Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20090323ReHUlar Meeting Aspen City Council March 23, 2009 PROCLAMATION -Shining Stazs .......................................................................... ......... 2 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION ..................................................................................... ......... 2 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS ......................................................................... ......... 4 CONSENT CALENDAR .......................................................................................... ......... 5 • Main Street Light Pole Banner Request - Aspen Institute/Aspen Music Festiva] 5 • Appointment Election Commission Members - Milias, Bryan ..................... ......... 5 • Minutes - Mazch 9, 2009 ............................................................................... ......... 5 RESOLUTION #17, 2009 -Contract Capital Project Planning Software ................ ......... 5 RESOLUTION #18, 2009 - Support of Film Commission ....................................... ......... 6 ORDINANCE #8, SERIES OF 2009 -Jewish Community Center at Silver Lining Ranch SPA Amendment ....................................................................................................... ......... 6 ORDINANCE #5, SERIES OF 2009 -SPA Amendment Pitkin County Jail .......... ......... 7 ORDINANCE #6, SERIES OF 2009 -Growth Management Aspen Ambulance D istrict 7 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 23.2009 Mayor Ireland called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. with Councilmembers Romero, Skadron, Johnson and Kasabach present. PROCLAMATION -Shining Stazs Mayor Ireland read the proclamation proclaiming March 13 to 20 as Shining Stazs in Aspen week. Mayor Ireland noted Councilman Skadron presented the official proclamation at Buttermilk when the kids were here for their winter week in Aspen. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 1. Don Davidson reminded Council the citizens' budget task force recommended Council appoint a permanent finance advisory board and asked the status of that recommendation. Mayor Ireland said the finance director will be reporting to Council tomorrow on that committee. Davidson brought up the proposed deal with the Burlingame homeowners. Davidson said Council and citizens need to know what the proposal will cost. Davidson said he would like to see costs on additional subsidy for 14 single family homes; the long term cost of eliminating the $60/month transit fee; the cost of 83 additional pazking spaces; the costs of the phase I punch list and who will pay for those items; the cost of the direct trail. Davidson said the costs outlined by staff could come to millions of dollars in addition to the subsidy already spent at Burlingame. Davidson said the city should not go forwazd with Burlingame II and III without all the costs being presented up front. Mayor Ireland said the punch list will be completed whether or not Burlingame II and III is done. There is retainage money from the contractor to complete these. Mayor Ireland noted if there is no transit fee paid by the residents of Burlingame, there will not be as high a level of transit services. Mayor Ireland said the direct trail should be built by the city so that there are not social trails created all over the sage meadows. Mayor Ireland noted the Citizens' Expert Group recommended ways to save money in unit development; hopefully these units can be developed at a lower cost. Mayor Ireland said he will have staff create a list of these costs. 2. Jim Smith, 600 East Main, told Council he is concerned about the changes to the roof top of Stage III, which changes may be a violation to the approved ordinance. Smith presented a portion of the Ordinance adopted in 2007 approving the project. The ordinance references the elevator shaft and mechanical equipment. There are two sets of stairs to the roof; however, the housing of the stairs is not mentioned in the ordinance. Smith reminded Council there was concern during public hearings about structures on the roof that would block the views. The ordinance includes language restricting what can be included on the roof. Smith presented the approved building elevation, showing a 9' elevator structure on the roof. Smith said at the February 12, 2007, meeting, he used the developer's elevation drawing and pointed out there was no roof top housing for the stairwells. Smith said the architect countered by saying there is no housing for the stairs; they are open, implying the drawings were accurate and complete. Smith presented a CD of the meeting showing these comments. 2 Re¢ular Meetine Asaen City Council March 23, 2009 Smith told Council in the fall of 2008, the construction at Stage III included stairway housing on the roof, inconsistent with the statement of the architect. Smith presented 2 photographs of the existing site and the stairway housing above the roofline. Smith reminded Council the architect stated to meet code, there had to be two stairwells in the building. Smith asked if the architect knew they had to have 2 stairwells, why they didn't know these stairwells had to be covered. Smith told Council the community development department provided him with the latest drawings and told him after Council approvals, changes were submitted to the building department to comply with the code and these changes were approved. Smith pointed out on the drawings the two new stairway housings that were not approved by Council. These housings add 23' of structure to the roof. Smith noted there is no reference in the ordinance to roof top stair housing. Smith said he feels the applicant misrepresented the project's elevation. Smith said the addition ofthe rooftop stairways is a substantial change to the project. Smith said he feels this project violates the ordinance and he would like to see the building permit revoked. Mayor Ireland said Council needs to have staff look into these allegations. John Worcester, city attorney, told Council he has spoken with staff and staff would like to come back to Council with more information and options at a work session. 