Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20081124Regular Meeting Asaen City Council November 24, 2008 RESOLUTION #112, SERIES OF 2008 -Appreciation to Pitkin County Clerk ............ .. 2 CITIZEN COMMENTS ................................................................................................... .. 2 COUNCIL COMMENTS ................................................................................................. .. 2 CONSENT CALENDAR ................................................................................................. .. 3 • Resolution #110, 2008 -State Historic Tax Credit .............................................. .. 3 • Resolution #111, 2008 -Extending 210 West Francis Ordinance #48 Historic Designation Negotiation ............................................................................................... .. 3 • Council Appointments .......................................................................................... .. 3 • Minutes -November 10, 2008 .............................................................................. .. 3 ORDINANCE #37, SERIES OF 2008 -Electric Utility Business Plan & Rate Change. .. 3 ORDINANCE #38, SERIES OF 2008 - 201 South 7`h Annexation ................................ .. 4 ORDINANCE #39, SERIES OF 2008 - 201 South 7`h Zoning ........................................ .. 4 ORDINANCE #40, SERIES OF 2008 -Fees for 2009 .................................................... .. 5 RESOLUTION #108, SERIES OF 2008 - Adoption of 2009 Budget ............................. .. 6 RESOLUTION #109, SERIES OF 2008 -Adopting 2009 Mill Levy ............................. .. 8 ORDINANCE #3Q, SERIES OF 2008 - Establishment of 3 TDRs at 541 Race Street... .. 9 ORDINANCE #34, SERIES OF 2008 -Lift One Neighborhood COWOP .................... 10 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 Mayor Ireland called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m. with Councilmembers Kasabach, Romero, Skadron and Johnson present. RESOLUTION #112, SERIES OF 2008 -Appreciation to Pitkin County Clerk Mayor Ireland read a resolution of appreciation to Pitkin County Clerk Janice Vos Caudill and her staff for the countless hours and tireless efforts in the November 2008 election. Ms. Caudill and members of her staff accepted the resolution. CITIZEN COMMENTS 1. Toni Kronberg thanked Council for their careful review of development and for recognizing the scale and character of the community. Ms. Kronberg thanked Chuck Peterson and the work he did for the aerial transportation system. Ms. Kronberg said Council wants more information like integration with RFTA, whether there should be a ballot question, should this be brought up to the same level of alternative as the Entrance to Aspen. Ms. Kronberg said Peterson donated about $15,000 of his time to this issue. Ms. Kronberg noted an aerial transportation system is the only system that will take cars and buses off the road. Mayor Ireland said the engineer contributed very valuable time. Council is not committed to aerial system or to spending any money on that alternative. COUNCIL COMMENTS 1. Mayor Ireland said he has been approached by owners in affordable housing about creating a special district to build an environmental fund to pay for things like solar panels. Mayor Ireland asked for Council concurrence to authorize staff to spend some time reseazching requirements for what this would take. John Worcester, city attorney, said the city might create a program where the city loans money for energy efficiency type of improvements through a low interest loan. Worcester said this does not have to be tied to a special tax district. Council agreed to staff time as long as there is a larger application than just one affordable housing complex. 2. Mayor Ireland said this week is the World Cup races in Aspen and encouraged everyone to support World Cup and to go to the races. 3. Chris Bendon, community development department, reported on the Aspen Area Community plan work; staff just finished about 11 small focus groups with 15 to 20 people per group talking about their vision for Aspen. Bendon announced that January 27`h will be two large community meetings with keypad responses at the St. Regis. Bendon said there is a blog so that people can continue conversations about the AACP. Bendon showed Council "meeting in a box", which is available in community development department. Interested people can take these and have a meeting about the AACP update and return it to community development department, 4. City Clerk Kathryn Koch and Sally Spalding, community relations, announced that live streaming of Council meetings is available on the city's website. One can log ReEUlar Meeting Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 into aspenpitkin.com and click on the direct link to webcasting. Council meetings will be indexed by agenda topic. Council meetings and work sessions will be stored and available for viewing. 5. Councilman Romero told Council the RFTA board ratified the 2009 budget with a 6% increase in expenses from 2008 and a slight reduction in revenues. Councilman Romero said this is a "steady as you go" budget. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilman Romero moved to approve the consent calendar with the note that Councilwoman Kasabach is the member and Councilman Romero is the alternate to NWCCOG. Councilman Romero moved to approve the consent calendar; seconded by Councilman Skadron. The consent calendar is: • Resolution #110, 2008 -State Historic Tax Credit • Resolution #111, 2008 -Extending 210 West Francis Ordinance #48 Historic Designation Negotiation • Council Appointments • Minutes -November 10, 2008 All in favor, motion carved. ORDINANCE #37, SERIES OF 2008 -Electric Utility Business Plan & Rate Change Phil Overeynder, utility department, noted the ordinance has been presented with two fee scenarios for both residential and commercial users. The charts show the existing rate structure, the tiers between the different classes, and the number of Kwh. Overeynder said scenario 1 limits the impact to the average customer and shows the percent increase. Overeynder said this scenario tried to limit the increase to the cost of living adjusted since the last rate increase. Overeynder said the difference between scenarios 1 and 2 is that there is less impact on the lower use customers in scenario 1. Overeynder said these are the users that are trying to conserve energy with not a lot of impact. Staff recommends adoption of scenario #1. Councilman Skadron said the goals were to prevent the wasteful use of electricity, to create a source of funding and to fund some projects. Overeynder said both scenarios meet the latter two goals but only scenario #1 goes further towazds conservation of energy. Councilman Skadron asked if both scenarios are fair to all users. Overeynder said there are differences among the various user classes on how much is used. ReEUlar MeetinE Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 Councilwoman Kasabach moved to read Ordinance #37, Series of 2008; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE NO.37 Series of 2008 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN TO INCREASE CERTAIN ELECTRIC SERVICE RATES. Mayor Ireland moved to adopt Ordinance #37, Series of 2008, with scenario 1, on first reading; seconded by Councilwoman Kasabach. Councilwoman Kasabach said an 8 or 9% increase in utility rates seems high. Overeynder told Council there has one been one rate increase in 10 years; these rates are not typically done annually. Overeynder pointed out the city's rates are the 7`h lowest in the state and lower than other local providers Roll call vote; Councilmembers Skadron, yes; Kasabach, yes; Romero, yes; Johnson, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #38, SERIES OF 2008 - 201 South 7`h Annexation ORDINANCE #39, SERIES OF 2008 - 201 South 7`h Zoning Errin Evans, community development department, told Council this is a request for annexation by the owner of this property. Staff and the applicant have entered into negotiations; the applicant must show benefits to the city to be annexed. Ms. Evans said that Council adopted a resolution of substantial compliance in Apri12008. Councilman Skadron asked what the city benefit is and what is the procedure if the applicant does not designate a trail. John Worcester, city attorney, said the dedication language will be on the annexation plat. Councilman Skadron asked if this annexation is denied, how would the city get the trail connection. Councilman Skadron said he would like to know if it is critical to approve this annexation in order to get a trail connection. Worcester said he will have that answer at the public hearing. Councilman Skadron asked if the land exchange is 4151 square feet or 1211. Ms. Evans said the warranty deed already gives some land to the county for the improvements to 7`h street so the benefit to the city is 1211 square feet of land. Councilman Skadron asked if this is apptoved, does staff contemplate changes to the traffic pattern. Tricia Aragon said they do not anticipate any changes in traffic patterns. Councilman Skadron asked staff the necessity of trail linkage in this area and is it critical to the city's overall trail objectives. Staff said they will have an answer at second reading. Councilman Skadron asked if an approval allows more square footage. Ms. Evans said in the county an applicant could build one single family dwelling of 4470 square feet and in Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 the city an applicant could build one single family dwelling of 5636 or two dwellings not to exceed 6056 square feet. There are differences in the way FAR is counted in the city and in the county. The county allows 750 square foot garage exemption; the city allows a garage exemption of 250 square feet/unit. Councilman Romero moved to read Ordinance #38, Series of 3008; seconded by Councilwoman Kasabach. All in favor, motion carved. ORDINANCE #38 (Series of 2008) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, APPROVING THE ANNEXATION OF CERTAIN TERRITORY TO THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, TO BE KNOWN AND DESIGNATED AS THE "LOT 3, ADAMS ANNEXATION" Councilman Romero moved to approve Ordinance #38, Series of 2008, on first reading; seconded by Mayor Ireland. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Kasabach, yes; Johnson, yes; Skadron, yes; Romero, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. Councilman Skadron moved to read Ordinance #39, Series of 2008; seconded by Councilwoman Kasabach. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #39 (Series of 2008) AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL APPROVING A ZONE DISTRICT DESIGNATION OF MDOERATE DENSITY RESIDENTIAL (R-15) FOR 201 SOUTH 7T" STREET MORE COMMNLY KNOWN AS LOT 3, ADAMS SUBDIVISION, PITKIN COUNTY Councilwoman Kasabach moved to adopt Ordinance #39, Series of 2008, on first reading; seconded by Councilman Romero. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Skadron, yes; Johnson, yes; Romero, yes; Kasabach, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #40, SERIES OF 2008 -Fees for 2009 John Worcester, city attorney, told Council the city has a policy of addressing fees annually and increasing the fees to approximate cost of providing service to citizens. Worcester noted this ordinance does not contain fees for community development department as they are having a study done to determine the actual fees for 2009, which fee increase will be brought forward in a separate ordinance. Most fees in this ordinance are projected to increase 3%. Councilman Romero moved to read Ordinance #40, Series of 2008; seconded by Councilman Skadron. All in favor, motion carried. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 ORDINANCE NO. 40 Series of 2008 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN TO INCREASE CERTAIN MUNICII'AL FEES Mayor Ireland moved to adopt Ordinance #40, Series of 2008, on first reading; seconded by Councilwoman Kasabach. Councilman Skadron asked if these fee increases were factored into the 2009 budget. Don Taylor, finance director, said the increases do not significantly impact the revenue projects as the fee increases are small. Councilwoman Kasabach asked about the right- of-way encroachment and why the increase is so small if this is an issue that affects people's quality of life. Tricia Aragon, city engineer, told Council there was a large increase two years ago so staff felt comfortable with a 3% increase. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Skadron, yes; Romero, yes; Johnson, yes; Kasabach, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. RESOLUTION #108. SERIES OF 2008 -Adoption of 2009 Budget Don Taylor, finance director, told Council the proposed 2009 budget is $102,280,120 including interfund transfers, which is a 2.35% decrease over 2008 expenditures. Taylor said if interfund transfers, which is double counting of expenditures, are eliminated, the total budget is $78 million. Mayor Ireland asked if this budget maintains the current level of reserves. Taylor said the total reserves on all funds is estimated to decline from $38 million to $33 million. Steve Barwick, city manager, said the majority of the decrease is due to expenditure of bond funds for the hydropower plant. Mayor Ireland said he would like confirmation that decline in the reserves will not impair the city's bond rating because the city will be in the same relative position. Taylor noted there were 7 work sessions entailing about 40 to 50 hours with Council on the 2009 budget. The major revenue source For the city is sales tax, which is projected at a 1% increase. The sales tax is 16% of the total revenue; property tax is 9% of total revenue and is projected to go up 9%; the community development fees are projected to increase 15% over 2008; however with the current building trend, the increase will not be as great. Taylor showed the sales tax trend over the past 5 years. Taylor told Council staff has discussed the ability to be prepared to react to lower sales tax collections. Staff is developing alternative budgets with 5 and 10% cuts. Taylor said staff is prepared to adjust the budget after seeing how the larger economic trends affect Aspen. Taylor said the real estate transfer taxes have decreased drastically and the housing fund is at $5 million and $6 million was forecast for 2008 and 2009. Taylor said 6 Regular Meetine Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 there is 4.799 mills proposed for the general fund and asset management fund and the TABOR exempted projects and .65 mills for the storm water project. Taylor said 47% of the budget is for general fund and asset management; 16% for utilities, 10% for transportation and parking. Taylor showed the reconciliation how the budget started with a 1.6% increase for departmental expenditures and the projects approved by Council throughout the budget process. Councilman Skadron brought up the 1% increase projected for sales tax and asked how this is projected. Taylor said the past sales tax revenue increases have averaged 5% increases. Councilman Skadron said 1% increase in sales tax is actually an 80% reduction. Councilman Skadron asked if there is a science behind the increase projections. Taylor said there is some math but it is also an art. Taylor noted that sales tax on utilities will likely not decrease much; sales tax from groceries may in fact increase. Councilman Skadron asked why Council should support this budget without considering lower revenue scenarios. Taylor said no one knows how this economy will affect Aspen's business. Taylor told Council he has discussed with every department the possibility of decreases 5% to 10% in the 2009 budget. Taylor said adopting this budget does not mean all the money will be spent immediately. Barwick noted a budget is a financial plan that can be adjusted monthly. Staff plans to meet with Council monthly to discuss revenues and the budget. Barwick told Council he will review all position openings before they are filled. Councilman Johnson said the city's expenditures will be contingent upon the actual revenue collections and the city can prepare to address the actual facts. Councilman Skadron said the economic impact on Aspen is not known and he would like to see a more conservative budget, specifically the 1% increase in sales tax revenues. Councilman Skadron said if staff s projections fall short, the reserves may have to be accessed. Councilman Skadron stated he does not support depending on reserves to fund operations that should be funded out of revenues. Mayor Ireland said he would support a 0% increase in sales tax revenues; however, it is important not to start cutting prematurely because adding back services is inefficient. Mayor Ireland said the point of having reserves is to use them and keep the service level appropriate. Councilman Romero said no matter what sales tax increase, or not, is adopted, Council and staff will still have to have contingency plans to be viewed monthly or weekly. Councilman Romero said capital improvement projects have the most discretion and these won't begin until the 2"d or 3`d quarter which will give the city time to look at the economy and then re-examine those projects. Councilman Romero said there is $22.5 million in the capital project budget and Council can look at what is fixed and what still has discretion. Barwick reminded Council most capital projects are not funded from sales tax. Barwick noted Council will be reviewing this in the next 60 days and staff and Council will be in a better position to know about the economy. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 Councilman Skadron reiterated he will only approve a more conservative budget with a 0% at sales tax revenues. Mayor Ireland agreed it would be more prudent to adopt a more conservative budget. Mayor Ireland moved to adopt Resolution # ,Series of 2008, amending it to have a 0% increase in city and county sales tax revenues; seconded by Councilman Johnson. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Toni ICronberg said the city should be even more conservative; people are losing their jobs. Ms. Kronberg said there is a $1 million annual subsidy for the recreation facility, which is $20,000/week. That should be looked at. Mike Wampler agreed the budget should be more conservative. Wampler said the economy has not hit the bottom yet. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing Councilman Romero said he is comfortable adopting this budget knowing that staff will be looking at the revenues and is ready to address revenue decreases. Councilman Romero said he would like to try and preserve the level of service to which the Council is committed. Staff will continue to keep an eye on this and report back to Council. Mayor Ireland directed no large capital expenditures between now and January 20`h. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #109, SERIES OF 2008 -Adopting 2009 Mill Levy Mayor Ireland moved to adopt Resolution #109, Series of 2008, at the same level as 2008; seconded by Councilman Johnson. Mayor Ireland asked if the city retains the mill level as is, how much money will there be for the outdoor pool at the recreation center. Don Taylor, finance director, said there would be a shortfall of $200,000 if the mill is raised to 5.087 for the next two years. Mayor Ireland opened the public heareing. Toni Kronberg said the parks bond was approved by the voters in 1999 and it will be 10 years next year that the project is trying to come to fruition. Ms. Kronberg said citizens have worked hard to come up with a pool that will meet the needs of the community. Ms. Kronberg said she feels the construction of the pool should wait until the city has enough money. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Skadron requested that the mill levy that is the credit should be identified in the resolution. Regular Meeting Aspen Citv Council November 24, 2008 Mayor Ireland amended his motion to state "which include the temporary credit of .611; seconded by Councilman Johnson. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #30, SERIES OF 2008 -Establishment of 3 TDRs at 541 Race Street Sara Adams, community development department, told Council this is to establish 3 transferrable density right certificates. Ms. Adams noted each certificate equals 250 square feet; these are sold on the free market. TDRs can land within the city limits where allowed by zoning. Ms. Adams said this is 541 Race Street or lot 6, the historic landmarked lot within the Fox Crossing subdivision. Ms. Adams told Council this lot is approved for two historically designated cabins and as part of the subdivision, 4 TDRs were severed from the lot and have been landed within the Fox Crossing subdivision. Ms. Adams said in 2008, the project was redesigned and reduced the amount of floor area for this lot. Ms. Adams said staff analyzes two things when looking to establish a TDR; one is the actual building development and second the approved development. Ms. Adams said the analysis of built development is not relevant because the project is being built. One cabin is on the lot; one cabin is partially on the lot. HPC will discuss moving these cabins on the lot. Ms. Adams noted there is 766 square feet of unbuilt area eligible for the generation of 3 TDRs, or 750 square feet, leaving 16 square feet of unbuilt floor area on this lot. Ms. Adams pointed out exhibit B, a memorandum from the city's special counsel, finding there is no said staff finds the criteria to establish 3 TDRs is met. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Johnson said P&Z discussed that if the cabins were joined together, it would increase the quality of the open space. Councilman Johnson asked if the open space is being diminished with this redesign. Stan Clauson, representing the applicants, told Council when actually designing the project, it was found the floor area by joining the cabins together would exceed that allowed on the site. The new design has the cabin separated, the cabins still front on the park. One cabin is an ADU; the other cabin will be a small free market residence. At conceptual review, HPC felt this redesign was an enhancement as it let one see the cabins. Councilman Johnson said his concern is that Council was not aware of additional TDRs at the time of approval. Clauson stated there is not net increase in floor area over the original approvals. The original approvals were a subdivision, not a PUD, and met the dimensional requirements of the code. Clauson said this is a shift of development. John Worcester, city attorney, said the issue before Council is not where the TDRs land but the creation of those TDRs. Worcester noted there is a restriction in how many TDRs can land in Fox Crossing. 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 Councilman Romero moved to adopt Ordinance #30, Series of 2008, on second reading; seconded by Councilwoman Kasabach. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Romero, yes; Skadron, yes; Johnson, yes; Kasabach, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #34. SERIES OF 2008 -Lift One Neighborhood COWOP Councilman Johnson left due to a conflict of interest. Chris Bendon, community development department, told Council this is a continued public hearing; two more public hearings are scheduled. Council has a binder of presentation material, there is a decision packet, exhibit B is the project binder. Exhibit C is a copy of the project web site and exhibit D a copy of the power point; exhibit E is public comments. Steve Holly, representing the COWOP task force, presented a slide show which demonstrated how the building design was a result of the master plan process. Holly showed the site plan, showed the bottom of the ski mountain and its relation to town, how it connects to the gondola and the other properties along the base of the mountain. Holly said the COWOP looked at a list ofpriorities, the buildable area, the program and how to realize the priorities and goals of the master plan. Holly showed the surrounding properties which define the periphery of the site and the physical assets on the site, like the Skiers Chalet and the Skiers