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Home My WebLink Aboutminutes.council.20000124Regular Meeting Aspen City Council January 24, 2000 Mayor Richards called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m. with Councilmembers Paulson, Markalunas, Hershey and McCabe present. Councilman Hershey moved to go into executive session for the purpose of land acquisition discussions and negotiations; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Paulson moved to come out of executive session at 4:55 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Hershey. All in favor, motion carried. Council took a 10-minute recess. CITIZEN COMMENTS 1. David Schoen berger said he has been an affordable housing advocate for years. Schoenberger said the purchase price for Bass Park at $3.4 million was too high. The subsidy per bedroom for affordable housing would be over $200,000 and the highest so far. Schoenberger said the Council should ask two ballot questions in November, one for an increase in sales tax and one more directly related to Bass Park. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Hershey entered into the record a letter from David Schoenberger about the purchase of Bass Park with housing daycare funds. Schoenberger said is this .45 cent sales tax is being misused, the voters will probably not reaffirm it. Schoenberger asked that Council protect the lands purchased the housing/day care funds, like the restrictive covenants on lands purchased with the sixth penny. 2. Councilman Markalunas said everyone should be grateful for the snow storms; however, this does make for dangerous walking. Councilman Markalunas demonstrated how one could make their boots less slippery by installing screws. 3. Councilman McCabe passed out rendering of the John Denver sanctuary. Councilman McCabe said these drawings show why he does not think this area is appropriate for a “dog free” zone. 4. Mayor Richards said she agrees th at the Rio Grande park is not right for a “dog free zone”; however, she also agrees any dog park location needs 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council January 24, 2000 to be centrally located an easy to get to. Mayor Richards said the city will continue to look for possible locations. 5. Councilman McCabe mov ed to continue Resolution #6, Series of 2000, Sales Tax and Business License software contract to February 14; seconded by Councilman Hershey. All in favor, motion carried. 6. Councilman Hershey moved to add Resolution #11, Series of 2000, amendments to enabling legislation regional transit authority as item (e) to the agenda; seconded by Mayor Richards. All in favor, motion carried. 7. Mayor Richards announced the city is soliciting citizens to serve on the RTA (regional transit authority) task force. This is a valley-wide effort to look at funding and equity questions for transportation. 8. Mayor Richards noted the Council and Board of County Commissioners have a public hearing February 8 to adopt the Aspen Area Community plan, which is the culmination of 2 years of citizen work. 9, Mayor Richards thanked ACRA and the Sister Cities for a wonderful Winterskol celebration with the theme “think globally and celebrate locally”. 10. Steve Barwick, city manager, requested an executive session at the end of the meeting to discuss potential property acquisition. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilman Markalunas moved to approve the consent calendar as amended; seconded by Councilman McCabe. The consent calendar is: · Fees for Yellow Brick Rezoning · Resolution #7, 2000 – Aspen Highlands Village Annexation · Minutes – January 10, 2000 All in favor, motion carried. 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council January 24, 2000 ORDINANCE #1, SERIES OF 2000 – School District Housing Amendment Moore Property Nick Lelack, community development department, told Council the school district is requesting a change in their master deed restriction affecting only units at the Moore project earmarked for the school district. This change would require employees who work for the school district less than 10 years to sell their unit after terminating employment with the school district. School district employees would have the right of first refusal. Jon Siegle, Aspen School District Board, said in looking toward the future, housing for employees is important to recruit and to retain employees. Obtaining employee housing became a priority for the School Board. The school district has acquired 8 units at the Airport Business Center and 10 units at West Ranch project. Siegle said because of the proximity of the Moore project and the scarcity of employee units, the school district wants to make sure the residents remain teachers. Siegle said the school board proposes to tie occupancy of the units to 10 years of employment. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. Dennis Syrus, teacher at the middle school, urged Council in fairness to future owner’s of these unit not to grant this request. Toni Kronberg said that education is the cornerstone of this community. Tying these units to one’s employment is like the city’s water place housing project. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. Mayor Richards said the Council has received a letter from Bob Helmus, housing board member, outlining the reasons the housing board voted against this amendment. Councilman Markalunas said he supports the amendment as someone getting a priority for housing should give an exchange commitment. Councilman Markalunas said he would like the School District to amend this to cover death or disability of the spouse who is employed by the District. Mayor Richards said she agreed to reconsider this as there were compromises in land use planning, more playing fields were added and the school district participated in purchase of the yellow brick school. Mayor 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council January 24, 2000 Richards said there is an overwhelming need to have a nurturing environmental for the community’s students and to keep the school district whole. Mayor Richards said teachers should jump ahead of other employees because of the community benefit they offer. Mayor Richards moved to amend the language in section one to add, “This provision shall be considered void in case of death or disability of the family member who is the Aspen School District employee”; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Paulson said he does not favor this request as it is another encumbrance upon teachers who might be worrying about their housing rather than their teaching. Councilman Paulson said he is concerned about this being limited to teachers rather than to all employees. Councilman McCabe said he was opposed to this request, as he does not support making exceptions for special classes of people. Managing by exceptions is a mistake. The housing board is opposed to this request. However, there were representations made to the Moore family during negotiations that should be honored. Mayor Richards moved to adopt Ordinance #1, Series of 2000, as amended in Section 1; seconded by Councilman Hershey. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Markalunas, yes; Hershey, yes; McCabe, yes; Paulson, no; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. RESOLUTION #8, SERIES OF 2000 – Appeal of Code Interpretation (Villas of Aspen) Sarah Oates, community development department, told Council the city’s code requires that a parcel receive a growth management allotment or exemption before it can be subdivided and rezoned. The applicant has asked that the procedure be reversed to allow a specific parcel to be rezoned with a stipulation on the plat stating the parcel could only be developed under the AH/PUD guidelines. The community development director stated the procedures must be followed within the framework of the Municipal Code. If Council feels there is some merit in reversing this, staff could draft a code amendment. Mitch Haas, representing the applicant, showed Council the parcel and noted one half of the parcel is developed and one-half vacant. The applicants 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council January 24, 2000 would like to go through a subdivision rezoning process to parcel off the undeveloped portion and rezone it AH/PUD. Haas said it does not make sense from a technical stand point to go through a GMQS application as it is unknown what the application would look like; there is no site plan, no architecture. Haas noted the applicants could apply for a lot split; however, the growth management exemption for lot splits only applies to sites within the original Aspen townsite. Haas said the parcel created would have a stipulation it could only be developed under the AH/PUD regulations and only if the plan was approved. The stipulation would also say one could not build a single family house or duplex with and ADU. Haas told Council the city has parceled off land for open space without a GMQS allotment and without an exemption. Haas said he does not find a downside. There would be two rounds of review, for the subdivision and for the development application. Haas said the city would get a 70% of the bedrooms affordable housing in an AH project. A growth management project would only produce a 60 % affordable project. This would be a way for the city to advance more affordable housing. John Worcester, city attorney, told Council this is not a code interpretation; the applicant has acknowledged that the code reads as staff interpreted. The applicant is asking for a code amendment. Haas reiterated this exemption has been used to subdivide land to create open space. This same process could be used to create affordable housing. Worcester said the purpose of the AH zone is to allow Council to look at the entire site to make a determination whether it should be rezoned to AH. The applicant is asking for a rezoning without any idea of what the project will look like. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. Nancy Hendricks, Villas of Aspen, asked if the caveat on the parcel would not be enough for Council. Mayor Richards said Council has not approved an AH rezoning without a development proposal. Haas said the suitability of the land for AH rezoning would be reviewed with the subdivision. Mayor Richards said one of the goals of the AACP is to simplify the procedure for affordable housing projects. Mayor Richards suggested Haas meet with staff to see if there is a code amendment to cover this type of procedure. Council agreed. 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council January 24, 2000 Mayor Richards moved to adopt Resolution #8, Series of 2000, upholding staff’s interpretation and also to ask staff to look at ways to expedite the affordable housing process; seconded by Councilman McCabe. Roll call vote; Councilmembers McCabe, yes; Hershey; yes; Paulson, yes; Markalunas, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. REQUEST FOR FUNDS – Wildwood School Virginia Newton, Kid’s First Director, told Council Wildwood School is asking for an operating subsidy of $45,000. The enrollment of the school has decreased. Ms. Newton told Council she feels this is an appropriate use of day care funds. Wildwood School is 26 years old and has had a very successful program. While the enrollment and revenue have decreased, the school has had some major capital issues to address over the past 2 years for which they received grants from the city and the Aspen Foundation. They also conducted a fund raising campaign. The school was closed this summer while some of the capital improvements were done, further lowering their revenue. Tim Anderson, recreation director, told Council the day care funds traditionally provide for affordable, quality childcare. Anderson said the community should not lose any available childcare resources. Brent Reed, accountant, went over their budget and financial projects and goals. The Wildwood school put $100,000 into their capital improvements. Reed said there are also the intangible assets of the human factor and Wildwood School has had the same director for 16 years. Meg Kaufman, Board member, told Council Wildwood school has plans and checkpoints for revenue, including accepting drop in tourist children to keep the revenue on target. Councilman Hershey said he supports this request to get Wildwood School on a firm financial basis. Mayor Richards agreed Wildwood School is a great asset. Mayor Richards said Council needs to talk about real costs of day care at the work session in February. Councilman Hershey moved to approve a program subsidy to the Wildwood School of $45,000 for the year 2000; seconded by Councilman McCabe. All in favor, motion carried. 