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RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION
JUNE 21. 1994
SIDE #1 OF TAPE #1 IS TOTALLY INAUDIBLE. ANYTHING ANYONE CAN RECALL,
PLEASE LET ME KNOW AT THIS MEETING AND I WILL BE GLAD TO PUT IT IN THE
MINUTES. FROM KRABACHER HEARING ON, MINUTES ARE COMPLETE.
Chairman Bruce Kerr called meeting to order at 4:30 P.M.
Answering roll call were Steven Buettow, Marta Chaikovska, Robert
Blaich, Tim Mooney, Sara Garton, Roger Hunt, Jasmine Tygre and Bruce
Kerr.
COMMISSIONER COMMENTS
Roger Hunt: I have been getting complaints from the public regarding
the problem of unrelated people in single family residences.
Leslie said she had talked with the City Attorney on this and he
informed her that unless there were specific complaints to the City
there really was nothing that could be done in this sort of situation.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were none.
MINUTES
MAY 17. 1994
Roger made a motion to approve minutes of May 17, 1994.
Bob seconded the motion with all in favor.
.
NORTON CONDITIONAL USE REVIEW
FOR AN ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT
Bruce opened the public hearing.
Mary Lackner did presentation as attached in record.
Stuart Lusk, representative for applicant: Gave a description of the
unit and project.
Bruce asked if the applicant had any problems with the conditions from
the Planning Office.
Lusk said something here regarding Aspen trees.
MOTION
Roger: If you did anything different than the recommended motion below
please let me know and I will put it in the minutes.
PZM6.21.94
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Recommended motion--"I move to approve the conditional use for a 640
net livable sq.ft. attached accessory dwelling unit for 817 W. North
Street with the conditions recommended in the Planning Office memo
dated June 21, 1994."
Jasmine seconded the motion.
Bruce: You asked something here regarding #6d "commencing work" .
Bruce asked if there was any public comment. There was none and he
closed the public portion of the hearing.
Everyone then voted in favor of the motion.
132 WEST MAIN STREET
LANDMARK DESIGNATION
Amy Amidon, Historic Preservation, Planning Dept: Made presentation
as attached in record.
Bruce opened the public portion of the hearing and asked if there was
any public comment. There was none and he closed the public portion
of the hearing.
MOTION
(recommended motion)
Roger: I move to approve historic landmark designation of Lot M and
the west four feet of Lot N, Block 58, City and Townsite of Aspen,
finding that standards B, E and F are met.
Robert seconded the motion with all in favor.
RED HOUSE CONDITIONAL USE REVIEW
FOR A DUPLEX
Bruce opened the public portion of the hearing.
Leslie made presentation as attached in record.
Discussion--
Bruce asked if there was any public comment. There was none and he
closed the public portion of the hearing.
MOTION
RECOMMENDED MOTION (THIS WAS CHANGED AND ADDED TO) PLEASE FILL ME IN.
Roger: "I move to approve the conversion of the single family
residence at 0002 Williams Way to a duplex and the provision of a
'"
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category 4 affordable dwelling unit. "
Bob seconded the motion with all in favor.
Krabacher hearing started at the end of tape #1 so minutes are complete
from here on.
KRABACHER GMQS EXEMPTIONS
AND SPECIAL REVIEW
Kim Johnson, Planning: Made presentation as attached in record.
The structure as it is today has--assuming it has 400 square feet of
residential area is now going to a 3-bedroom apartment and a 1-bedroom
free market unit. It is conceivable there could be 4 parking spaces
for use of the residential portion of the building which leaves 1 space
for the increased net leasable. We are having a hard time getting to
where we feel we can be comfortable with the added impact of both
residential unit and the commercial uses on site with the fact that
there is only 5 spaces available. Joe presented some information to
me on Friday that in 1990 he came back and sought an additional parking
variance from HPC to go from 5 spaces down to 4 in the antique store.
'~"""'---
So we started out with 4 going into this application. The increase was
required to be 5 and 1/2. It got waived for 4 so that still leaves us
with a 1. something deficit parking. One recommendation staff would
present as an alternative to denial of this application is that the
building be downsized to erase that overage that we are finding with
both parking and employee housing.
Parking requirements in the Office zone district is prefixed a thousand
square feet of net leasable or 1 parking space for every 330 square
feet of net leasable. So since we are deficient a little bit over 1
parking space we could advise the applicant or direct the applicant to
reduce the building to get down to where he is not in a net deficiency.
HPC granted, in addition to their parking variance for 4 spaces,
granted an FAR bonus of 500 square feet to this parcel finding that the
added square footage was in harmony with the historic resource.
However the Planning staff feels that although the design of the
structure may be able to accommodate that square footage the site
itself and the constraints of parking and the mixed use makes it a very
difficult proposition to talk about expansion of the building in a
situation like this.
And it is how we tie the whole building and it's footprint and it's
relationship to the site. In the criteria #4 I hope we have described
it in enough detail that it describes how we feel that this is a very
difficult situation for us.
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The reason why HPC granted the FAR bonus of 500 square feet was because
it was presented to them that there could be an option under the Office
zone district requirements to put to the Planning Commission to
consider an increase in floor area as a bonus situation for up to 1,250
square feet. In reaction to that potential that HPC felt it was more
desireable for them to grant 500 square feet which would erase the
possibility of going forward for 1,250 square feet.
I think the Planning staff would not have ever recommended any sort of
bonus to that affect. HPC did feel though that that was a potential
judgement to the historic resource.
