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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20071022Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 HARVARD INNOVATIONS AWARD .......................................................................... .. 2 CITIZEN COMMENTS ......................... .......................................................................... .. 2 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS ...... .......................................................................... .. 2 CONSENT CALENDAR ....................... .......................................................................... .. 3 • Resolution #87, 2007 -Contract Purchase John Deere Backhoe ......................... .. 3 • Resolution #89, 2007 -Contract -Painting Water Place Housing -Binkley's .... .. 3 RESOLUTION #88, 2007 - REMP Fun ding Requests ................................................... .. 3 RESOLUTION #90, SERIES OF 2007 - Isis Sublease Approval ................................... .. 4 ORDINANCE #46, SERIES OF 2007 - Extension of Commercial Core Business Mix and Historic Interiors Moratorium .......... .......................................................................... .. 4 ORDINANCE #47, SERIES OF 2007 - Extension of SCI Moratorium .......................... .. 5 ORDINANCE #48, SERIES OF 2007 - Code Amendments Historic Preservation........ .. 6 ORDINANCE #43, SERIES OF 2007 - Commercial Core and Lodging Commission.. 13 ORDINANCE #44, SERIES OF 2007 - Disconnection of Silver Lining Ranch ............. 14 ORDINANCE #25, SERIES OF 2007 - Jerome Professional Building Subdivision...... 16 ORDINANCE #36, SERIES OF 2007 - North of Nell PUD Designation 555 East Durant ................................................................. .......................................................................... 19 1 ReEUlar Meetin¢ Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 Mayor Ireland called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with Councilmembers Skadron, Romero and Johnson present. HARVARD INNOVATIONS AWARD Stephan Kanipe, building department, presented Council the Innovations in American Government awazd from Harvard University, given to the city of Aspen for the Renewable Energy Mitigation Program. Janette Murison, environmental health department, said staff worked hard to gain recognition of the REMP program; it was a team effort. Ms. Murison said it was an honor to be a finalist. CITIZEN COMMENTS 1. Toni Kronberg expressed kudos to the Aspen swim team who held a successful swim meet at the ARC last weekend. This event brought out the positive as well as the negative in the swimming pool design. Ms. Kronberg said she has not heard about permission to decorate the librazy park plaza. Ms. Kronberg suggested P&Z and HPC members get briefed on things like the definition of subdivision, PUD, GMQS, etc. 2. Bill Stirling asked what is happening with Ordinance #30, 45 and 48. Chris Bendon, community development department, told Council a number of changes have been made to Ordinance #45, which was adopted on first reading at the last Council meeting. The city attorney's office recommends Ordinance #45 be withdrawn and Council have a first reading on Ordinance #48 tonight and a public hearing at the November 12`h Council meeting. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Mayor Ireland stated he went to Gunnison for the Aspen High football game and is proud of the football team. A lazge contingent of parents traveled to Gunnison for the game. 2. Mayor Ireland congratulated the Chris Keleher and the Aspen high cross country running team. Some members made the state team. 3. Paul Menter, finance director, requested Council add a resolution to the consent calendar authorizing the finance director to sign the sublease agreements for the Isis Property Group. 4. Steve Barwick, city manager, requested an executive session to discuss property acquisition. Councilman Skadron moved to add Resolution #9Q Series of 2007, and an executive session to the agenda; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried. 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 5. Councilman Romero noted he attended the RFTA boazd meeting where the budget was discussed. The proposed 2008 RFTA budget is $25 million, more conservative than this yeaz and there are fewer capital projects. The bus fare increase is proposed at 5%. 6. Mayor Ireland noted there is an election November 6`h. There are 5 city ballot questions on the ballot; a mill levy increase for storm water project; a bond issue for a hydroelectric plant on Castle Creek; a decrease in sales tax and a new building material tax to fund the transit system; and a charter amendment on instant runoff voting. Mayor Ireland urged city residents to vote. 7. Mayor Ireland said he has been discussing master planning at the base of Aspen Mountain. This property is all held privately and one of the parcels in is the land use approval process. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilman Romero requested Resolution #88, 2007 -REMP Funding and Resolution #9Q Isis subleases, be pulled from the consent calendar. Councilman Skadron moved to approve the consent calendar as amended; seconded by Councilman Romero. The consent calendar is: • Resolution #87, 2007 -Contract Purchase John Deere Backhoe • Resolution #89, 2007 -Contract -Painting Water Place Housing units -Binkley's All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #88, 2007 - REMP Funding Requests Councilman Romero questioned the $100,000 expenditure to New Century Transportation. Steve Barwick, city manager, told Council the REMP program has traditionally been used for direct cazbon offset projects. This requests moves toward education and lobbying and is a change in direction and opens up the REMP to diverse requests. This is designed to amplify the REMP and spread the word throughout the valley. Stephan Kanipe, building deparhnent, told Council this funding request has been approved by Pitkin County and the CORE board. Randy Udall, CORE, stated Council has adopted ambitious climate goals for the city, 20% reductions by 2020. Udall said to achieve that type of reduction will take the participation of everyone in the valley to help reduce the cazbon footprint at all levels. Udall said he hopes this $100,000 will be leveraged to get a focused group and on going programs. Udall told in committing to a 20% reduction, there are implications for transportation, land use, energy supply and the type of structures being constructed. Aspen is positioned to be a leader in lowering greenhouse gases. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 Mayor Ireland asked what proportion of the budget is the $100,000 from the REMP fund. Udall noted the climate initiatives in the valley have grown helter skelter. The REMP proposal has funding request to add a staff person to the county, similar to the city's canary person. The $100,000 for NCTF would fund a full time position to marshal all environmental programs throughout the valley. Udall said the climate work needs to be re-thought and re-organized so it is more cohesive and effective. Udall said a lot more money from many other sources will be needed to make this effort work. Mayor Ireland asked who else will be contributing to this fund. Udall said he will be going to private funding sources. Bill Stirling, CORE board, pointed out the projects in this request 4 are down valley, 8 are up valley and a mix are 8 projects. Councilman Skadron asked what the negative impacts might be in approval this. Udall noted the REMP funds have raised $6 million since its inception; Council has authorized the expenditure of $2.5 million. This request is for $1 million, leaving a balance of $3.5 million. Councilman Johnson asked if REMP has funded this many salaried employees. Barwick said the NCTF and Pitkin County energy employee are two new positions; the other positions have been funded in the past. Councilman Johnson agreed someone has to coordinate and focus the various efforts throughout the valley. Councilman Romero moved to approve Resolution #88, Series of 2007, approving REMP funding; seconded by Councilman Skadron. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #90, SERIES OF 2007 -Isis Sublease Approval Councilman Romero asked if this sub-tenant meets with the intent of the memorandum of understanding. Paul Menter, finance director, told Council the subtenant is a woman's clothing store and it complies with the intent of the MOU. Councilman Romero moved to approve Resolution #90, Series of 2007; seconded by Councilman Skadron. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #46, SERIES OF 2007 - Extension of Commercial Core Business Mix and Historic Interiors Moratorium Chris Bendon, community development department, told Council this is a proposed 6 month extension of the moratorium on building permits that affects changes to use or historic interiors in buildings in the commercial core. Bendon told Council this original moratorium was adopted almost a year ago. The issues are complex and staff is proposing more time to work on these issues. Mayor Ireland asked what has been accomplished since the moratorium was instituted. Bendon said there have been work sessions with Council, direction on historic preservation amendments, the commercial core business mix. Bendon reminded Council there was a keypad voting session at the Jerome last month on commercial mix. Mayor Ireland asked if the keypad session will be repeated so that more people have access. Bendon said staff has not anticipated another keypad session. 4 Reeular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 Councilman Romero said before 2"a reading, he would like Council to consider less than 6 months extension. There has been a freeze of almost a year in the commercial core without goals or a clear objective from Council. Councilman Romero said Council agrees the preservation of a mix of uses as well as historic interiors is important to the community; however, Council needs to articulate more explicit objectives and what will be done in the extension of the moratorium. Councilman Romero said he would like to see the extension shorter than six months or the Council should articulate the goals and objectives and an outline of necessary steps. Councilman Johnson asked if staff is hiring an outside legal consultant. Bendon told Council Mark White is still engaged and could help on this moratorium. Bendon reminded Council there is a work session scheduled for October 30`h at 11:30 a.m. on the commercial mix issue. Councilman Johnson noted everyone at the keypad voting sessions agree there is a problem; there was no agreement on the solution. Councilman Johnson stated he would be willing to have extra meetings on this issue. The moratorium has been extended due to other major issues and new Council members, not just for the sake of extending the moratorium. Councilman Skadron asked why commercial mix and historic interiors are in one moratorium. Bendon said these two issues arose at the same time in 2006. They are two different topics and will have separate code amendments when these come before Council. Mayor Ireland stated he is willing to try another 3 months. Mayor Ireland said what is done about the commercial core will need community consensus and maybe developed through the AACP review process. Councilman Johnson moved to read Ordinance #46, Series of 2007; seconded by Councilman Skadron. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE NO.46 (Series of 2007) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, AMENDING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ADOPTED PURSUANT TO ORDINANCE NUMBER 51, SERIES OF 2006, AND AS AMEDED PURSUANT TO ORDINANCE NO. 2, SERIES OF 2007, AND AS AMENDED PURSUANT TO ORDINANCE N0.26, SERIES OF 2007 AND AS AMENDED PURSUANT TO ORDINANCE NUMBER 37, SERIES OF 2007 Councilman Johnson moved to adopt Ordinance #46, Series of 4007, on first reading; seconded by Councilman Skadron. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Romero, no; Skadron, yes; Johnson, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #47. SERIES OF 2007 - Extension of SCI Moratorium Reeular Meetine Aspen City Council October 22.2007 Chris Bendon, community development department, reminded Council the first moratorium adopted in Apri12006 resulted in many amendments to the land use code and the moratorium ended May 29, 2007. Council took the service/commercial/industrial zone out of that moratorium and extended it so there could be more thought given to SCI. Bendon noted Council there have been several work sessions on this issue but there is not enough clarity to pursue code amendments. Staff is requesting a 6 month moratorium to complete the work on SCI. Bendon pointed out the public hearing on this ordinance is scheduled for October 29, 2007. Councilman Johnson reminded Council when the moratorium was initially adopted, the community was potentially losing the book store, movie theatre, Red Onion, Cooper Street, all locally serving businesses. Councilman Romero said he feels the SCI and NC zones should have regular reviews and updates to insure conformance with the community goals and values. Councilman Romero agreed Council should continue to work on these two zones; however, extending the moratorium just to have something in place seems unfair. The city ought to be able to update the land use code without having to institute a moratorium. Bendon recommended when Council is considering substantive changes to the land use code, these be done under the protection of a moratorium. Mayor Ireland said he is concerned that so much time has elapsed and Council needs to act on the SCI zone. Councilman Skadron moved to read Ordinance #47, Series of 2007; seconded by Councilman Johnson. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #47 Series of 2007 Councilman Skadron moved to adopt Ordinance #47, Series of 2007, on first reading; seconded by Mayor Ireland. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Skadron, yes; Johnson, yes; Romero, no; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carved. ORDINANCE #48. SERIES OF 2007 -Code Amendments Historic Preservation Chris Bendon, community development department, reminded Council in July Ordinance #30 was adopted as an emergency. After that, Council requested changes to Ordinance #30 as interim changes while a task force was organized to look at broader changes to the historic preservation program. These interim changes resulted in Ordinance #45 which was adopted at the last Council meeting. Bendon said the changes that staff worked on with citizen's input were broad and numerous. The city attorney's office suggested the code amendments be presented as a first reading, noticed and scheduled for public hearing. Staff is withdrawing Ordinance #45 and requesting Council adopt Ordinance #48. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 Bendon reminded Council they requested a higher baz for historic designations when the owner is not consenting. The suggestion was a super majority vote at both HPC and City Council. Council indicated interest in being able to weigh economic effects of historic designation. Council wanted the property owner to be able to control and manage the pace of the process. Council directed staff to extend the term of the certificate for non historic findings from 5 to 10 years. The list of properties has been refined from all structures over 30 years to about 96 structures. Amy Guthrie, community development department, told Council a new section has been created, "potential historic resources" and the section dealing with designation of historic properties has been amended. Ms. Guthrie said the historic section of the code is written to make it logical so one could understand why the city is doing historic preservation, which properties are protected, what does that mean; how did they get approvals, what are the benefits. Ms. Guthrie said these current code amendments have been moved to the front of Section 26.415 with a concept of properties that are not yet designated but that might be a value to the community as historic resources. The section discusses why a list of potential historic resources has been created; how to find out what is on the list and how the list can be amended. Ms. Guthrie reiterated the list will be effective for 10 years; the city will not add any properties during that 10 years. A property owner may petition to be added to the list. It will be possible for properties to be deleted if they are determined not significant. Ms. Guthrie said the amendment addresses what can and cannot be done to a property that is on the list of potential properties. Minimally intrusive or reversible work could be done without further review. Section E discusses how properties get removed from the list. Ms. Guthrie noted the ordinance has been re-written so that the property owner is more in control of the process; they can ask about the status of their property, receive an answer and then decide whether to proceed or not. Ms. Guthrie pointed out if community development department determines a property on this list is not significant, HPC and Council have the opportunity to object to that determination. (F) describes a manner which confirms in a form easily recordable document that properties not on the list of potential historic properties are not affected by this ordinance. Ms. Guthrie told Council the original Ordinance #30 stated if a property was on the list of potential historic resources, the first method for determining whether it should stay on the list is a request to the community development director. Ms. Guthrie said this ordinance has HPC making that initial determination. Mayor Ireland said Council could request HPC review all the properties to see if some should be deleted without further review. Mayor Ireland asked what standards would be used. Ms. Guthrie said HPC could review these structures with photographs or with site visits to help making eliminations, if appropriate. Ms. Guthrie noted staff has some concern about that procedure as every property owner would want to present their full case to HPC. Regular Meetin¢ Asaen City Council October 22, 2007 Mayor Ireland said HPC could take a first cut at the list; people could submit written materials without having a full hearing. Councilman Romero stated he is in support the concept of HPC culling the list. Councilman Skadron said he also supports HPC pre- review. Councilman Johnson stated he is not in favor of this because he never supported the list. Councilmembers Skadron, Romero and Mayor Ireland in favor of preliminary culling review by HPC to see which ones should remain on the list. Ms. Guthrie noted when a property owner requests review, staff has made commitments to work out a schedule that is workable for the property owner to have time to organize their information and presentation. Ms. Guthrie pointed out once properties are on the list for potential historic significance; there are penalties for doing work not allowed under this code amendment. Ms. Guthrie said there are no proposed changes to the criteria by which structures aze evaluated. Ms. Guthrie suggested that will be the work of a task force. Ms. Guthrie told Council currently a property only has to meet 1 of 3 criteria, historical associations, architects, people who have lived in the structure. This code amendment suggested one has to meet 2 of the 3 criteria. Ms. Guthrie said a property may need to have economic impacts mitigated. Ms. Guthrie said Council may find a historic designation does have an economic impact but are unable to mitigate that impact and then would not designate the property. Councilman Romero agreed if Council cannot agree on mitigation, a property should not be designated. Bendon noted 3 options have been provided for economic impacts. Bendon said the ls` option is if there is thought to be a taking of private property, Council will consider that during the designation request. Bendon pointed out a taking is a higher standard, the taking of all reasonable use of a property and is different than an economic impact to a property. Options 2 and 3 rely on economic impact report outlined in the ordinance. The report is developed by a panel of 3 people with expertise in development. The panel will get information from the property owner and from community development department and make an assessment on the economic impact of historic designation on a property. This panel would consider available benefits and the likelihood of the entitlements of the benefits. At a historic designation hearing, Council will receive a recommendation from HPC regarding the merits of the architecture and from the panel a report on the economic impact. Under option 2, it would be Council's discretion how to address the economic impact by whatever reasonable means there are. Council would have to determine if the economic impact on a property were disproportionate or unreasonable. Council could provide financial or other compensation. Bendon noted the benefits from historic designation are generally proposed in a land use application, which may or may not be approved by Council. 