HomeMy WebLinkAboutagenda.council.worksession.20120724 MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Trish Aragon PE, City Engineer
THRU: Scott Miller, Capital Asset Manager
Chris Bendon, Director of Community Development
DATE OF MEMO: July 19,2012
MEETING DATE: July 24,2012
RE: Construction Mitigation Program Modifications
REQUEST OF COUNCIL:
Staff seeks Council input regarding the Construction Mitigation Program rules. This includes:
1. Encroachments: Establish parameters for mitigating impacts of encroachments including
duration and aesthetics.
2. Review of construction impacts during the landuse process
3. Construction Hours: Re-visit allowable construction hours. Current weekday hours are 7
a.m.—5 p.m. for the on-season and 8 a.m.—7 p.m. for the off-season.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION:
City Council approved the creation and implementation of the Construction Mitigation Program
in April of 2006. Below is a timeline of this program.
• April 2006: The City creates the Construction Mitigation Program to reduce the impact
of construction on the general public and to provide a liaison between the City,
contractors, and the general public. This is accomplished by requiring contractors to
submit a plan detailing how they intend to meet all city codes during construction.
• March 2007: The Original Plan Requirement Manual is drafted and presented at a work
session.
• April 2007: Edits from the March 2007 work session are incorporated into the "Plan."
These edits include an established haul route, restricting work hours from 12 hours per
day to 10 hours per day, creating the Aspen Holiday List, which restricts construction on
federal holidays and during special events such as the Food and Wine Classic.
• April 2007: The start and end time for weekday work is altered to 8 a.m. —6 p.m.
• May 2007: The original start and end times, which were 7 a.m. —5 p.m., are re-instated.
• January 2008: The program is expanded to include inspections on all active projects
regardless of impact. Additional inspections were also added which included sediment
and erosion control and parking.
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• May 2009: Three changes/additions were made:
o Manufacturing Restrictions: Require all manufacturing activities to be conducted
offsite, reducing the duration and overall impact to surrounding neighborhoods.
Additionally, if a further modification to the material is required,then the hours of
operation will be limited to 9 a.m.—5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
o Holiday Hours: Creation of a new geographic zone in town to help address the
impacts of construction while at the same time maintaining a resort atmosphere in
the community. This zone is referred to as the Central Resort Area(CRA). The
geographic boundaries mirror the expanded pay-to-park area. This boundary was
chosen because the area is impacted heavily during special events and the winter/
summer tourist season. The adoption of the CRA allows work in the "non-core"
neighborhoods,which are less impacted during the peak seasons. Below is a
summary of the requirements:
Thanks X mas X mas New Years Presidents Memorial Food 4`h of Labor
giving Week Day Day Day Day & July Day
Wine
Central Resort closed closed closed closed closed closed closed closed closed
Area(CRA)
Outside CRA closed open closed closed open closed open closed closed
i.e."non-core"
o Superfund Permitting: Alterations were made to the Smuggler Mountain
Superfund Site Soil Removal Permit to stream line the process and ensure the
sites are captured in regular inspections.
• May 2010: Time restrictions were modified to allow 24-hour interior work in the
CRA. Weekday construction hours were modified to 7 a.m. — 5 p.m. during the on-
season and 8 a.m.—7 p.m. during the off-season.
• May 2012: Erosion and sediment control section was updated. CRA hours and zone
was revisted but Council decided to not modify rules related to CRA.
BACKGROUND:
1. Encroachments: The Municipal Code currently does not allow encroachments, such as
sidewalk closures, pedestrian walkways, street closures or any right-of-way work, in the Core
during the on-season. However,the Code does allow for the City Engineer or City Council to
make exceptions to this section when special circumstances are present where strict
compliance of these regulations would jeopardize the public safety or the expeditious
continuation of the project and granting the exception is in the public interest.
2. Review of construction impacts during the landuse process: Construction impacts of a
project are reviewed as part of the DRC process.Any comments relating to these impacts are
included in engineering's DRC memo.
3. Construction Hours: The current weekday construction hours are as follows:
On season: 7 a.m.—5 p.m.
Off season: 8 a.m. —7 p.m.
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DISCUSSION:
1. Encroachments:
Issue: Each encroachment request is reviewed by the Engineering Dept. Before an encroachment
is approved the following factors are considered:
• Size—Is the footprint as small as needed? (Note: our fee structure does encourage
smaller encroachments)
• Pedestrian Safety: Does the encroachment accommodate pedestrians? Is it safe? (ie
access to construction traffic minimize, no overhead hazards)
• Neghboring Propery Impacts: What if any impacts will there be to neighboring
properties? (ie commercial sale events, sight line to commercial area)
• Schedule: Will the encroachment interfere with Special events, Holidays, Food and Wine,
USA Pro Cycling Challenge, other private or public construction projects?Will the
encroachment interfere with the City's snow removal operations?
• Duration: Is it as short as possible? (Note: our fee structure does encourage
encroachments that are shorter)
• Location: Is the encroachment located in the core/outside of the core
Now that we are seeing more commercial construction,the above factors may not be enough to
minimize the construction impacts in the commercial core. Construction within the commercial
core can have a severe impact on the pedestrian experience and the livelihood of surrounding
buisinesses.
Proposed Changes: Limit duration of encroachments depending on the following locations (refer
to Attachment A for zone designations):
• Red Zone:No on season encroachments permitted
• Orange Zone: One on season encroachment permitted
• Yellow Zone: Two on season encroachments permitted
If a project needs additional duration then what is outlined above,then they must seek approval
from the City Manager. The City Manager does not approve the additional duration then the
project must seek approval from City Council.
Additionally, Staff is proposing to modify the fee structure for encroachments so that if a project
receives approval for additional durations than what is outlined for their zone, then the
encroachment fees for the additional duration will be doubled.
Lastly,there should be some type of obligation to aesthetics, public information, and maybe
some signage for adjunct businesses. Site barricades, fencing, enclosed walkways etc. could be
more than barren plywood walls. Whether it's artwork, information about the project or local
events, or for local businesses there is an opportunity to minimize the aethestic impact.
2. Review of construction impacts during the landuse process:
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Staff is not proposing to to include construction techniques as part of the land use review.
Construction technique is not currently a review criterion in the land use code. It would take a
few months to adopt new code language and criteria for review. This is not necessarily a
problem but it doesn't address any of the projects we have already approved or that are already
submitted. Changes to the land use code only affect projects that have not yet submitted for land
use approval.
If CMPs are part of Council's land use review, each new major project will have different
requirements. This introduces enforcement headaches and will confuse the public. Neighbors
will need to go to hearings to negotiate construction techniques. No one will know what the
"real" rules are as a result, this has the chance of eroding the public's confidence in the program,
not bolstering it.
Additionally, many projects don't go to City Council and many of those have significant
construction impacts. Jerome, Bidwell, Red Onion, Berg/Suzzies are examples of significant
projects under review now that do not have a Council review. In these cases,the City needs to
have an effective construction management program based on building permit issuance, not a
Council review.
3. Construction Hours
Staff would like to revisit the hours with Council.
Attachment A: Proposed Encroachment Zone Map
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Attachment A: Encroachment Zone Ma
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