The Stapleton property did get FAR bonus and they did accommodate
affordable housing in th",ir pr::>ject but they also competed under Growth
Management for the square footage that they got.
The Commission right now is being asked to approve an exemption from
Growth Management which is a very big deal not to be taken lightly.
It doesn't go forward to the Council. It doesn't compete with those
projects. So it is something that is definitely a benefit to the
applicant.
Krabacher: As you know it is a historic property. And under our Land
Use Code historic properties are granted certain exemptions and
benefits. I think that anybody who is in the market knows that the
historic properties have significant downside in that people don't buy
them because of historic restrictions. Nobody wants to go through HPC
and those kinds of problems.
So last year the Stapleton property--it is a 4,000 square foot lot-
-came in to the HPC requested demolition of what I consider to be a
historic building on that property and they got that demolition. And
then they obtained an approval for a 4,000 square feet above grade, the
1 to 1 maximum that you can get in the Office zone district which this
Commission granted that special review for that increase.
Now Kim has mentioned that they competed and they went through the
competition. But in my view the code doesn't apply a different
standard just because they went through the competition. That was
their downside. My downside is the fact that I have a historic house
and my exactions are that I have to save that historic house which is
basically a teardown. So I don't think there is a different standard
that you can apply here to say they went through the process so they
should be treated a little bit differently than mine that is not going
through the process. The exemption is there as an incentive for people
to restore these historic properties which we have done to the
satisfaction of the HPC.
The first issue that Kim brought is the change of use that occurred in
1989. When the application was submitted we submitted it on the basis
that the approval that we received then was for the conversion of the
entire property for commercial use. This is another incentive that is
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provided for historic properties. It was fully disclosed at the time.
We want to convert the existing residential into commercial use and
then we are going to come right back with an application at some point
in the future. And if we ask for 5% or 100% it wouldn't have made any
difference. We cou'..d have gotten the approval.
In the actual motion of approval from the meeting of November 21, 1989
it says they approve the change of use and GMQS exemption and they
describe the property as having no limitation saying we are only
approving part of a change of use and not a change of use for any
additional portion.
The Planning Office memo from that meeting-- "Staff recommends approval
for a conditional use and GMQS exemption for the existing 1,699 square
foot building. And then in this memo also they calculate the exactions
for parking and the exactions for parking are based upon the 1,700
square feet.
The application we made says that "The applicant wishes to change the
use of the entire house to commercial. The applicant proposes to
provide parking and trash service for the full commercial use of the
house even though at this time the commercial use will be somewhat
scaled back for the first few years".
So I certainly didn't intend when I came in before, to say "Give me
just part of it" when we could have asked for and that is what I
intended to ask for and thought what I received was approval for the
whole thing. So when we calculated the employee housing exactions
for the application we came up with approximately 5 and 1/2 employees.
So we did it for 3 employees. I was mitigating, in my opinion, based
upon the facts and approvals I had for more employee housing than I was
required to mitigate for.
Staff has come back and said "Well, your application is inaccurate".
And I guess I have the same view of the staff memo. And frankly I was
a little frustrated by how the whole thing developed because the
application was submitted 3 months ago. About 6 weeks ago I called
Leslie who I had pre-apped it with several times. Finally got a call
back from her to talk to Kim. I called Kim several times, left
messages on her voice mail--"Is there any information I can get you?
Do you have any questions?" Kim did return 1 phone call. And the next
thing I knew was Friday before the meeting they are recommending denial
based upon what I consider to be, at least on that issue, an
interpretation question and not that I had submitted something that was
inaccurate. So that is my view on the increase in net leasable that
we have calculated the numbers right. We have exacted for more than
we were required to exact for.
As to this transportation parking issue I definitely disagree that we
haven't provided enough spaces. The approval that we received in 1990
that gave us a parking variance for 1 space--we provided 5 at the time
we did the special review. I came back in a year later and said "OK
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I am willing to take down the chain link fence and put up a nice picket
fence if you vary one of my parking spaces".
It is a problem being on Main Street being next to the Hickory House
where you have guys sleeping in their cars right next to our back
yard. My wife lives there and works there so we thought it was
appropriate to do a fence. The concession was we will take down the
chain link fence and build a nice picket fence but we want a parking
variation for 1 space. So that was the proposal and what we were
approved for. And that wasn't picked up in the staff's memo. They
have assumed that the base number is 5 parking spaces we were required
to have to start with. When in fact we are only required to have 4
spaces. So the 5 spaces associated with the increase have been taken
care of completely. 1 has been added and 4 have been waived by the
HPC.
One of the problems with these historic properties is you want to move
the development toward the back and you want to try and maintain this
historic ambiance around the house that we have to restore. So under
the language that is in the code and I think is in Kim's memo it says
"If the spaces cannot be accommodated on the site of the historic
property, they shall. be waived by the HPC". And the HPC agreed with
this and said "Yes, we have to waive those if you can't put them on
site".
.......'.
On the GMQS exemption I guess I would have a hard time swallowing
"Reduce the size of your building" when that is basically the battle
I went through with HPC. HPC said "We don't want you to do a Stapleton
type project". And by the way I hired an attorney to fight the
Stapleton project at the HPC and the Board of Adjustment when they came
in and got a variance. My comments went unheeded.
The Stapleton proj ect is setback to setback- -front yard setback to back
yard setback--25 feet high--5 feet off my property line. It just ruins
my property for anything. And so I came forward with this proposal
which is I have a 5,000 square foot lot. The total buildout on this
is approximately the same size as the Stapletons and they have a 4,000
square foot lot which also went through this process.
