Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20090608Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 8, 2009 CITIZEN COMMENTS ................................................................................................. .... 2 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS .............................................................................. .... 2 CONSENT CALENDAR ............................................................................................... .... 3 Minutes -May 27, 2009 ..................................................................................... .... 3 • Resolution #32, 2009 - 745/765 Meadows Road Demolition Permit ................ .... 3 ORDINANCE #16, SERIES OF 2009 - 210 W. Francis Ordinance #48 Negotiation .. .... 3 ORDINANCE #13, SERIES OF 2009 - 219 S. Third Ordinance #48 Negotiation....... .... 3 SWEARING IN MAYOR AND COUNCIL .................................................................. .... 8 COUNCIL COMMENTS ............................................................................................... .... 9 CONSENT CALENDAR ............................................................................................... .... 9 • Resolution #33, 2009 -Contract Waste Removal/Recycling Services .............. .... 9 • Resolution #34, 2009 -Gymnastics Service Agreement .................................... .... 9 • Resolution #35, 2009 -Contract Childcare Play Improvements Project ........... .... 9 RESOLUTION #36, SERIES OF 2009 -Dimensional Variance 1495 Homestake Dri ve 9 RESOLUTION #37, SERIES OF 2009 -Extension of Vested Rights 300 S. Spring... .. 11 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 8 2009 Mayor Ireland called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m. with Councilmembers Johnson, Skadron, Romero and Kasabach present. CITIZEN COMMENTS There were none. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilwoman Kasabach said she has served on Burlingame Housing Inc. as a Councilperson. There are few meetings and she suggested the representative be from staff rather than from Council. 2. Councilwoman Kasabach asked if the Lone Pine neighborhood pedestrian improvements are on this summer's work schedule. Steve Barwick, city manager, said he will find out and report back to Council. 3. Councilwoman Kasabach brought up land use applications for small projects, like the data center of less than 300 square feet for Pitkin County. The applications for these projects are voluminous and Councilwoman Kasabach suggested a different requirement for small projects. 4. Councilman Skadron stated he attended the community health fair at Aspen Valley Hospital. Councilman Skadron said there is no better community event that this health fair. Councilman Skadron thanked the AVH, the volunteers and the staff for putting on this event. 5. Councilman Skadron thanked Councilwoman Kasabach for stepping up and applying for the Council vacancy and for her hard work. Councilwoman Kasabach said she appreciated the appointment and loved serving on Council. 6. Councilman Johnson thanked everyone 7. Mayor Ireland said Aspen never has an election that is a choice of the lesser of evils. Mayor Ireland said Aspen has a surfeit of talented people who run for Council. Mayor Ireland stated he is pleased to serve with Councilwoman Kasabach and Councilman Johnson. People who run for office do it because they care about the community more than themselves. 8. Mayor Ireland announced last Saturday a group of 12 people met to discuss health care in Aspen. 9. Mayor h•eland said he is riding in Ride the Rockies and will have a package of information promoting Aspen. There will be signs along the way posting the mileage to Aspen. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 8 2009 10. Steve Aitken, golf course, told Council the Aspen Golf Course has been chosen as one of the top 50 courses in the nation by Golf Magazine. The Aspen Golf Course was ranked number 17`n. Aitken told Council the improvements over the past 7 years have greatly enhanced the course. Aitken noted that the best junior golfers are playing the course this weekend. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilman Skadron moved to approve the consent calendar; seconded by Councilwoman Kasabach. The consent calendar is: Minutes -May 27, 2009 Resolution #32, 2009 - 745/765 Meadows Road Demolition Permit All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #16. SERIES OF 2009 - 210 W. Francis Ordinance #48 Negotiation Councilman Romero moved to continue Ordinance #16, Series of 2009, to June 22; seconded by Councilman Skadron. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #13, SERIES OF 2009 - 219 S. Third Ordinance #48 Negotiation Mayor Ireland noted Council has spent a lot of time on this issue and has listened to presentations for and against this proposal. Mayor Ireland said at the last meeting, Council indicated they were in favor of the setback and lot split but not all the FAR requested. Amy Guthrie, community development department, told Council this property is listed on Ordinance #48; there are 53 properties listed on Ordinance #48 and 12 of these have tried to go through the process and only 2 have entered into negotiations to offer designation towards historic designation. This is a 1965's modern Chalet style house; HPC granted conceptual approval for an addition to the building and a 500 square foot FAR bonus. A lot split is applied for to separate out the existing house and to create a lot for new development. The new lot would have all the FAR in a detached building. Ms. Guthrie noted the incentives in historic designation are always a negotiation. The issues are a front yard setback variance; the applicant is asking for a variance of 16.5 feet. from 25 feet to 8.5 in order to align the new house with the historic structure. The majority of HPC supported the concept of setting buildings back a similar distance. Ms. Guthrie said a setback variance would allow more flexibility in the design of the new structure rather than have to squeeze all the development into a smaller footprint. Ms. Guthrie reminded Council the applicant is also asking fora 493 square foot FAR bonus. Chris Bendon, community development department, noted the ordinance lists the 6 items up for negotiation. Ms. Guthrie said 5025 square feet is being requested for the total development. ReEUlar Meeting Aspen City Council June 8, 2009 Councilman Skadron asked about the 500 squaze foot FAR bonus. Ms. Guthrie said this bonus is granted by HPC. Ms. Guthrie told Council 5,025 square feet is the total being requested by the applicant. Councilman Skadron asked about the miscalculation regarding squaze footage. Ms. Guthrie noted the applicant needs over 200 squaze feet of the proposed additiona1493 square feet to cover an error in the calculation of the existing building. Councilman Skadron noted that staff s recommendation contrasts with that of HPC. Ms. Guthrie said HPC has worked hard to help the applicant minimize the impact of this project on the neighborhood and concluded they were happy with the project. At the last meeting, HPC voted 3 to 0 not to recommend the additiona1493 squaze feet of FAR. Bendon said staff prefers to come to Council in agreement with referral boards, which does not always happen, and this contributes to a healthy debate of the issues. Suzanne Foster, applicant, thanked staff and HPC for all the work that has been put into this project. Ms. Foster said she believes historically post war structures will become azchitectural jewels of tomorrow. Ms. Foster said a renovated post war structure does not have the same value as a renovated Victorian. Ms. Foster said these potentially historic structures need additional incentives to make them happen and Ordinance #48 contains the latitude to give additional incentives. Ms. Foster said she looked at scrape and replace as well as historic designation with an additional structure. Ms. Foster said they prefer the historic designation. Ms. Foster said choosing to preserve the modern style chalet will result in less heated living space. Ms. Foster said the architect miscalculated the existing FAR of the duplex by 269 squaze feet, which was discovered when the rear yard setback was increased at HPC's request. Ms. Foster told Council they intended to move the FAR to the new structure. Ms. Foster told Council the request for 493 squaze feet bonus was based on financial calculations and was the minimum they would accept and would bring parity to the table. Ms. Foster said the applicants feel a 1907 square foot house is smaller than it should be for a lot of this size; at 2400 square feet the house would be of appropriate size and of parity and value. This does not offset the value of preserving the historic structure and anything less than 2400 square feet does not make economic sense. Ms. Foster said the 493 square foot bonus would preserve a historic resource; the density would decrease by one family; bedrooms would decrease from 12 to 6, cars would decrease from 6 to 4; the total heated living space would decrease 1500 square fee and the lineal building footage along the alley would drop from 52 to 35 feet. The new single family house is subject to review by HPC. Ms. Foster said Council has to decide if a 493 square foot bonus is an acceptable compromise to preserve a historic landmark as well as to pave the way for future success of Ordinance #48. