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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20120213 • Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 PROCLAMATION —John Worcester 2 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 2 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 3 CONSENT CALENDAR 4 • Minutes — January 23, February 6, 2012 4 • Resolution #8, 2012 —Contract — Replacement Bobcat Tool Cat 4 ORDINANCE #6, SERIES OF 2012 — AspenModern Designation 514 E. Hyman 4 RESOLUTION #9, SERIES OF 2012 — Extension of Negotiation Period 514 E. Hyman 5 ORDINANCE #7, SERIES OF 2012 — 217/219 South Third Street PUD 5 ORDINANCE #3, SERIES OF 2012 — AACP Review and Code Amendments 6 ORDINANCE #34, SERIES OF 2011 — Code Amendment — Vacation Rentals 8 ORDINANCE #5, SERIES OF 2012 — AspenModern Designation, Little Annie's /Benton Building 8 lorn • 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 Mayor Ireland called the meeting to order at 5:07 PM with Councilmembers Torre, Frisch, Johnson and Skadron present. PROCLAMATION — John Worcester Mayor Ireland and Council proclaimed February 13 as John Worcester day in honor of John's many accomplishments as city attorney for 19 years and in thanks for his work. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 1. Emzy Veazy told Council he is getting complaints about public safety issues, like snow and ice on the streets and sidewalks. Council should speak up and defend the police department. Veazy said the housing stock, commercial and residential building all need to be renovated with fire alarms and sprinklers. Veazy brought up the health inspection grades for restaurants in LA County, which should be used in Aspen, and handed out information on food poisoning. 2. Camilla Auger congratulated Council on the negotiations that have brought the Little Annie /Benton building forward. Ms. Auger said it is important that both buildings be preserved and equally important to preserve the Little Annie restaurant; places like this are important for the quality of life in the community. Ms. Auger agreed additional rules to protect the historic character of the downtown are needed. 3. Jerry Bovino said although he is not a big fan of affordable housing mitigation, the waiver of that mitigation makes a mockery of the entire process. Bovino said the 400 block of East Hyman should be redeveloped instead of being a parking lot; however everyone needs to respect the civic process and the hours and hours people put into writing the codes. Bovino said he would like to see a logical process. Bovino said Council needs to work on what is good for the city. 4. Peter Fornell brought the RFP process for the cash -in -lieu study for affordable housing. Fornell said this has been going on a long time; the study has not been done; applicants are paying half of what should be paid in the cash in lieu option. Fornell reminded Council he requested the city suspend accepting cash -in -lieu payments while they were going through the RFP process. Fornell said the city has enough staff to determine what cash -in -lieu payments should be. Barry Crook, assistant city manager, told Council the RFP has been negotiated with the county and with the APCHA board and it should be issued shortly. 5. Junee Kirk stated Aspen Modern is a voluntary program and it does not work. Ms. Kirk said when the city allows developers to negotiate and come in with exemptions of mitigations that does not work. Ms. Kirk said hundreds of people signed a petition stating this does not work and presented that petition for the record. Ms. Kirk said this AspenModern should be involuntary designation. Ms. Kirk suggested Council adopt a moratorium and start changes to the land use code. 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 6. Ruth Kruger said the city is giving away too much in the Little Annie deal, especially allowing only three parking spaces on site. This development will eliminate parking spaces already being used. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Torre announced the programs coming to the Wheeler, especially Laff fest and 7908 singer /songwriter festivals. 2. Councilman Torre commended the Grateful Deli who has gotten rid of plastic bags and has a great cloth bag and the $3.50 is refundable. The Grateful Deli is taking steps to reduce its carbon footprint. 3. Councilman Torre noted the plastic bag ban goes into effect May I and the city is starting an awareness program and needs volunteers to help get the word out. 4. Councilmembers Torre and Johnson extended personal thanks for John Worcester for his advice and help over the years. 5. Councilman Skadron said there is a new group starting, Aspen Democratic Initiative, to engage younger Aspenites. This is one of Council's top ten goals and Councilman Skadron commended the initiators, Riley Tippet and Jill Teehan. 6. Councilman Frisch said he has received complaints about people idling their motors. Councilman Frisch said he will be working with staff to crack down on this practice. 7. Councilman Frisch noted he appreciates John Worcester's foresight and thought processes in helping the community be a better place and wished him luck in retirement. 8. Mayor Ireland said he was in a spelling bee contest this weekend; and congratulated Helen Klanderud for being the best speller. It was a fund raiser for the Aspen Youth Center. 