So I felt I am taking 750 square feet off of this to help to bring the
height of the addition down and helped make to make it smaller. We
went through that battle with FAR with the HPC because the HPC's
position is "If it is a historic property you are not entitled to your
maximum FAR. You are entitled to whatever we tell you you are entitled
to have". So I have to fight that battle again here and you say "Well
you don't have a parking space. Take 400 feet off your building". This
seems to be too much.
Leslie: Point of clarification- -my understanding the battle fought at
HPC and what and what we are requesting here is not to take what
mumble
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Krabacher: That's correct. Of which about 200 feet is attributable
to employee housing unit. I felt that I had exacted for more than I
was required to exact for on the affordable housing.
Arch: Staff brings up the issue of open space and sites 60% open space
of site coverage. And actually that number is 57. And there is no
requirement for this site anyway.
I guess following that there are references made to window wells that
in staff's opinion could be illegal and extending to the setback and
may not function property in the design. It is a battle we fight with
Bill Drueding all the 1:lme. We are to the letter of the law on those
window wells.
Staff also sites that the length of the building protrudes backwards
across the parking area. That is a function of allowing the parking
spaces to extend into the setback. So we are technically on a first
floor not from setback to setback. We are in 4 feet from the setback
in the rear. The second floor then protrudes back out to the setback.
,,~..
Kim: I have to eat some crow here. The reference to staff recognizing
is not in the approval resolution but in the staff memo does recognize
the 1,699 square feet for the GMQS exemption. I did have a problem
that the parking spaces are designed so that the bumpers pretty much
abut the back of the building. And the building official let me know
that the egress in and out of the building for emergency purpose is at
question here and that they would have to make a determination whether
or not there is adequate egress.
If the first floor of the building were moved back a couple of feet
that would give a walkway between the bumpers and the wall of the
building.
Bruce: What is staff's present position with regard to this
application? I am confused about the numbers--the 1,699, the 1,700-
-how did we get from 1,699 to 1,726?
Krabacher: When we brought it in and asked for the 1,699, that was
based upon my architect at that time saying, "You have got 1,699".
Since then I have changed architects and my architect now says "You
have got 1,726". Frankly I don't care. I would go with the 1,699.
It is not going to change the bottom line because based on either one
I have exacted for more employee housing than I need to. Basically 1/2
of an employee more.
Bruce: Under the present situation we have a total square footage FAR
of 1,726 or 1,699. And we have 5 parking spaces on the site. And how
much of that 1,726 do you consider to be net leasable? All of it?
Krabacher: 1,699.
/.,.~.-..
Bruce: But none of it that you consider to be residential. The 400
\,
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square feet is sort of out there somewhere. But you don't consider it
residential.
Krabacher: No.
Bruce: Under the proposed addition, you are going to end up with how
many square feet?
Arch: FAR is 4,202.
Bruce: And that represents 3,750 allowed by code plus the request for
452 extra. Right?
Krabacher: Yes.
Bruce: And parking spaces we are staying at 5. Right?
Krabacher: Right.
Bruce: And net leasable becomes--
Krabacher: 3,146.
.-
Bruce: So total FAR you are going from 1,726 to 4,202. Net leasable
you are going from 1,726 to 3,146. The difference between the 4,202
and 3,146 represents the housing. Right?
~-
Arch: Housing and circulation--commonareas.
Tim: When the approval came to us to change the building to a mixed
use to commercial and residential, it was because Joe and his wife
lived there. And they wanted to be in this cottage-type antique
industry where it was important for them to be on the premises. And
so now we are getting, philosophically, this change. I didn't vote
for it then. I was against the mixed use then. And I think now we
were shown the stick, now we are getting hit with it. To use this
mixed use and develop this kind of mass and this kind of density with
all the other approvals that came along behind it and say we were given
this and given this and now we are at this point and we have the right
to do all of this. I think, philosophically, that we are not reading
what was underlined in order to get to this spot.
My opinion is that I am not in favor of a building this size--it is not
compatible with the character of the historic application to this site.
And I think that the commercial applications destroy and upset the
character of the neighborhood. I think the density and the size of the
development, whether it is mitigated for, is unfounded and unnecessary.
I think that the parking is inadequate and I don't think that the
process that has been used to get here has been clearly and fairly used
to get to a building of this development size.
Roger: My concern is along the east end of the building the window
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wells there virtually going almost to the property line. What is the
Stapleton's setback from that same property line?
Arch: 6 foot 8.
Roger: Basically what sort of fence is going to be along there? I am
looking at firemen having to run along that side of the building and
falling down in the window wells which I don't like.
Arch: Right now we are planning to leave the existing fence between
the 2 properties. That will have to be moved during construction. I
think that the building official and the way he interprets egress
window wells, they are specifically structured for that concern. These
meet the letter of the law as the building official interprets them.
Kim: I talked to Bill and they have been in contact with Bill. Bill's
last words to me were" In the final analysis is the building official's
official determination was minimum egress from those rooms whichever
they might be".
Architect: No. These are to the letter of the law. It is clearly
stated a 36 by 36 inch pad rising in 44 inch steps to ground level
then can have adjacent to those areas window wells that are no deeper
than 2 foot 6 below an existing grade. So these are to the letter of
the law. Bill and I as long as I have been doing work in the City
have been over that so many times I would never try to go around that.
"..",,,,..~
'-
Roger: Well, it may be to the letter of the law but I am interested
in what is that fence going to do basically if there is a fire--is a
fireman trapped with having to deal with these window wells? Or do
they have the capability of using the adjacent property?