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Jody Edwazds, representing the Youngs, passed out section of the land use code, 26.480.030, exemptions and historic lot splits and procedure for review. A development application for a subdivision shall be reviewed pursuant to the procedures and standards of the land use chapter. Edwards said subdivision standards are required to be reviewed in the context of historic lot splits. Edwards noted there is nothing in this application 4 Regular Meeting Aspen Citv Council June 8, 2009 about compliance with the Aspen Area community Plan. Edward said Council should decide whether they are going to review this under the subdivision standards. Edwards said the last whereas clause of the ordinance states this proposal is consistent with the goals of the AACP and that has never been discussed. Edwards said he would like to know the factual basis behind that statement. Paul Young, 413 West Hopkins, said he has paid financially for the city's right to own the Midland trail. Young told Council said they would like a standard front yazd setback for lot 2 free market house for the new single family structure; a height limit of 18' will protect the public trail, the FAR should be kept at 1616, he opposes the mission statement of the historic guidelines chapter 11, the June 8`h memorandum states this project is the same size as what could be obtained going through the code process. Young said this is only true if the existing duplex is scraped and a deed restricted unit is added. This project consists only of free market FARs, no deed restricted units. Young said this is not an exemplary project. Benefits have already been granted by HPC and the financial benefits, if all granted, could add up to $3 million. Young said the benefits would overload the site. Young said the front yard setback and the 18' roof are the key elements of the project to protect the chazacter of the neighborhood. Angela Young, 413 West Hopkins, quoted from the Aspen Area Community Plan stating the preservation process should be one of reason, balance, predictably and fairness. Ms Young said the developer's request for FAR and setbacks put to test the safeguards in the land use code and historic preservation guidelines. Ms. Young stated this current proposal almost triples the amount of FAR currently on site. The predictability of this project is almost non-existent and the numbers keep changing. Ms. Young said variances should not be used for private gain. Paul Young N said too much is requested for this site. Jake Vickery, representing the Youngs, noted the applicant is showing a footprint for a house located on lot 2, the garage is 250 sf, lower and upper floors 1990 square feet. Vickery asked if these numbers represent what they are seeking approval for. Vickery noted there aze no dimension drawings for what the models represent. There are no dimension plans for the existing building. All of these are required for a valid land use application. Council is being asked to approve designation as well as land use approval and there is not a complete or accurate application. Vickery opined a reasonable structure on this lot is 1600 FAR square feet. This proposal would remove all usable open space from this lot. Vickery said there is no demonstrated hardship for any variances. Vickery noted the code calls for any new structures on a historic lot split to be compatible in mass and scale. Vickery asked that the height be limited to 18' on lot 2. Dan McCarty, 333 West Hopkins, said the applicant has stated they need the historic designation and lot split in order to be able to afford this project. McCarty said granting this approval would be asking the neighbors to subsidize this development. McCarty stated economic incentives can be a detriment to the community. Heidi Hoffinan told Council she did some architecture work on this lot 5 years ago to design a new duplex and associated affordable housing. Ms. Hoffinan stated she does not support the FAR 5 Reuular Meeting Aspen City Council June 8, 2009 proposal for this lot. This modern chalet is not that remazkable and the addition is not sensitive to the building. Ms. Hoffinan said the new structure should abide by the front yard setback of 25'. Ms. Hoffman said this project should abide by the city's residential design standazds. Ms. Hoffman said she believes in building better but not building big and it should be a model for the community. Junee Kirk, historic preservation task force, said it seems this applicant is not justified in requesting all the incentives and the extra FAR. Ms. Kirk said a lot split and new building would ruin the integrity of the building that the city is trying to preserve. Bill Wiener said if this house were designated historic, the addition would not be approved. A historic structure is 3-dimensional and can be seen from the alley, the street and the trail. The reason for preservation will be lost by an addition to the house. Wiener said the new building will have a big impact on the trail. Wiener said this solution does not protect a historic structure, it compromises the neighborhood, and the trail will lose its integrity. Marsha Cook gave a letter to Council from Jack Wilke. Ms. Cook said she is concerned about the precedence of this approval. Ms. Cook noted the historic task force has not voted whether to preserve modern chalets. Ms. Cook said she does not feel modern chalets represent Aspen's history. Mc. Cook requested Council include a clarification, if they approve this proposal, stating the approval is being made during an interim period where the importance of post WWII structures are being evaluated and this specific decision should not be used in the future to validate the appropriateness of modern