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HomeMy WebLinkAboutresolution.apz.006-82 RESOLUTION OF THE ASPEN PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION RECOMMENDING THE ADOPTION OF NEW GROWTH MANAGEMENT QUOTAS Resolution No. 82 - 6 WHEREAS, the Aspen-Pitkin Growth Management Plan is an adopted policy plan for the City of Aspen, and WHEREAS, by Ordinance 48, series of 1977, the City Council did adopt a Growth Management Quota System designed to implement the policy plan and to be consistent with the recommendations contained therein, and WHEREAS, the Planning Office is currently reviewing and revising the Growth Management Plan and the regulations which implement the plan, and WHEREAS, during the course of the update the Planning Commission has expressed its concern regarding the impacts that the commercial growth rate has had upon various services in the community in recent years, and WHEREAS, in response to this concern, the Planning Commission did recommend and City Council did adopt amendments to the Growth Management Quota System to extend the coverage of the commercial GMP regulations from the CC and C-1 zone districts to all districts in which commercial uses can be built, and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission has considered the rate of free market and employee housing growth which has occurred since the adoption of the GMP and its relationship to the adopted residential quota of 39 units per year and does recognize the impact that employee housing has had on the growth rate and the implications of this growth upon services without these units being accounted for under the quota system, and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission has reviewed the draft study produced by the Planning Office entitled "Aspen-Pitkin County Short Term Accommodations Report" and believes that at this time there is a balance between our existing tourist accommodations and ski capacity and that there exists a lodging problem more directly related to questions of quality and value than to the quantity of units available, and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission does believe that in order to provide for higher quality and better value in our tourist accommodations it is necessary to allow for some expansion of existing lodges and the development of new facilities, which cannot be properly phased under the existing lodge quota, and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission has considered a revised approach to the development of quotas which is consistent with the original policies of the GMP and yet which also has the following features: The quotas are based on the ability of the community to sustain growth as a function of our capacity to provide basic services, including water, sewer and transportation needs, and to meet environ- mental, economic and social quality of life goals. This approach is predicated on the belief that due to the many capital expenditures already facing the community it is desirable to delay those expansions which we are capable of postponing. This approach also reflects a basic community commitment to hold our growth rate below that which might otherwise occur to protect the quality of life to which residents have become accustomed and which maintains the unique character of Aspen as a destination resort. The quotas are short term rates of growth which reflect current priorities for employee housing, quality lodging and several institu- tional facilities, as well as our legal obligations to provide an opportunity for buildout on previously subdivided lots. Therefore, the impact of the quotas upon our growth rate will have to be carefully monitored and as our community goals and priorities evolve, they will need to be regularly updated as part of a dynamic rather than static GMP. The quotas do not acknowledge the ultimate buildout under existing zoning as a tacit and fixed commitment to the eventual size of our community. Instead, they represent an immediate goal for managed growth, based on historic development trends and perceived growth priorities which must be reviewed in relation to basic community land use planning decisions and service capacity thresholds. The quotas represent a comprehensive approach to growth management, founded on the concept that a fundamental flaw of our approach in the past is that it has resulted in higher than anticipated growth rates, because many types of activities were exempt from the original quotas. The revised approach acknowledges the impact on the community of all types of development and therefore unifies the regulated and unregulated growth rates into a single barometer of the community's development. and, WHEREAS, the Planning Commission has considered the concepts which underlie the new approach to quotas and the specific proposals for new residential, lodge and commercial quotas at a public hearing held during a regularly- scheduled meeting of the Commission on May 18, 1982, and WHEREAS, at the close of the public hearing the Commission did unanimously concur with the recommendations of the Planning Office concerning the proposed quotas and did direct the Planning Office to prepare this resolution to document the reasoning behind their determinations. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Planning Commission of the City of Aspen, Colorado, that it does hereby recommend that the City Council repeal and reenact Section 24-11.1 of the Municipal Code for the purpose of adopting the following development quotas, to be effective immediately: a) Within all zone districts, thirty-nine (39) residential units; b) Within all zone districts, thirty-five (35) lodge units; c) Within the CC and C-1 zone districts, fifteen thousand (15,000) square feet of commercial and office space; d) Within the NC and SCI zone districts, nine thousand (9,000) square feet of commercial and office space; e) Within the 0 zone district, six thousand (6,000) square feet of commercial and office space; and 2 f) Within the CL and all other zone districts, five thousand (5,000) square feet of commercial and office space. Approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Aspen, Colorado at its regular meeting on June 8, 1982. ASPEN PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION Welton A man ATTEST; D6p~]~ City Clerk 3