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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19840312Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 12, 1984 Mayor Stirling called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m. at the West Seminar Room with Councilmembers Knecht, Walls, Blomquist, and Collins present. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION There were no comments COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Knecht said he would like to include Hallam Lake on this agenda. Mayor Stirling said this is scheduled for next week. Councilman Knecht said he does not want the city to enter into a lease until this as discussed. City Manager Chapman said the city cannot sign a lease without Council approval. 2. Councilman Blomquist asked if the election for the performing arts center has been scheduled. Mayor Stirling said the city is waiting for final specifics about the site. 3. Mayor Stirling said the city has received 76 applications for city manager and some Councilmembers have reviewed the application. Council set a study session for March 15 at 5:00 p.m. 4. Mayor Stirling reminded Council there as a arts work shop at the Visual Arts Center March 13 at 5:00 p.m. ASPEN MOUNTAIN LODGE CONCEPTUAL PUD Mayor Stirling said Council has received 22 letters an favor of the project; 25 letters from people concerned about the project, and 3 letters sayang they would like Council to work with the applicant. Mayor Stirling said the applicant is being fair and responsive. Because the hotel will have such an effect on Aspen, the proposal has to be studied very carefully. Mayor Stirling said the hotel has to be an proportion that meets the community needs. Last week the points touched on by the applicant were stepping the hotel back from Durant street, creating an outdoor public ice rink, lowering the height on Durant. Mayor Stirling said he feels more adjustments need to be made. Sunny Vann, planning director, told Council the applicant's have made further revisions and would like to present this to Council. Vann said if the area and bulk concerns can be satisfied, Council can proceed with the technical issues of the project. Alan Novak said ha feels there has been a benefit in this process, and the procass has helped the applicant. Novak said the applicants took all the suggestaons from Council and other people and went back to the project to see if it could be improved. The applicants have a project that is a result of a lot of contributions. 3669 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 12, 1984 Larry Stricker told Council the applicants have made four significant changes; they have reduced the mass; relocated some of the higher elements; preserved Dean street as a througih street; and provide Public open space on Durant. Stricker said the original design was two U-shaped buildings. This has been changed into eight separate buildings to be linked by bridges at one level. Sticker said each building will seem like a smaller lodge but there will be conference facilities and amenities of a larger lodge. Stricker said the lobby will be a glass wall to give visual penetration. The three buildings facing Durant street will have an eave height of 2½ stories and will measure 33 feet. They have designed the building around the Mountain Chalet so that the view from the Mountain Chalet will not be intruded upon. Stricker told Council the building has been set back a minimum of 135 feet from Durant street. The applicant is proposing a courtyard park on Durant street with a fountain and pool which could be used as a public ice rink. Larry Yaw said this project has a new experience with the plaza as a focus point. This proposal brings the scale of spaces into levels that are manageable. Yaw showed sketches of the plan two weeks ago. Yaw showed photos taken showing the building mass from several places in town. Yaw showed a chart using the Continental Inn as background. Yaw discussed the roof heights and perceptions of the roofs. Stricker showed what the bridges would look like. Stricker told Council this proposal has not reduced the square footage but merely changed the configuration. Joe Wells said under a PUD concept, density for the entire site is important. The appli- cant has shown Council what would be permitted by right for comparison purposes. Wells said the Code is not set up to accommocate a hotel proposal. Wells said the Code permits by right 75 per cent of the square footage be used for room space since that is what generates revenues. Wells said he went through the calculations for the site and found that by right the square footage is 213,000 square feet. The applicant is proposing 239,000 square feet. These are luxury rooms so'the applicant is asking for extra square footage. Novak told Council the applicant used Leventhal and Horvath for feasibility verification. They conducted in-depth studies. Novak said half a dozen hotel operators have expressed interest in this project. Novak said after the project receives conceptual approval, the hotel operator will take a major roll in the design of the hotel. Councilman Knecht said he feels