chalets. Michael Behrendt said after 18 months, there is no exit for any property that is on Ordinance 481ist, which is an unfair imposition. Behrendt said if there is no difference in real estate values between historically designated houses and not, why is the Council considering $3 million in incentives to save a building, especially when the category is not on the historic list. Behrendt said if Council is inclined to go forward, the caveat outlined by Ms. Cook should be included. Jody Gerberg agreed with previous comments. Jay Maytin reminded Council HPC gave them a recommendation on this building and followed their guidelines in granting a conditional approval. Maytin said there has not been a lot of negotiating. Maytin told Council he favors the 493 square foot bonus to save this house. This structure was built there and is part of Aspen's history. Maytin said the applicant has agreed to the conditions asked for by the HPC. Maytin asked Council to consider what this corner will look like if this building is not preserved. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Bendon pointed out the standards of review for this project are cited in the staff memo; the standards for historic lot split are 26.480.030. Bendon said the evolution of town it a difficult issue and there are many differing opinions. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 8, 2009 Councilwoman Kasabach said the FAR being requested for two structures is 5025 square feet and what is the FAR of a new development. Ms. Foster said it is 3652 square feet of free market FAR for a duplex, a 600 square foot bonus and 1200 square feet for a carriage house, total 5452 square feet. Councilman Romero moved to adopt Ordinance #13, Series of 2009, on second reading; seconded by Mayor Ireland. Councilman Romero said Council has discussed the trade offs and the community's reliance on balance between historic preservation and affordable housing. Councilman Romero said Council talked about growth and preservation and how Ordinance #48 is the tool to affect some of the community core values. Councilman Romero acknowledged the applicant for being the first to proceed through this public negotiation process. Councilman Romero noted the applicant modified the request For vesting and to make a cash-in-lieu payment rather than request a waiver of affordable housing mitigation. Councilman Romero said he has concerns about the size of the FAR request and is not comfortable with the size and scale. Councilman Romero said Council needs to be able to negotiate, to have subjectivity and the discretion to interpret the values as expressed in the AACP. Councilman Romero said the FAR is tipping the scale on this application. Councilman Romero stated he is willing to support the setback variances, the lot split, the secondary mass waiver, and the affordable housing cash-in-lieu at the current rate. Councilman Johnson said he agreed he could support all the requests except the extra FAR. Councilman Skadron pointed out staffls recommendation differs from HPC's recommendation, which differs from the historic preservation task force recommendation, which is different from the applicant's request, which is different from the neighbor's interests. Councilman Skadron said it is difficult to imagine why the neighbors would prefer the scrape and replace alternative to this proposal. Councilman Skadron agreed historic preservation is more than the structure itself. Councilman Skadron said there is too much square footage proposed for this lot for the project to be exemplary and the property is overburdened with requests. Councilman Skadron said he could approve the lot split, the variances, and the cash-in-lieu but there is too much development to support the entire project. Councilwoman Kasabach said the bottom line is whether a modem chalet style structure is worth saving by historic designation. Councilwoman Kasabach said Council has not made a determination whether this style is worth saving. Councilwoman Kasabach said the alternative is scrape and replacement of a potential historic structure, resulting in a 4200 square foot. building plus a 1200 square foot ADU carriage house. Councilwoman Kasabach said she cannot imagine who would want that alternative. Councilwoman Kasabach said she could approve a smaller FAR increase. Mayor Ireland agreed this application should not be used to establish that Council has accepted that the modern chalet is worth preserving or not. Mayor Ireland said there are Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 8, 2009 modern chalet buildings in Aspen and the people who built them did it to evoke another place and time. Mayor Ireland cautioned to be careful for what you want and what could replace this structure. Mayor Ireland said he would have looked on the FAR differently if HPC recommended the 493 extra square footage. Mayor Ireland said the Council does not have an objective way to evaluate what the extra square footage means. Mayor Ireland moved to delete benefit #2, page 24, section 4 the 493 squaze foot FAR