Architect: Our firm designed the Stapleton project and I am almost
positive there is a walkway the entire length of that side except at
the forward area there is a handicapped ramp.
Krabacher: If there is a concern we could take the fence out.
Roger: Or lower the fence lower than 6 feet is what I am getting at.
Bob: I agree that it is disturbing that this has gone on this far
and come to us and :'.t seer.1S like there is not a clear picture between
the applicant and the staff. And I just wish that that had been worked
out. I fully accept your statements of verification but I--something
is bothering me on this project and I just don't know what it is. And
I guess I would feel more comfortable had I known this. I would feel
comfortable if we could have a site visit and look at all of these
things in terms of the kinds of things Tim has brought up in terms of
scale, in terms of the safety factors. I think I would like to see
this not come to a vote but postponed and give you a little more time
to work with staff and come up with a clear analysis without having to
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react very quickly at this meeting.
MOTION
Sara: I move to deny the Krabacher Office Building GMQS Exemption
for the commercial expansion, one bedroom free market unit, and the
three bedroom Category 2 deed restricted unit for the following
reasons:
#1. The project does not satisfactorily comply with the Sections 24-
8 -104. B. 1 . c . 3 and 4. sper::if ic to transportation impacts and site design
compatibility.
#2. The application appears to be inaccurate regarding the amount of
commercial square footage requested and the amount of commercial square
footage historically present in the structure. This affects
calculations for parking requirements and affordable housing
mitigation.
Tim seconded the motion.
Roger:
is some
support
I would prefer going along the line of Bob and seeing if there
ground we can work out. So at this point I would not vote in
of that motion.
,
'-~,
Marta: I am bothered by the fact that somehow we have gotten this
far and there is a lot of miscommunication. How did this get this
far? A lot of money has been spent--a lot of time and effort.
Bruce: I want to ask the applicant--assumingat some point in time
that this application as you have presented it or some variation
thereof, is approved. Are you done at that site? Or the fact that
there is another 798 square feet potentially there, the difference
between the 4,202 and the 5,000- -are we looking at 1998 another
application coming in for this other 798 square feet?
Krabacher: Do you want to make a condition that we can't file any
other land use applications or whatever you think is appropriate--
that is fine.
Before you deny it, at least table it. We have spent a lot of time on
design compatibility, character and all these issues with the HPC which
in my opinion has the best view of that kind of stuff. We have had 3
or 4 meetings with them one of which went till about 11:00 at night.
At least give us an opportunity to address whatever concerns there are.
Bruce: What I am getting at are some of the concerns that Tim raised
in his comment a while ago. And also the fact that HPC granted this
452 to 500 square feet bonus. I am a little puzzled as to where we are
now and how that fits in with the extra 25% that is available by
special review by P&Z and how all of that fits together. So I am not
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suggesting at all that we would want some kind of signoff from you that
suggests you waive yot1r rights to file land use application.
Krabacher: I would have no problem doing that.
Bruce: My concern is that we understand that what we are getting is
basically a finished project. Especially in light of the fact that
there seem to be some concerns about the size of the box going in on
this property.
Krabacher: You have got to understand that a lot of that is dictated
by the fact that you have a little historic house in the front that you
can't build anything over it. You can't build anything close to it and
you have to separate everything from that. And this is the typical
conflict that we run into between HPC and Planning & Zoning. HPC wants
to push everything to the back and to the side yards. We haven't asked
any variances on the side and back. That is the site constraints and
believe me we have spent untold hours grappling with it ourselves.
Bob: I have seen a number of these little historic houses or shacks
added onto in the west end and I think if a site visitation had been
done on some of those maybe there would have been a different design
to the site.
"
Tim: I am wondering how it really will help. We can see what the
intent of the applicant is. We can see basically what he thinks is the
highest and best use of his property. For us to have a site visit and
walk through why he did this and then say to him "Well are you willing
to change it because we want to re-design your building". He is going
to say "No." And I think that is a strong position. Otherwise he
wouldn't have come to this Board. He wouldn't have come in light of
a denial from staff. He basically isn't going to change it for staff's
recommendations. He is not going to change it for ours.
It is not to me whether it is 752 feet. It is the philosophical intent
of maximizing this double dip of taking an historic building from a
residential space and making it a commercial space so he and his wife
can have an antique shop and live on the premises. Now to me it is a
mall. And that is not the intent of what I feel we discussed when we
allowed him the variance. And I don't care how cleverly it is stated
in the code. It is basically the intent of the philosophy of what we
are dealing with here.
Krabacher: First of all we never had an opportunity to respond to
staff's memo because we didn't get it until Friday afternoon about
4: 30. So to say the applicant has refused to make any changes I think
is inaccurate. We are certainly willing to consider the P&Z' s concerns
and to attempt to address them. If you want me to take some square
footage off certainly we will sit down and look at that. If we need
to add some space so that you can get parking in the back we are
willing to look at that.
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But just to say "I think we should deny it because the applicant is not
going to change it" assumes something that is not the case.
Bruce: We have a motion and a second for denial.
discussion on that motion?
Is there further
Jasmine: One of the things that concerns me and has for a long time
is exemptions from Growth Management. We have to balance the desire
to preserve historic structures which we think is very important
against the impacts that come from expansion or taking a landmark and
developing it further.