9. Mayor Ireland said this weekend was the Owl Creek Chase, which is a great cross country ski event and the winner did it in less than one hour. 10. Mayor Ireland said the Aspen High School basketball team is doing well and is headed for the playoffs. 11. Steve Barwick, city manager, said the issue of newspaper boxes in the downtown has come up again. There is some money to fix up the downtown and he will look into the issue. 12. Councilman Skadron said he attended the CAST meeting in Steamboat Springs. There were presentations on public transportation, sustainability, and save our snow. The RFTA board is pursuing the BRT program and they discussed the property to be acquired for that system. RFTA also discussed the use of CNG in their buses. 8. Councilman Frisch noted the Nordic Council is doing a site inspection of the cross country trails at the golf course; they are going to discuss snowmaking for cross country trails. 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 Councilman Frisch reminded everyone over 60 miles of cross country trails are free; some other ski areas charge for use of Nordic trail. 9. Councilman Johnson said he attended the Ruedi Water and Power Authority retreat and they discussed staying on top of water releases with the Bureau of Reclamation, the aquatic nuisances species at Ruedi. Councilman Johnson said they discussed getting involved in other issues and decided to focus on the things they do well and not get bigger just to get bigger. CONSENT CALENDAR Mayor Ireland moved to approve the consent calendar; seconded by Councilman Torre. The consent calendar is: • Minutes — January 23, February 6, 2012 • Resolution #8, 2012 — Contract — Replacement Bobcat Tool Cat Councilman Skadron asked if the total budget figure accounts for the discount and the trade in. Jerry Nye, streets department, said the total budget reflects what a new bobcat would cost without the trade in. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #6, SERIES OF 2012 — AspenModern Designation 514 E. Hyman Councilman Torre moved to read Ordinance #6, Series of 2012; seconded by Councilman Frisch. Amy Guthrie, community development department, told Council this is a non - designated modernist historic building located in the downtown core. The owners are offering designation. The building was designed by Robin Molny in the 1970's and in the 1990's there was a facade cover -up. The owners would like to restore the original design and receive some incentives. Ms. Guthrie reminded Council there have been benefits for historic designation for 25 years and worked with applicants to determine what would work for the city, the property owners and the community. These applicants asked to drop an agreement related to the use of the basement space; it has no relevance to the way in which FAR is allocated. The applicants are asking for additional FAR and an extended vested rights period. Ms. Guthrie recommended Council adopt this on first reading. Councilman Johnson asked why the longer vested rights term. Mitch Haas, representing the applicant, said they requested 10 years; however, the intention is to start the project right away. There are financing concerns. The landmark designation will happen right away. Councilman Torre said the building is not designated and is not on the list of potential historic resources and asked if this is the appropriate time to be approving an AspenModern negotiation. Councilman Skadron agreed but the tradeoffs may not be a bad deal. Councilman Torre said Council decided 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 to have a negotiating process to forward the goals of preservation. Councilman Torre said if Council does not support the negotiating process, they should do something about it rather than get halfway into negotiations. Mayor Ireland pointed out HPC determined this building was eligible for historic designation. Mayor Ireland said the city has a code that creates incentives to build things the city does not want to see or to create spaces that do not serve the community well. The code allows conversion of downtown commercial space into residential development which has an adverse impact on the community. This application furthers the demise of office space for unoccupied residential spaces. These types of negotiations also rob the housing fund of further revenues. Councilman Frisch said the historic task force wanted involuntary designation; the community tried to figure out how to entice people to turn over part of their property for historic preservation and the betterment of the community. Ms. Guthrie said the applicant's requests are in the memorandum and ordinance. These requests have been in the land use code for years; the exemption of the upper floor unit from affordable housing has been offered to projects in the downtown core for years. The requests unique to this application are to nullify an old agreement about the basement, extra FAR for the residential unit, and extended vested rights. Jane Merrill said there are a lot of people in the community who do not know what AspenModern is; there are also a lot of people who do not want a glass box downtown. Mayor Ireland reiterated one of his objectives to the land use code is that it makes residential space "free" in terms of mitigations. Council has to look at the drawings and determine whether projects are glass boxes or not. This project is the existing building retrofitted to the way it was in the 1970's. ORDINANCE #6 (Series of 2012) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, APPROVING HISTORIC LANDMARK DESIGNATION AND BENEFITS THROUGH THE ASPENMODERN PROGRAM FOR THE PROPERTIES LOCATED AT 514 E. HYMAN AVENUE, LOT N, BLOCK 94, CITY AND TOWNSITE OF ASPEN, COLORADO Councilman Torre moved to adopt Ordinance #6, Series of 2012, on first reading; seconded by Mayor Ireland. Roll call vote; Frisch, yes; Torre, yes; Skadron, yes; Johnson, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. RESOLUTION #9, SERIES OF 2012 — Extension of Negotiation Period 514 E. Hyman Mayor Ireland moved to approve Resolution #9, Series of 2012; seconded by Councilman Torre. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #7, SERIES OF 2012 — 217/219 South Third Street PUD 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 Councilman Johnson moved to read Ordinance #7, Series of 2012; seconded by Mayor Ireland. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE NO. 7 (SERIES OF 2012) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN CITY COUNCIL APPROVING THE LOT SPLIT, REZONING, AND PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION FOR 219 SOUTH THIRD STREET, CITY AND TOWNSITE OF ASPEN, PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO. Mayor Ireland moved to adopt ordinance #7, Series of 2012, on first reading; seconded by Councilman Frisch. Chris Bendon, community development department, told Council this application is to replace an existing duplex with two single family houses, which requires a lot split to allow each home to be on its own lots as well as PUD approval to allow each lot to be smaller than allowed in the zone district. There is also a request for rezoning to R- 15/PUD. Bendon noted there is pending litigation between the applicant and the city regarding the "upper lot ". The applicant has a title commitment for the upper parcel. The Midland trail goes throughThe center of the parcel. The application proposes to quit interest in the parcel to the city and not develop the parcel as a way to settle the litigation. Bendon said there are some items in the ordinance requiring discussion. P &Z recommended denial of the application and they wanted resolution of the upper lot first. Councilman Johnson asked about the issue of slope versus berm. Bendon said this will be discussed at second reading; however, under the PUD it could be a moot issue as dimensional requirements are set through the PUD. Councilman Torre asked about the one block of R -15 zoning. Councilman Torre said he would like to hear from staff about the dispute over the upper lot. Mayor Ireland noted the ordinance has two section 7s. Bendon said one is staff recommendation and one is applicant request. Mayor Ireland said Council cannot adopt an ordinance with diametrically opposed sections. Bendon agreed Council needs to decide which one they prefer before final adoption. Mayor Ireland amended his motion to provide that first reading adoption of Ordinance #7 includes the staff recommendations; seconded by Councilman Frisch. Roll call vote; Skadron, yes; Torre, yes; Johnson, yes; Frisch, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #3, SERIES OF 2012 — AACP Review and Code Amendments Jessica Garrow, community development department, told Council this item is adoption of the AACP and gap code amendments. After that, Council will go into implementation. Ms. Garrow recommended Council continue to this February 27 A work session for February 21 is scheduled to talk about Council's priorities for land use code amendments. Another work 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 session is scheduled for March 5 to discuss AACP priorities, not necessarily land use code amendments. Ms. Garrow told Council this plan was adopted by P &Z in November 2011. Council did review the AACP in several work session and commented on 7 chapters. Ms. Garrow said this action is to adopt the AACP; Council can adopt it as is, can adopt it with an appendix of comments, Council can make changes and adopt the AACP as amended. Staff and P &Z recommend the AACP as a guiding document rather than the existing regulatory AACP. If this is adopted as a guiding document, the references in the land use code that require compliance with the AACP will have to be fixed. The ordinance adopts this document and replaces the 2000 AACP with the new one. The code amendments retain Council's existing authority to review mass, scale and neighborhood compatibility. Ms. Garrow noted staff recommends adding a new requirement for neighborhood outreach for any significant projects. Ms. Garrow said the language comes from the Wienerstube law suit. Staff requests Council consider the trigger point for "significant projects ". Ms. Garrow said another change is the way conceptual and final commercial design review is done. Currently Council can call up a project when it has gone to final; staff said it makes more sense to call the project up at conceptual. Mayor Ireland said another way to do this is to let go of the plan and in the resolution of approval, Council could cite issues where they want to make recommendations to the community or issues about which Council has reservations. Mayor Ireland suggested projects that are available for a "call up" could be listed on a Council agenda. This gives public a chance to see what is being considered. Bendon said Council should consider which of the options best serves their interests. Bendon said if there are things in the plan that a Councilmember cannot get over or would cause them to vote against the plan, these should be