bonus; seconded by Councilman Romero. Councilman Johnson said if the applicant does not like what Council is negotiating, can they reject the proposal. Jim True, special counsel, told Council this proposal was conditioned upon voluntary designation and if Council is making a condition, staff would recommend this voluntary designation occur within 30 days. Bendon pointed out the ordinance contains historic designation language. Bendon said there are also check points for filing subdivision plats and agreements and if these do not happen, it voids the approval. All in Favor, motion carried. Councilwoman Kasabach moved to add a 250 square foot bonus back in as a benefit; seconded by Councilman Johnson. Councilman Romero said he would prefer to see how this would be added to the project. Councilman Skadron said the HPC agreed to the incentives without the extra square feet because that would overburden the historic resource. Councilman Skadron said the historic preservation task force has opined that modern chalets are not considered to be exemplary at this time and the benefits aze not available. Councilmembers Johnson and Kasabach in favor; Councilmembers Romero, Skadron and Mayor Ireland opposed. Motion NOT carried. Mayor Ireland moved to adopt Ordinance #13, Series of 2009, to provide a 30 day time within which to obtain historic designation; seconded by Councilman Romero. Mayor Ireland said it is the Council's position that this does not create a class of buildings that are historically designated or not. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Skadron, yes; Johnson, yes; Kasabach, yes; Romero, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. Mayor Ireland read proclamations into the record commending Jack Johnson and Jackie Kasabach for their hard work and dedication to serving Aspen with distinction. SWEARING IN MAYOR AND COUNCIL Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 8, 2009 Municipal Judge Brooke Peterson gave the oath of office to Mick Ireland as Mayor and to Torre and Derek Johnson as new Council. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilman Johnson thanked Jackie Kasabach and Jack Johnson for their service to the community. 2. Councilman Torre said he is honored to be elected to Council and thanked Jackie Kasabach and Jack Johnson for their service. 3. Councilman Skadron welcomed Councilmembers Johnson and Torre. 4. Councilman Romero congratulated Councilmembers Johnson and Torre and Mayor Ireland and stated he is proud to be serving on Council and to represent the community. 5. Mayor Ireland welcomed the new Council and applauded the election campaigns as being free from negativity. Mayor Ireland thanked everyone who ran for Mayor and Council and contributed to the city with their efforts. Mayor Ireland said the citizens have made it clear they want Council to manage growth, not zero or unlimited growth; the citizens want Council to protect the environment, to create affordable housing opportunities, to continue to have a balanced budget. CONSENT CALENDAR Mayor Ireland moved to adopt the consent calendar; seconded by Councilman Romero. The consent calendar is: • Resolution #33, 2009 -Contract Waste Removal/Recycling Services • Resolution #34, 2009 -Gymnastics Service Agreement • Resolution #35, 2009 -Contract Childcare Play Improvements Project Councilman Skadron asked about the city's ability to control the gymnastic program. Tim Anderson, recreation director, said the program will be run in the same fashion as it has been. John Bakken will administer the program; this will help with the budgetary challenges by reducing city administrative costs. City staff will work with Bakken on fees, which will be amended by ordinance in July. Anderson noted this is an affordable program. All in favor. motion carried. RESOLUTION #36, SERIES OF 2009 -Dimensional Variance 1495 Homestake Drive Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 8, 2009 Jessica Garrow, community development department, said this request is for property located off the 2"d hole at the Aspen Municipal Golf Course. The applicant is requesting a height variance to construct a 14' fence made of golf netting to be up during the golf season, May to October. The applicant requests the fence be placed along the western property line; staff met with the applicant on site and recommends the fence run along the western property line and turn into the applicant's property. Ms. Garrow illustrated staff's proposed alternative for the fence. Ms. Garrow said there is an existing 42" high split rail fence and the golf netting would weave through the trees and not encroach into city property on the golf course. This alternative is preferred because it does not encroach on city property and it will protect a large stand of trees at the back of the property. Ms. Garrow said weaving the fence through the trees will lower the visibility of the fence. Ms. Garrow outlined the 3 standards to meet in order to grant a variance. Ms. Garrow noted Council can consider whether there are circumstances that are unique to that