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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.apz.20070306 Aspen Plannin!!: & Zonin!!: Commission Meetin!!: Minutes - March 06. 2007 COMMENTS ............................................................................................................ 2 DECLARATIONS OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST............................................. 2 MINUTES .................................................................................................................2 COOPER STREET PIER REDEVELOPMENT ...................................................... 2 SMUGGLER RACQUET CLUB CONCEPTUAL PUD ........................................2 ISIS THEATRE GROWTH MANAGEMENT........................................................ 7 I Aspen Plannin!!: & Zonin!!: Commission Meetin!!: Minutes - March 06. 2007 Ruth Kruger opened the regular meeting of the Aspen Planning Commission in Sister Cities Meeting Room at 4:30pm. Dylan Johns was excused from the first and third items on the agenda; Brian Speck was excused. LJ Erspamer, David Guthrie, Elizabeth Atkins, Steve Skadron, John Rowland and Ruth Kruger were present. Staff in attendance: Jim True, Special Counsel; Joyce Allgaier and Jessica Garrow, Community Development; Jackie Lothian, Deputy City Clerk. COMMENTS Ruth Kruger welcomed the new members and Jim True as Special Counsel. DECLARATIONS OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Dylan Johns was conflicted on Smuggler Racquet Club and Cooper Street Pier Redevelopment. MINUTES MOTION: Liz Atkins moved to approve the minutes from February 6th and 20th; seconded by Steve Skadron. APPROVED. David Guthrie and LJ Erspamer abstained. Public Hearing: COOPER STREET PIER REDEVELOPMENT Ruth Kruger opened the public hearing for Cooper Street. MOTION: David Guthrie moved to continue the hearing to April 3rd; Liz Atkins seconded. All infavor, APPROVED. Continued Public Hearing: SMUGGLER RACQUET CLUB CONCEPTUAL PUD Ruth Kruger opened the public hearing for the Smuggler Racquet Club Conceptual PUD. Jessica Garrow said the applicant was Aspen Land Fund II, LLC represented by John Sarpa, Sunny Vann and Kim Weil. John Moore of the Smuggler Racquet Club was also present. Garrow stated this was a detailed proposal and a complicated site; there was a site visit earlier. Garrow said that there was county zoning ofR15 on this property; it was annexed into the city in the 1950s with the Hughes addition but never rezoned to city zoning. There were approximately 4.6 acres, including the cabin near Park Circle and the Racquet Club off of Matchless Drive; the applicant submitted the proposal in July 2006 proposing subdivision to develop affordable housing mitigation for the Lodge at Aspen Mountain on the top part of the parcel and redevelop the Racquet Club in the existing location. The applicant proposed to 2 Aspen Plannin!!: & Zonin!!: Commission Meetin!!: Minutes - March 06. 2007 dedicate the cabin historic, which would be final at Council; the minutes from the HPC Meeting were attached. Garrow said the broader picture of this site was subdivision of the parcel into 3 lots; rezoning of Lot 1 to AH PUD, Rural Residential for the Racquet Club and Historic Preservation for the cabin. A conditional use approval will be needed to accommodate some of the uses on the racquet club site. There will be a Growth Management Review for the Affordable housing and the Racquet Club site to determine the employee generation. A Special Review will be need for parking on both sites; Residential Design Standard Review for the Affordable Housing; Commercial Design Review for the Club redevelopment and an administrative determination to allow for the affordable housing unit on the racquet club parcel. Garrow utilized a map (exhibit B) to delineate the lots with different colors. There were 32 affordable housing units; 16 one bedroom units, 8 two bedrooms and 8 three bedroom units. There were 15 foot setbacks near building A, 10 foot setbacks near building C and side setbacks of 5 feet. Garrow said there were 35 parking spaces proposed for the affordable housing units with 1 space assigned to each unit; special review was needed for parking because it was located outside the Aspen Infill area so that the requirement was 56 spaces. Garrow said that staff felt that the design could do a better job relating to the cabin through the use of inflection and materials that differentiate the new development from the historic resource; staff would like to see the site opened up. Staff also wanted to see the circulation simplified to buildings A and C. Garrow said that Lot 2 (Racquet Club) was 2.97 acres including 2 indoor racquet courts, club facilities, an affordable housing unit for the manager and 5 outdoor courts. The setbacks include 20 feet