steakhouse, which will be moved, the Skiers Chalet will become the historical museum located where the volleyball courts are located. Holly told Council the COWOP is working with the parks department to find another location for the volleyball courts. The proposed moves have been given HPC conceptual approval. These relocations, including the steakhouse to become a beer and brats restaurant will add a historic section of the site. Holly showed the South Aspen street which is 600' from Dean and South Aspen to the steps to Lift lA and a 75' vertical rise. From that point it is another 120' and 12' vertical to get to the lift. Holy said one priority is to rejuvenate the lift one core, returning it to skiing, which entails moving the new quad ski lift another 230' up the mountain. There is a plan to bring down a poma lift 440' closer to town, returning it to the historic point of lift service on Aspen mountain. Holly pointed out a circular area of accessibility around the site bounded by the lift corridor, South Aspen street, high speed quad, the poma lift. From the 600' vertical and 75' and the 120' and 12' vertical, down to 150' from Dean street and a 14' vertical to the poma lift and 170' and 27' vertical from the upper drop off to the quad lift. Holly said this is improved accessibility around the site, not just street maintenance but return skiing, better pedestrian ways, there will be a maintained sidewalk. There is elevator access to provide access to the poma lift and to the quad lift. Holly showed the area that if left after all the above are taken out. There is an area for affordable housing which will be at the north edge of the site, close to the affordable housing at Juan street and Trainor's Landing. Holly demonstrated the developable area left for the Lodge at Aspen Mountain and Lift One Lodge. The development is a result of the master plan. 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 Holly pointed out the site is on the slope and showed a cut section of the slope and the cut vertical in sections. Holly showed a midpoint plan of the entire project, the program elements and the above grade and below grade of the development. Holly started at the lowest point showing the subgrade parking and back of house uses and storage. Holly noted the affordable housing, which is subgrade at the south side and exposed on the north side. Holly showed how each level integrates with the entire project, what each level is made up of, what is above grade as it moves up the hill. Holly pointed out the Lodge at Aspen Mountain lobby, then the above grade spaces, the commercial, the restaurants. Holly showed the roof plan pointing out the Lift One Lodge, the Lodge at Aspen Mountain and the affordable housing, the green roof areas, the pool deck for each lodge, the apras ski deck which will be open to the public, and the high speed quad. John Sarpa, Lodge at Aspen Mountain, went over the affordable housing requirements and proposed mitigation for the Lodge at Aspen Mountain. Sarpa told Council according to the code, the project will generate 168 employees and the proposed mitigation at 75% is housing 126 employees with 56 employees housed on site and 70 employees housed off site. Sarpa said the proposal is 15 dormitories of 330 square feet for 30 employees on site; the other employees are housed in one and two bedroom units at the building on the west side of the project. Sarpa noted this proposal is 56 employees housed on site; the previous project was 26 people on site or a 112% increase of affordable housing on site. Bob Daniel, Lift One Lodge, presented their affordable housing calculations. There are 38 existing lodge rooms and they can have a credit for those units with a credit for 19 employees on site and 56 employees to be mitigated for at 75% is 42 employees, housing 27 employees on site and 15 employees to be housed off site. Daniel said these will be exclusively rentals on site for employees of the Lift One lodge and there will be dorm units, studios and two-bedroom units on site. Bendon said floor azea and floor area ratio are the way in which the city measures the size of buildings. Floor area is described in square feet and floor area ratio is the ratio of the size of the building to the size of the land. Bendon noted below grade is not counted in floor area and floor azea ratio. Holly noted the above grade for the museum is 4,104 square feet, the historic ticket booth 480 square feet, accessory structures 50 square feet, Skier's Chalet Steak house 3,998 square feet; Lift One Lodge 113,036 square feet; Lodge at Aspen Mountain 167,849 square Feet and Dean Street condominiums, affordable housing 5,653 squaze feet totaling 295,170 square feet above grade area on the site. Holly said the allowable FAR for Lodge zone is 2.5:1; the proposed FAR for this project is .84:1 over the entire 8 acres. The commercial core allowable FAR is 2.75:1. Councilman Romero asked the FAR for the private land, not using the public lands. Holly said he will have that answer at the next meeting. Holly presented through sectionals outlining the height and mass of the project. Holly showed the footprint for each lodge project and where the sectional cut would be. Holly said the sections show the profile of the buildings and how these buildings step down the site. Holly said the design of these lodges attempts to reduce the mass and be in a scale 11 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 appropriate for the area. The massing and higher portions are laid against the mountain to reduce the perception of buildings. Holly pointed out the heights of buildings; at the north end of the site, the museum is 26', the lift is 24'; the Lodge at Aspen Mountain is 46' stepping up to 54' and 59' on the back of the building. Holly showed comparison slides with the Hotel Jerome. The section through the Skiers Chalet Steakhouse at 33' with 122' between the Lodge at Aspen Mountain where the height is 37' from Aspen street and 42' on the back side and 52' to the Juan street buildings. The comparison slide was the St. Regis from Wagner