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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19910408Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 1991 PROCLAMATION - Days of Remembrance 1 PROCLAMATION - National Telecommunicator's Week 1 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 1 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1 MINUTES 2 SPECIAL EVENT PERMITS - Aspen Rugby Club 2 LIQUOR LICENSE RENEWAL - Abetone 3 ORDINANCE #3, SERIES OF 1991 - PUD Amendment Golf Course, Nordic Lighting 3 PARKING PERMIT ORDINANCE REVIEW 3 JOINT RESOLUTION #8, SERIES OF 1991 - Highway 82 Design/Maroon Creek Bridge 4 ASPEN SCHOOL DISTRICT WATER LINE EXTENSION REQUEST 6 ORDINANCE #6, SERIES OF 1991 - Holden/Marolt Museum Final PUD, Rezoning 6 ORDINANCE #7, SERIES OF 1991 - Whitcomb Duplex Condominiumiza- tion 8 ORDINANCE #8, SERIES OF 1991 - 1000 East Hopkins Subdivi- sion/PUD 8 ORDINANCE #9 SERIES OF 1991 - Code Amendment Section 7-602 10 APPOINTMENTS TO THE ROARING FORK FORUM RAIL TASK FORCE 11 TRAILS BUDGET 11 12 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 1991 Mayor Stirling called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with Councilmembers Tuite, Pendleton, Peters, and Gassman present. PROCLAMATION - Days of Remembrance Mayor Stirling and Council proclaimed April 7 through 14 as Days of Remembrance for Victims of the Holocaust. April 11 has been designated by Congress as Yom Hasowah as a day of remembrance. Mayor Stirling read the proclamation into the record and presented it to Henry Goldsmith. PROCLAMATION - National Telecommunicator's Week Mayor Stirling and Council proclaimed April 14 through 21 as National Telecommunicator's Week to acknowledge and recognize the joint Aspen/Pitkin County communications staff. Mayor Stirling gave the proclamation to Becky Miller from the communications department. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 1. Eloise Ilgen said Aspen has sister cities and suggested Aspen adopt a sister correctional facility. Ms. Ilgen said she would like Aspen and Pitkin County to adopt the Buena Vista facility with the idea of opening communication and letting inmates know other people care. Ms. Ilgen said she has discussed this with the Department of Corrections, who is interested in coming to a meeting about this. Ms. Ilgen said she has tentatively scheduled this for May 17th and requested a city meeting room and any Council possible to attend. Mayor Stirling said if the Council room is available, Ms. Ilgen could have it and to let Council know more when the meeting is scheduled. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Tuite said some of the county trails need a one- time spring cleaning and asked if the city would lend equipment to do that. Bill Efting, assistant city manager, told Council he will work this out with staff. 2. Councilman Peters requested Trails budget be removed from the consent agenda and moved to the end of action items. 3. Mayor Stirling acknowledged John Reid who did a wonderful job organizing the exchange program with the inner-city kids. Mayor Stirling also acknowledged Grassroots, who was a co-sponsor. 4. Mayor Stirling said last week was the first discussion on Aspen as an energy model town. There were some good articles in 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 1991 the Aspen Times. Mayor Stirling said he will continue to follow up. 5. Carol O'Dowd, city manager, told Council the county will be submitting their portion of an application as part of the Rio Grande SPA to include the recycling as an appropriate use. Ms. O'Dowd told Council this is just to allow the inclusion in the application, not a decision on the appropriateness. 6. Mayor Stirling reminded Council on April 11th there is an advisory committee meeting on the in-town school sites at noon in the Council Chambers. 7 . Mayor Stirling noted that the HRETT and WRETT are down between 40 and 45 percent. Mayor Stirling said Council should continue to work closely with the manager and to see if there are actions that should be taken. 8. Mayor Stirling said there was an article in the CML newsletter about a group that assists municipalities with superfund sites. Jed Caswall, city attorney, told Council he has contacted them. 9. Mayor Stirling said there is a National Leadership Forum on community service to be held in Washington D. C. this fall. Aspen has been requested to select an adult and a child to attend this conference as designated leaders of the community. Mayor Stirling requested Council think about an approach for selecting these people and to put this on the agenda later in the spring. 10. Carol O'Dowd, city manager, told Council there is one vacancy on the P & Z and one on the HPC. These have been advertised and there is one applicant. Council requested these vacancies be advertised again. MINUTES Councilwoman Pendleton moved to approve the minutes of March 25, 1991; seconded by Councilman Tuite. All in favor, motion carried. SPECIAL EVENT PERMITS - Aspen Rugby Club Councilman Gassman moved to approve the permits for June 1, 8, 15, July 5, August 21, and 22; seconded by Councilman Tuite carried. 3.2 beer special event 17, 31, September 7, 20, All in favor, motion 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 1991 LIOUOR LICENSE RENEWAL - Abetone Councilman Gassman moved to approve the liquor license renewal for Abetone; seconded by Councilman Tuite. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #3, SERIES OF 1991 - PUD Amendment Golf Course, Nordic Lighting Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. Kim Johnson, planning office, pointed out the ordinance incorporat- es Council's request to consider an additional trial period next winter, extending it to January 31. Ms. Johnson said the ordinance also allows for an abbreviated PUD review during the last month of the trial period. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilman Gassman moved to adopt Ordinance ##3, Series of 1991; seconded by Councilwoman Pendleton. Councilman Gassman argued for taking out the requirement to sweep the trails. Councilman Gassman pointed out this is a very small portion of the Nordic trails and it could be the beginning of a requirement to sweep the entire trails system. Councilman Gassman noted that the trails are not swept in the summer, nor is the golf course. Councilman Gassman disagreed with the notion that people need other people to follow them around and see if they are all right. Councilman Gassman moved to amend Ordinance #3, by removing paragraph 6; seconded by Councilman Peters. All in favor, with the exception of Mayor Stirling. Motion carried. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Tuite, yes; Pendleton, yes; Peters, yes; Gassman, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. PARKING PERMIT ORDINANCE REVIEW Assistant City Manager Bill Efting told Council staff has looked at the senior parking permits and the official parking permits, which are the two areas of permits that something can be done about. Efting told Council he feels the parking permits should be issued by need rather than age, occupation or where you work. Efting said there is a parking garage 2 blocks from downtown; the parking time limits in the core area have been looked at and adjusted. Mayor Stirling agreed need should be the basis for parking permits. This could come from a doctor's certificate and not be tied to the state 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 1991 handicap 1 icense plate . Efting said he will work with staff , Budge Bingham and the senior groups on a policy and report back to Council in a month. Councilman Gassman suggested these be limited to Pitkin County residents, rather than just Aspen. Councilman Gassman said since Aspen is trying to become auto free, he objects to recognizing people's contribution by giving them a parking permit, which conflicts with that goal. Councilman Gassman also objected giving people unique benefits just because they are a member of a group. Budge Bingham agreed it should be made the same for everyone. Steve Goldenberg agreed there should not be parking permits allowed on the streets all day. Councilwoman Pendleton questioned the medical permits. Efting said these are for medical personnel in the core area who are on emergency call. Council suggested limiting these permits to the number of doctors on call at any one time and issuing the permits to the hospital. Councilwoman Pendleton pointed out service vehicle parking permits are given 3-1/2 hours and many construction workers do not need to have their cars at the site. Councilwoman Pendleton said most construction workers only need the ability to unload their tools; then they can park at the garage. Efting said the official car stickers are also being eliminated. Efting told Council there will be a limited number of official permits for people who need to park in back of city hall for a couple of hours . Council requested staff bring back a draft amended ordinance no later than May 13. JOINT RESOLUTION #8, SERIES OF 1991 - Highway 82 Design/Maroon Creek Bridge Tom Baker, assistant city manager, presented two resolutions one for a 72 foot bridge and one for an 84 foot bridge. The 84 foot bridge is the minimum acceptable for a four-lane highway with a rail option. The 72 foot bridge is the minimum four-lane highway bridge. Baker said the cost savings between 84 feet and 72 feet is around $750,000. The incremental cost of putting rail on the bridge is $200,000 per side. Both P & Zs felt the south side of the bridge was appropriate for rail. Baker told Council he has had discussion with Brian Pinkerton, who is designing the bridge, about the two-pier design. The first design Council saw was based on a 99 foot width. Councilwoman Pendleton said an 84 foot bridge, accommodating a future rail system, gives the community the most options. It has the highway and rail corridor in one place. The Council has to decide if they want a rail corridor included in the highway project. The additional cost of beefing up the bridge for rail is $200,000 per side, which would be a smaller amount than having to fix up the existing bridge for rail transit. The department of 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 1991 highways has to mitigate for the property they are going to take from the city, either by condemnation or through a negotiated deal. Baker said the department of highways will have to compensate the city for the land. Councilwoman Pendleton said the highway department will need about 4.5 acres for a total of $150,000. The highway department will be maintaining the new bridge but has not addressed maintaining the existing bridge. Councilwoman Pendleton said voting for a 72 foot bridge with rail is voting against a four-lane highway into Aspen. Councilwoman Pendleton pointed out the P & Zs and citizen task forces both said a bridge including rail is needed. Councilwoman Pendleton said an 84 foot bridge is as small as possible to get everything that is needed. Councilwoman Pendleton moved to approve Resolution #8, Series of 1991, establishing guidelines for the new four-lane Maroon