along the West portion; there was a notch (20' by 50') owned by someone else (according to John Moore the racquet club will purchase this piece); along Lot 1 there was a 25 foot setback. Garrow said that there were 38 proposed parking spaces on Lot 2; 2 for the affordable housing unit and the rest for the club. Garrow said staff would like the building broken up more. Staff recommended approval of the conceptual. Ruth Kruger asked how we got from the first application design. Garrow replied that was part of the first conversations staff had with the applicant dealing with the way that the housing addressed the street, staff wanted a more pedestrian friendly design. Staffwill address the sidewalk and an additional bus stop. Sunny Vann said the problem arises from the residential design standards; when this project was originally designed there was approval in the county for the type of units in the first plan; the property does not abut the street and was not on a high 3 Aspen Plannin!!: & Zonin!!: Commission Meetin!!: Minutes - March 06, 2007 pedestrian comer and the primary views were toward Aspen Mountain. Vann said that staff asked to meet with the applicant regarding the first design and the new design included the majority of units that abut the street. Vann said the historic preservation officer wanted the cabin preserved. John Sarpa introduced John Moore, Kim Weil and Sunny Vann. Sarpa said they evolved to the current plan for staff support. Sarpa said that ALF approached John Moore to purchase part ofthe land for the Lodge at Aspen Mountain housing mitigation. Sarpa noted they were in a partnership with Smuggler Racquet Club. Sarpa said that this was an extension of Smuggler Mine and the cabin drives a lot; HPC review was first and designated that the cabin historic. Sarpa said there was an old mine shaft located on the site; they hired HP Geotech and will stay away from the shaft with buildings. Weil said that HP recommended 50 feet away with all but one building. Vann stated that it was not an open mine but there were boulders pushed into it with top soil on the top during the superfund reclamation; they were told that they could drive over it. Sarpa noted they also have hired Tom Dunlop who was knowledgeable about the site. John Moore said the courts building was sunk down 10 feet to comply with the height requirements. Bill Lipsey, architect, said with the 2 indoor tennis courts the building starts out at 120 feet by 120 feet with the clubhouse and affordable unit it came out with a simple gable structure to accommodate the uses. Lipsey said the 1 story structures were subordinate to the big structure; one side had the clubhouse and the other an affordable housing unit. Weil stated with the influences of the cabin and the mine there were no places to have any more street presence for the affordable housing; there was simple design for the buildings. Weil said there were balconies, porches and the common element of the rusty metal roofs like the tennis building. Weil said the cabin would stand on its own and the architecture of the affordable units would be their own architecture. John Rowland said that he like the playfulness of the balconies. Weil replied that the balconies move at different elevations. Liz Atkins asked why staff wanted the street presence on the uphill side when the view was that way. Garrow replied that staff was taking a long term view of development in this area of town and the entrances were still off of the parking area; there was a street presence. 4 Aspen Plannin!!: & Zonin!!: Commission Meetin!!: Minutes - March 06. 2007 David Guthrie asked if the slope reduction was based upon the old topo or the new topo. Sarpa said they were using the most current survey information and they have reviewed it with staff. Weil said that there was a field topo from Sopris Engineering in the packet. Vann said there was far more land area to accommodate the density than was needed. Guthrie voiced concern for the placement of the new bus stop and the decision would be at final. Guthrie said there was parking heading in on Matchless. Weil responded there was a grade change and a bit of a berm. Vann said there was a landscaping plan and at final there would be a comprehensive landscape plan submitted and reviewed with parks. Guthrie said that parking was a huge concern in this area. Atkins said that she had issues with parking. Steve Skadron asked why so much was happening at final in this case. Garrow replied part of it was the unique circumstances of the lot without zoning; the proposed zoning requires conditional uses. Skadron voiced concern for the bus stop also. Skadron asked the applicant's responsibility with the racquet club was. Sarpa replied that they approached the Smuggler Racquet Club to purchase part of the parcel for the mitigation for the