The reason for exempting historic landmark from GMQS is to preserve
it's character. To me when you take a building and double it's size
you aren't really preserving the character of the landmark. And I
really feel that if you took a building like this and had to put it
into competition that we would probably get a better designed than what
we are seeing before us right now because other people would be having
to wrestle with the same problems of small size, expensive land costs,
needs for parking, need for housing mitigation. To me the crux of
the issue is exemption from competition. I don't really see that this
project is so outstanding that it should be exempted from competition.
I would like to see it in competition with other projects.
There was no further discussion.
'''-~'
Roll call vote: Marta, no, Robert, no, Tim, yes, Sara, yes, Roger, no,
Jasmine, yes, Bruce, no.
Motion failed 4 to 3.
MOTION
Bob: I make a motion that we table this application and set date of
August 2 when this could be studied with a site visit and then come
back with the issue and see what could be worked out in the interim.
Roger seconded this motion.
Bruce: I would proba.bly vote in favor of that motion if there were
also some indication giving a directive to the applicant to try to
respond to the concerns that were expressed at this table tonight and
also the concerns raised by staff.
Bob: I would accept that as an amendment to the motion.
Roger accepted this as the seconder.
Tim: It would be helpful to have more detailed plans also.
Sara: I am with Tim. I have difficulty looking at a site that isn't
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built on. A lot of our site visits are hazard implications or when
we looked at that carport thing it was being built. So plans say much
to me.
Leslie: So 4:00 August 2nd for a site visit.
Bruce: So we have a motion and a second to table to that date and also
have the site visit on that date.
Roll call vote: Marta, yes, Robert, yes, Tim, yes, Sara, yes, Roger,
yes Jasmine, yes, Bruce, yes.
WINNERMAN 8040 GREENLINE REVIEW
Kim Johnson, Planning, made presentation as attached in record.
Late this afternoon I got a revised square footage from both the
Nathanson and Winnerman parcels. The Winnerman parcel is located at
the Ute Park Subdivision. It is a free market parcel of 1 acre located
on Lot #2. It is 5,392 square feet. So it has shrunk down a bit.
Bruce: Will wonders never cease!
Kim: Avalanche is the big concern here. The applicant has met with
staff and done some re-design and moving over of the parcel towards the
east. I have also had some extensive conversation with Parks regarding
the trees and there are some conditions that have to be changed based
on their most recent discussion with Stan.
Condition #14--14 inch Firs at the southeast corner of the house must
remain. The applicant has brought to our attention that the trail
alignment--this tree right here is the one we are talking about. We
were concerned that because there were already quite a fair amount of
substantial trees that were supposed to be removed already. This one
was outside the envelope and approximately 10 feet away from the
structure. And it should be saved.
But there is a situation where the rail alignment for the Nordic
Council did not follow it's proposed centerline and actually is down
here that is kind of messing up the slope already plus the fact that
their construction technique has been to demand without substantial
manipulation a fairly large excavation which gets closer to _?_ than
we and Parks staff would prefer. In other words the tree is probably
going to die anyway.
Kim: #14 can be deleted. And also at the request of Parks Dept--I was
concerned about these trees in the patio area which I am also forwarded
a recommendation #5 that this patio be eliminated in order to add
additional protection to the residence from avalanche hazard.
According to Art Mears there is a potential for snow to actually slide
through the trees which may end up hurling into that excavated patio
area plus it does remove several trees and Rebecca (Parks) says the 2
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--
closest 4 inch Aspens probably will be demolished because of
construction anyway.
But the farther away 4 inch Aspen and the 6 inch Aspen that were slated
to be removed should remain assuming that you agree with staff
regarding condition #5.
We would like to express to Commission that the Nordic trail was not
supposed to happen this way. I think that we should contact the Nordic
Council and have them come in and address the issue of the re-
vegetation and any kind of mitigation and see if this alignment is the
one that needs to remain.
Staff mentioned and created a condition of approval regarding the
private access drive. This private access drive is going to require
quite a bit of retaining wall to be added in the stretch midway through
this lot around and almost down to the road. And it varies from 2 feet
up to potentially 6 feet. Within the winnerman application it shows
quite a big excavation and laying back of this slope.
There was discussion between Kim and Mathis as to who was responsible
for the development of the slope.
Mathis: Where this wall comes around and meets the residence then we
are going to change to a constructed wall.
Bruce: What is happening to the 21 inch tree?
"''''--'
Kim: It no longer must remain because of the combination of factors
of the construction technique was going to require an excavation
somewhat larger than where the wall is shown on the drawing. And
because of the problem with the trail alignment coming to within just
a few feet on the uphill side of the tree.
Bruce: Well, we really don't know where the trail alignment is.
Kim: Except that it has already happened.
Mathis: We can't protect that tree because it's dripline is 6 feet
from the center line of the trunk. We go too far into the dripline and
the tree is history. In discussion with the Parks Dept we agreed that
we will mitigate whatever trees are removed based on the calculation
the City has set forward.
Sara: Is 5,770 square feet really allowed in the AH Zone?
Arch: That is not actually the size of the building itself.
Sara: OK. 5,392 feet?
Kim: Yes. I checked that. The reason is because that parcel is an
acre.
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,,~..
Sara: But on that steep a slope?
Kim: We do not have a floor area reduction for slope.
Mathis: We moved the house completely out of the conditional zone.
But Mears has said that we might expect to have some snow movement
beneath the trees carrying branches. But not to any extent that we
have to consider that an insert structural program. We don't have any
doors that open out onto that patio.
Marta: What is the purpose of the patio?
Mathis: The patio is directly off of the living room and it is at the
main level of the house. There is not much yard and we are going to
have to do retention on the uphill side anyway and it is a natural to
extend the foundation walls out and around to form some sort of space.