Park. Holly pointed out 62' between the two lodges is the narrowest point between the two buildings. Holly said the plan is that the higher portions of the building are out of view from a pedestrian walking along the street. Holly showed where the Grand Hyatt is 42'. The width of the mall is 56' for a perspective. Holly said the St. Regis is 67' to the entry point of the diagonal entry, there is a point of 72' of the St. Regis 10' back from the entry. Holly noted the existing Lift lA structure is 46'. Bendon told Council the city measures pitched roofs in a way to encourage roofs to be pitched by measuring at a 1/3 point, not to the absolute peak. Bendon said he asked the applicants to detail the absolute height, not the 1/3 point, which will make the height numbers larger. Holly showed the roof plan detailing levels of height. Holly said 40% of the roofs are below 42'; 75% of the project is below 48'; 85% of the project is below 55' and all of the project is below 60'. Holly noted all roof between 55' and 60' are against the mountain. Holly went over the architectural character trying to incorporate historic nature of the area, residences and lodge. Holly showed renderings of the museum, lodges, and Skier's Chalet buildings. Dave Corbin, Aspen Skiing Company, told Council during the COWOP task force meetings, goals were articulated regarding skiing and Aspen mountain, one of which was improved access to the mountain and the ability to readily move from town to skiing. Another goal was to preserve and enhance the race events, particularly Winternational. Corbin assured Council this plan will achieve that goal. Corbin showed the site plan, the corridor for the poma between the Lift One Lodge, the primary lift higher up the mountain. Corbin pointed out where the street access is, the stairs and elevators where one can reach the mountain and the race event. Corbin pointed out the bottom of Aspen street where back of house for races take place. Corbin said back of house has mobilized at the parking lot; this plan contemplates using the pedestrian way and the street for television, offices and mobile trucks. Jimmy Hancock, Aspen Skiing Company, said his initial concern was there be room to put on ski race events. Hancock noted the finish line, bleacher area is unchanged. Hancock said the television compound pays for racing and a place for all TV equipment is a necessity. Hancock said there appears to be space for the television equipment. Hancock said a new lift will be a big advantage inputting on races and skiing in general. Mayor Ireland asked if any skiing acreage will be lost. Hancock said it is minimal, 230' 12 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 from the existing loading point to the new loading point. Hancock said Norway slope will not be lost. Peter King, Aspen Skiing Company, told Council from their perspective there are no drawbacks from the site plan. Councilman Romero asked if the Ski Company will be staffing the poma. King said yes. Councilman Romero asked if that is built into the business plan for the Ski Company. King said they will have a ticket facility inside the Lift One Lodge. Corbin said they may also put an automated ticket kiosk at the bottom of the poma. Councilwoman Kasabach asked when the lift would be constructed with regard to the entire construction. Corbin said moving and installing a replacement lift should happen with the initial excavation of the site. Corbin said the poma cannot be installed until the site is restored and there is surface all the way uphill. Councilman Skadron asked who Centurion Partners are. John Sarpa said it is himself, Mike Smith and Scott Madison are the main partners. Councilman Skadron asked the average size of the Dean street units. Sarpa said studios are 400 square feet; one- bedroom, 600 square feet; two-bedroom, 850 square feet; three-bedroom, 1000 square feet. Councilman Skadron asked the square footage of the approved townhouse project. Sarpa said it is in the 90,000 square foot range. Councilman Skadron asked the total squaze footage of this development compared to the previous lodge application. Sarpa said the new proposal is 173,000 square feet and the previous proposal was 127,000 square feet. The 46,000 square foot increase is due to the increased affordable housing, the increased square footage to pay for the extra costs. Sarpa pointed out one of the directives of the COWOP was for the two lodge projects to pay for the benefits. Bob Daniel told Council the financial advisor who worked with the COWOP had the proposed program and sellable space within the buildings, the affordable housing, the parking, in order to make an assessment of the financial viability of the project. Sarpa said the financial advisor will be at the next public hearing to answer questions like this. Councilman Skadron asked how many keys the new project has versus the old project. Sarpa said there were 73 hotel units; the current proposal has 75 units; there were 25 fractional units in the old proposal, the current proposal has 26 fractional. This project proposes 5 whole ownership units versus none in the prior project. Councilman Skadron asked if the Lodge at Aspen Mountain could be broken up into smaller buildings. Sarpa said that mandate came from the COWOP and what evolved were the indents in design plus the pedestrian corridor. Sarpa said the lower parcel was broken up into two buildings; there aze a total of 3 buildings. Councilman Skadron said this area was historically a collection of small lodges and if this area is to represent Aspen's history, smaller buildings would come closer to that representation. Councilman Skadron asked if this project will abide by an earlier commitment to give prior residents a priority in the new project. Sarpa said there was that commitment and this proposal acknowledges that right for residents. Councilman Skadron asked how 13 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 much support each task force member had from the bodies they were representing. Bendon told Council the task force members representing