Lodge at Aspen Mountain. Skadron asked who the Smuggler Racquet Club was. Moore replied it was 105 members with an equity club that you buy into with annual dues; it was a non-profit 50lC7. Moore said it was laid back and the membership was limited; there were some social functions, brunches and pot luck dinners. Skadron asked how busy the club was. Moore said that the nets would be up in May and weather permitting people would book the courts. Skadron asked why this application came in as one rather than two separate applications. Garrow replied that it was one parcel. Vann said that they originally thought that it was in the county; council likes to see the big picture to see how everything works together and not parts of the puzzle. Vann said the projects were sufficiently interrelated that it made sense to process as one application. John Rowland asked for a summary of the HPC process. Garrow responded that the historic maps were reviewed by the historic preservation officer who determined the materials used on the cabin were historic as part of the old Smuggler mine used as an assayers office. Sarpa said the cabin has to be disassembled, a foundation built and reassembled; HPC said that it had to go back in the place exactly where the cabin sits now. Liz Atkins asked if the outdoor tennis courts had lights and if they anticipated using the indoor courts at night. Moore replied there were no lights for the outdoor courts and do not anticipate any lights; conceivably the indoor courts will be used at night, they can put a limit on but he did not think there would be any activity after 10pm. 5 Aspen Plannin!!: & Zonin!!: Commission Meetin!!: Minutes - March 06, 2007 LJ Erspamer asked if this was a 100% affordable housing project. Vann and Sarpa replied 100% with no free market component on this site. Erspamer agreed that this was a pedestrian area; he asked who would be involved in placing sidewalks. Vann replied that they would cooperate with staff and engineering on sidewalks, street lights and a RFT A bus stop. Erspamer asked where the snow storage would be located. Vann replied that the final PUD would have designated snow storage areas. Erspamer asked if they were aware of the traffic count on the Spruce and Park comer. Vann said that Park Circle was adequate to carry the number of cars and engineering did not require anything from this applicant. Erspamer asked where they will park because 50% of the parking on Race Street was taken away. Liz Atkins asked why they needed 38 parking spaces for 7 tennis courts. Moore answered they have 8 or 9 functions a year and a tournament in the summer; they will use those parking spaces. Ruth Kruger asked what the categories were and if the affordable housing units were for sale or rental units. Vann replied they were all for sale units and the exact categories would be in accordance with APCHA prior to final approval. Kruger asked how many spaces would be eliminated on Park Circle. Vann responded none would be taken away as part of this project. Public Comments: Vince Galluccio, public submitted a letter and drawings into the record. Galluccio asked the commission to look at the plan and said that the cabin could be moved. John Rowland stated that he was perplexed with the cabin not being moved. This was a great piece of property for employee housing. Atkins said that she was concerned about the views; there were great views from that parcel and the parking should not separate the views. Kruger stated there were guidelines and regulations. David Guthrie said that the Park Circle should not be an artery to Smuggler; there was the whole point of design guidelines that this was part of the community. Guthrie asked if they need to make findings and objective standards for projects. Kruger said this was a great location for more affordable housing in town. Kruger voiced concern for the project being under-parked; she said that parking should be addressed at conceptual and that parking for this project should be more than 35 6 Aspen Plannin!!: & Zonin!!: Commission Meetin!!: Minutes - March 06. 2007 spaces. The commissioners supported more parking on the site. Skadron was not as concerned about the parking. The commission supported requesting HPC take another look at the placement of the cabin. MOTION: Elizabeth Atkins moved to continue the hearing for the Smuggler Racquet Club to April 3rd; seconded by LJ Erspamer. All infavor, APPROVED. PUBLIC HEARING: ISIS THEATRE GROWTH MANAGEMENT Ruth Kruger opened the Isis Theatre Growth Management. Only 3 members could remain until 7:30pm. MOTION: Elizabeth Atkins moved to continue the Isis Theatre Growth Management hearing to Thursday, March 8th at noon is Sister Cities Meeting Room; seconded by LJ Erspamer. All infavor, APPROVED. Meeting adjourned at 7:04 p.m. ckie Lothian, Deputy City Clerk 7