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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20121126 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 26,2012 SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCE—Abetone, Italy............................................................2 CITIZENCOMMENTS..................................................................................................................2 COUNCILMEMBERCOMMENTS ..............................................................................................2 CONSENTCALENDAR................................................................................................................3 FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES ..........................................................................................4 RESOLUTION #107, SERIES OF 2012 —Approving 2013 Budget..............................................6 ORDINANCE #25, SERIES OF 2012 - Code Amendment CC and C-I Zones.............................7 ORDINANCE #26, SERIES OF 2012—Parks Bonds Refunding................................................11 ORDINANCE #27, SERIES OF 2012— Supplemental Appropriation.........................................I I ORDINANCE #28, SERIES OF 2012 —Code Amendment—Hearing Officer............................12 ORDINANCE#29, SERIES OF 2012—Adoption of 2013 Fees .................................................12 ORDINANCE#30, SERIES OF 2012—Water Rate Adjustment ................................................13 RESOLUTION #103, SERIES OF 2012— South Aspen Street Lodge Project............................13 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 26 2012 Mayor Ireland called the meeting to order at 5:15 PM with Councilmembers Skadron, Frisch, Torre and Johnson present. SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCE—Abetone, Italy Alessandro Molta, general counsel, Rolando Galli, and Gianpiero Dante, Mayor of Abetone, briefed Council on background of Abetone, Italy, and efforts to become sister cities with Aspen. Mayor Ireland said this is an opportunity for Aspen's students to become more experienced in culture and history. Mayor Ireland read a proclamation that this partnership is a commitment to the development of education and that Aspen recognizes a valuable exchange of ideas. Mayor and Council proclaimed November 26th as Abetone Friendship day. CITIZEN COMMENTS There were none. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Johnson noted kids are back in school; the mountains are open; snowmaking on Aspen mountain lead to a great world cup races. 2. Councilman Skadron thanked the Ski Company for getting the mountains ready for the World Cup races. 3. Councilman Frisch said Aspen looked great on television for the ski races. Councilman Frisch congratulated Michaela for her results in the World Cup races. 4. Councilman Torre said the World Cup ski races this year were a true mind, body spirit event. 5. Mayor Ireland said global warming is a reality. Italy has had no snow so far this year. Mayor Ireland noted Council needs to take measures in case a drought is proclaimed. 6. Mayor Ireland congratulated everyone who went out and cheered on the ski racers for the World Cup. 7. Chris Bendon, community development department, suggested Council move the two call up items at the end of the agenda to December 3. Steve Barwick, city manager, recommended moving Resolutions #111 and 112 to December 3`d. Jim True, city attorney, noted the Charter requires two regular meetings every month and said Council should set a December 3`d meeting to comply with the Charter requirement. 8. Mayor Ireland brought up the parking at the new art museum and requested staff schedule a work session to discuss the alternatives for those two blocks. 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 26,2012 CONSENT CALENDAR Resolution#111, Series of 2012—Ruedi Water Acquisition—Dave Hornbacher, water department, told Council the Bureau of Reclamation has offered for sale the remaining available water from Ruedi. The memorandum outlines the benefits of purchasing 400 acre feet from Ruedi Reservoir. Phil Overeynder told Council this is probably the last opportunity to acquire water from Ruedi. The city subscribed ten years ago for 1000 acre feet but the cost was too high at that time. The BOR is offering 19,500 acre feet and there is a single entity who would like to acquire 10,000 acre feet. It is anticipated that the full 19,500 acre feet will be fully subscribed and this may be the city's last opportunity to acquire this water. Overeynder said there are questions on why the city would want to expand their water supply. Overeynder said the city has projects in its water management program that could be implemented, some of which are funded in the asset management plan and some are long term projects that are not funded. Overeynder noted water would be released out of Ruedi to satisfy downstream users in a water shortage condition. Overeynder told Council the city delivers about 3,000 acre feet of water/year; this