by limiting the hotel to an FAR of 1:1, this will remove some amenities and will not be noticed in the ultimate mass of the building. Economically, this may make the difference between success and failure. Mayor Stirling said he likes these changes. Mayor Stirling said there has to be a public benefit in the PUD; now there is a park on Durant street. Mayor Stirling said he likes the concept of not vacating Dean street. Stricker showed the main entry and the entry to the parking garage. Mayor Stirling said he is still concerned about the underlying FAR and would like the applicants to bring it to 1:1o Mayor Stifling asked where this square footage would come out of. Novak said the applicants believe the benefits of this hotel far outweigh the detrements. Bob Calloway said the applicants have looked at reducing the room size, but then they would not be luxury rooms. This would be perceived walking into the room, but the .13 reduction would not be perceived in looking at the building. Councilman Blomquist said he would like to explore not changing FAR, zoning and other requests because of the precendent set. Novak said he feels this is not a harmful precedent; variations are permitted in the Code. Councilman Blomquist said this proposal has merely shifted the bulk. Councilwoman Walls said this proposal satisfies her concern about the bulk, and feels good about what the applicant has done to address the problem of how this will effect the town. Councilman Collins said this proposal is a good one, but would like to look and see where the bulk has been transferred. Stricker showed Council where the elevator shafts would be. Mayor Stirling asked what is the highest height outSide the shafts. Stricker said the heights vary from 29 feet to 37 feet. Calloway said the proposed hotel has pitched roofs, as the applicants feel flat roofs are unattractive, and feel the contribution architecturally is worth the difference in height. Mayor Stirling said he feels 30,000 square feet is a substantial reduction of size. This would be 60 rooms. Mayor Stirling said he is still concerned about the square footage. Novak said the applicants have not emphasized the large amount of open space at the rear of the site. The applicants could have extended the structure into the open space. Novak said it is possible by working together that the developer can reduce perceived mass by building into those open spaces. Novak said the applicant's position is that exceeding the FAR by 13 percent, the way it is designed is preferable to a poorly designed building at 1:1 FAR. The applicant is giving good architecture, good amenities and a park. Novak said he does not see any trade in jeopardizing the viability of the project by cutting 30,000 square feet. Mayor Stirling said architecture can be seductive and divert one from other issues like bulk and mass. Mayor Stirling said the design is appealing but he does not feel good about the proposal in terms of size. Mayor Stirling said reduction has to come from somewhere and would like about a 10 per cent reduction. Mayor Stirling said he is willing to make some height allowances because it makes a more appealing design and building. Vann said Council's extent to which they vary the PUD should be based on the public purposes which accrue and the feeling for the building. Vann pointed out in this building the majority of the conference space is sub-grade and does not count in the FAR and will not reduce the apparent bulk of the building. In cutting this building, the applicant's choice is the size of the rooms or the above grade amenities. Mayor stirling said the Council is not willing to make the same decision the P & Z made. Mayor Stifling said eliminating 30,000 square feet would be to take out 60 units. The Council has to look at the balance between the amenity package and the number of units. Mayor Stirling said there are some inducements, like waiving some of the parking or putting the parking somewhere else. The city could help bond the parking. Mayor Stirling said the city could be a partner in the lodging improvement district. There are ways to make adjustments in the project. 3670 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 12, 1984 Mayor Stirling asked Council who was in favor of accepting the variations and moving ahead with conceptual approval to indicate. Councilmembers Walls and Knecht indicated they were in favor, the other were opposed. Councilman Blomquist moved to hold the PUD FAR to 1:1; seconded by Mayor Stirling. Councilman Blomquist said this 1:1 FAR is for the entire PUD, not just the hotel site. Novak said there is 100,000 square feet of land the applicant's own which does not count in the FAR. Novak said the applicant's can fence this land, they could build a 12,000 square foot house on it. The applicant's are prepared to give this to the city. Novak pointed out some of the below grade space is also counted in the FAR. Mayor Stirling said if the land zoned conservation were counted in the FAR, the FAR would be below 1:1. Councilman Blomquist said the PUD allows moving of bulk to gain space and architecture. Councilman Collins said moving bulk from around