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HomeMy WebLinkAboutagenda.drac.19970911AGENDA ~. DESIGN REVIEW APPEALS COMMITTEE September 11,1997 4:00 p.m. Thursday Special Meeting City Council Chambers, City Hall 4:00 I. Roll Call II. Minutes. "~ ~ I~}~q~- III. Comments (Committee, Staff and Public) 4:05 IV. New Business ¢. A. Fireside Lodge - appe~l from Design Standard ~ ~~~~ B. Porter Residence - worksession 5:00 VI. Adjourn ~, County of Pitkin } AFFIDAVIT OF NOTICE PURSUANT } ss. TO ASPEN LAND USE REGULATION State of Colorado } SECTION 2652.060 (E) c~_ ~~^~ ~ ~~ ~~~, ~~~~~ ~ ~a~ ~~u1,~v5 ,being or representing an Applicant to the City of Aspen, personally certify that I have complied with the public notice requirements pursuant to Section 26.2.060 (~ of the Aspen Land Use Regulations in the following manner. By mailing of notice, a copy of which is attached hereto, by first-class, postage prepaid U.S. Mail to all owners of property within three hundred (300) feet N`~ of the subject property, as indicated on the attached list, on the day of 199_ (which is ._ days prior to the public hearing date of ). ,rpm "~. ~ • ~ •G- ~Ji ~`^) 2. By posting a sign in a conspicuous place on the subject nroperry (as it could be seen from the nearest public way) and that the said sign was posted and visible continuously from the ~ day of ~, 199 ~ (Must be posted for 5 at least 10) full days before the hearing date). A photograph of the posted sign is attached hereto. ~~ Signature e~ Signed before me this ~ day _ ---Nf~ ~~~ ,199~by WITNESS 1~1Y H~~~ .~~D OFFI ~ SE.~L tiSy ommission expires : ~ ° '~~`' Notary Public's ~k~ 4~) ~ ~ ~~~~~ i MEMORANDUM TO: Design Review Appeals Committee THRU: Julie Ann Woods, Deputy Planning Director i FROM: Amy Amidon, Historic Preservation Officer ' DATE: September 5, 1997 RE: Fireside Townhomes, 130 W. Cooper Avenue- Appeal from Design Standards SUMMARY: The applicant proposes to construct four townhomes on the former site of the Fireside Lodge. The towhome on the westernmost end of the building fronts both Cooper Avenue and First Street and therefore must meet certain requirements of Ordinance #30 on both the south and west facades. In this regard, the applicant requests a waiver of the standard related to lightwells, which requires all lightwells to be recessed behind the vertical wall plane closest to the street. Staff recommends denial finding none of the variance standards are met. PROJECT REVIEW PROCESS AND STAFF EVALUATION The Committee may grant an exception to the design standards for any of the following criteria: a) yield greater compliance with the goals of the Aspen Area Community Plan; b) more effectively address the issue or problem a given standard or provision responds to; or c) be clearly necessary for reasons of fairness related to unusual site specific constraints. APPLICANT: Fireside Townhomes, LLC, represented by Charles Cunniffe Architects. LOCATION: 130 W. Cooper Street. ZONING: R-15 EXHIBIT STAFF COMMENTS: I. Background -The applicant has received approval to demolish the Fireside Lodge and build four new townhomes. During staff review of the overall project the applicant was informed that the proposal did not meet Ordinance 30 Design Guidelines for lightwells, and advised to revise the proposal or apply to the Design Review Appeals Commission. II. Site Description -The property is 18,000 square feet. III. Waiver requested- A. Standard: "All areaways, lightwells, and/or stairwells on the street facing side(s) of a building must be entirely recessed behind the vertical plane established by the portion of the building facade which is closest to the street." IV. Recommendation -The committee has three standards for granting variances: a) yield greater compliance with the goals of the Aspen Area Community Plan; Staff response: The proposal is not in direct conflict with the AACP, nor does it further any of its goals. b) more effectively address the issue or problem a given standard or provision responds to; or Staff response: Ordinance #30 clearly discourages creating areas of excavation between the street and building front, since this creates the appearance of a taller building and creates a barrier between a pedestrian and the building. c) be clearly necessary for reasons of fairness related to unusual site specific constraints. Staff response: This is a completely new structure, therefore the applicant had the flexibility to design in accordance with Ordinance #30 and was given early notice of the issue. Redesign at this point is evidently difficult, however staff cannot find the variance review standards are met by the request. Recommendation: Staff recommends DRAC deny the variance request finding that none of the variance criteria are met. w CHARLES CUNNIFFE ARCHITECTS 520 E. HYMAN SUITE 301 ASPEN, CO 81611 PHONE (970) 925-5590 FAX (970) 925-5076 MEMORANDUM DATE: Augus129, 1997 TO: Design Review Appeal Committee FROM: John Galambos ARCHITECTURE PLANNING INTERIORS RE: Variance request for lightwells on the West side of the proposed Fireside Townhomes Located at 130 West Cooper, City of Aspen. The Fireside Townhomes are four proposed townhomes located at the corner of Cooper and First in