8 Reeular Meetiue Aspen City Couucil October 22, 2007 Bendon said in option 3, once it is determined there is an economic impact, Council must provide compensation either financially or otherwise. Bendon noted in all of the options, the applicant may still pursue a takings claim. Bendon said staff could find other cities that had things like option 1 in their land use code. Ms. Guthrie said the city's economic hazdship only kicks in when there is a denial; it is not typical to have this type of discussion during designation hearings. Bendon noted option 3 would create a situation where Council is making decisions about whether a property is historic with the economic impact to city being part of the decision. Bendon said that is a disservice to historic preservation weighing it against services like police protection and street maintenance. Councilman Romero stated he favors fair consideration, a measurement of economic impact as a key component of an involuntary designation. Councilman Romero said he leans toward option 3. Councilman Johnson said these options differ too much from what is already in the land use code and jeopardizes the entire historic preservation program. Councilman Johnson said what is missing is the benefit of historic preservation to the entire community. Councilman Skadron said he could support option 2. Mayor Ireland said the city cannot guarantee property owners every last dime in redevelopment of the property, which may not be approved by Council. Appraisers give a range of values. Mayor Ireland said he would prefer something close to option 3 without the guazantees. Bendon said option 2 is parallel to how the city currently does business in other land use reviews. Ms. Guthrie said language stating the city would assume a property is 30 years old has been removed. Language has been added referring to HPC's reseazch papers and scoring sheets when applying criteria and evaluating the historic significance of a building and that Council will have a public hearing and discuss the criteria. Ms. Guthrie said there is a section on procedure; the community development department's in terms of processing applications, HPC's powers and Council's powers. Ms. Guthrie said HPC's traditional role is to make a recommendation to Council on designation. Ms. Guthrie noted in the past, HPC's recommendation is forwarded to Council regazdless of yes or no. The issue is a code amendment that if HPC does not recommend designation, the issue dies at HPC. Councilman Romero said Council agreed there should be a higher standard to reach historic designation, which would have been a super majority at HPC and at Council. There is a conflict with the Charter and a super majority at Council. Councilman Romero said if a designation fails a super majority at Council, it should die at HPC. Councilman Johnson said an involuntary designation should not die at HPC. There is already a higher standard for more modern structures to be designated; there is a super majority at HPC required. Bendon noted having an involuntary designation die at HPC without a super majority is as close as staff could get to a super majority. If Council is dependent on HPC as the experts in the field and HPC does not believe a property is historic, what is left to Council. Bendon pointed out HPC would not be looking at any 9 Regular Meetine Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 economic incentive and would be looking at the merits of the architecture. If it maybe a final decision at HPC, applicants will bring in economics of that decision. Bendon said HPC favors Council making the final decision on historic designation. Mayor Ireland said historic preservation is done because it adds value to the community as a whole. Mayor Ireland said property values are higher here because Victorians were preserved. Mayor Ireland agreed it is more difficult to ascertain the value of younger structures and, therefore, a higher hurdle is appropriate. If a structure lasts 100 years, it is historic. Mayor Ireland said a super majority is easy to understand and there would not have to be hurdles at other boards. Mayor Ireland said a super majority at HPC is a good safeguard and if a property is being designated involuntarily, it is worth doing. Jim True, special counsel, reiterated the Charter states, to pass an ordinance requires a majority vote of Council. True said to impose a higher requirement is contrary to the charter. Ms. Guthrie pointed out the code amendment acknowledges that a component of the application can be an economic impact report Section (E) supports the idea that the owner controls the processing and timing of the application. Ms. Guthrie said this amendment commits that the property owner will receive the staff report 30 days before the first public hearing in order to prepare their position. Councilman Johnson stated he could support either a super majority at HPC or an application dying at HPC with a simple majority. Councilman Skadron agreed with a super majority at HPC and it ending there if a super majority is not achieved. Mayor Ireland agreed. Ms. Guthrie said the ordinance addresses when Council deals with the economic impacts and this should come early in the process. The ordinance does allow for an applicant to request the proceedings be suspended while they pursue the economic impact. Ms. Guthrie said the economic impact could be time consuming and an applicant may want an indication of Council's opinion of historic significance before they started an economic impact. The code amendment gives that flexibility. Ms. Guthrie told Council through this process, about 40 property owners have received a letter from the community development department stating their non-historic status is good for 5 years. The code amendment allows a 5 year extension to 10 years so it is consistent with the ordinance. Ms. Guthrie noted one of the tools used by HPC and Council in determining historic designation is that a property has to have historic significance as well as architectural integrity using a 100 point scoring system. A structure from the Victorian era has to score 50 out of 100 points; a structure of a younger vintage has to score 75 out of 100 points. Ms. Guthrie noted the citizens group suggested points should be added or deleted depending on whether the owners consent to landmark designation. Ms. Guthrie told Council staff does not support this as it is mixing issues. The scoring system is an evaluation of architectural integrity. Bendon noted section 8 discusses reimbursement to property owners for costs incurred during the designation process. This is a financial issue for Council as costs could be 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 substantial, over $10,000. Mayor Ireland said the issue is that there needs to be a control. Mayor Ireland stated he favors the person who does not want their property designated should have access to someone who can make their case for them. Mayor Ireland said he feels it would be cheaper for the city and better for the property owner to have someone like a public defender, on call or on staff. Councilman Romero said he supports both someone the property owner can go to as well as covering some costs for a property owner. Councilman Johnson said this would set a precedent for other actions covered in the land use code. Bendon told Council staff will work on an amendment to control costs or to have someone available to assist property owners. Ms. Guthrie asked if there is Council consent about having owners consent or not as part of the score system. Mayor Ireland said this should be discussed as part of a higher standard. Councilman Romero said the scoring criteria measure design integrity. The issue of voluntary versus involuntary will be part of the record; that does not need to be part of the scoring, Ms. Guthrie said staff is outlining goals and descriptions for the policy task force. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Chip Freeman said he has not yet received an answer to his question whether historic designation is a deed restriction or not. True said he will draft a memorandum answering that question. Freeman said putting a historic designation on a structure with a reverse mortgage could cause mortgage problems. Mark Friedberg stated he cannot stress how much the impacts of the uncertainty of this have affected people. Friedberg said he has been a strong advocate of Victorian designation as important to the enjoyment of the community. Friedberg stated the properties on this list are a far cry from having any architectural integrity or merit. Phil Verlager told Council as an economist, this ordinance creates a wonderful consulting opportunity to testify as to the economic impacts. Verlager stated the city will be sued and sued over this. Bill Stirling stated it is a laudatory effort for Council to try and preserve post WWII structures as in the long term best interest of the community. Stirling said every Victorian is different and they lend essence and character to the town. Stirling said Council needs to establish standards and create ways to develop incentives. Stirling said asking for compensation from the city is bizarre. Stirling said the community does not want developers to dictate the future of Aspen. Stirling noted the hearing process should be reasonably manageable, short and inexpensive. Stirling agreed expanding the role of the HPC is good. Jane Kelly, Aspen Center for Physics, told Council their buildings range in age from 12 to 45 years. Ms. Kelly noted the Center for Physics is anon-profit venture and it is expensive to add extra steps for permission to upgrade. Ms. Kelly requested Council consider the aspect ofnon-profit burden if the Center for physics has to protest their status or go through an involved process to upgrade their facility. 11 ReQUlar MeetinE Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 Marilyn Marks thanked Council and staff for allowing the citizens' group so much interaction. Ms. Marks said the super majority has been agreed on for HPC; there should be a super majority or a facsimile at Council. A super majority is needed because the city does not have good criteria for 20`h century properties. Ms. Mazks asked Council to find the extra standard of care for designation if a super majority cannot be done. Ms. Mazks said it seems as the Council is not willing to pay for economic damage and expects the homeowner to beaz that cost. Ms. Marks said the citizens want the opportunity to enjoy their property in peace. If the city insists on enforced designation, then citizens should be compensated. Ms. Marks asked Council if the list of properties is worth the pain and expense the community is about to go through. Toni Kronberg commended the Council for taking time to listen and to come up with solutions to benefit the entire community. Ms. Kronberg said this list focuses on residential properties, not commercial properties. The ordinance title states "sites and structures" and Ms. Kronberg said the city is missing an important part of historic preservation, the integrity of the site. Ms. Kronberg asked if there is any study or proof that a property actually lost money when they aze designated historic. David Eddy said if the purpose is to add value to the community, he suggested the community would be willing to pay the cost of value added. Eddy said it seems unfair to make the owner pay for a community benefit. John Callahan agreed people should be paid for their property. Callahan asked where the line is when government can take away everything versus just a little. Callahan stated this program is going in the wrong direction; nobody in town should be hurt by this program. Teresa Salvador said it is stretching to put some of these buildings on the list. Ms. Salvador said there should be a reality check on some of the structures proposed to be saved. Mike Maple, 1250 Mountain View Drive, thanked Council and staff for the time in working with the citizen group. Maple asked if HPC is going to cull the list of properties, would Council consider that time frame 60 to 90 days rather than 180 days. Mayor Ireland noted staff said this can be done in 90 days. Maple asked if the culling of the list is a substitute for a property owner going before the community development department and ask for a determination. Mayor Ireland stated it is not a substitute. Maple said if a property owner's value is taken, they should be appropriately compensated. Maple said the community should have a choice of providing benefits and incentives and if those are not enough, a property owner could choose to not designate the property. Maple said no checks should be written unless a property is of extraordinazy value. Maple urged Council to focus on option 3. Maple said historic designation has not gotten to a higher standard. The Council cannot use a super majority. Maple stated Council could commit to no involuntary designations until new standards are developed. Mayor Ireland said the city should not do any involuntary designations until there are standards in place. Mayor Ireland said he wants to encourage property owners to ask for 12 Regu-ar Meeting Aspen Citv Council October 22, 2007 a review without having to go through this more than once. Councilman Romero said he would like a task force to work on common standards and criteria that will evolve through that work. Councilman Romero stated the city should not involuntazy designate until that work is done. Councilman Romero said the notion of historic preservation is important to the community; however, the means of getting to preservation is just as important. Bendon noted the ordinance proposes a policy task force to look at changes; this will take time. Bendon said there is ability is for a property owner going through designation to put the application on hold until the task force's work is complete. Bendon said staff can make that change to the ordinance. The changes are that HPC will cull the list; there is not agreement on the economic options; if HPC does not have a super majority on a property, the designation will end there; Council cannot create a super majority; there is interest in looking at a public defender or defender with a cap on the expenses for involuntary designation. Councilman Romero said if there is a way to explore a voluntary super majority, he would like to know it. Councilman Johnson moved to read Ordinance #48, Series of 2007; seconded by Councilman Skadron. ORDINANCE N0. 