the PUD to the hotel site is what Council has been concerned about. Councilman Collins said he would like to give the applicants latitude without tying them to an FAR of 1:1. Councilman Collins said he would like to see what this new design has done to the back of the project. Councilman Blomquist in favor; other Council opposed. Motion NOT carried. Councilman Collins said there may be too much bulk on the wings. Mayor Stirling said Council would like to see the mass and bulk of this hotel reduced. This item will be continued next Monday at Paepcke auditorium. WHEELER VISITORS CENTER Dan McArthur, city engineer, said Council had requested an alternative design for the existing floor plan for the box office. McArthur presented alternative 1. The staff and ARA and Wheeler Board met on this alternative. McArthur said the mural will be relocated 17 feet from its original position. The work room area has been increased by 135 square feet and located the counter on the other side of the mural. There will be 650 square feet available in front of the counter. Bill Shorr said this design and moving the mural will enable the box office to function efficiently and provides comfortable and secure space behind the counter. McArthur said the cost for relocating the mural does not matter where it is put. The costs are $21,960 for the changes in the first floor including bathrooms in the basement. There is a requirement for two water closets and two lavatories for this public area. Mayor Stirling asked the requirement in the original proposal. McArthur said this was to be a box office and not a public area. McArthur said there will be loss of office area for the theatre people with this change. McArthur said these offices could be relocated in the old Pub space, the other is in the center area. The remodel of the Pub area would cost $28,000 of approximately 1,000 square feet. The other area would be below the visitors center and would cost $17,000. McArthur said there is no money in the budget for these changes. Councilman Blomquist asked if the ARA participated in these plans. McArthurs said they did, and that this plan is a compromise, no one is really happy about it. Councilman Knecht said this plan does not address either the Wheeler function or the ARA function. Councilman Knecht said these functions both need their own space. Councilman Knecht said there are other possibilities for the visitors center and this plan is trying to cram too much into one space. Councilman Knecht said the space should go back to the original con- cept and leave it as it was decided. Councilwoman Walls agreed with Councilman Knecht and ~ said the people working on the Wheeler gave careful consideration to what that space should be used for and how it should be arranged. Council at the last minute is telling the ~ Wheeler they have other plans as though all the Wheeler Board work was worthless. Mayor Stirling said the visitors center was very successful when it was in the Wheeler Opera House. The Wheeler is a public building and should be used for public uses. ~ayor Stirling said this is a good opportunity for the city to take the lead in establishing a visitors center for the city. Mayor Stifling said the mingling of these two uses is very appropriate. Councilman Collins questioned the requirement for two restrooms. McArthur said this will be a public space and requires more restrooms than just an office and box office. McArthur said the city could go to the Board of Appeals and request a variance from this requirement. Councilman Knecht said if the city has a visitors center, it has to have bathrooms. Spence Videon said the Wheeler Board and the'ARA have been put into a position where .they have been thrust against each other in the community, which is not what either group wanted. Videon said the Wheeler Board has definite designs of what needs to happen in the Wheeler. Videon said if there is a visitors center, it will have people using the bathrooms. Dorothea Farris read a motion, passed unanimously by the Wheeler Board, into the record. "To accommodate the AKA by moving the box office to the rear of the main floor by moving the wall back 17 feet and centering as much as possible the counter and photo mural wall. To leave adequate space behind the wall for a box office for use by the Wheeler and pro- ducing organizations. To develop 001 space in the basement for Wheeler administrative offices for the executive director, the technical director, the receptionist, and the secretary. To maintain other basement space (002 and 003) for Wheeler storage. Estimated costs for basic changes are listed as follows: baths $5,000, Plan ~1 - alteration of main floor $13,000; 001 space renovation $28,000; contingency - 25% $11,000; total estimated costs - $57,000" Councilman Blomquist asked if the Pub space would be adequate for both the Wheeler and the Arts Council. Ms. Farris said it may be as it is 1,000 square feet. Councilman Blomquist moved to appropriate $57,000 from the electric fund to pay for changes ~ eh~ h~v ~ ~nd v~ors center and the creation of the Pub space as offices for 3671 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 