discussed with the entire Council. Councilman Johnson said he would like the AACP to be Council's plan as the community elected officials. Councilman Skadron said he does not want to engage in re- writing. Councilman Skadron said when he first read the community plan, he felt it was accessible and a true expression of community sentiment. Councilman Frisch said he wants an Aspen Area Community Plan as opposed to 17 plans or dissenting opinions. Councilman Frisch said the AACP is an important document and just because it is not regulatory does not mean it lacks moral or legal suasion. Councilman Frisch said he would prefer to chose the way to adopt it at February 27 meeting. Councilman Frisch stated he supports the call up at conceptual and to put these on the consent calendar. Councilman Torre said P &Z requested Council adopt what they recommend and he is in favor of that; however, he is also in favor of it being regulatory. Mayor Ireland suggested continuing the public hearing to allow comments about the plan. If Council decides to adopt it as recommended by P &Z at the February 27 meeting, Council can decide whether to add appendices or WHEREAS clauses in a resolution. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 Lee Mulcahy agreed he would prefer to see the plan adopted in its present form. Mulcahy supports full mitigation for affordable housing. Mulcahy said allowing 51' in height and a reduction in affordable housing at the Little Annie project is unfortunate. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Torre requested a legal opinion on the gap amendments, the changes, what from the previous AACP will be foregone in this iteration. Councilman Johnson moved to continue Ordinance #3, Series of 2012, to February 27; seconded by Councilman Frisch. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #34, SERIES OF 2011— Code Amendment — Vacation Rentals Mayor Ireland moved to continue Ordinance #34, Series of 2011, to March 26 seconded by Councilman Johnson. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #5, SERIES OF 2012 — AspenModern Designation, Little Annie's /Benton Building Sara Adams, community development department, reminded Council this is an AspenModern negotiation for designation of the Benton building and Little Annie's. AspenModern is the method to designate post WWII buildings in Aspen. This is a voluntary program and allows applicant to request incentives in exchange for voluntary designation. Ms. Adams noted exhibit J outlines in detail the employee generation calculations and why they have changed in the process. Ms. Adams said since the last meeting, the applicant has offered to deed restrict the building housing Little Annie's as an affordable restaurant in perpetuity. The current proposal is to mitigate for 9 employees through a one - bedroom off -site unit and cash -in -lieu for category 4. Two free market residential units are proposed; the larger unit exceeds the square footage cap allowed in the commercial core. The total free market residential square footage exceeds the allowable in the commercial core. The key issues before Council are how the employee generation is calculated and the residential component of the project. Ms. Adams pointed out the applicant may break the larger residential units into two units and affordable housing would be required for the second unit. Ms. Adams told Council the application meets the parking requirements for the commercial core; one is allowed to pay cash -in -lieu for parking that cannot be provided on site. The applicant is providing 3 parking spaces on site and it paying cash -in -lieu for the remainder. The applicant is meeting the pedestrian amenity requirement through a pedestrian enhancement plan. Ms. Adams said landmark designation of Little Annie's and the Benton building is required as part of the application. The designation criteria are addressed in detail in exhibits A and B. Ms. Adams said staff finds the Benton building is important in its connection to Tom Benton, it is representative of the organic style of architecture, it is indicative of 1970's trends in Aspen and it 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 meets all of the designation criteria. The applicant is proposing a $2 million restoration of the Benton building. Ms. Adams said staff feels Little Annie's is representative of the rustic style. HPC reviewed designation of both buildings in December and voted in favor of designation of both. HPC recommends landmark designation to Council and it is Council's decision whether designation will happen. Ms. Adams reminded Council HPC voted last fall in favor of demolition of Little Annie's and Council called up that decision. Ms. Adams pointed out there are different criteria when discussing designation of a property versus demolition of a property. After hearing from the public, HPC looked at social importance to the community and relationship to the rustic theme of this property. HPC found historic designation criteria a and e are met. As part of AspenModern, Council can consolidate other land use reviews; subdivision review to merge these 3 lots is requested, growth management review to enlarge two landmarks is requested. HPC voted 4 to 1 in favor of the conceptual design review and if Council adopts Ordinance #5, HPC will have final design review, which review deals with materials, landscaping, and fenestration. Staff finds the project meets the requirement of the commercial core zone except the free