acquisition would be 12.5% of that total. Staff identified about 40 acre feet of water necessary for the reclaimed water system and for ponds to make up for evaporation. Overeynder noted the unknown, climate change, could change the circumstances. Studies have been done on the water supply, which show there is enough water in the water system to meet all the current needs; however, the changes in the hydrology in the future are not known. Runoff has been occurring earlier in the season requiring supplemental water supplies. Mayor Ireland asked if the city contributes to in-stream flows on a temporary basis and releases it if necessary. Overeynder said that would depend on how the mechanism to provide those supplies is set up. There is the potential to meet the needs for drought mitigation as well as provide water on a temporary basis. Overeynder said buying this water would allow the city to release water from Ruedi to satisfy downstream needs to keep Aspen's uses in priority and to continue to use the water up here. Otherwise more senior rights downstream would call out Aspen's uses in the upper valley. Councilman Torre said he would like to know where in between the 40 to 400 acre feet is necessity and why the city is asking for 400 acre feet. Councilman Torre asked about city practices with park and pond development and 40 acre feet is evaporation are different practices necessary. Councilman Torre stated he is in favor of protecting Aspen's water rights but would like a clearer picture of how this fit in. Councilman Skadron asked if this is a hedge against uncertain water demands. Overeynder said the 40 acre feet is that; if hydrology does not change, the city will not need the remaining 360 acre feet. This is the only chance for the city to buy this water. Mayor Ireland moved to continue Resolution#111, Series of 2012, to December 3; seconded by Councilman Torre. All in favor, motion carried. Resolution#112, Series of 2012—Mitigating Transportation Impacts from Development— Jessica Garrow, community development department, told Council this is a joint project with environmental health, transportation and engineering and is a result of the implementation steps 3 ReEular Meeting Aspen City Council November 26 2012 of the AACP suggested to Council in March. Ms. Garrow said one of the steps was to figure out how to make sure development is mitigating transportation impacts and make sure the process is clear and consistent. Currently there are no clear standards on what is required for transportation studies. Staff came to Council in May with a study, mitigating impacts of development, and Council identified two items to move forward; employee generation numbers and making sure development is mitigating its transportation impacts. Staff had an RFP process and received 6 responses to that RFP and recommends Fehr& Peers because they have experience in resort communities and their tool has been tested through the courts. Ms. Garrow noted Fehr & Peers' proposal noted what is happening here in Aspen; that they are going to do specific traffic counts on how much transportation impacts a lodge generates, how mixed use development falls into that. Fehr& Peers has a user friendly tool to help people evaluate development proposals. Ms. Garrow said this can be phased to first do the data gathering and then check in with Council to make sure they want to continue with this project. Ms. Garrow said staff feels this is important to make sure the development process is predictable. Councilman Johnson said he supports this direction but would like to be clearer on what the city is going to get out of this study and that the city will get deliverables. Councilman Skadron agreed he would like to know what is actually being returned to the community for this expenditure. Ms. Garrow said the city will get a tool related to transportation demand management and related to multi-modal quality of service so that when Council has a development application to consider, they can know how many trips it will generate and what mitigations makes sense. Mayor Ireland said one of the problems with major developments is that people are guessing how many vehicles will be generated, how intersections will be affected. Councilman Frisch said he would like a presentation from the consultant to Council. Councilman Frisch said he is not a big supporter of traffic counts; measurable things should be pertinent to what they can do. A quantitative trip count does not matter like how many people are walking or riding bikes. Councilman Johnson questioned how many more dollars/square foot business owners can pay. Councilman Frisch said he agrees with mitigations; however, it is important to remember they are tools to a healthy, sustainable economy. Ms. Garrow said she will contact the consultant and have him come to the December P meeting. Councilman Johnson moved to continue Resolution#112, Series of 2012, to December 3; seconded by Mayor Ireland. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Torre moved to approve Resolution 4110, Series of 2012 —Tractor Contract and November 12, 2012, minutes; seconded by Councilman Johnson. All in favor, motion carried. FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES Councilman Johnson moved to read Ordinances 431, 32, 33, and 34, Series of 2012; seconded by Councilman Torre. ORDINANCE #31 4 Reaular Meeting Aspen City Council November 26,2012 Series of 2012 AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL ADOPTING AMENDMENTS TO THE FOLLOWING CHAPTERS AND SECTIONS OF THE CITY OF ASPEN LAND USE CODE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN MUNICIPAL CODE; ADDING A NEW SECTION, SECTION 26.322, MASTER PLANS, AND MANEDING SECTIONS 26.104.030, COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY PLAN AND OTHER PLANS, GUIDELINES OR DOCUMENTS 26-208.010, CITY COUNCIL—POWERS AND DUTIES 26.210.020, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT—DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, 26.212.010, PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION—POWERS AND DUTIES AND 26.220.010 HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION—POWERS AND DUTIES ORDINANCE #32 Series of 2012 AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL ADOPTING AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 26.540 OF THE CITY OF ASPEN LAND USE CODE—CERTIFICATE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING CREDIT ORDINANCE#33 Series of 2012 AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL ADOPTING AMENDMENTS TO THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER OF THE CITY OF ASPEN LAND USE CODE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN MUNICIPAL CODE: 26.415 HISTORIC PRESERVATION ORDINANCE #34 Series of 2012 AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL ADOPTING AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTE 26.520 OF THE CITY OF ASPEN LAND USE CODE—ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS, AND CHAPTER 26.470—GROWTH MANAGEMENT Chris Bendon, community development department,told Council Ordinance#32 contains a general update of the affordable housing credit program as well as the ability for the owner of a certificate to exchange that certificate into a different category level, which seems necessary for the program to be successful. APCHA has reviewed it and approved it. Ordinance#33 clarifies HPC's jurisdictions over property in historic districts. The issue came up in relationship to code amendments for downtown zoning as well as in AspenModern negotiations. Bendon said Ordinance #34 for accessory dwelling units eliminates them as an option for affordable housing mitigation. The amendment also allows owners of properties with existing ADUs to retire those and proposes an amendment to the GMP to the mitigation requirement to expansion of floor area for single family and duplex rather than just in demolition cases. Bendon said Ordinance #34 should be synchronized with the change to fee-in-lieu so that applicants will know how much that mitigation will cost. 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 26 2012 Councilman Torre said these amendments have come through the new process and it seems to have worked well. Mayor Ireland said the master planning process should allow the review boards to propose amendments in writing to be submitted to Council for consideration rather than Council just receiving a summary. Jessica Garrow, community development department, stated that was staff's intent so the language will be reviewed before second reading. Mayor Ireland moved to adopt on first reading Ordinances#31, 32, 33 and 34, Series of 2012; seconded by Councilman Johnson. Roll call vote; Frisch, yes; Johnson, yes; Torre, yes; Skadron, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. RESOLUTION#107. SERIES OF 2012 —Approving 2013 Budget Pete Strecker, finance department, told Council this proposed budget incorporates Council's comments through the five budget work sessions for a total appropriation of$106 million and without transfers $90 million. Councilman Torre requested an addition to the budget of$25,000 for the parks budget for planning for skate park phase II. This has been planned for at least 5 years and has been put on hold. The proposed use of the $25,000 is outreach and planning. Councilman Torre said the skate park is heavily used and is 10 years old. This would be an opportunity for review and upgrade to one of the kid's facilities. Stephen Ellsperman, park department, told Council a second phase has been anticipated for the skateboard park, but this got shifted or other priorities. Ellsperman said staff has ideas for phase II and would like to hear from the community what they think of these ideas and what other ideas they may have. Mayor Ireland said in the planning, staff needs to think about the safety on Rio Grande and kids darting across the street. Councilman Frisch asked if this planning could be done without increasing the 2013 parks budget. Ellsperman pointed out staff has selected, with Council approval, specific capital projects program and staff would prefer