It would be a summertime area. You couldn't use it in the winter. We
can't extend any living area into the conditional zone. That is very
specific in Art Mears recommendations. No decks. No patios.
Bob: How do you access the patio? You say there are no doors from the
living room.
".....-
Mathis: Using drawings demonstrated egress onto the patio.
'",---
Kim: The concern is the more you excavate to create yard area on a 40%
slope- -this isn't the site to creating yard areas when it creates that
much more impact to the hillside. It is a constrained site. You work
with the site. You don't manipulate the site to the extent possible.
And there is a cluster of Aspen trees there and staff is making the
recommendation not to include the patio based on that aspect also--
not just the concern about snow coming through the trees and landing
in the expanded window well.
Mathis: The way we see it the Aspens that you are speaking of are
going to be difficult to protect whether that patio is there or not.
And we are willing to replace or re-locate, if we can, those trees.
And Parks has agreed to that.
Arch: What we are willing to do is that we will specifically--those
trees in that area whatever size they are we will either transplant
them or replace them at some other place on the site regardless of
whether they are undersize or not.
Mathis: The other thing I would like you to consider is that this
modification of this landscape is on the uphill side from the house.
The general public can't see what is going on with this work from any
point, not even Smuggler Mountain. And once the trail is in it's--
conforming with what they are going to be able to do, you are not going
to be able to see it from the trail.
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<'.,,-..--
Bruce asked for an encore of this for the record.
Mathis: The general public is not going to be able to see--we have
learned to define development in the City and County as any work that
happens on the site. We have kind of come to terms with that. Now the
development that we are talking about with this patio is on the uphill
side of the house. It cannot be seen from Ute Avenue easily. It can't
be seen from Hwy 82. You can't see it from Smuggler Mountain. And
once the--
Bruce: The patio.
Mathis: The patio. And once the trail is in it's correct location it
is going to be some 60 to 80 feet above that patio. So you can't see
it and we are willing to work with what we have and replace any
vegetation that we decimate. I think that falls within the intent of
the code? I think a lot of the intent of the code was to affect us
as general public as we view our surroundings?
(I would insert here that Mathis ends almost every statement he makes
as a question as I typed the last 2 sentences here)
And if you build 2 stories below grade who cares? The general public
can't see it. And if you wish to live like that then I don't think
that's harmful. And this patio simply adds to the experience of this
house without adding a above-grade deck on the downhill side which I
find more as being to the character of the site than an on-grade patio
that no one can see on the uphill side on the sunny side when the sun
does shine there. And I think in the winter time it is going to have
a lot of snow on it.
Marta: What size is the patio?
Mathis: 15 feet away from it and then it kind of curves around and
that is 24 feet. But in a triangular pretty much? In other words it
is not a full rectangle and cut it in half.
Roger: I see no purpose in eliminating the patio. As far as I am
concerned 4 inch Aspens you can replace them and they grow like weeds.
And as long as those trees are replaced I have no problems with them
because there is at least 2 of those that would never survive that
construction anyway. And I think that patio is an enhancement to a
lower basically something at that point is really buried into the
mountain and I think probably needs some light. I don't think that is
a major factor that we have to deal with.
Tim: The patio is not an issue for me. I think it enhances that
space. But there is this one word that is like a red neon. It is the
word "Zaluba". And it means to me that we had ongoing problems with-
-that were never resolved with the road cut, with the re-vegetation,
with the landscape plan, with the runnoff from the road cut, with the
elements and components of the retaining wall. We never resolved what
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"'""~~-
the exact wall was going to be and how the impacts behind the wall
were going to affect the avalanche situation.
Eliminating all these trees, cutting back in order to put a retaining
wall that goes at a 5 to one grade, to me just opens up a whole new
cleared area for avalanche. So again without the plans just to say
that we are going to submit landscaping, we are going to submit the
wall, we are going to submit the road cut, we are not sure where--
who is responsible for the trail and the zigzag part of the trail?
These are all very important parts to an 8040 to me. And without the
information in front of us for us to come back and have to re-visit
these things after we have taken back the 8040, then we go in and try-
-it is a nightmare 8040.
Arch: The avalanche area is essentially over in here where we are not
going to build.
Tim: I realize that that is the red zone. But the blue zone is still
critical. That is why we are having this review. If you just look at
the relief of how radically these lines drop in on the house, you know
how steep it is.
Arch: We are disturbing only in this zone which is out of the
avalanche area. The trail location which the County equipment came in
and tore through here is going to be mitigated by the County who
actually did that.
.,........-
Kim: It is the Nordic Council. I am not sure the County had anything
to do with that.
Arch: Well it was County equipment. It was unknown to us. We were
surprised to see it in the first place. So that is going to be
addressed and mitigated- -Kim and the people in Planning are going
through and get that so that it is put back the way it was supposed to
be in the first place which doesn't affect what we are doing.
Tim: I understand you have theories for all of these things. But when
it comes down to what we are really going to see, we don't know. And
in order to make a decision about granting an 8040 Greenline Review,
they are very important things for me to see even if it is a written
memo that says "These things pertain to this and these people will
mitigate it. These things pertain to that and these people will
mitigate it".
We are going on like "Well is this guy going to do this and this?"
Without knowing what the road cut looks like, what the runnoff is going
to be like, what the exact wall is going to be like, what the
landscaping plan is going to be, to me they are the most important
things that are going to have to happen in order to secure this house
above 8040.