market component of units size and total square footage. Ms. Adams said for the mechanical elements on the roof, the code requires a 15' setback from the street facade and the proposed elements are setback 28' from each street facade. Ms. Adams said Benton and Little Armies meet the criteria for designation. Mayor Ireland asked how much mitigation would the free market condominiums be required to provide. Chris Bendon, community development department, said residential development is an inclusionary requirement at 30% of the floor area or about 2600 square feet and this can be provided in any number of ways. Councilman Torre asked what happens in the design process if this ordinance is adopted. Ms. Adams said conceptual design review deals with massing, height, scale, the shape of the box. Final design review deals with what goes on the box. Nikos Hecht, applicant, told Council he purchased these five lots and went forward with a development and then heard from the community they wanted to keep Little Annie's and the Benton building. Hecht said the architect then tried to pinch the development onto 3 lots and made an effort to preserve and to restore Little Annie's and the Benton building. Hecht said he has also committed to making a low price eatery in perpetuity. Stan Clauson, representing the applicant, showed the area in context, showed the surrounding buildings, showed the streetscape, showed iconic buildings, like the Elks and Independence building, and contemporary buildings, like Boogies. Clauson reminded Council the AACP recommended the parking lot as a site for redevelopment. Clauson said the design protects Little Annie's and the Benton building and adds vitality to the commercial core. John Toya, architect, showed the project, the uses, the entrances; the 1st floor will be retail space, the retail space in the Benton building will be restored. The 2 floor will be office space and some residential uses; the 3` floor is residential uses, setback terraces will help reduce the scale of the building mass along the streetscape. The roof plan requires exit stairs and elevator tower which is 5' tall. Toya said he tried to stitch the building together as much as possible and to have attractive retail space. Toy showed the proposed restoration to the Benton building and showed the original facade and that they are using old photographs to aid in the restoration. Toya showed the proposed materials for the project. Toya showed the 40' cornice line. 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 Clauson noted as part of the streetscape, they have designed a feature at the entrance to the Benton building, a recess, seating and a Benton graphic design embedded in the ground. Clauson said the square footage of the Benton building is going from 5000 to 3200 square feet. Clauson said they feel this seating arrangement is a good way to draw people to the store windows. Clauson outlined 7 design objectives for the commercial core and this project touches on all 7 of those objectives including contributing to the streetscape and increasing the viability of retail in the spaces. Clauson said the city benefits from AspenModern by voluntary designation of two properties, restoration of the Benton facade, development of a mixed use building on a parking lot, an affordable restaurant deed restriction for the Little Annie's property and an offsite affordable housing unit. Clauson said the applicant's request is a larger residential unit and residential floor area. Clauson said there may not be awareness in the community that AspenModern is set up as a negotiating process and is part of the land use code. Clauson pointed out the original application for this site had underground parking and onsite affordable housing to meet all the housing requirements; the development took up the entire 5 lot property. After taking away the two historic properties from the development, the project became constrained. Clauson said the redevelopment was in response to community sentiment that they wanted to see Little Annie's and the Benton building preserved. Councilman Torre asked what affordable housing was provided onsite in the original application. Clauson said 12 FTEs were mitigated for on site. Councilman Torre noted this proposal is mitigating for 9 FTEs. Councilman Torre said he would like to see the corner softened more than it is. Toya noted his earlier design had a softened comer; however, when they went through HPC, HPC requested the corner be as a design to anchor the project. Councilman Johnson asked the height of some adjacent buildings. Ms. Adams said 520 Cooper is 41'5 ", Boogies is 37', Independence Square is 42', Elks building is 48'. The applicants showed the building in the city's sketch up program. Clauson noted the project conforms to code in terms of height and overall floor area; it is no greater in density than some other buildings in the commercial core. Clauson reminded Council the building occupies 3 lots. Bendon said some of the mass from the Little Annie's and Benton building has been pushed to the new project. Councilman Torre said a historic task force of about two dozen members spent about 18 months discussing the direction of post WWII historic preservation in Aspen. The committee recommended involuntary designation; however, Council favored a negotiation process. Councilman Torre said the code is not protective of post WWII properties. Councilman Torre said in August 5 a demolition permit for Little Annie's /Benton was applied for. September 21 HPC approved demolition of Little Annie's and denied demolition of the Benton building. September 26` Council requested a call up of that HPC decision. October 5 the applicant appealed HPC's jurisdiction ruling over demolition of the Benton properties. November 2 Council considered the call up and the appeal and also requested verbatim of HPC meetings and the hearing was continued to November 28` Councilman Torre stated he volunteered to be one of the negotiators with the applicant. During that time, the applicant decided to enter into a negotiation process with the city. December 14` HPC supported designation for Little Annie's and the Benton building. Councilman Torre said Little Annie's building is a one -story element in downtown Aspen right next to the Benton building allowing residents and visitors to see where Aspen came from. 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 Councilman Torre showed rendition of the AspenModern proposal and the original proposal and what might happen if the project were litigated. Councilman Torre noted there is little difference in appearance of the AspenModern proposal and the original proposal; however, as an advocate for preservation, he leans toward the AspenModern proposal. Councilman Torre pointed out the original application mitigated for 12 FTEs; this proposal mitigates for 9 FTEs. Councilman Torre said the applicant has a chance to soften the edges or the corner of the building. Councilman Frisch said the negotiating team has done a lot of work. Councilman Frisch presented a streetscape outcomes broken down into the 3 areas and 3 possible outcomes, Aspen wins lawsuit; Aspen loses lawsuit; negotiations. Councilman Frisch noted the majority of people are concerned about the streetscape. Councilman Frisch said there will be a large building on the corner whether the city wins, looses or comes up with a negotiated settlement. Councilman Frisch said the only way the Benton building will be designated historic is through voluntary designation, which includes $2 million towards the renovation of that building. Councilman Frisch said if the costs are greater than $2 million, the applicant will bear those costs; if it is less, the city will receive the money to use as they see fit. Councilman Frisch said the work on the Benton being has to be done before receiving a c/o on the project. Councilman Frisch said in the negotiated agreement Little Annie's is designated and stays a one story building. There is a commitment to a mid - priced restaurant in perpetuity. Councilman Frisch if the city were to win a law suit, the Benton building would not be demolished but not necessarily designated or renovated. Little Annie's may or may not be demolished, not designated and may have a 2 " or 3` story addition and with no commitment to being a mid - priced restaurant. Councilman Frisch said he has argued for changes to the land use code for the past several years. Councilman Frisch said applications are coming in meeting code requirement; however, they are up to 20% more than the community wants. Councilman Frisch said he would prefer that Council control the destiny of this project and of the buildings on the site. Councilman Johnson asked if these building are worthy of historic designation. Ms. Adams said HPC voted 5 to 0 in favor of historic designation. Councilman Skadron said the most important aspect of this project for Council is the commercial portion; the architecture firm specializes in residential developments. Toya said they specialize in historic and contextual references as well. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Rohn Fleming, general manager, Little Annie's, told Council he is proud of the number of years employees have been with the business. Some employees have been there over 20 years. Fleming said Little Annie's is like a family. Loretta DeRose, winter resident, said Council should get a moratorium going as soon as possible so that no more large development applications come in. Rob Ittner said vitality in the downtown is crucial; there should be a cohesive downtown. Ittner pointed out there are vacant buildings that do not add much to the atmosphere. Jim Morris said he is dismayed by the size of the building; it looks huge stuck on a corner. Morris said he is sad that the city finds itself in this crunch. Bob Grueter stated he is concerned about Aspen losing its post WWII architecture. Grueter said he supports this project because it preserves two post WWII buildings and it gets rid of an empty lot. Mark Pearson stated he strongly supports the negotiating process and is against the city 11 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 going into lawsuits. Pearson said he would like to see the negotiating process continue and to resolve a successful project to the benefit of the community and the developer. Ruth Kruger said she feels what is being waived for the developer outweighs the benefits. Ms. Kruger said besides the waiver of parking, there is the loss of the 15 parking spaces currently on site. Ms. Kruger said businesses will be impacted by the lack of parking and under parking the core is short sighted. Ms. Kruger said she would prefer to see the previous project. Ms. Kruger reiterated the cost of preserving two buildings is not worth the cost to the community. Ben Genshaft, representing Little Annie's LLC, said they are doing everything they can to keep Little Annie's there and the applicant