3. Susan Whitney, Hunter Square condominiums, property to the west of the Stage III property, told Council the owner has gone bankrupt and there are liens against the project. The property is for sale and the adjacent property owners would like Council to be aware of what is going on with that property. Councilman Johnson said things get said at Council that do not get recorded and as projects sell and as staff and Council changes, items get forgotten. Councilman Johnson agreed the roof top was a contentious issue during the approval process of the Stage III. 4. Lindsay Smith told Council in addition to the Stage III, code required roof top housings were not included in the elevation drawings for Dancing Bear and for La Cocina. The roof top housing codes are not new and it is difficult to understand why the rooftop housing is excluded from the Council approval process. Ms. Smith said the exclusion of the roof top housings have become a pattern of behavior and makes a mockery of the approval process. Ms. Smith requested Council require accurate representations of exterior elevation and that the exterior elevations be accurate during the entire process. Ms. Smith requested staff inform P&Z and Council whether the drawings meet building codes. Ms. Smith requested changes to roof tops be treated as a substantial change and that these require Council approval rather than administrative approval. 5. Junee Kirk said these changes came about in 2000 when the land use approval process was made easier and changes could be approved without going through review. Ms. Kirk urged this be change to require more public notice and more transparency. 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 23, 2009 6. Toni Kronberg announced there will be a transportation open house Apri12"d at noon and 4 p.m. in the Council chambers. The aerial tramway engineers have been invited to show that the proposed aerial connection is doable. 1. Mayor Ireland said the boys' high school basketball team went to state and finished sixth. 2. Mayor Ireland said the state is working on economic stimulus money that will be available locally for transit projects. Mayor Ireland said he testified for the neighborhood electric vehicle legislation. 3. Councilman Johnson left Council chambers due to a conflict of interest. Mayor Ireland brought up the Lift One master plan and he said after considerable thought, the developers of Lift One master plan have asked the city not to put Ordinance #34 on the ballot. Public input indicates the project is too big and the developers do not want to go forward with a project that will not be approved by the voters. Mayor Ireland said the COWOP never got to address the scale and mass to see if there was a more acceptable design. John Sarpa told Council his company and Lift One Lodge have been doing different things since the last public hearing. Sarpa said citizens who objected to the Lodge at Aspen Mountain project specifically, approached the developers and there has been some rethinking about the scale and mass of the project and affordability of the units. The comments have been directed toward the hotel portion, scale and mass, and that building would only be available to upper income guests. Sarpa told Council these discussions lead to the developers to try and answer those two issues and those cannot be answered in time to put this issue on the May ballot. Sarpa suggested a work session with Council to define what process might be used to go forward. Mayor Ireland said the land use application is pending until Council approves or defeats Ordinance #34. Mayor Ireland noted Council has the power to refer a question to the voters. Mayor Ireland said he would like this issue disposed of no later than the November 2009 ballot. Mayor Ireland said if there is consensus on this project and it will not be referred to the voters, Council may approve an amended project. Bob Daniel, Lift One Lodge, said everyone in the process worked hard on the project. Daniel noted the ordinance as currently written does not allow the landowners to control their own destiny. Daniel said a modification he would like is the ability for one of the projects to move forward without the other project. Daniel said while this went through a master plan, there are separate owners. Daniel said Lift One Lodge needs to be able to talk with the community and with Council on a project that works on their property in the context of an overall master plan and can move forward independently. 4 Reeular Meetine: Aspen City Council March 23, 2009 Mayor Ireland said there were too many unresolved issues to work out at the last meeting. Mayor Ireland stated there should be time to look at scale and mass and affordability of the units. The COWOP did solve a lot of problems, but not all of them. Daniel agreed there has been a large amount of work done and this project is not at square one. This is an opportunity to pause and relook at the project. Phyllis Bronson asked if this will be two separate projects. Mayor Ireland said the two property owners want to know what each could do separately. Les Holst said he would like to see the project go away permanently and would like it put on the ballot to that end. Holst said he would like the developers to clean up the site and to get rid of the attractive hazards. Holst said if this comes back, the project should have to comply entirely with the AACP and the land use code, that no variances are included. Mayor Ireland aid the city did create standards for reclamation of restoring the land to its original conditions. The larger issues, scale and mass and what is appropriate for the community, are what will be addressed by the community. Toni Kronberg said she hopes the project that is brought back to Council will have community consensus and it will not be referred. Mayor Ireland moved to rescind his previous motion to put this ordinance to a vote; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilman Skadron requested Resolution #17 and 18 be pulled from the consent calendar. Mayor Ireland moved to approve the consent calendaz as amended; seconded by Councilman Skadron. The consent calendar is: • Main Street Light Pole Banner Request - Aspen Institute/Aspen Music Festival • Appointment Election Commission Members - Milias, Bryan • Minutes -March 9, 2009 All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #17, 2009 -Contract Capital Project Planning Software