the City of Aspen. As you are aware this project has gone through various reviews by the City from GMOS exemption to subdivision approval. During The Ordinance 30 review, the issue of the location of the two lightwells on the First Street side first came up. As designed, the lightwells are closer to the street than the face of the Upper Level projection on the building. The primary mass of the building is facing Cooper street, and at fhe time of the submission, I felt that I had met the intent of the "Areaways" portion of the ordinance. The Zoning office informed me That the lightwells needed to comply on both streets, Cooper ~_ as well as First. The solution at the time was To pull in the lightwells in towards the building so as To be in compliance with the ordinance. However, during a review with The City's Building Department, I was informed that this solution is in violation of the Uniform Building Code. Because the Lower level of this project is occupied space, the code states that the level needs To comply with both the Egress and the Light and Ventilation requirements. Both of these elements require that the lightwell be a minimum clear width of three feet. Therefore, I am requesting a variance to this portion of Ordinance 30 so that the lightwells comply with The minimum requirements of the Uniform Building Code. The design of these lightwells does not compromise the intended goals of the "Residential Design Standards" for the following reasons: A) The design of the townhomes preserves several mature trees on First Street. The sidewalk even jogs so as not to disturb the trees (see the site plan and photos). Combined with new plantings, I feel that the building's facade will present itself with a soft edge and thus meet the intentions of the design standards. B) W e designed the units to have two primary orientations: towards Koch park and towards the side, in this case, the west. We Took great care To design the facade to be as articulated as possible so as not to present a hard, blank wall. The facade that faces the '" street is very friendly with many windows, projections, indentations, and material changes. ~ The dining room has French doors that open up To the outside which further acts To break- up the plane of the facade. The lightwells with their open railing are not in any way a detriment this building's presence on the street and in fact adds to the in and out character of the facade jsee elevation). C) The intention of the "Areawells" portion of Ordinance 30 was to restrict the proliferation of large boulder pits facing the street. This design is not a large pit, but rather The minimum size as required by code. Therefore its impact on the street will be limited. D) Other solutions that we discussed all seemed to be more detrimental and more impacting than this solution. One suggestion was to have an in-well. To meet egress requirements you still need to project beyond the face of the building by three feet. Another solution was to move the egress to the front well, and meet the light requirements with a band of windows that is 22 feet long and 4 feet deep. These windows could be graded in a way so as to not require a guardrail. This situation creates two problems. One, it is not optimal for egress, the code requires that egresses area "reasonable" distance apart. The building department is willing to allow the egress out of the front well but they would prefer the egress to remain on the west. Also the band of windows will have more visual impact on the street than the proposed lightwell, especially aT night. In conclusion, The proposed lightwell locations will have no substantive impact on First Street. Overall, we strove to design a project that is rich in character and has street friendly, well broken down facades. The neighborhood has numerous large, rectilinear condos, not to mention the mass of the Ice Garden. We feel that this design will have a rejuvenating effect on this area. This certainly meets the intentions of the "Residential Design Standards". The location of Two small lighiwells will not compromise These intentions. -- Thank you for your consideration on This matter. Please feel free to call me if you have any questions or further clarification on this issue. a,.r Sincerely, John Galambos Project Architect 0!!;'03/97 19ED 09:16 FAS 970 925 8670 HOUSTON O'LEARY HOUSTON 6t O'LEARY COMPANIES September 3, 1997 DRAC Deaz Sir or Madam: John Galaznbos, Project Architect on the Fireside Townhomes project, is acting on our behalf in the submission rgazding lightwells on the west side of the Fireside. John Galambos can be contacted at Charles Cunniffe Architects, 520 E. Hyman Avenue, Aspen at phone number 970-925-5590. The applicant information is as follows: Fireside Townhomes, LLC Sam Houston, Manager c/o Houston & O'L~nry Company 620 East Hyman Avenue, Suite 102 Aspen, CO 81611 970-920-3000 The project is located as follows: 13U West Cooper Street Aspen, CO Legal Description: Fireside Lodge Block 61, Lots K, L,M,N, O, P City of Aspen Enclosed is a copy of the title insurance and a vicinity map as requested. Sincere y o ton Manager, Fireside Townhomes, LLC ~... 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