homeowners' associations kept in touch with their ownership as well as they could. Bendon said there were often multiple representation at task force meetings. Bendon said he felt good about the pursuit of reporting back and making sure the task force understood what was going on. Sarpa told Council he and Bob Daniel have on-going discussions with neighbors. Councilman Skadron asked if the ski lift being next to a lodge adds to the value of the properties and the units and would that increased value produce a smaller building. Daniel said the current Lift One Lodge proposal looks nothing like the previous iteration and there is a ski run right through the property. Daniel said the high speed quad above is the ski in/ski out of the property. The surface lift is a community benefit but is not a bonus to the Lift One Lodge property. Daniel said the creation of the surface lift corridor has necessitated going from two to four buildings and created inefficiencies. Councilman Skadron asked how many task force members represented the community at large. Bendon told Council the notion was to balance the neighborhood with the general public. Ordinance #34, page 3, lists all COWOP members and who they represent. Councilman Skadron asked how the applicants define "vitality"; does not vitality mean a critical mass and how many people does this envision. Holly said the opportunities provided for vitality in this area are the daily museum visits, diners at the Steakhouse and the 2 restaurants, skiers or hikers. Holly said there are no "hot beds" in this area, creating a lack of vitality. Councilman Skadron said new rooms are a form of growth. Holly said the proposal is returning "hot beds" to an area where they have been lost. Holly said he does not know if that is growth. Holly said lodging was historically at the base of Aspen Mountain and the historic nature of the site is skiing. Bendon noted lodges that were located here have gone out of business because of the lack of vitality and people. Holly said the affordable housing residents will also add vitality. Councilman Skadron said he does not think the proposal for town houses in this area satisfies the goals of the Aspen Area Community Plan in terms of inclusiveness and accessibility. Councilman Romero said he would like to know the phasing plan; the linkages between public improvements and private developments and the pacing between the two; vesting; construction management plan; logistics and service plans -how the neighborhood will operate effectively. Councilman Romero said one of the goals from the COWOP is provide easy and welcoming access to all users that integrates the neighborhood and town while minimizing traffic and pavements. Councilman Romero said implicit in that statement is how well the site manages itself, the services, the logistics, the impacts and how those will all be minimized, demonstrating specifics and assurances that this is a well organized plan, when each part of construction will happen, when the community benefits will occur. Sarpa said the construction management plan, phasing and service will be discussed at the December 1 S` meeting. Councilman Romero asked what criteria staff used to get to the 15 year vesting period. Bendon said this figure was arrived at looking at the current economy, the magnitude of the project should be more than 3 years. The development team asked for 15 years 14 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 looking at all the steps and phases the project has to go through. Councilman Romero stated he would like a shorter vesting time and still give the developers some reasonable assurance. Mayor Ireland said his issues are the statement about maximizing on-site energy, which has not been addressed. Mayor Ireland stated he does not want this project to create a burden on the community at large. Mayor Ireland said he has difficulty with projects that create housing burdens that cannot be met. Mayor Ireland questioned the figure that off site employees will be housed at $130,000/employee and he would like to know the basis for that number. Mayor Ireland said there is a short fall of employee housing in Aspen right now. Mayor Ireland said he would like to be assured that the city is protected no matter which project goes first. Mayor Ireland said he feels this is a better project than the town homes and than the prior lodge project. Mayor Ireland said the community has a lot of beautiful empty buildings and he does not think dead space at this location is in the best interest of the community. Bendon told Council the $130,000 was generated by the city's asset management department, looking at all the costs at Burlingame divided by the number of employees housed. Bendon said the COWOP members encouraged the developers to go beyond the 60% affordable housing mitigation and the city committed to looking at their fees. Bendon reminded Council the technical consultants to COWOP will be present at the December ls` meeting. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Les Hoist said he likes that there was a master plan group. Hoist said the citizens expect predictability and this project was previously turned down and it is an insult this project has come back again. This project should be in compliance with the land use regulations. Hoist said for a project this big, there has to be community benefits. The community already respects Aspen's history. Integrating architecture and design is not a community benefit. Showcasing and promoting Aspen's ski historic is not a community benefit and Aspen already does that. Listed as a community benefit is integrating the museum and the community can do that. Hoist said providing a welcoming access to the mountain is not a community benefit. Hoist said the community does not need a people mover. Developing an economically viable project is not a community benefit and creating vitality does not mean anything. Hoist said this project is taking away one of Aspen's last neighborhoods and it does not benefit the community. Eban Clark, representing Silver Shadow, told Council