the additional funds to keep their fund balance sound. Councilman Skadron brought up the holiday lights on the trees; the lights seem to have expanded down the streets. Ellsperman told Council staff thought they have lights according to Council's instructions. There is the capability to change the lights. Ellsperman suggested getting the lights functioning and viewing them to see what works and what doesn't. Mayor Ireland said Council needs to have a broader discussion about lights and the dark sky initiative. Mayor Ireland noted earlier Council was told that there is no ability to turn down or off sections of lights. Councilman Johnson noted this budget has been only modestly increased over last year. Councilman Johnson stated he is concerned about the lack of snow and recommended staff monitor sales tax through the end of the year to see how the winter season is shaping up and whether the spending should be reined in. Mayor Ireland stated the finance department is prepared to create a framework to allow Council and the city to deal proactively if there is a short fall. Don Taylor, finance director, noted the budget proposed is conservative; staff will look at the first 2 or 3 months of 2013 to assess the financial picture. Taylor pointed out there is fund balance and capital projects can be adjusted. Councilman Torre moved to approve Resolution#107, Series of 2012, as amended adding the $25,000 for the parks department; seconded by Councilman Johnson. 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 26,2012 Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Helen Klanderud asked if there is a final decision on the health and human services spending. Taylor answered there is $300,000 in this approved budget. Council has discussed alternatives which could be approved in a supplemental appropriation ordinance. Councilman Skadron said a bipartisan commission will be formed to discuss this issue and to make sure the resolution is in place prior to the next budget cycle. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #25, SERIES OF 2012 --Code Amendment CC and C-1 Zones Jessica Garrow, community development department, reminded Council this is the third step in the new code amendment process and the one in which Council can adopt changes to the land use code. Ms. Garrow noted in April Council adopted changes to the CC and C-1 zone district, reduced the allowed height to two stories and 28'; the allowed free market residential floor area was reduced from .75:1 to .5:1 only if equal amounts of affordable housing is provided. There is an exception for any historic properties with a by right .5:1 free market residential floor area. Council noted they were interested in further exploring uses allowed downtown by right. Ms. Garrow reported staff had a public outreach process, attached in the packet, and included 200 people with a survey, small group meetings, open city hall forum. Staff did background research and contracted with a firm who did a height study and a comparative analysis of mountain communities on what kinds of heights and uses are allowed in other resorts. Ms. Garrow noted staff went to Council in June to hear their general objectives for downtown and Council said they wanted to make sure there is vitality downtown, that commercial uses are maintained as the primary use downtown. Council was interested to see if there are ways to encourage lodge development downtown. Staff presented a policy resolution on this issue to Council in August. Ms. Garrow said the proposed code amendments are for allowed heights of 38 to 40' in the CC zone and 36 to 38' in the C-1 zone, which is a transitional zone from commercial core into residential neighborhoods. Staff has discussed what kind of space is necessary inside a building to make sure the uses are successful. The historic pattern for ground floor is high ceilings with lots of windows; upper floors have a lower ceiling height.- Staff proposes a 13' first-floor in CC and 11' first floor in the C-1 zone; this should encourage commercial uses in the CC zone. Upper ceiling heights are proposed at 9'. Ms. Garrow said it is clear in the height study that at least 6' is needed to get equipment on a roof to serve buildings. Ms. Garrow proposed limiting any P floor to no more than 50% of the parcel size; the mass could be located in the rear or the street front of a building. This should minimize the mass and allow commercial design standards and city boards to work through that process and to encourage innovation. 