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~
Mathis: You need to know that a permit has
driveway built. And the retaining wall done.
with this.
been let to have this
And they are underway
Arch: It has already been approved and granted a building permi t . It
is a done deal.
Tim: It still is not completed. I am saying the information for me
is very difficult to deal with because I really don't know what we are
going to get.
Mathis: You are putting us between a rock and a hard spot.
Tim: I am there right now. I am trying to put you guys there so you
understand the squeeze that I feel.
Arch: We are going to do our best because what we want isn't any
different than what you want. We want it to look as nice as we can get
it to have the least amount of that kind of impact. Everybody is going
to try their darndest to make that happen.
Tim: What if it doesn't work? What if the boulders don't hold or the
road doesn't handle the runnoff? And what if all these things without
having specific things that we can hold him to--that you can hold him
to--that we can hold you to?
"".",...,,"
Arch: These were engineered by confident engineers who have built
roads in this town and the County before. And they tend to build
things that work. Obviously if they stop working at some point, they
get repaired. These guys do it all the time and they make it work.
So the best avalanche expert of the world looked at this stuff and said
this is not going to cause us problems.
Tim: I am here because I believe in the system. I am one who wants
to make the system work. I want to vote on giving you this 8040. But
I can tell you just up the road it didn't work. And it was a
nightmare. And I am just asking for things that I feel like I let go-
-on good arguments, on good faith in a previous application. And they
are still not resolved. And it is a terrible scar. It is a road that
can't be really repaired in my mind and the site is unbuildable.
We didn't have landscape plans. We didn't have guarantees on the wall.
We didn't have components of what the plan was going to be so that we
could really see wh&t w&s going to happen. I am willing to bargain in
good faith but I can tell you that these are very important things.
And from your standpoint the road is absolutely crucial. And without
knowing what the road--
Arch:
there.
It is out there. It has been dug.
It has been there for over a year.
It is a done road.
It is
Kim: It still needs to be widened to meet the standards.
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~
Arch: Right. And it will meet the standards of the County and the
City and the Building Dept.
Tim: We are going to ask you to guarantee everything you say here to
be able to guarantee us.
Arch: Well, it is not for me to guarantee. I am not the one--
Tim: Well then you shouldn't be saying it. This is the point that I
am trying to make. Do you get my point?
Kim: The 3 lots of the Ute Park Subdivision are enjoined in a
homeowner's association. The point is that there is an entity that I
think that the Planning Commission could make responsible from here on
out for maintenance and vegetative screening.
Arch: That goes without saying.
maintain the road.
The homeowner's association will
Kim: I don't mean maintain the road like plow the road.
provide vegetation or whatever to address visual impact.
I mean
Arch: And we absolutely want to do that and we can stipulate something
to that affect. The actual building of the road and the building of
that wall is an issued building permit. And it is done. And there is
nothing I could do about it and nothing I can guarantee.
_,,_I
Mathis: We have a certain degree of reliance.
Tim: I think that your design is really going to work. But it is a
very difficult site and without having the landscape plan here both for
the house and the subdivision--
Mathis: We can only provide to you what has been called out in the
subdivision agreement. We can but we don't need to provide anything
greater than what you guys have already asked for when you approved the
subdivision. Our discussion this morning with the Parks Dept involved
a landscape plan and that landscape plan is prior to the building
permit.
Kim: The landscape plan that they are talking about is specific to the
front part of the house. I have included a condition that there shall
be only native vegetation replanting from the area immediately
disturbed around the construction site. So as far as the Lilacs and
the Tulips and whatever that is relegated to the very front of the
house--I think that is something that can be addressed by Parks and
Planning staff. They are not that far along.
Tim: I am not worried about that.
disturbing the site.
I am more concerned about
"'~.
19
.-
PZM6.21.94
-
Sara: Every time we go through this Stream Margin and 8040 we have
asked that there must be an inspector on site to see that these
conditions are adhered to. And then we wouldn't go through what we
went through with Zaluba. So I would like to add that as a condition
of approval.
I do obj ect to the patio. I don't approve of an uphill into the
envelope In a zone like this. I don't like any intrusion or
disturbance of land in a high risk area like that. I also thought in
former approvals we didn't allow any windows on an uphill side like
that in a high risk zone.
Kim: If this were in a blue zone there are specific preclusions.
Tim: How far away is it?
Kim: Well, that's debatable.
.-
Mathis: We went back and forth with Mr. Mears and in his discussions
with us it is clear that he has put down through there the blue and the
red. If we so much as put one foot--evena small corner of that house
in the blue zone the entire uphill side of the house fell within the
loading restrictions that he set forth. If we are into the
unconditional zone he is a happy camper. And we are pretty much
following what was presented to you folks.
---
Roger: I look at it as the building envelope is out of the conditional
zone- -out of the blue zone. I can see on that topo approximately where
the red zone is. (he showed on map) Now let's not put the building
envelope in a danger zone that doesn't exist.
Sara: That is a steep slope.
Roger: But it is not on an avalanche chute. The building envelope is
outside of any potential avalanche chute according to the experts.
MOTION
Roger: I move to approve the Winnerman 8040 Greenline Review with
conditions #1 through #4, #6 through #13 and #15 on Planning Office
memo dated June 21, 1994. (attached in record)
Bob seconded the motion.
Sara: I would like to add the condition that an enforcement officer
be on site to enforce any of the earth moving--
Bruce: Sara, I think it is great for us to ask for that.
don't know how we can make it a condition of approval
applicant because they have no control over City staff.
However I
for this
Mathis asked for #10 to be changed to read "compatible".
