Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20010514Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 14, 2001 Mayor Richards called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. with Councilmembers Hershey, McCabe, and Markalunas present. PROCLAMATION - Arbor Day The Mayor and City Council proclaimed May 12, 2001 as ARBOR DAY and urged all citizens to support efforts to care for trees, woodlands and to support Aspen’s community forestry program. PROCLAMATION - Memorial Day Observance The Mayor and City Council proclaim the last Monday in May each year as MEMORIAL DAY : A COMMUNITY DAY OF REMEMBRANCE in the City of Aspen, and urge all citizens to participate in the observance of this day. Anne Owsley accepted the proclamation and requested Council approve an annual appropriation for this Community picnic. Ms. Owsley reminded Council last year they gave $200 for the picnic. Council said they will add this appropriation to the consent calendar. Ms. Owsley also asked for city help in putting on the memorial Day and Veteran's Day observances, like putting up the flags and the banner, getting the street closed. Ms. Owsley said the community needs to come out and support the Veterans. RESOLUTION #55, SERIES OF 2001 - Official Flower - Sweetpea In honor of Jim and Ramona Markalunas' service to the City as dedicated Councilmembers and devoted fans of the sweetpeas and in recognition of the city's most significant historic flower, the sweet pea is hereby adopted as the "official flower" of the City of Aspen. Councilman Markalunas moved to adopt Resolution #55, Series of 2001; seconded by Councilman McCabe. All in favor, motion carried. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 14, 2001 1. Ron Erickson, P & Z, asked Council the procedure for the approval of st the Aspen Mountain PUD. Council was to meet with P & Z on May 1 before this hearing. Mayor Richards said Council has copies of P & Z member's concerns and will take these into consideration as well as hearing from P & Z members during the public hearing. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Markalunas thanked all the candidates who participated in the recent election. There was a lot of thoughtful discussion in this election. Councilman McCabe also thanked the candidates. 2. Councilman Hershey commended the streets department for their annual spring clean up. It is a great program, they work very hard and the citizens appreciate it. 3. Coun cilman McCabe said a bear attacked and knocked over a dumpster on East Hopkins. The dumpster did not open and the bear did not get any food. The program seems to be working. 4. Steve Barwick, city manager, requested VII(e) Resolution #54, 2001 - Colorado Riff Raft Temporary Use Permit be moved in front of the Aspen Mountain PUD. Council agreed. 5. Julie Ann Woods, community development department, introduced Steve Clay, a new city planner. 6. Steve Barwick, City Manager, requested Council add an execu tive session for land acquisition to the end of the agenda. 7. Councilman McCabe moved to add $200 contribution from Council contingency to the Memorial Day events. This should be part of Council's annual budget. All in favor, motion carried. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilman Markalunas moved to adopt the consent calendar as amended; seconded by Councilman Hershey. 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 14, 2001 Mayor Richards thanked the CORE board for their hard work on the REMP funds. The additional money from REMP is beneficial to the entire community. The consent agenda is: · Resolution #49, Series of 2001 - Contract - Loris - Cemetery Lane Trails · Resolution #51, Series of 2001 - HVAC Contract - Wheeler · Resolution #52, Series of 2001 - Wheeler Roofing Replacement & Repair Contract · Resolution #53, Series of 2001 - Bobcat Skid Loader Electric Department · Resolution #56, Series of 2001 - Renewable Energy Mitigation Program Funds Approval · Request for Funds - Memorial Day Observance - $200 Council Contingency Roll call vote; Councilmembers Hershey, yes; McCabe, yes; Markalunas, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #13, SERIES OF 2001 - Supplemental Appropriations Mike Cain, budget director, noted Council has seen the majority of these requests. Cain said the $96,000 for Wagner park should be removed for a fuller discussion later on. Cain pointed out there is funding for an increased wildlife enforcement program, which is on the agenda for approval. Cain said he can make any adjustment on the wildlife program before the ordinance is signed. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. Councilman Markalunas moved to adopt Ordinance #13, Series of 2001, on second reading deleting $96,000 for Wagner Park; seconded by Councilman McCabe. Roll call vote; Councilmembers McCabe, yes; Markalunas, yes; Hershey, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 14, 2001 Councilman Markalunas said he is pleased to see an appropriation for car sharing. Councilman Markalunas said he hopes everyone will participate in it; it is a great way to solve the traffic problems. ORDINANCE #15, SERIES OF 2001 - 328 Park Avenue Historic Designation Amy Guthrie, community development department, told Council the applicants have worked with HPC on renovating and developing this site. They will be removing the concrete block building and placing the historic building in a prominent spot on Park Avenue. Ms. Guthrie said these meets two criteria, architectural importance and community character, for historic designation. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. Councilman Markalunas moved to adopt Ordinance #15, Series of 2001, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Hershey. Councilman Markalunas commended the new owners for their efforts to clean up and restore the property. Councilman McCabe said this is an excellent project and quickly gained housing authority approval. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Markalunas, yes; Hershey, yes; McCabe, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #16, SERIES OF 2001 - Historic Designation 101 East Hallam Amy Guthrie, community development department, told Council this house is located across the street from Red Brick school and was a guest house for th the Cowenhoven's. The house has features typical of a 19 century residence and is one of the few brick residences left from that period. This structure meets 4 of the 5 criteria necessary for historic designation. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 14, 2001 Councilman Markalunas moved to adopt ordinance #16, Series of 2001, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Hershey. Roll call vote; Councilmembers McCabe, yes; Hershey, yes; Markalunas, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. RESOLUTION #54, SERIES OF 2001 - Temporary use Permit - Colorado Riff Raft James Lindt, community development department, told Council this application is to use the Aspen Skiing Company parking lot at Juan and South Aspen as a staging area for a rafting business. Last year Council indicated they would not approve this location for a temporary use again and the applicant should find another location. Lindt said the applicant has not found another location. This site is part of the Savanah Barbee development and will probably not be available next year. Lindt suggested a proposed condition that the applicant submit a report at the end of the temporary use period to insure they are looking for a permanent location. Lindt recommended approval with that condition. Peter told Council last year he spent considerable amount of time looking for a location that is large enough and not in the middle of a residential location. Peter told Council he has been in contact with the Skiing company who is willing to discuss options like Buttermilk or Highlands. Mayor Richards said she supports this temporary use application and the condition suggested by Lindt. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. Councilman Hershey moved to approve Resolution #54, Series of 2001; seconded by Councilman McCabe. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Markalunas, yes; Hershey, yes; McCabe, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. ASPEN MOUNTAIN PUD Julie Ann Woods, community development department, reminded Council this is an amendment to an already approval conceptual PUD to deal with the issue of fractional fee ownership. Ms. Woods said staff recommended the applicants come in with an amendment before going to final approval. 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 14, 2001 Scott Writer, applicant, presented charts on how this property will operate, the level at which it will be rented and at which it will be available to the th public. Writer noted these will be sold for 1/20 intervals or 17 days; the purchasers will get a 7 day fixed week and 10 days available at anytime. Writer said if weeks are not used, they can be given to other timeshare owners in Hyatt Vacation Ownership. If the units is not taken 60 days before occupancy, it is available to anyone and will be marketed through ACRA and any other marketing groups. Owners could also put one or two of their bedrooms into the rental market and still have a studio unit. Mayor Richards asked if there is a mechanism to collect sales tax on rental units not leased through ACRA. Writer said this is an enforcement issue and said they will do what they can to make sure sales tax is paid on rental units. Don Shuster, Vice president Aspen Skiing Company, said the Ski Company th favors this 1/20 interval ownership project, which will generate a higher occupancy than a hotel. It will bring new people to the community, and it will bring people here in the off season. Shuster suggested staff contact cities that have Hyatt Vacation Ownership properties and find out their experiences with occupancy and with taxes. Tim Semrau asked if it is typical that these type of facilities do not have restaurants. John Burlingame said it is typical not to have restaurant facilities and that the guests use the local restaurants. Mayor Richards noted one P & Z member was concerned that this be one week or 10 days purchase so that the units do not turn into second homes. Writer said the package is 17 days, 7 fixed days and 10 random. An owner cannot stack their fixed and random days. Mayor Richards asked if there is a way to assure the management with Hyatt can be long term. Burlingame said the term of the contract is governed by state statute; it is between 3 or 5 years. Councilman McCabe said he is trying to get figures for room rental so he can compare it to a hotel. Council said they would like to see the annual assessment fee, the fee to be in the trade program, the management fee. Writer said their projections are owners will occupy the project 30%; exchangers 35% and rental units 35% and the other 5% would be complimentary. Writer told Council at least 40% of the gross revenues will be committed to marketing and sales. 