they have worked with the developers and are satisfied with the site plan and the 29' between the buildings and that the building is 18' off the property line. Clark said they are concerned that this distance be maintained. Clark noted this project will terminate ski out access for the Silver Shadow but will allow ski in access. Clark stated they object to the overall height and have not seen definite numbers. They have asked for story poles and have not seen them. Clark said with a project this size, these details should not be left to chance. IS Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 24 2008 Bob Hoover, representing the Mountain Queen, said his clients are concerned ovex the height of the east side of the building and the canyon effect. Hoover said they are pleased with communications with the developers but have not seen details. Hoover said they have not seen the height of the east building. Hoover said they would like to know how the 15 year vesting period was determined. The homeowners would like to know the construction schedule and how long this will go on. Hoover asked if there have been changes to the ordinance since first seen by Council. Bendon told Council there have been language clean ups. Councilman Skadron asked how the owners feel about the project, do they support it, and do they want it smaller. Clark said his owners are mixed about their feelings and realize something will happen in this area. Hoover said his owners in general support the project; do not support the poma lift because they will not have walk onto the ski slope access. Hoover said another concern is the top portion of the east building, how tall it will be. Hoover said the Mountain Queen is concerned about the drainage and lack of light. Junee Kirk thanked the applicants for preserving the historic Skiers' chalet. Ms. Kirk said she is concerned about the way in which PUDs have been approved and areaway to circumvent the land use codes and allow for greater density. Ms. Kirk said there are 85' heights in the lodge and it will be 3 times as wide as a Wal-Mart. Ms. Kirk said this 91,000 square feet will be empty most of the year and will not contribute to vitality. Ms. Kirk said this project should go through the normal land use process. Jessie Boyce asked if the area for the television trucks for World Cup will become the new community parking with no public access. Boyce questioned how the Ski Company will get snow to the land under the poma lift. Boyce said getting toboggans in this area is a concern. Boyce said the public properties should be deducted from the FAR calculation. Boyce asked abut the room sizes for the lodges and that people are warn out by the ostentatious size of hotel rooms. Emily Sarpa said this project is not a conservation versus developer issue but the possibility of a cutting edge and exciting project for Aspen. Ms. Sarpa said it is an economic necessity for this town. Ms. Sarpa said without new projects, younger people will look at Aspen as a town their parents thought was great and this project is a step forward for the future of Aspen. Allyn Harvey, COWOP member, said the buildings are large because there is a lot of green space. Harvey said there is a lot great in this site plan and Council's job is to find a way to make it work. Harvey said there have been compromises from the developer. Harvey said the 15 year vesting takes away economic uncertainty. Harvey said for him as a task force member, vitality was creating an area that was useful, not bringing in more rooms but thinking of a way to use the Skier's Chalet building and Willoughby Park. Phyllis Bronson said this project is overwhelming. Ms. Bronson told Council she would like to feel good about this project but is not there yet. Ms. Bronson said she is concerned about the depth of the excavation and the impact on the environment and the large amounts of dirt. Ms. Bronson told Council smaller more inviting buildings would make this area more comfortable. Toni Kronberg said this project needs tweaking; 16 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 24, 2008 people are concerned about the height, mass, scale and density. Ms. Kronberg said she would like to see story poles. This building will block the views of Aspen mountain. Ms. Kronberg said there will be 900 people/day in this area not including skiers, residents, service workers, delivery trucks. Ms. Kronberg said her main concern is transportation and traffic on the area and on the entire community. Ms. Kronberg said the platter lift does not meet the goal of access of the COWOP. Ms. Kronberg recommended a pulse gondola. Councilwoman Kasabach asked why the COWOP did not consider a pulse gondola. Bendon said the COWOP considered gondolas, quad lifts to Dean street. The issues were the costs and the amount of space a gondola takes up and building a system that has a capacity that fits the number of people it will be serving, not over building it. Bendon said the area in which the pulse gondola would operate cannot be crossed by pedestrians and would create a sterile zone between the two lodges and would isolate people into their respective lodges. Andrew Kole said this neighborhood is desolate and dark and not a 12 month a year lighted community. The COWOP was charged with putting out the best product with many, many factors involved. Kole told Counci190% of the COWOP thought this was a pretty good plan. Mary Janss, COWOP member, told Council she came to this process with a lot of skepticism and concerns and by the end of the process, the project is exciting and the architecture is thrilling. Ms. Janss said the old days are gone and will not come back. Ms. Janss told Council after considering many forms of transportation for this area, the COWOP felt the platter lift is the one that works. Councilman Romero moved to continue Ordinance #34, Series of 2008, to December 1, 2008; seconded by Councilman Skadron. All in favor, motion carried. Councilwoman Kasabach moved to adjourn at 11:15 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried. Kathry .Koch, City Clerk 17