has been supportive. Jane Merrill said the old look of Aspen is important to residents and visitors. If that look is eliminated, people will not come here; magic is important to the survival of the community. Bill Stirling said the issue is whether the trade offs are worth it, a question of landmarks versus free market residential. Stirling said this is the first AspenModern negotiation. Stirling said he has no objection to a significant contemporary statement in the context of this particular corner. The applicant is proposing to voluntarily designate two post WWII buildings. Stirling noted the community is made up of its characters, its character, its architecture style and great good places. Stirling said Little Annie's is one of the great good places. Aspen has already lost a lot of great good places and this should be preserved. Stirling said another payoff is keeping the exact scale of the Benton building. Stirling stated this compromise is in the long term best interest of Aspen. Junee Kirk stated as a member of the historic task force she favored involuntary designation of post WWII properties. Ms. Kirk stated she is not in favor of negotiations. Ms. Kirk pointed out this building does not follow the design guidelines; it does not vary the height every 30'; the fronts do not go in and out. Large buildings are not supposed to be built on the south side of the street in order to keep views of the mountain open. Joan Lebach said the land use code has to change in order to keep roofs lower. Ms. Lebach stated it is important to preserve parking; it should be convenient for people to come and to spend money. Lindsay Smith said there is a development game in Aspen between applicants and citizens of the town. The city has a hole in its defenses. Ms. Smith said the second and third floor recess do not add to pedestrian experience. Ms. Smith stated she does not care about the interior of the building or whether it is 1 or 3 units but is concerned about what a building looks like on the outside. Ms. Smith said this building does not fit into the context of the neighborhood. Jim Smith said after projects are approved, the actual buildings changes and the city and community should watch out for that. Phyllis Bronson said business is spread thin with not a lot of thriving. Ms. Bronson asked how much more commercial space does this community need. Deborah Post said she is passionate about keeping things the way they are; she is also passionate about property rights. Ms. Post suggested the applicant be asked to go back to the drawing board and see what they can come up with to make it more traditional not another big square building. Ms. Adams entered into the record exhibit M, e -mails received about the project. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Johnson asked if staff is comfortable that section 7 adequately addresses a moderately priced restaurant. Jim True, special counsel, noted that section gives guideline and must be approved by the city attorney. Councilman Johnson asked about committing to keeping the restaurant open, to keeping a tenant in the space, not leaving it dark. Hecht said he imagines 12 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 someone will want to operate the space, he will commit to doing his best to find a tenant. Councilman Johnson asked about the commitment to the $2 million for the Benton building. True said the language has been reviewed and he is comfortable with the language. True noted work on the Benton building has to start first. Councilman Johnson asked whether these historic design guidelines were followed. Ms. Adams said the 30' modules and variations in height were brought up. Ms. Adams said staff's opinions is the 30 and 60' module articulation is being met with this design. Ms. Adams pointed HPC felt there is height variation and pointed out on the drawings how this variation occurs. Ms. Adams noted the highest point of the Benton building is 38.5' and the guidelines state there should be 2' height variation and the new building is 41' at the parapet. Councilman Johnson asked if there is room for more off -site affordable housing. Councilman Johnson said he is pleased a deed restriction on a moderate priced restaurant in the Little Annie's space was offered. Councilman Johnson said he would like to see if there are minor modifications that could open up the corner design. Councilman Skadron stated maintaining the restaurant is not a threshold issue for him. Councilman Skadron said he is sensitive to the reach of government in trying to improve what the market returns to the city. Councilman Skadron stated this application makes more sense than navigating the unknown; part of contemporary vision is responding to community input. Councilman Skadron asked if there might be ways to improve the design of the building to satisfy some concerns heard at this meeting. Toya said most of the comments negative to the project are about massing and scale, these are necessary to contain the program within the building. Further articulating the building and some of its components can be taken up with HPC for final design approval. Toya reiterated the applicants were instructed by HPC to build up to the corner. Clauson noted the building meets all code requirements for height and floor area and the program is part of the negotiated settlement. There is off -site affordable housing, there is investment in the Benton building, as well as the retention of two historic buildings