Creek bridge with the 84 foot configuration. Motion DIES for lack of a second. Councilman Tuite said the city is stuck with the existing Maroon creek bridge because it is historic, and it should be made functional. Councilman Tuite said the size of this bridge will determine the size of the Castle Creek bridge. Councilman Tuite stated he favors a 72 foot bridge. Scott said it is imperative to have a rail option available for the future. Eloise Ilgen asked if the bridge is structurally safe. Mayor Stirling said the highway department has done an analysis on the bridge, and it is adequate to meet current loads with some work. Hans Gramiger said the rail option is necessary to complete the loop into and through town. Gramiger submitted a memorandum about demolishing or moving the historic Maroon creek bridge. Councilman Peters said if the city decides to pursue a bridge with the rail option, they are committing to a design process and to the purchase of a product, the cost of which is not known, nor is the source of funds. Councilman Peters said he would have a difficult time finding an additional $200,000 for the engineering. Council- man Peters said he is leery of pursuing rail option on the bridge without knowing what the cost is. Councilman Peters said the future rail option is a very large option, including condemnation of land, stations in town and along the route, and the Castle Creek bridge. Mayor Stirling moved to adopt Resolution #8, Series of 1991, for a 72 foot bridge; seconded by Councilman Gassman. Councilman Gassman said he feels it makes sense to use the existing railroad bridge, which is the best chance for preserving it. All in favor, with the exception of Councilwoman Pendleton. Motion carried. 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 1991 ASPEN SCHOOL DISTRICT WATER LINE EXTENSION REQUEST Carol O'Dowd, city manager, told Council this item is prepared in accordance with Council's resolution placing a moratorium on water capital improvements. Ms. O'Dowd reminded Council this project has been underway for a long time and requested the ability to continue the engineering work on this project. Councilman Peters said if the city is going to proceed with engineering work, he would like to have errors and omissions insurance. Councilman Peters said he would like the city not to make any commitments to water service that assume the Highlands pipeline will be finished. Councilman Gassman agreed. Councilman Gassman said a condition of lifting the moratorium should be that the school use raw water for irrigation. Councilman Tuite said the moratorium was placed because of the water conservation ordinance. Councilman Tuite said he does not want to allow an exception to the moratorium without requiring water conservation devices and Larry Ballenger, water department director, told Council the existing code does have specifics on water flows for inside devices, for irrigation systems. Ballenger told Council he is in the process of updating this to 1990 standards. Mayor Stirling said there is no objection to working with the school district on updating the fire flows to the school. There is consensus to Councilman Peters' suggestions. Ms. O'Dowd said staff will continue to pursue resolution on Highlands but will not obligate the city that this will happen. ORDINANCE #6, SERIES OF 1991 - Holden/Marolt Museum Final PUD, Rezoning Councilman Gassman moved to read Ordinance #6, Series of 1991; seconded by Councilwoman Pendleton. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #6 (Series of 1991) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, GRANTING SUBDIVISION, REZONING TO PUBLIC (PUB), AND FINAL PUD DEVELOPMENT PLAN APPROVAL FOR THE 1.9 ACRE MAROLT MINING AND RANCHING MUSEUM PARCEL LOCATED ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE CITY-OWNED MAROLT OPEN SPACE was read by the city clerk Councilman Tuite moved to adopt Ordinance #6, Series of 1991, on first reading; seconded by Councilwoman Pendleton. Kim Johnson, planning office, told Council the 75 year lease constitutes a subdivision under the land use code. Ms. Johnson told Council prior to second reading, the planning office will 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 1991 process a GMP exemption for the change in use of a historic landmark. This use will not increase the floor area ratio. Ms. Johnson told Council the applicant is concerned about the highway right-of-way. It is not known how much land will be taken up on the site. The P & Z was hesitant to approve the PUD plan knowing up a one-third of the site might be encumbered by the highway right-of-way. However, P & Z approved this based upon if the highway causes changes to be made in the PUD plan that amendments could be processed. Ms. Johnson told Council when the city acquired the property, platting was to be done to remove certain lot lines and easements. This has not been done, and Council should direct that this be done. Councilman Peters said the lease for this property was approved by the voters. Councilman Peters asked if there was language in the ballot question approving the change in use. Jed Caswall, city attorney, said he will look at the lease and ballot question. Councilman Peters said he is worried about the conflict with the potential highway route. Councilman Peters asked if there is going to be some effort to control the improvements and use of the area so the city does not face loss of capital improvements on site. Graeme Means, representing the applicant, showed the lease boundaries, the existing bicycle trail. Means noted they