not having a guard rail at that curve. Thompson said the applicants are proposing a control for how much parking is on the project. Councilwoman Fallin said if the engineering department and state highway department have approved the parking plan, she will accept it. The applicant said this is the green plan and has two fewer parking spaces. Thompson said during the GMP presentation, the applicants demonstrated a number of design quality issues; one is an open space continuity between Herron park and Main street. The applicants provided a large landscaped area and the grading to go along with it. The applicants also provided a large amount of landscaping in the public right-of-way along Main street concur- rent with the level of landscaping throughout the site. Thompson said site has been designed as one context and all the grading is smooth. Thompson told Council because of the mass and bulk concerns of the building cluster on Main street, the applicants addressed that by lowering that cluster into the ground to reduce the effect of the mass and bulk. This would also increase the open space perception from Herron park to Main street. Thompson said the applicants based the entire site design on this concept. The suggested approach by the engineering department to allow no more than a one foot grade change in the public right-of-way would eliminate this design quality. This would tear down the continuity of open space and impact the soft grading. This will result in high retaining walls close to the units and to Main street. Thompson said this creates problems with the design. 25 Regular Meeting Aspen Citv Council Mav 23, 1988 The staff's recommendation came late in the process. Thompson suggested Council allow grading as the applicant have proposed since conceptual PUD. Ms. Houben said there are several reasons the engineering department is concerned about allowing the grading to occur the way the applicant has proposed. One of these is that it is a policy in public right-of-way to keep the natural grade. One reason is if a steeper grade is allowed, there may be a problem in the future if the road were to be widened or if utilities needed to be put in. There may be problems in snow removal pushed onto the public right-of-way and the dirty snow may wash down into the patio area. Person said code defines public right- of-way as that dedicated to public use. Person said this seems to be more private use. Councilwoman Fallin said her instinct is to keep this as recommended by the engineering department. Thompson showed a cross section of the street, sidewalk and grade the engineering department proposes and what that would cause to the project. Thompson said raising the whole building changes the design the nature of the project severely and impacts the quality of design. Thompson showed the worst case steepest grade in their proposal. This will be a landscaped open space buffer between public and private space. Councilman Isaac said he would like to see this at second reading of the vested rights ordi- nance. Councilman Gassman said there is an implication that the public is causing the problem. Councilman Gassman said it is standard in business when designing a project, one uses their own property. Councilman Gassman said he would go along with the engineering department's recommendation. Thompson said the code states an applicant must obtain a permit from the engineering department for right-of-way grading. Thompson said the applicants were not remiss to assume the engineering department was reviewing the project for all concerns throughout the entire process. Thompson said it was not until final plat that this issue was brought up by the engineering department. The applicants presented their design since concep- tual. Ensign told Council the whole conceptual idea for the design of the front of the building was based on the assumption that they could create in the right-of-way. This addressed the apparent heights of the building and is fundamental to the site plan. Ensign said the applicant were only told this was not acceptable at the end of the process. Ensign said it is not clear why this problem was not brought up at the conceptual level because it is so fundamental. Ms. Pickett said her concern is where the standard came from with the 1 foot slope. Ensign said they have not found the standard in any of the codes. They understand the concern about expanding the street but the highway department has said this is not a sane thing to do. 26 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 23, 1988 City Manager Bob Anderson reminded Council the reason there is a conceptual and final is to get more specific at what is looked at. Anderson suggested this can be examined between first and second reading of the vested rights ordinance to see if there is a possible compromise. Councilman Isaac asked if the vested rights is transferable to another party. Ms. Houben said the right is for the 700 East Main PUD project. Ms. Houben requested the first whereas in the ordinance be changed to "the applicants of the development rights of 700 East Main PUD" because at this point the applicants are still not owners of the property. Councilman Isaac moved to read Ordinance #24, Series of 1988; seconded by Councilman Gassman. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #24 (Series of 1988) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, VESTING DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS FOR THE 700 EAST MAIN PUD was read by the deputy city clerk Councilman Isaac moved to adopt Ordinance #24, Series of 1988, on first reading; seconded by Councilman Gassman. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Isaac, yes; Gassman, yes; Fallin, yes. Motion carried. Councilwoman Fallin moved to continue the meeting to June 6, 1988, at 5:00 adding action items VII g, h, i, k, and 1; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, motion carried. Council left Chambers at 9:35 p.m. Kathryn S Koch, City Clerk 27