which allow less development than would be allowed. Hecht noted the design is an attempt to fit allowed square footage on 3 lots instead of 5 lots. Councilman Skadron said he does not think the height of this structure lends itself to a vital streetscape. Clauson said it will be an active retail environment; there will be people coming and going to add to vitality. Councilman Torre said he would like to know the location of the rooftop mechanicals and how far they are set back, are they shielded, can they be clustered. Toya said they applicants made an effort to recess the elevator and stair cores as far back as possible; they are 30' back from each street facade. Clauson said the height stems from the ceiling heights so that those meet that of the existing historic buildings. Councilman Torre said he would prefer to see the corner softened. Councilman Torre said his biggest objection is the free market unit of over 6000 square feet and the second biggest concern is the massing of the building and he would appreciate any softening of the structure. Councilman Frisch said this is an opportunity to save and to fix up two buildings that wouldn't otherwise exist. Mayor Ireland noted staff said this is a historic structure; HPC said it is not historic. Council should decide whether the building is historic or not and if it is not, why pay ransom to preserve something that is not historic. The buildings are in a historic distract and they are protectable as part of a historic district. Mayor Ireland said if Council does not think this is historic, why raid 13 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 the affordable housing fund by allowing cash -in -lieu and mitigation for 9 FTEs. Mayor Ireland said one of the benefits of declaring this is historic is giving the citizens reasons to have confidence in the land use code and that it has consequences. Mayor Ireland said the economy allows Aspen to be a real estate speculation especially for free market residences. Mayor Ireland said the only concession left through this negotiation is for a very large free market residence. One of the unintended consequences of infill has been the transformation of the downtown from commercial to residential development. Mayor Ireland stated what separates Aspen from other places is that Aspen is a real community and still has an occupied downtown and affordable housing. Mayor Ireland said the mitigation for affordable housing seems to be about 12% of the employees that will be generated by this project. Mayor Ireland said the city needs to change the land use code, limiting penthouses in the commercial districts, by bringing down the scale to 28 to 34', by emphasizing community development, locally serving businesses. Mayor Ireland asked if the housing authority commented on t his proposed mitigation. Ms. Adams said it is in the packet as an exhibit. Ms. Adams suggested language in Section 3 be clarified regarding the $2 million restoration fund and amending Section 7 that the applicant will make reasonable good faith effort to find tenants for the restaurant. Councilman Torre agreed Council needs to move forward with land use code changes, which are long overdue. Councilman Torre said his decision in this case is based on preserving jobs, creating vitality and preserving some history in Aspen. Councilman Torre moved to adopt Ordinance #5, Series of 2012, on second reading including amendments to Section 3(6) "applicant shall restore Benton to original appearance if restoration is less than $2 million, the remainder of the funds go to the city for historic preservation efforts and Section 7, the applicant will make a reasonable good faith effort to find a tenant fof the moderately priced restaurant space"; seconded by Councilman Frisch. Councilman Skadron said he would like to see further modifications to the building to make it more sensitive to the community. Councilman Skadron said he can approve it conceptually; approving this makes more sense than navigating the unknown. Councilman Skadron said Council needs to protect changes that are detrimental to the historic character. Councilman Torre said the program for the building is driving the footprint. Councilman Torre said he supports making the building more sensitive. Councilman Skadron stated he would forego the restaurant use in the Little Annie building for a smaller overall building. Councilman Johnson said his concern is if the Little Annie use is not preserved in a deed restriction, the rents on the space will go up and a locally serving business will not be able to survive. Councilman Johnson stated he likes the one -story building and the moderately priced restaurant. Councilman Johnson agreed what sets Aspen apart as a community is the affordable housing. Councilman Johnson said this is an AspenModern negotiation; the community gets a restored Benton building and a moderately priced restaurant, a preserved one -story element and a large mixed use building which is the trade off. This development could have been a large building across ally lots. Mayor Ireland moved to amend the ordinance to require mitigation for 25 employees. Motion DIES for lack of a second. 14 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 13, 2012 Roll call vote; Torre, yes; Johnson, yes; Skadron, yes; Frisch, yes; Mayor Ireland, no. Motion carried. Councilman Torre moved to adjourn at 11:55 PM; seconded by Councilman Johnson. All in favor, motion carried. iff IA/ /hryn Koch City Clerk 15