48 (Series of 2007) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, AMENDING CHAPTER 26.415 OF THE ASPEN MUNICIPAL CODE, DEVELOPMENT INVOLVING THE ASPEN INVENTORY OF HISTORIC LANDMARK SITES AND STRUCTURES OR DEVELOPMENT IN AN "H," HISTORIC OVERLAY DISTRICT. Councilman Johnson moved to adopt Ordinance #48, Series of 2007, on first reading; seconded by Councilman Romero. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Johnson, yes; Romero, yes; Skadron, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion tamed. Councilman Johnson moved to suspend the rules and extend the meeting to 11 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, with the exception of Mayor Ireland. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #43, SERIES OF 2007 -Commercial Core and Lodging Commission. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. 13 Reeular Meetiue Aspen City Couucil October 22, 2007 Councilman Johnson moved to adopt Ordinance #43, Series of 2007, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Romero. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Skadron, yes; Romero, yes; Johnson, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #44, SERIES OF 2007 -Disconnection of Silver Lining Ranch Rick Neiley, representing the applicant Silver Lining Ranch, told Council it is appropriate to disconnect this property from the city of Aspen. Neiley said this was considered by Council in May 2007 and it did not pass. Neiley said there were some problems with the procedure of the hearing. Neiley noted one issue that came up at the hearing was staff advised Council that a rezoning application could be processed in 6 months. Neiley said the applicant met with staff and determined it was more expeditious to disconnect this parcel and revert to Stillwater Ranch and the approvals granted in the county in 1994. Neiley said staff and the applicant felt disconnection was the least expensive and most likely way to get to the objective, which is to convert the use of this facility to single family residence and allow the non-profit to sell the structure. Neiley said if the applicants had known a rezoning could be affected in 4 to 6 months in the city, they would have filed a rezoning application. Neiley told Council the Silver Lining Ranch property was donated by Fabienne Benedict to Andrea Jaeger in 1997 with no restrictions on the use of the property. Ms. Jaeger went through a land use process and received approval for a medical facility, dormitory, dining hall and operated this charity until 2005. Neiley said the overall costs of running this program were too great and the program was moved to Southern Colorado. Neiley told Council there are issues in selling the property. The SPA approval granted in 1997 states it can be used as a medical facility and does not allow for other specific uses. Neiley said it has been impossible to find interested buyers including other non-profits. Neiley noted an SPA agreement between the applicant and the city was never entered into exacerbating the lack of specificity. There is no SPA plat filed. This parcel is still part of the Stillwater subdivision and the homeowners association has the ability to approve or not any uses other than single family uses called for in the covenants. The homeowners have stated that a single family residence is acceptable but no other use is. Neiley said this is an 18,000 square foot building with 13,750 square feet of FAR. Neiley said rezoning in the city would allow a larger residence than that in the county. Neiley reiterated the most efficient way to handle this is to return the land to the county. Neiley requested, if the city wants to retain control of the land, that Council give staff direction to expedite the rezoning application so the charity can get the property rezoned, sell the property and generate funds to continue its work with cancer victims and their families. Councilman Skadron asked what benefits the foundation received as a result of annexation into the city. Neiley said the specific benefit was zoning it academic and conservation. A private medical facility was built for which there was no appropriate zone in the city, which allowed greater flexibility than in the county. Neiley noted the 14 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 conservation zone allows for a single family residence; however, the SPA overlay is specific to the uses. It is staff s opinion that the SPA is the governing approval. Neiley said the lack of recorded SPA agreements or plats adds to the uncertainty of what can be done with this property. Glenn Hom, representing the applicant, told Council there is also the issue of growth management allotment for a single family residence. The applicant would have to go through a change in use growth management exemption to convert to residential use. Councilman Johnson said he did not feel in was in the city's best interest to go through this process and end up with another single family residence, which the city does not need. Councilman Johnson stated it is not in the best interest to de-annex the property nor to expedite a rezoning for the property because of the precedent it would set for other non-profits. Mayor Ireland asked what an SPA agreement would contain. Chris Bendon, community development deparhnent, said typically those agreement contains references to the approval ordinance, committing the applicant to conforming to conditions of approval and agreeing to those conditions. Neiley told Council the applicant is trying to get out of an untenable situation. Neiley noted not every non-profit effort is successful. Neiley said this charity wants to sell the property in order to continue their work with cancer patients. Mayor Ireland asked if the city has a responsibility to create a saleable lot for non-profits. Neiley pointed out there was no constraints on this property originally and Ms. Jaeger could have sold it on the free market. Ms. Jaeger tried to benefit cancer patients. Neiley said he is not asking that this property be converted to an unacceptable use but to a use for which the property was originally approved. Neiley said a single family residence is the least impactful use and is less impactful than what the building was being used for. Neiley said if this parcel is de-annexed, it reverts back to the county approvals; there are already covenants on the property. Councilman Johnson said there maybe another non-profit than could operate in this location. Councilman Romero said it is too large a leap of faith to go with a de- annexation. That solution seems to be the wrong tool to correct the problem. Councilman Skadron said he feels a disconnection eliminates any opportunity to provide a greater benefit to the community than a single family home. Mayor Ireland said there is no support for de-annexation from Council. Mayor Ireland said if the applicant does submit a rezoning application, he wants the benefit to the community outlined in the application. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Toni Kornberg said a single family residence on this parcel would have the least impact in the area, even less than the non-profit. Ms. Kronberg said allowing a single family residence would decrease traffic and would decrease density. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. 15 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 Councilman Johnson moved to adopt Ordinance #44, Series of 2007; seconded by Mayor Ireland. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Skadron, no; Romero, no; Johnson, no; Mayor Ireland, no. Motion carried. Councilman Johnson moved to deny Ordinance #44, Series of 2007; seconded by Mayor Ireland. All in favor, motion carried. Horn said it is in the interest of the non-profit to allow expedited rezoning review. Mayor Ireland said Council has to consider the best interests of the community with a finite staff size and many, many competing interests. Council is already scheduling extra work sessions. Mayor Ireland said there are already a lot of luxury single family homes. Councilman Romero said if the applicant returns with some creative thinking, he would be willing to acknowledge that and try and expedite the application if possible. ORDINANCE #25, SERIES OF 2007 -Jerome Professional Building Subdivision Councilman Skadron recused himself as he voted on this application at P&Z. Jennifer Phelan, community development department, told Council this is located at 201 North Mill at the corner of Bleeker. There is an existing office building. The applicant proposes to demolish the building and rebuild it to contain underground parking, commercial office space, 6 free market and 3 affordable housing units. P&Z reviewed the application during which commercial design review, growth management reviews for affordable housing and free market housing and office space, and special review to increase the individual floor area for the free market units were approved. Council is reviewing the subdivision and an extension of vested rights from 3 to 5 years. Ms. Phelan noted answers to Council's questions from first reading are included in the packet. Ms. Phelan said this proposal includes affordable housing within the urban growth boundary. This proposal is consistent with the mix of uses in the area; it meets the zone district requirements and the review criteria for subdivision. Ms. Phelan told Council the typical time for vested property rights is 3 yeazs; the applicant is asking for 5 yeazs due to existing lease terms in the building. Ms. Phelan said the existing lease term issue has been rectified; however, the applicants are still asking for 5 years. Staff recommends a 3 year vested period which provides both the applicant and the city the expectation that when an approval is granted, any changes to the code do not affect the project if it is built in a timely manner. Mayor Ireland noted the affordable housing section of the code states affordable housing can be restricted to category 4 and that an applicant may choose to provide mitigation units at a lower category. Ms. Phelan said that is at the applicant's option; staff requires a maximum of category 4 for mitigation units. Mayor Ireland asked how the affordable housing mitigation is calculated for this project. Ms. Phelan said the mitigation requirement is on the basis of the free market units. Ms. Phelan said there is a credit for the existing commercial square footage. Mitigation of housing on site allows mitigating 16 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 at whichever use requires the highest mitigation, the greater of the two uses but not both. Mayor Ireland said the result is that this project is mitigation at about 32% of its housing. Herb Klein, applicant, told Council this building was built in 1980's and there aze issues with the building, like roof leaks and HVAC problems. Klein noted the infill regulations allowed the applicants to propose to redevelop the property and to recover the costs. Klein said they need more office space; the free market component drives the economics of the building. Klein told Council when they filed this application 18 months ago, the leasing structure was different than today. The leases with options to renew did not renew and the request for 5 years vested rights is not as important as when this was filed. Klein said this project would provide an opportunity to revitalize the pedestrian corridor between Main street and Clark's Market. This parcel is right across the street from the city parking garage. The city's civic master plan has ideas for the property to the east of this parcel. Klein noted the ground floor along Mill street has been exposed to create store fronts. The mixed use zone allows things like salons, spas, banks, and health clubs along with office use. Klein said this proposal will allow the principals to have some employee housing for their own employees. Klein said they aze not concerned with rent caps but want to be able to house people who work in this building. The proposed affordable housing units aze 2-bedroom units. They are proposing one category 3; one category 2; one category 4 which would give spread to be able to house various levels of employees in the building. Mayor Ireland stated he is concerned about this project creating a housing shortfall as there are no longer ways to make up the shortfall. Klein pointed out the free market units are small and range in size from 944 square feet to 1900 square feet and will not require a large amount of employees. Councilman Johnson noted the applicants have stated they realize they will have to house their own employees. Klein told Council they will dedicate 3 pazking spaces, one each, to the affordable housing units. Klein said they are looking at adding another level of underground parking. This property is across the street from the city parking garage. Mitch Haas, representing the applicant, told Council there are 18 parking spaces, plus 2 in stacked configuration. David Warner, architect, showed the location of the building, the slope of the land, how the building has tried to engage pedestrian traffic. Warner noted there is a slope both down Bleeker street and down Mill street. Warner said there is an alley on the north side of the property that is not being used; it will be opened up and used for access to this building. Haas told Council there was no opposition to this project at P&Z. Haas noted the building has been moved back and provides a 7' setback which will improve the sight distance at the corner of Mill and Bleeker. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Marcia Goshorn said the caveat from the housing boazd is that housing cannot be tied to one's employment. There has to be a lease with a beginning and ending term. Klein 17 Re¢ular Meetine Aspen City Council October 22, 2007 agreed with that. Toni Kronberg said having lower category affordable housing is commendable. Ms. Kronberg said the applicants are addressing the safety at the intersection of Mill and Bleeker. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Mayor Ireland said he is concerned with the shortfall of housing and the inability for the community to hire help when there are no places to live. Councilman Johnson said the applicant's presentation tells how much need there is for affordable housing and how much different types of commercial space is needed. This proposal has only 3,000 square feet of new commercial space. This is a commercial and free market building with little affordable housing. Councilman Johnson said adding to the affordable housing problem is a public cost. Councilman Johnson stated he likes the architectural expression; however, the existing building is only 28 years old and does not need to be redeveloped. Councilman Johnson said he likes the storefronts on the street. Councilman Johnson noted the criteria for subdivision "spatial pattern efficient -the proposed subdivision within a building shall not be designed to create spatial patterns that cause inefficiencies, duplication or premature extension of public facilities and unnecessazy public costs". Councilman Johnson said public facilities include the transit program and the affordable housing program. This proposal places unnecessary strains on those public facilities. Councilman Johnson said the building has 10,000 square feet of free market residential; 10,000 square feet of commercial and 3,000 square feet of affordable housing. Councilman Johnson said that program design choices could have been made differently and because of the choices, there are unnecessary public costs. Councilman Johnson said there are different ways in which the interior spaces can be divided up to help alleviate the public costs other than this particular iteration. Klein requested Council continue this ordinance so that they can rework the plans to see if the concerns can be addressed. Klein pointed out the code requires there cannot be more free mazket residential space than commercial space, increasing affordable housing will decrease the commercial space. If the commercial space is decreased, the free mazket space has to be reduced. There is a cascading effect on the entire project. Councilman Romero agreed the Council has to do their best to offset an emerging crisis in employment and in affordable housing. Councilman Romero said a balance has to be achieved and no one application can solve all the problems. The previous Council amended the land use code to discontinue applications under the infill code. Councilman Romero said examining the design and providing more affordable housing will be to the applicant's advantage as well as the community's benefit. Councilman Johnson moved to continue Ordinance #25, Series of 2007, to January 14, 2008; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried. 18 Reeular Meetine Asneu City Couucil October 22, 2007 Councilman Johnson moved to suspend the rules and extend the meeting to midnight; seconded by Councilman Skadron. All in favor with the exception of Mayor Ireland, motion carried. ORDINANCE #36, SERIES OF 2007 - North of Nell PUD Designation 555 East Durant Jennifer Phelan, community development department, told Council this request is to add a PUD overlay to the North of Nell building, which was built in 1969. The reason for the request is to accommodate some exterior alterations. As a result of the lowering of Dean street in conjunction with the Residences at Little Nell and the improvements to the street, the overall FAR of the North of Nell will increase as well as the individual floor area for the residential component. They will both go over the FAR allowance. The movement of the street to the north of the building changes a recalculation of the FAR, not a change in the actual FAR. Ms. Phelan noted there are 3 tables in the packet showing the existing floor areas and the proposed floor areas with the lowering of Dean street. There is an overall floor area cap for the site of 3:1; this proposal will exceed that cap by 81 square feet. Ms. Phelan said the issues related to this request are the desire to update the exterior; this building is on the list of potential historic resources. Ms. Phelan noted staff feels the most important features of the building are the saw tooth roof on the top of the building and along the first floor commercial. Ms. Phelan recommended in granting a PUD, there are a number of review criteria, one of which is architectural character. Staff recommends the saw tooth roof remain intact with no projections on them, with which the applicant agrees. Ms. Phelan requested there be a bit of wiggle room on the floor area calculations; these are very specific and rather than find out there is an error and having to come back, staff would request some flexibility in calculating the FAR. Glenn Horn, representing the applicant, pointed out the dimensional calculations in section 3 of the ordinance there could be an extra 200 square feet in total floor area - 100 square feet for residential and 100 square feet for commercial. Mayor Ireland suggested the extra 200 square feet expire within 6 months of completion of the project. Mayor Ireland said staff could create an agreement to expire within 6 months of c/o. Councilman Skadron asked if any benefit accrues to the Residence of Little Nell from lowering the street. Horn said the only benefits are a double loaded commercial corridor to help create a better pedestrian experience from Galena street to the gondola. Councilman Romero asked if this was anticipated when the lowering of Dean street was proposed. Chris Bendon, community development department, told Council it was anticipated that lowering Dean street would benefit the North of Nell for retail on the north side of their building. Bendon said no one expected this would affect their FAR. Bendon suggested rather than amending the ordinance, staff would accept a slight deviation in their building permit and can process an insubstantial PUD agreement so there is no extra square footage left on the books. 19 Reeu-ar Meeting Asuen Citv Council October 22, 2007 Councihnan Johnson moved to adopt Ordinance #36, Series of 2007, on second reading with the maintenance of the saw tooth roof as staff recommends and as the applicant has agreed to and correcting table #3 to say residential floor area approved through this ordinance rather than commercial floor area; seconded by Councilman Skadron. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Skadron, yes; Johnson, yes; Romero, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. Councilman Johnson moved to continue Resolution #53, Series of 2007, to January 14, 2008; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Johnson, motion carried. Councilman Johnson moved to go into executive session at 11:35 p.m. pursuant to C.R.S. 24-6-402(4)(a) The purchase, acquisition, lease, transfer, or sale of any real, personal, or other property interest; seconded by Councilman Skadron. All in favor, motion tamed. Also in attendance were James True, Randy Ready, Bentley Henderson, Greg Hunter, Steve Barwick and Kathryn Koch. Councilman Johnson moved to suspend the rules and extend the meeting to 12:15 a.m.; seconded by Councilman Skadron. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Romero. Motion carved. Councilman Johnson moved to come out of executive session at 12:15 a.m.; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Johnson moved to adjourn at 12:15 a.m.; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried. i / ~_ Kathryn .Koch, Crty Clerk 20