12, 1984 Mayor Stirling asked for other possible sources of funding for this rather than transferrin~g from the electric fund. City Manager Chapman said if the Council does not want to transfe~ from an enterprise fund, that leaves the general fund. City Manager Chapman pointed out if Council allows the pub space for Wheeler office and Arts Council, that is using income producing space that the Wheeler had counted on. Mayor Stirling moved to proceed with the motion passed by the Wheeler committee and allot the money from the general fund balance, and if there is sufficient money in the RETT at the end of the year to reimburse the general fund. Councilman Blomquist said he feels it is important to include the Arts Council. Mayor Stirling amended his motion to include the Arts Council; seconded by Councilman Blomquist. Councilman Knecht said taking money from the general fund is a poor way to do this, and not leasing this space as well as spending extra money is not a great plan. Videon told Council the ARA had suggested a visitors center but a totally different facility. Videon said he would have like to consolidate the three different locations the ARA operates out of and to be able to cut down the costs of operation. Videon said having the visitors center in the Wheeler will cost more money because the ARA will have to maintain three locations again. McArthur said the Council has not addressed the cost of finishing the visitors center, which the staff does not have an estimate on; this is not part of the $57,000. ouncilmembers Blomquist, Collins and Mayor Stirling in favor; Councilmembers Walls and Knecht opposed. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #3, SERIES OF 1984 Deane Hydropower Project Mayor Stirling opened the public heering. City Attorney Taddune said Council has received a letter from Ramona Markalunas about exchange of easements from ten years ago. Taddune said he is not aware of the details of these easements. John Musick said the city issued a title in 1976 which verified the city owned 68.4 cfs of the NeStle water rights. Musick said the city did acquire the property in the Maroon creek system in the mid-50's. Musick said the pipeline installed in the 70's was installed paritally on and partially off the flume ~right-of-way, which the Maroon creek light & power company had quiet title to. Musick said there was never a quiet title action to the dam itself. Mayor Stirling said there are sufficient questions to table this for another week. Mayor Stirling moved to table Ordinance ~3, Series of 1984 until March 19; seconded by Councilman Blomquist. All in favor, motion carried. DOG ORDINANCE Mayor Stirling presented a change in the existing animal control ordinance. Mayor Stirling said it has become apparent to him the need to strengthen the existing ordinances. There have been examples of wildlife being harassed, as well as people jogging and walking. Mayor Stirling said the present ordinance is unclear. Mayor Stirling presented photographs of a lady who was attached by a dog in the city. Mayor stirling said the city needs a tool to be able to control the dog situation. Mayor Stirling said dogs should be controlled on the property at all times; dogs should be tethered, behind a fence or in an enclosure. Mayor Stirling said most dog owners can control their dogs by voice, but only to a certain point. Dogs need to be controlled on property 100 per cent of the time. Councilman Knecht moved to read Ordinance #4, Series of 1984; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Blomquist. Motion carried. ORDINANCE ~4 (Series of 1984) AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SUBSECTION (b) OF SECTION 5-30 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO LEASH CONTROL, SO AS TO REQUIRE THAT DOGS BE LEASHED OR PROPERLY CONFINED WHETHER ON OR OFF THE PREMISES OF THE OWNER, POSSESSOR OR KEEPER was read by the city clerk Councilman Knecht moved to adopt Ordinance ~4, Series of 1984, on first reading; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. Councilman Collins asked how many dogs are registered in Aspen Lisa Russell said between 1500 and 2000. Councilman Collins said by the next reading, he would like statistics on dogs running at large and vicious dogs. Councilman Blomquist said he is more concerned about the problem of packing dogs, and this ordinance does not deal with that problem. Councilman Blomquist suggested having the animal control department identify problems and come up with some solutions. Lisa Russell said there are packs of dogs in the city but the animal control officers cannot go shooting dogs in the city. Ms. Russell said the animal control department cannot handle the calls they get now, they do not have the personnel. Ms. Russell said people are not obeying the laws now. Ms. Russell said one of the reasons there is problems with dogs is that the animal control department is not able to do their job. Three officers cannot cover the city and county 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Ms. Russell told Council she has made the point before that the animal control department needs more personnel. Ms. Russell agreed the ordinance should read that when dogs are on the property they should be leashed or under voice control; when dogs are off the property they have to be on a leash. Ms. Russell said making the law stricter will not help; the department has to have more personnel. 