have left the northern portion of the site unresolved. The museum could live with the highway in that portion. Means said unless it starts to encroach in the bicycle trail, the museum can function. Means said if the highway goes through, the city will be dealing with issues up and down the corridor. Tom Baker noted after a certain increment of moving the highway right-of-way, the bridge starts getting closer to the Villas. The highway department drew a curbed bridge in order to miss the entire site. Staff was looking for a compromise, and is still exploring this location. Mayor Stirling asked if it is Council's desire not to have the highway hit any portion of this parcel. Councilmembers Gassman and Peters said no. Means told Council this summer the historical society plans to work on the building and not the grounds. Next summer they will work on the grounds. Heidi Hoffman said the best interests are that the pedestrian trail be incorpo- rated into any redesign. Councilwoman Pendleton said she is satisfied after the highway is aligned they can come back in with an amendment to the PUD. Amy Margerum, planning director, told Council by second reading staff can come back with the worst case right-of-way for the highway with overlays on the map. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Pendleton, yes; Peters, yes; Tuite, yes; Gassman, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 1991 ORDINANCE #7, SERIES OF 1991 - Whitcomb Duplex Condominiumization Councilwoman Pendleton moved to read Ordinance ~7, Series of 1991; seconded by Councilman Peters. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #7 (Series of 1991) AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL GRANTING SUBDIVI- SION EXEMPTION FOR THE CONDOMINIUMIZATION OF 103 PARK AVENUE, LOT 12, BLOCK 1, RIVERSIDE ADDITION was read by the city clerk Councilman Peters moved to adopt Ordinance #7, Series of 1991, on first reading; seconded by Councilwoman Pendleton. Leslie Lamont, planning office, told Council this is a condominium- ization of a proposed duplex which has already received stream margin review and PUD approval and pursuant to Ordinance #1, 1990, has paid an housing impact fee. The applicant will be required to file a PUD plan within 180 days of final approval. The PUD agreement is due today, and there is language in the ordinance asking that the date to file the PUD agreement be extended 30 days after final approval of the ordinance. Councilman Gassman asked if there is a risk in this. Jed Caswall, city attorney, said he could see no risk. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Gassman, yes; Pendleton, yes; Peters, yes; Tuite, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #8, SERIES OF 1991 - 1000 East Hopkins Subdivision/PUD Mayor Stirling moved to read Ordinance #8, Series of 1991; seconded by Councilman Tuite. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #8 (Series of 1991) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN GRANTING FINAL SUBDIVI- SION/PUD DEVELOPMENT PLAN APPROVAL AND VESTING OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHT FOR FOUR FREE MARKET UNITS AND FOUR AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS AT 1000 EAST HOPKINS (LOTS A AND K OF BLOCK 25 AND LOTS H, I, AND S BLOCK 26, TOWNSITE OF ASPEN) was read by the city clerk Councilman Tuite moved to adopt Ordinance #8, Series of 1991, on first reading; seconded by Councilman Gassman. Kim Johnson, planning office, pointed out this has been approved by P & Z and forwarded to Council with conditions . The project is 8 Regular Meetinq__ Aspen City Council April 8, 1991 redevelopment of the Valley Hi parcel, currently containing 22 affordable apartments. The proposal is 4 three bedroom free market units approximately 3345 square feet each, and 4 two bedroom affordable housing units of 750 square feet net livable each. This project is based on a settlement agreement between the city and Valley Hi development trust. The square footages, indexing of the affordable units, parking and cash-in-lieu payment were established as part of this settlement. The settlement was approved by Council in April 1991. Ms. Johnson told Council 12 underground parking spaces are proposed. The free market units are on the upper two levels; the affordable units are garden level. Ms. Johnson noted the legal settlement said the free market units are at 3,000 square feet totalling 12, 000 square feet. This is a semantic issue of what "@" means. The applicant has stated that Council intent was to be approximately 3,000 square feet. The final plans have not been decided precisely but they are about 3345 square feet. Ms. Johnson told Council staff has discussed whether the free market units should be lowered to 3,000 square feet or the affordable units lowered to low income indexing. Ms. Johnson said even using the low income figure, there would be considerable value added to the project because of the extra square footage in the free market units. Ms. Johnson said the ordinance should state that the cash-in-lieu payment for the affordable housing of $45,000 described in the settlement needs to be paid prior to the issuance of the building permit rather than certificate of occupancy. Councilman Peters said the square footages are loosely limited to the FAR, which is strictly limited. Sunny Vann, representing the applicant, said they agreed to a maximum FAR of 1.1:1, which is 14,880. The applicants agreed to provide four 750 square feet net livable affordable housing units. When the settlement was prepared, this number was deducted from