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 14, 2001 Kim Weil, architect, showed the elevations, noting the roof comes to street level at the end to have a low grounding effect. The windows are residential in scale. The material is brick and sandstone. Weil showed the lobby and the small service bar. Steve Falender asked if this is the same plan as for the earlier approved hotel. Weil said it is; Weil showed the approved 45 feet height at the northeast corner. Weil said at some point, a height variance no longer applies as the land slopes up and the roof is horizontal. Jerry Moncarsh, adjacent property owner, said they favor a time share project but object to the height. Moncarsh noted the applicants have a 60% th variance in height. Moncarsh said he would like to see the 4 story eliminated. Sunny Vann, representing the applicants, pointed out there is no height variance at the rear of the building; it is within the height limit permitted within the code. Vann said the largest variance requested is on the front of the property and decreases as the building goes toward the mountain. Weil said the first townhouse proposal was 54 feet at Dean street; redrawn to 47 feet. This was also the height of the hotel as first proposed; this was reduced to 45 feet at the Council's request. Peter Thomas, representing the Galena Place Townhouses, said this building is too high. Thomas said a PUD is for flexibility in design; however, there must be some guidelines. Thomas quoted from the land use code, "the underlying zone district shall be used as a guide in determining the appropriate dimensions for each provision". Thomas said he does not see a relationship between the proposed height of this building and the underlying zone district. Thomas said the front of the building is a 60% variance. Falender said the conceptual plan was approved for a 150 room moderate priced hotel with various amenities. Falender said he does not have problems with the time share concept. However, what was approved in the conceptual process was a 150 room hotel. The applicants stated in order to build a moderately priced hotel, they need that amount of rooms. The neighbors agreed with the plan because this was something that was needed by the community. Falender said there has to be a justification for the height changes, like building a 150 room hotel to meet a greater community need. Falender said it is important for P&Z and Council to look at the underlying zoning and the justification for this height variance. This is not a proposal for a 150 room moderately priced hotel. 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 14, 2001 Steve Barwick, city manager, told Council staff and the applicant tried to examine the difference between a hotel and an interval ownership and the effect on the sales tax receipts for the city. The applicants state that interval ownership will have higher occupancy and will bring in indirect sales taxes as the owners will spend more money. Barwick said a payment of between $4 million and $5 to the city could be put in the bank and generate annually what the city would be losing in sales tax. Vann pointed out there is a condition of approval to address this. The applicant will work with staff to finalize the numbers for final approval. Falender said Council should not accept this provision about the money without more details. There is nothing that states when the payments will be made, what the city is going to do with the money. Falender a $4 million voluntary contribution is significant; what if this is not enough money. Falender said all the detail should be written down before Council adopts this. Mayor Richards said Council has been discussing interval ownership and the effect on sales tax revenues and the effect on basic community services like snow plowing, transportation, police services. The applicants are proposing a payment to match this concern. Molly Campbell said she is supportive of the interval ownership concept. One reason is the strength of large hotel properties to price, especially during off season, and to price smaller lodges out of the competition. Ms. Campbell said she also supports a limited service facility because of the employee generation. Writer showed graphs comparing hotel sales tax generation and property tax versus interval ownership paying real estate transfer taxes and interest that would be generated from an up front payment, and how the revenues compare over 10 years. Mayor Richards opened the pubic hearing. Ron Erickson, P&Z, said this project is progressing; the applicants have put in a lot of work. The review process is working. Karen Cribbs, Alpenblick , said it seems this could be a viable project at a smaller size without asking for height variances. Writer said the applicants worked on the precept this should be moderately priced project. A moderately priced hotel on this site 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 14, 2001 will not work and after looking at many variables, the applicants felt an interval ownership project would work for this site, for the previous approvals, and for the community. Ms. Cribbs asked if there has been any attempt made to draw a project that did not require any variances. Writer said there was not. Vann said the applicants viewed this as not starting over again and trying to make something that would work in the marketplace. Ms. Cribbs said the approval was for a hotel; this is not a hotel. Steve Falender said before Council votes, they should articulate their basis for granting a height variance for this project given than it has dropped from 150 to 128 rooms. Falender noted there is no science behind the $4 to $5 million fee. Council should not enter into a contract until they know the details of this fee. Jerry Moncarsh agreed the details of the impact fee should be tied down now. Moncarsh said this is a $153 million project and the community should be assured that everything is worked out. Roger Haneman, P& Z, told Council the project has improved since first reviewed by P&Z. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. Mayor Richards suggested tabling this until the details of the impact fee have been worked out. Vann said timeshare is not reviewed until final. The applicants have tried to present enough information for Council to feel comfortable that this can proceed to the final application stage. Vann requested the applicants be allowed to take the risk and go to final, and the timeshare application will be submitted as part of final review. Mayor Richards said this application is a reduction in total number of rooms from 150 to 128. Mayor Richards asked if this could be redesigned to add 4 more units so the total number of rooms will be closer to the originally approved 150. Writer said the design of this project is evolving. They have committed to no less than 128. They may be able to get more 128 units within the envelope. Vann said they do have a condition of a maximum FAR of 115,000 square feet. Councilman Markalunas noted there is a 17 foot variance in the height at the greatest point. Councilman Markalunas asked what amount of the lot or size 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 14, 2001 of the building is over the allowed height. Weil said he has not looked at it that way. Vann said it is 45 feet at the front corner and decreases as it moves south and probably is about 50% of the building is over the allowable height. Vann said there has been an attempt not to make this a block and the height uniform around the perimeter. Councilman Markalunas said he feels the numbers in the impact fee should be more detailed. Councilmembers Hershey and McCabe support getting more detail on the numbers. Councilman McCabe said he is fundamentally in favor of time share concept. Councilman McCabe suggested lowering the building by moving some of the affordable housing off site. Councilman McCabe said he would like to see if the building can be lowered. Mayor Richards also supports tabling the application. Mayor Richards said it is more clear to her that interval ownership is a good direction for the community. Since this is the first project of this type, it should be done very carefully. Councilman Hershey moved to continue Aspen Mountain PUD Conceptual th review to May 29 ; seconded by Councilman McCabe. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Markalunas, yes; Hershey, yes; McCabe, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. OPTIONS FOR INCREASED WILDLIFE ENFORCEMENT Brian Flynn, environmental health department, noted there are 3 options; one, continue as is ; two, slightly step up enforcement; and three, hire a full time officer to be added to parking department who will be used full time from spring to fall for wildlife enforcement. Parking and community safety officers will also be writing tickets to people who do not lock up their trash correctly. The total cost for this option is $77,500, and should be offset some by increased revenue. George Detko said there is a man who has just received 3 year funding to put bear programs in place around the country. He is willing to come to Aspen and help set up Aspen's program. Mayor Richards suggested staff FAX Aspen's program to this gentlemen for his comments or additions. 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 14, 2001 Councilman McCabe said he would like Option #3 implemented as soon as possible. Councilman McCabe moved staff implement option #3 and also to bring Steve Sherrill here and if he has new and different ideas, these could be implemented; seconded by Councilman Hershey. Councilman Markalunas said he would like additional emphasis placed on education and that people should take responsibility for securing their trash. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Markalunas, yes; Hershey, yes; McCabe, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. Councilman Hershey moved to go into executive session for purposes of discussing land acquisition at 9:15 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Hershey moved to come out of executive session at 9:30 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Markalunas moved to adjourn at 9:33 p.m.; seconded by Councilman McCabe. All in favor, motion carried. Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk 11 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council May 14, 2001 PROCLAMATION - Arbor Day ................................ ................................ .. 1 PROCLAMATION - Memorial Day Observance ................................ ........ 1 RESOLUTION #55, SERIES OF 2001 - Official Flower - Sweetpea .......... 1 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION ................................ ................................ ....... 1 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS ................................ ........................... 2 CONSENT CALENDAR ................................ ................................ ............. 2 · Resolution #49, Series of 2001 - Contract - Loris - Cemetery Lane Trails ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 3 · Resolution #51, Series of 2001 - HVAC Contract - Wheeler ................ 3 · Resolution #52, Series of 2001 - Wheeler Roofing Replace ment & Repair Contract ................................ ................................ ........................ 3 · Resolution #53, Series of 2001 - Bobcat Skid Loader Electric Department ................................ ................................ .............................. 3 · Resolution #56, Series of 2001 - Renewable Energy Mitigation Program Funds Approval ................................ ................................ ......... 3 · Request for Funds - Memorial Day Observance - $200 Council Contingency ................................ ................................ ............................. 3 ORDINANCE #13, SERIES OF 2001 - Supplemental Appropriations ........ 3 ORDINANCE #15, SERIES OF 2001 - 328 Park Avenue Historic Designation ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 4 ORDINANCE #16, SERIES OF 2001 - Historic Designation 101 East Hallam ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 4 RESOLUTION #54, SERIES OF 2001 - Temporary use Permit - Colorado Riff Raft ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 5 ASPEN MOUNTAIN PUD ................................ ................................ ......... 5 OPTIONS FOR INCREASED WILDLIFE ENFORCEMENT ................... 10 12