20
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PZM6.21.94
'~
Roger: I will change #10 to read "Color shall tend to earth tones to
make the building less visible on the hillside".
Bob agreed to this change for the second.
Roll call vote: Marta, yes, Robert, yes, Tim, yes, Sara, yes, Roger,
yes, Jasmine, no, Bruce, no.
Bruce: The reason for my "no" vote is that I don't think condition #7
has been met to satisfaction. That is not condition #7 of the
approval. It is standard 7 of the 8040 Greenline. I basically have
a problem with houses being built above 8040 anyway. And as I was
quoted in the paper just last week, if I were doing it 25 years ago I
would have said there never would be a house on any of the hillsides
around here and everything would be built on the valley floor. We are
past that point obviously. But I just haven't been satisfied that this
house is going to blend in with the mountainside to my satisfaction.
Jasmine: I agree with Bruce on condition #7 and I also believe that
#5 has not been met at least based on the information that is
presented. The information presented is not adequate to make me feel
that those have been met.
MOTION
",",""'-
-
Sara: I move for staff to notify the Nordic Council that the trail cut
on Lot #2 is a violation of the 8040 regulations. The Nordic Council
must submit an application for 8040 review for the trail within 30 days
notice.
Tim seconded the motion with all in favor.
MOTION
Sara: I move to direct staff to have an enforcement officer present
at the site to insure that conditions as far as on the site are met.
Kim: How about regular inspection by appropriate staff?
Sara: I move to direct staff
appropriate dep~rtments be ongoing
that these conditions are met.
that appropriate site visits by
in the development to make sure
Tim seconded the motion with all in favor.
NATHANSON 8040 GREENLINE REVIEW
Kim made presentation as attached in record.
,",""""'"
Roger: I have a question about the deck. In the middle of it you have
this terrace. Does that mean the 2 decks do not go over the terrace?
-
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'"-'
I notice the terrace is 10 feet below the deck.
Mathis: The purpose of the deck is to take away from the 2-story
aspect of the house. Parks agreed that we could re-locate the 6 inch
Aspens downhill by use of one of the ballers. If it is the wish of
this committee I can make those trees go right around in that deck and
we can cut that deck back a wee bit.
Roger: I don't mind sacrificing 4 to 6 inch Aspens if we get the
replacement that in 10 years we have a nice growth of screening trees.
Mathis: The Nathansons will be happy to replace those 4 inch caliper
trees.
Mathis: The only thing that is important to me here is that I have a
little deck standing out from that corner. We can cut the corner of
that deck back to approximately the line of those trees so that there
is an obvious 4 foot wide width from the long deck down over to this
other deck. I am willing to push the space of that deck back at that
particular corner and replace these trees. They probably will die
anyway because of construction.
Kim: Condition #5 then--The deck outside the master bedroom shall be
reduced in size to retain the mature Aspens at the northwest corner
of the house. In addition--replacementof at-risk trees caliper inch
for caliper inch.
"-",~
MOTION
Roger: I move to approve the Nathanson 8040 Greenline Review with
conditions #1 through #4 in Planning Office memo dated July 21, 1994.
Condition #5 as stated by Kim. Conditions #6 through #9 as in Planning
Office memo dated July 21, 1994. Condition #10 changed to read "Color
shall tend to be earth tones to make the building less visible on the
hillside. And conditions #11 through #14 as stated in Planning Office
memo dated July 21, 1994. (attached in record)
Marta seconded the motion.
Roll call vote: Marta, yes, Robert, yes, Tim, yes, Sara, yes, Roger,
yesl Jasmine, no, Bruce, no.
Bruce: For the same reasons previously stated. My concerns are a
little less grave on this house because it is further down the
hillside.
Jasmine stated for the same reasons.
MOTION
",",.<-.,
Sara: I move to direct staff to have the appropriate members of the
appropriate departments on site in order to enforce conditions of 8040
22
PZM6.21.94
Greenline Review.
I would now like this to be a standard condition of 8040 Stream Margin
Review.
Tim seconded the motion with all in favor.
HIRSCH STREAM MARGIN REVIEW
Kim made presentation as attached in record.
Wayne Stryker, representing applicant: The owner would like to not
agree to expand the ROW but for the ROW to be as is currently recorded
which is 6 and 1/2 feet wide--not to become 12 feet wide.
Kim:
only
feet
When the Parks Dept discovered that it was there and that it was
6 and 1/2 feet, they are requesting that that be extended to 12
to conform to the standard trail easement.
Bruce: Condition #6 doesn't reference anything about the size of the
easement. All it says is that the easements must be shown on the
building site.
It is not a condition of approval that it be 12 feet.
,,-,
Tim: What will happen then--12 feet, down to 6 feet then back to 12?
-
Kim: Rebecca was going to continue research. This is a new discovery.
The Parks Dept didn't even know that there was pedestrian easement on
the river on this lot. She wasn't sure whether it is even attached to
anything.
MOTION
Roger: I move to approve the Hirsch Stream Margin Review with
conditions #1 through #6 on Planning Office memo dated June 21, 1994.
Jasmine seconded the motion.
Roll call vote: Marta, yes, Robert, yes, Tim, yes, Sara, yes, Roger,
yes, Jasmine, yes, Bruce, yes.
Sara: I make a motion to add the condition that was added to the 8040
as part of Stream Margin and Greenline Review.
Jasmine seconded the motion with all in favor.
Meeting was adjourned.
Time was 7:55 P.M.
~,-,
erk
',^-
23