7 ReLyular Meetin Li, Aspen City Council November 26 2012 Ms. Garrow recommended option 2, which would allow one free market residential unit only on historic properties. Staff felt it important to have that tool available for historic properties and for historic negotiations. Staff thought having one unit/building is important rather than having a lot of space becoming private. Ms. Garrow noted about 20 properties would be eligible for free market residences under this proposal, and there are 5 properties that would be able to expand their existing units. Ms. Garrow said deck spaces have been discussed; HPC felt every building is different and deck can provide relief from the mass; that decks should be proportional in size of the building. Ms. Garrow pointed out including free market residential units in CC would not change the overall floor area. There are some code clean ups, to increase the allowed floor area for lodge development in CC and C-1 to 2.5:1 in CC and 2:1 in C-1 and to lift the office prohibition on all properties north of Main street. Chris Bendon, community development department, said staff is trying to strike equilibrium. There is a feeling in the community that earlier code amendments allow too much height and mass and not enough setbacks. Staff is looking for a balance to slow the pendulum down. Ms. Garrow said the code amendment is to help preserve buildings with historic merit and to make sure the uses are correct and make sense for the community. Free market residences are an important tool for historic preservation. Bendon said one goal is to have property owners that appreciate having a historic building rather than just having a host of maintenance problems and feel being designated is a burden. Councilman Skadron said when this started, several member of Council wanted to limit height in the CC zone to 28% this ordinance would allows buildings up to 46'. Bendon pointed out Council wanted to hear from the community, they wanted to understand under what circumstances a third floor is justified, what types of uses the community should get more of. Bendon said staff heard that a third floor depends on the context, neighboring buildings, shading concerns and that a third floor is not inappropriate in all cases. This ordinance proposes a third floor, not to exceed 50% of the footprint of the lot, which would allow flexibility in design. Bendon said this ordinance reflects what staff heard from the community. Councilman Skadron said this could result in a downtown of only 40' buildings. Ms. Garrow said there is design review and a call up provision. The ordinance says "the maximum height is not an entitlement and is not achievable in all situations", which makes it clear to applicants that 40' is not a guarantee. Councilman Frisch said what is important for a third floor is how tall it should be, how far it should be setback and what should be inside that space. Ms. Garrow said Council needs to resolve whether they want a third story. If they do, these are the proposed heights based on conversations with architects and contractors and the height study done by Coburn. Councilman Johnson noted staff s perspective is that 3 story buildings should be permitted in downtown as consistent with the historic built environment. Ms. Garrow agreed 3 stories are consistent with Aspen's historic development pattern. Mayor Ireland said he finds historic designation during a negotiation a difficult situation. Mayor Ireland stated he does not think the Cooper avenue mall would be a better place with 42' tall buildings all along it. Ms. Garrow said the code amendment affects the entire downtown area. The city's development process works as staff and Council see each development application one at a time and they go through a lengthy review process. Any building on the Cooper Avenue mall would be looked at by HPC for context, view planes, etc., Council has the opportunity to 8 Regular Meeting -Aspen City Council November 26,2012 call up that project. Councilman Skadron said development decision should be in the hands of the community and should be more restrictive at Council. Councilman Skadron said the ordinance does not have enough detail to view planes and views of the mountains and has the potential to allow a monster building that would permanently change the character of the community. Bendon pointed out the allowable height on the Cooper avenue mall was 40' for 40 years and it is now 28'. Cooper avenue mall is limited by view planes. Bendon said the city needs to be able to evaluate community needs, like a small hotel on Cooper avenue, which may be more important than the existing view planes. Mayor Ireland said it is important to have criteria under which buildings could be taller than X. Councilman Frisch supported addressing the issue of historic preservation and double dipping, regardless of the height, and fixing that mitigation. Councilman Frisch said he could support some sort of trade off for renovation of a crumbling historic building. Ms. Garrow told Council there is a map showing the buildings eligible for historic designation under AspenModern. Ms. Garrow explained allowing only one free market residential/building puts a limit on what people can ask for through the historic designation negotiations. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Cliff Weiss stated whatever Aspen has left of its historic past is disappearing. Weiss said he prefers to see different heights around town. Weiss said it is a mistake to allow roof top decks because code requires elevators and elevator towers. Weiss suggested that landing TDRs be limited to one as the downtown can do without large units. Weiss said he has not seen that large residential units add to any vitality downtown. Weiss said the code should be amended to limit the height of buildings on the south side of the street to cut down on shadowing and icy areas. Helen Klanderud, public affairs committee of ACRA, told Council the committee discussed this proposal and there is a concern for unintended consequences. Ms. Klanderud said the committee agrees there should be a vitality and successful downtown. Ms. Klanderud said she has not heard from Council a vision to get the vitality but more of what should not be allowed. Ms. Klanderud said not all buildings downtown are worthy of preservation. The historic heights are 38 and 40'. The committee is concerned this code amendment would cause no building in the downtown. The committee's decision is to not change the code unless there is a demonstrated justification for doing so. Ms. Klanderud said there is no evidence that third story residences interfere with downtown vibrancy that couldn't be corrected with some engineering techniques. Junee Kirk said the historic district should remain much as it is and stay with the 28' height limit. Ms. Kirk said she would support boutique hotels or exceptional restaurants . Ms. Kirk said the downtown is dying and free market residences have not contributed to the vitality of town. Bill Wiener said Council should look at keeping the cubage the same, it a building is bigger, it is pulled off the street front. Wiener said the historic ordinance does not look at contributing elements that give it character. Wiener said giving an exception to 28' at Council should require a super-majority. Wiener said future Councils can undo what Council preserves and suggested this be done by vote of the electorate. Wiener questioned the need to be bigger. Wiener suggested hotels dispersed throughout the commercial core rather than in one large structure. Wiener said the proposal is business growth versus public benefit. Wiener said allowing hotels on the north side of the street would make sense. 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 26,2012 Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Frisch asked how this could be structured to allow some flexibility in uses. Bendon said the criteria should be well defined rather than elusive and conducted in negotiations, like listing circumstances in which a 3rd story would be allowed. Councilman Torre asked what will stop an applicant from asking for bigger than 2000 square foot residential unit or from building a 2000 square foot unit and making the rest of the building dormant. Bendon said Council could make it clear that TDRs will not be allowed nor could this go through the AspenModern negotiation. Bendon said there is no answer for residential units creating dormancy on other buildings and until that can be answered, perhaps Council should not be encouraging residential units in the downtown or these should only be allowed in historically designated buildings. Mayor Ireland presented a memorandum analyzing the effects of zoning in the downtown and 3 measures of vitality: population, local ownership and development, and market trends. Mayor Ireland showed population changes in the downtown using census data 1990, 2000 and 2010, noting that the population in CC and C-1 has declined and vacancy rates have increased. GIS maps identifies about 31 residential units in the CC and C-1 zones. While the population has declined, the median age has risen by several years. Mayor Ireland pointed out that local ownership has declined for both residential and commercial properties over the past decade. Mayor Ireland noted the price per square foot for residential increased considerably more than for commercial and is almost twice as much for residential uses. Mayor Ireland said the assessor's data also illustrates that the price per square foot rises with size of a residential unit; however, the price stay the same regardless of size for commercial uses. Mayor Ireland said infill and more generous zoning did not produce vitality in the downtown area; the population declined, vacancy rates rose and local ownership fell. Mayor Ireland noted that 8 out of 11 of the recent development applications include a proposed top floor penthouse use. Mayor Ireland recommended not allowing new second home residential uses in the CC and C-1 zones; allowing greater heights only on the north side of streets and only for true hotel development; and removing "mixed use" exemptions from mitigation for residential developments, which encourages residential uses on upper floors. Mayor Ireland noted the market signals are to build residential which is worth about twice as much as commercial. Residential owners want quiet, exclusive properties. Hotel uses support businesses; guests go out to eat and to entertain themselves. Mayor Ireland said the community has a problem with the bed base and properties continue to turn into residential properties. Councilman Torre said he would like