Ashley Ernemann, finance department, reminded Council the Burlingame audit committee recommended the city have integrated project management softwaze for capital projects. Ms. Ernemann told Council staff, including, IT, engineering, asset management, housing, parks and utility, worked on this contract, including demonstrations from 3 groups. Ms. Ernemann said staff felt CIP Planner was a standout company; they are a government solution. The softwaze will allow the city to track and Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 23, 2009 manage complex multi-year projects as well as keep track of projects not yet part of the budget. Staff will be able to rank all the projects and to allocate funding. Councilman Skadron asked about the inclusion of the new capital assets manager; why this contract is not a line item in the capital projects budget; and why this will insure the efficient use of public funds, what value is realized through efficiency gains. Ms. Ernemann told Council the project was started before Scott Miller, the new capital assets manager, was a city employee but he was involved in the decision. The decision was the finance department should be in charge of this because it is an audit feature. Ms. Ernemann told Council finance will pay one-half of this software out of departmental savings; the remainder of the costs will be allocated to the other projects. Ms. Ernemann reminded Council, during the budget process they were interested in potential projects, how they maybe ranked against other projects and where the money was to come from. Councilwoman Kasabach asked how quickly this software will be operational. Ms. Ernemann said the implementation will take about 2 months and staff plans to use this software for capital projects for the 2010 budget. Mayor Ireland moved to adopt Resolution #17, Series of 2008, Contract Capital Project Planning Software; seconded by Councilman Romero. Al] in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #18, 2009 -Support of Film Commission Councilman Skadron stated he is opposed to this.. Councilman Skadron noted it is stated that Aspen is one of the most sought after film locations, second only to Denver. Councilman Skadron said he is against the aggressive promotion of Aspen's natural resources and the life style Aspen residents fight to preserve for commercial purposes. Councilman Skadron stated this is a front range bill and disregards the potential impacts to the resources in the Roaring Fork Valley. Councilman Johnson moved to approve Resolution #18, Series of 2009; seconded by Councilwoman Kasabach. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Skadron. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #8. SERIES OF 2009 -Jewish Community Center at Silver Lining Ranch SPA Amendment Jennifer Phelan, community development deparhnent, told Council this ordinance will allow the Jewish Community Center to locate to 1490 Ute Avenue. The Jewish Community Center would like to conduct religious services and a day care at this location. The applicants will provide on-site affordable housing. This will require an amendment to the SPA to allow for the religious use, as well as growth management review as an essential public facility. Ms. Phelan noted this is a reuse of an existing building with a detached affordable housing unit. Reeular Meeting Ashen City Council March 23, 2009 Councilman Skadron moved to read Ordinance #8, Series of 2009; seconded by Councilman Johnson. Councilwoman Kasabach said she likes the recycling of an existing building in a beautiful location. Councilwoman Kasabach stated she is very concerned about the traffic on Ute avenue. Councilwoman Kasabach said the plan in the packet on traffic and transportation is not sufficient. Alan Richman, representing the applicant, said they will address this in depth at the public hearing and will have specific recommendations to offset the traffic. Councilman Skadron said a letter in the paper states that the traffic impacts aze understated, that the monitoring restrictions aze impractical, and that future expansion cannot occur. Richman said the applicants will address these issues. Mayor Ireland agreed he, too, is concerned about traffic. Mayor Ireland said he does like the re- use of an existing building as opposed to building a new building. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE N0. 8 (SERIES OF 2009) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN CITY COUNCIL APPROVING A CONSOLIDATED SPECIALLY PLANNED AREA (SPA) AMENDMENT AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT REVIEW AS AN ESSENTIAL PUBLIC FACILITY FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE SILVER LINING RANCH INTO A JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER„ LOCATED ON LOT 5 OF THE STILLWATER RANCH SUBDIVISION, COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE SILVER LINING RANCH, 1490 UTE AVENUE, CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO. Councilman Romero moved to adopt Ordinance #8, Series of 2009, on first reading; seconded by Councilman Johnson. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Skadron, yes; Johnson, yes; Kasabach, yes, Romero, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. Richman suggested a site visit before second reading. Council agreed to do this as a group and have staff set that up. ORDINANCE #5, SERIES OF 2009 -SPA Amendment Pitkin County Jail Jennifer Phelan, community development department, told Council there were problems with the notice requirements and requested Council continue this so the notice can be rectified. Councilman Johnson moved to continue Ordinance #5, Series of 2009, to April 13, 2009; seconded by Mayor Ireland. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #6, SERIES OF 2009 -Growth Management Aspen Ambulance District 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 23, 2009 Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Johnson moved to adopt Ordinance #6, Series of 2009, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Romero. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Kasabach, yes; Johnson, yes; Romero, yes; Skadron, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. Councilman Johnson moved to adjourn at 6:25 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried. Kat .Koch, ity Clerk