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council January 24, 2000 RESOLUTION #9, SERIES OF 2000 – IGA Noxious Weed Management Plan Michael Craig told Council the BOCC has adopted a weed management plan for the county. In order for this to be effective, there needs to be a coordinated effort between the city, county and Snowmass Village. Shawnee Bliss, board member, presented a slide show of the various weeds affecting Pitkin County and Aspen. Steve Ellsperman, city forester, told Council the city uses chemicals as a last resort. There are different ways to attack weeds. The decision to use chemicals is made on the basis of economic efficiency and pest control. Councilman Markalunas said there needs to be a method for requiring developers to keep their lots free of weeds. Ellsperman said there is an ordinance in the city to address weed management control on private property; however, it is not very strong. Mayor Richards suggested staff look at this code regulation before spring and try to tighten up the regulations. Councilman Paulson moved to adopt Resolution #9, Series of 2000, adopting the IGA for Noxious Weed Management Plan; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. All in favor, motion carried. REQUEST FOR FUNDS – Expanded Noxious Vegetation Control Funding Councilman McCabe moved to approve the request for $10,000 for additional weed management work; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #10, SERIES OF 2000 – Approving 2000 Budget of ½ cent Sales and Use Tax Randy Ready, assistant city manager, told Council the 2000 budget has been presented and discussed at 3 EOTC meetings. Pitkin County has approved this budget. Council discussed the corridor investment study, the methods by which it was done, and the lack of results with Tom Newland, executive director of RFRHA and Roger Millar. Councilman McCabe asked if there is a more efficient way to get at the figures needed for the corridor investment study. 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council January 24, 2000 Ready said the corridor investment study is an alternative analysis which looks at “no build”, the committed projects that are currently underway, at a “best bus” alternative, and a “rail-bus” alternative. Ready said this study is to get environmental clearance as well as to be able to apply for federal funds for whatever mode of transportation this valley decides it wants. Councilman Hershey entered into the record a letter in the Aspen Times from Steve Wolf alleging this study was biased towards rail; no one promoted the improved bus model and the task forces spent very little time on the bus alternative. Councilman McCabe said he can go along with completing the study; however, Council needs to listen to their constituents about transportation. Councilman McCabe asked what kind of money will be spent after the study is done; what will RFRHA look like. Councilman McCabe agreed the valley needs to come to a resolution on this issue. Councilman Paulson moved to approve Resolution #10, Series of 2000; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Paulson, yes; McCabe, yes; Markalunas, yes; Hershey, no; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. RESOLUTION #11, SERIES OF 2000 – Amending RTA Legislation Mayor Richards reminded Council the legislation enabling a regional transit authority was passed in 1997. This resolution supports amendments to that legislation. These amendments will allow RTA to have more revenue sources. Any revenue increase will have to approved by the electorate. These revenue sources are an increase in sales or use tax, a visitor’s tax or a growth impact fee. The current legislation requires all new members be contiguous. In the mountain area this can be difficult. This amendment would allow that after the initial boundary and members, other non- contiguous members may join. Councilman Markalunas moved to adopt Resolution #11, Series of 2000; seconded by Councilman Hershey. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Paulson, yes; Hershey, yes; McCabe, yes; Markalunas, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. Councilman Hershey moved to suspend the rules and extend the meeting to 9:45 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council January 24, 2000 Councilman Markalunas moved to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing potential property acquisition at 9:05 p.m.; seconded by Councilman McCabe. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman McCabe moved to suspend the rules and extend the meeting to 10:20 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Hershey. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Paulson moved to come out of executive session at 10:20 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Hershey. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Markalunas moved to adjourn at 10:20 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council January 24, 2000 CITIZEN COMMENTS ................................ ................................ .............. 1 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS ................................ ........................... 1 CONSENT CALENDAR ................................ ................................ ............. 2 · Fees for Yellow Brick Rezoning ................................ .......................... 2 · Resolution #7, 2000 – Aspen Highlands Village Annexation ............... 2 · Minutes – January 10, 2000 ................................ ................................ . 2 ORDINANCE #1, SERIES OF 2000 – School District Housing Amendment Moore Property ................................ ................................ ............................ 3 RESOLUTION #8, SERIES OF 2000 – Appeal of Code Interpretation (Villas of Aspen) ................................ ................................ .......................... 4 REQUEST FOR FUNDS – Wildwood School ................................ ............. 6 RESOLUTION #9, SERIES OF 2000 – IGA Noxious Weed Management Plan ................................ ................................ ................................ .............. 7 REQUEST FOR FUNDS – Expanded Noxious Vegetation Control Funding ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................... 7 RESOLUTION #10, SERIES OF 2000 – Approving 2000 Budget of ½ cent Sales and Use Tax ................................ ................................ ........................ 7 RESOLUTION #11, SERIES OF 2000 – Amending RTA Legislation ........ 8 10