the assumed FAR to come up with 12 , 000 for the free market units. Vann said the affordable housing units are garden level units and about 1500 square feet counts as FAR. The remaining FAR available for the free market is 13,380. The maximum FAR of the project will not exceed 14,880 square feet. Councilman Peters agreed with this assessment as the spirit of what Council and the applicant worked out. Councilman Peters said he would like to know how the maintenance assessments are being worked out. Vann said there will be a difference between the free market portion and that of the affordable housing units. Councilman Peters said he would like to look at specific numbers. Rick Neiley, representing the applicant, said he will work on some language with staff prior to final reading of the ordinance. Neiley said the applicants have an obligation to provide a certain 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 1991 amount of net livable above grade affordable housing units. The balance can be split up between the free market units. Councilwoman Pendleton brought up the owner' s right to sell or rent to persons who qualify and asked if this allows them the right not to rent the units to employees. Neiley said the applicants have agreed these units will either be sold or rented to employees who meet the guidelines. Vann said the owner may sell or rent to a qualified employee of his choosing. If the owner fails to do so, the housing authority has the right to place a qualified employee in the unit. Vann said the right of first refusal is for the owner to purchase an affordable housing unit in combination with the free market unit. The unit has to be occupied by a qualified employee. Amy Margerum, planning director, said the settlement agreement outlines how many employee housing units will be for sale and how many for rental. Vann said this will be in compliance with the settlement agreement and the contents of the PUD agreement. Roll call vote on the ordinance as amended by deleting #11 and adding #16; Councilmembers call Gassman, yes; Tuite, yes; Pendle- ton, yes; Peters, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #9 SERIES OF 1991 - Code Amendment Section 7-602 Councilman Gassman moved to adopt Ordinance #9, Series of 1991; seconded by Councilman Tuite. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #9 (Series of 1991) AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL AMENDING SECTION 7-602; DEMOLITION, PARTIAL DEMOLITION OR RELOCA- TION; OF THE ASPEN LAND USE REGULATIONS was read by the city clerk Councilman Gassman moved to adopt Ordinance #9, Series of 1991, on first reading; seconded by Councilman Peters. Roxanne Eflin, planning office, told Council HPC and staff have discovered in tightening up the demolition standards adopted in 1989, they became too strict to allow some redevelopment to occur and to allow demolition of buildings that are not historic or contributing but are in historic districts. Some of these buildings cannot meet the standards for demolitions. This code amendment allows for an exemption process through HPC. Being exempt does not mean one is exempt from the approval process of the HPC. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Pendleton, yes; Peters, yes; Gassman, yes; Tuite, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council Aoril 8, 1991 APPOINTMENTS TO THE ROARING FORK FORUM RAIL TASK FORCE Councilman Peters said he would like to insure that RFTA is adequately represented either through the city or county on this task force. Councilwoman Pendleton said she does not agree with RFTA representative from the city or county; however, a RFTA representative should be included in the group. Councilwoman Pendleton said RFTA may be administering a lot of this. Council asked staff to re-publish this task force openings, set the deadline for April 16th. Council will interview interested persons Thursday, April 18th at 4:30 p.m. TRAILS BUDGET Councilman Peters said he supports the concept of establishing a plan for capital improvements. Councilman Peters said it appears this capital plan is driven by the trails plan. Councilman Peters said parks, active and passive, and playing fields are areas of great interest and he does not want to adopt a capital improvement plan that relegates parks to the back burner. Tom Baker, city manager's office, agreed there is a need to look at finding additional neighborhood parks. Councilwoman Pendleton agreed she would like to see more emphasis on parks, especially pocket parks. Carol O'Dowd, city manager, said the direction from Council has been to implement the pedestrian and bikeway plan. Ms. O'Dowd said there is a substantial amount left unallocated in the parks and open space funds. Councilman Gassman said during the last couple of budget years Council has budgeted $250,000 for trails. That's what this plan is. Councilman Gassman agreed about the parks; however, this is money for the trails. Councilman Gassman said the two points are not in conflict. Councilman Peters suggested approving the plan and focusing on the first year's expenditures until after the comprehensive plan is done and then update this plan. Ms. O'Dowd suggested staff and Council look at the 36 existing parks to see how they are being used to make sure they are meeting the com- munity's needs. Council agreed to go to 1991 and accept moving forward with the money allocated for this. Ms. O'Dowd said she will bring this document back during the budget process. Council adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Kathryn Koch, City Clerk 11