parcel and that do not result from actions by the applicant. Staff finds that all 3 conditions are met and recommends approval of the variance. There aze few, if any, lots in the city that would be affected this way. Ms. Garrow said a 14' high, removable fence, is the minimum variance that would allow reasonable use of this parcel. Councilman Skadron asked if staff received comments from neighbors. Ms. Garrow noted there is one letter in the packet from the owner of the other half of the duplex, who would prefer the fence run along the propert~ line. Ryan Pardue, representing the applicant, noted this house sticks into the 2" fairway and people have driven balls into this house. Pardue said there is a safety risk. Pardue presented an alternative location for the fence which would include an encroachment onto the golf course and would work with city staff on precise placement of the fence. Pardue said this location will keep balls in play, prevent the loss of golf balls, and reduce trespassing on the applicant's property. Mayor Ireland asked if there is a limitation on the city's ability to put a net on the golf course. John Worcester, city attorney, said netting on the golf course is not an abnormal function of the golf course. Mayor Ireland said he would like staff to make sure the netting is bird friendly. Councilman Torre asked about liability to the city. Pardue said the applicants would be willing to sign a license. Ms. Garrow said the reason staff recommended the placement of the fence is to protect the trees. Councilman Johnson said there is a perceived narrowing here and with improved technology, people are hitting balls farther. Councilman Johnson asked if winding the fence through the trees will cause a problem with the trees. Brian Flynn, parks department, told Council staff wants to keep the liability off the city property and supports the fence on the applicant's property. Mayor Ireland said if the majority of Council is okay with the fence on city property, Council could direct staff to create an encroachment and bring it back to the next Council. Councilman Torre stated he supports staff recommendation to have the fence on the applicant's property; it is not up to the city to protect this property. Councilman Skadron said he, too, would support 10 Regular Meetine Aspen City Council June 8, 2009 staff s recommendation. Councilman Johnson said he supports putting a net somewhere. Councilman Romero said he would be comfortable with an encroachment agreement and having the net on city property. Council requested staff prepare an encroachment agreement for the next packet. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Romero moved to continue Resolution #36, Series of 2009, to June 22; seconded by Councilman Skadron. Mayor Ireland said he would like to see this as a year to year license so that Council can review it if it is not working or is unsightly. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #37, SERIES OF 2009 -Extension of Vested Rights 300 S. Spring Ben Gagnon, community development department, requested a condition be added, if Council approves this extension, the building department requests a design and installation of improvements to the completed building at 300 S. Spring to improve fire prevention. Bob Daniel, applicant, told Council they are okay with this condition. Gagnon said staff recommends a 1 year extension; the applicant requests 3 year extension. Gagnon told Council the 2 free market units have already been built and 2 out of the 3 affordable housing units have been built. Gagnon said staff felt 3 years to get the other affordable units was too long. Dave Myler, representing the applicant, stated they do not disagree about the timing of the affordable housing unit. The 3`a unit was required as a result of the residential project. This is a mixed used project where one takes the component requirin~ the most affordable housing to establish the mitigation requirement. Myler said the 3` unit is housing for the combined commercial/residential project and until the commercial phase is constructed, there is no job generation. Myler said the applicants do not want to be required to build office space to have it sit empty, which is not in the community's best interest. Myler said the applicants would like some flexibility and they could live with a 2 year extension. Myler noted there is no demand for office space at the moment. Mayor Ireland moved to approve Resolution #37B extension of vested rights for 2 years of vesting, adding the fire protection amended; seconded by Councilman Romero. Councilman Torre said he would favor a one year extension and does not want to extend construction in Aspen. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. 11 Regular Meeting Asaen City Council June 8, 2009 Councilmembers Torre and Skadron opposed; Councilmembers Romero, Johnson and Mayor Ireland in favor. Motion tamed. Councilman Johnson moved to adjourn at 8 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Romero. Al] in favor, motion carried. Kathryn Koch, City Clerk 12