3672 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 12, 1984 aye Roll Call vote; Councilmembers Walls, Knecht, aye; Blomquist, aye; Collins, nay; Mayor Stirling, aye. Motion carried. LIQUOR LICENSE TRANSFER Councilman Knecht moved to approve the transfer of Andre's liquor license to Compania Chinona; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, motion carried. SMUGGLER ANNEXATION REPORT City Attorney Taddune told Council he met with the county attorney, Joe Edwards, Harris Sherman and the ex-counsel for the CML. Taddune said the problem is the effect of the counter-petition. Taddune has prepared a resolution of intent to annex this area. Taddune said the staff was originally focusing on the definition of electorate and the percentage of signatures requirement. Taddune said the signature of any owner of an undivided fee shall be sufficient unless there is an objection by another land owner within a 14 day period. Taddune said an objection was filed within the 14 day period. Taddune said he had difficulty understanding the effect of a protest in an annexation election as opposed to a straight annexation. Taddune said the county attorney and the ex-counsel for CML take the position that the objection disqualifies anyone who signed the petition on behalf of Hunter Creek condominiums. Taddune said his position is all the people who sign the petition qualify as electors; the other attorneys do not agree. Taddune said Council does have the prerogative to say there is not substantial compliance with the annexation act, which is the end of the petition. Council could approve the resolution and schedule a public hearing, if they find there is compliance. Taddune told Council the third alternative is to refer the petition back to staff for more research. Taddune said one suggestion is to get a retired Colorado Supreme Court Judge to render an opinion. Taddune told Council the county attorney feels that the law is very clear and Taddune's interpretation is a strained one. Taddune said the petition could be referred back to the circulators and have them re-do it so there is no confusion. Taddune said if the signatures from phase II Hunter Creek Condominiums are disqualified, there are only 9 certifiable signatures, which is less than 10 per cent. Councilman Blomquist said he feels the county should be delighted about the annexation. Councilman Blomquist asked if this is dealing with the question of annexation or the question of development in this area. Mayor Stirling moved between now and Monday March 19, the city attorney seek outside counsel and bring back an independent opinion to Council; seconded by Councilman Blomquist. Harris Sherman, attorney for Phase IV, presented Council with some items for review. One is Section 107 of the C.R.S., setting forth the procedure to be followed with a condo- minium association as part of an annexation. Sherman presented the condominium declara- tions for Hunter Creek condominiums setting forth the legal status for owners of condo- miniums; that these parties own this property in an undivided fashion. Sherman gave Council the condominium ownership act of the state of Colorado. Sherman told Council the land is a common element where each owner has an undivided interest; collectively they own the land. Sherman said the law is clear that any party who owns the land objects to the petition for annexation, no pettions from that condominium may be accepted. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Knecht. Motion carried. RESOLUTION #7, SERIES OF 1984 - Residential 1984 GMP Allotments Councilman Collins moved to adopt Resolution #7, Series of 1984; seconded by Councilman Knecht. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Blomquist moved to adjourn at 8:45 p.m.; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, motion carried. Kathryn S. ~och, City Clerk Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 19, 1984 Mayor Stirling called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. at Paepcke Auditorium with Councilmembers Walls, Blomquist and Knecht present. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 1. Gideon Kaufman reminded Council at their first meeting in February they discussed timesharing and Council adopted a new ordinance but kept the moratorium on pending the tax on timeshare units. Kaufman said six weeks has passed and Council has not had the opportunity to discuss the tax. Kaufman said this is very important and people have been waiting a long time. Mayor Stifling said this will be on Council's March 26th agenda. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Blomquist moved to add a resolution on the Mayor's goals task force; seconded by Councilman Knecht. All in favor, motion carried. 2. Councilman Knecht moved to add the Wheeler Visitors Center to the agenda; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Blomquist. Motion carried.