HomeMy WebLinkAboutresolution.council.011-1977RESOLUTION OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL
RE: ADOPTION OF THE ASPEN/PITKIN
GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN
WHEREAS, the City of Aspen recognizes the need for compre-
hensive planning for or orderly future growth and development in the
public interest, and
WHEREAS, the 1966 Aspen Area General Plan, the adopted master
plan.for the entire City of Aspen and portions of surrounding Pitkin
County, was created with a view toward guiding the location and densities
of various land uses, public facilities and services, as well as the
mode and routing of forms of transportation, and
WHEREAS, said plan specifically designated that the two
urban centers of Aspen and Snowmass were to receive the greatest
densities with densities decreasing in intensity as distances from the
centers increased (pg. 2, 1966 Aspen Area General Plan) and,
WHEREAS, subsequent to the adoption of the master plan from
1967 through 1972, Aspen and Pitkin County experienced rapid rates of
growth shown through various indices of growth such as a I0 to 11%
annual growth in new housing starts, a 22% annual growth rate in skier
visits, an estimated 14% annual growth rate in employment, and an
estimated 12 to 15% annual increase in population, and
WHEREAS, such boom growth conditions were unanticipated in
previous planning efforts and resultedina variety of community
imbalances such as lagging public facilities, housing, shortages, under-
employemnt, environmental degradation and the psychological dislocation
of the transition from a rural small town to an urbanized area, and
WHEREAS, in the wake of such occurrences, it became apparent
that traditional planning, zoning and subdivision tools were limited
in dealing with the impacts of rapid rates of growth and consequently
and Aspen Metro Citizens Goals Task Force in 1972 recommended the
goal of establishing an optimum population growth rate which was
subsequently adopted, as a goal in the 1973 Aspen Land Use Plan as
follows:
GOAL: To hold the rate of growth substantially below that
experienced in the late sixties and insure growth that does occur is
in keeping with these same policies and the Land Use Plan, and
WHEREAS, growth timing controls have recently received
popular and legal support such as the timing mechanism adopted by the
City of Petaluma, California, which was upheld by the United States
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California as well as in Colorado
enabling legislation specifically HB 1034 (1974) which provides in
part under Article 8, Section 106-8-104, "Powers of Local Governments."
Without limiting or superceding any power or
authority presently exercised or previously
granted each local government within its respec-
tive jurisdiction has the authority to plan for
and regulate the use of land by . . .
e)
f)
g)
Regulating the location of activities
and developments which may result in
population density
Providing for phased development of
services and facilities.
Regulating the use of land on the
basis of the impact thereof on the
community or surrounding areas.
Otherwise planning for and regulating
the use of land so as to provide
planned and orderly use of land and
protection of the environment in a
manner consistent with constitutional
rights.
WHEREAS, in 1975 the Aspen/Pitkin Planning Office drafted a
preliminary Growth Management Plan which hypothesized a 3.4% overall
growth for Pitkin County which was based on separate analyses of the
Master Planned and non Master Planned Areas, to wit, in the Master
Planned areas, growth is allocated to 1985 as per the Master Plan for
Buttermilk/Airport and Roaring Fork East and growth is based on 80%
of the Master planned growth for Aspen over the same ten year period;
in the non Master-planned areas, growth is based ona straight 3% of
the existing housing based on the theory that in such areas there is
a relatively higher cost providing county services in areas remote
from urban centers, and
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WHEREAS, the 1975 Growth Management Plan was studied by both
City and County Planning and Zoning Commissions, the Board of County
Commissioners and City Council who recommended further study of the
fiscal impact of the growth rate on special taxing districts, further
analysis of the plan's relation to transportation, and additional
evaluation of ski and business expansion policies, and
WHEREAS, the Second Draft Aspen/Pitkin Growth Management
Policy plan was completed in December 1976 and contained a more com-
prehensive set of policies describing and projecting the complex
interaction of population, new residential construction, new business
formations, development and expansion of skiing facilities and com-
munity facilities including transportation, hospital service, school
service, sewer and water service, and the airport, and
WHEREAS, in the preparation of the Growth Management Plan
second draft considerable review and incorporation of existing planning
documents and studies took place, a partial listing of those documents
is attached hereto as Appendix A, and
WHEREAS, the thesis of the plan is that community goal plan-
ning should aim at ensuring a balance among all the elements of
community listed above and that rapid residential growth upsets this
balance, and
WHEREAS, the plan is devised in three parts: l) Theory, which
delineates the problem of rapid growth and the goals of community
balance, and quality of life; 2) Analysis, evaluating the impact of
a 3.4% growth rate on fiscal structures of taxing districts, housing,
skiing, and business expansion and community services, and 3) Policies
for setting, regulating, and harmonizing annual growth rate for the
construction of new housing, priorities for ski expansion and construction
of new tourist and commercial facilities and provision of transportation
services in the City of Aspen, and
WHEREAS, appropriate hearings have been conducted jointly by
the City of Aspen Planning and Zoning Commission and the Pitkin County
Planning and Zoning Commissi.on on March 15, 22, 29 and April 5 with an
official Public Hearing having been conducted on May 5, and
WHEREAS, many changes have been incorporated into a third
draft of the plan which reflect the substantial public participation
which took place during the hearing and review process, and
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WHEREAS, the Aspen City Council finds that:
1. Since the plan proposes to limit new housing
construction in Pitkin County to a total of
3.4% to include the Snowmass "General Submission"
plan, the public services for which the City
of Aspen is responsible can be more efficiently
supplied and managed with a predictable annual
rate which is substantially below the historically
high growth years of 1969, 1970 and 1971.
The proposed Growth Management Plan provides a
comprehensive view of the Aspen and Pitkin County
growth dynamics and attempts to control those
elements of growth which have traditionally
resulted in high costs to local govenment with
the resultant degradation of the area's environ-
ment and needs for more revenue to provide
local governmental services in a "catch up" fashion.
Flexibility exists to amend the plan with its pre-
scribed annual growth rates and any implementation
techniques which might be developed to support the
plan.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Aspen City Council
endorses the adoption of the proposed Aspen/Pitkin County Growth Manage-
ment Plan, 3rd Draft and that such endorsement is meant to fulfill all
those requirements specified under the laws of Colorado which enable
and require such action, and that such endorsement is given with the
following conditions:
1. That an allotment regulation be developed to implement
the plan with adequate assurances that at least two-
thirds (2/3) of any new housing which is approved under
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The Growth Management Plan and at least one-half (1/2)
of each individual project approved qualify as low and
moderate income housing as such may be defined by the
Housing Authority.
2. That the population li~it for Aspen metro (25,500 persons)
as specified in the Growth Management Plan not be exceeded,
and to that end, that exemptions to the Growth~gement
Plan~ and allotment regulation be/~/ecifica/Tly dj~s~couraged.
'~ \ __/ ) '~S~acy St~dley III
'~-y k~ Mayor - ~/L~ .._~
I, Kathryn S. Hauter, duly appointJd and acting City Clerk,
certify that the foregoing is a true and accurate copy of a resolution
the City Council at its meeting held ~ ?/
adopted
by
, 1977.
City Clerk
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