to know more about the city's regulations on historic properties. Councilman Torre noted nothing has convinced him that free market residences should be allowed downtown. Councilman Torre said he would prefer to determine the uses before determining maximum heights. Councilman Torre said he would also like more information on mechanicals on the roof. Councilman Torre stated he does not support option 2. Councilman Skadron stated 28' is necessary and prioritizes core values. Councilman Skadron said he would support exceptions to the 28' for lodging and no free market residential. Councilman Johnson said the core is where density belongs on both sides of the streets. Councilman Johnson stated there are tools in place—design review guidelines, view planes—to 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 26,2012 direct development. Councilman Johnson agreed he would like to see the map of where historic properties are located. Councilman Johnson said he is not ready to give up the mixed use concept. Councilman Johnson said although lodging is a great idea, it does not seem feasible to have small lodges on 3rd floors of buildings. Councilman Frisch said he would like to adopt a code for the community rather than a code for the times and not have to have these code amendments discussions annually. Councilman Frisch said the commercial core may need some third stories; however, with the 11 development projects in line and 8 of those asking for a third story, this discussion may become moot. Councilman Frisch said he supports allowances for lodges, it is unlikely a lodge will be built on a 3,000 square foot lot in the commercial core. Councilman Frisch stated he supports two stories but would not expect to see land use applications if two stores were the limit. Councilman Skadron noted the commercial core currently has three story buildings and in addition to that, there is a new art museum of 3 stories, the little Annie's block will be going to 3 stories,there is an additional request for the building to the east of the Red Onion, which is for 3 stories, the Cooper street building increased from 2 to 4 stories. Councilman Skadron said with what exists currently and what is in the application stage, the city should do all it can to hold on to the remaining character. Councilman Frisch agreed Council should take time to see what is being developed and to reflect on the impacts of those projects. Councilman Torre said he could support a third story that would increase vitality. Mayor Ireland asked if Council were willing to eliminate the mixed use exemptions in the CC and C-1. Bendon said the direction he heard was to eliminate that, the option preferred by Council is no free market residences downtown. Ms. Garrow reiterated other changes is Council agree to the office change north of Main street and third stories for hotel only on the north sides of streets Councilman Johnson moved to continue Ordinance#25, Series of 2012, to December l Otn; seconded by Councilman Skadron. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #26, SERIES OF 2012 —Parks Bonds Refunding Alice Hackney, finance department, told Council this will approve the issuance of$9,090,000 of parks and open space sales tax revenue refunding bonds and refunds what is left of the 2005 revenue bonds. This refunding was done in two phases in order to keep under the bank qualified threshold of$10 million. Ms. Hackney said the savings on this issue is set to net present value of$1.4 million. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Torre moved to adopt Ordinance #26, Series of 2012, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Johnson. Roll call vote; Skadron, yes; Frisch, yes; Torre, yes; Johnson, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #27, SERIES OF 2012— Supplemental Appropriation 11 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 26 2012 Don Taylor, finance department, said these are supplemental appropriations to the 2012 budget and all items have been previously discussed by Council. Councilman Johnson moved to adopt Ordinance #27, Series of 2012, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Skadron. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Roll call vote; Torre, yes; Johnson, yes; Frisch, yes; Skadron, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #28, SERIES OF 2012—Code Amendment—Hearing Officer Chris Bendon, community development department, noted this amends the land use code; the hearing officer covers appeals of administrative decisions. Bendon said changes are to allow Council to remove the appointee at any time, without cause; to allow the position to receive reasonable compensation which will be billed to applicants seeking an appeal; insure that the officer makes his decision at public hearing. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Torre moved to adopt Ordinance #28, Series of 2012, on second reading; seconded by Mayor Ireland. Roll call vote; Johnson, yes; Skadron, yes; Frisch, yes; Torre, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #29, SERIES OF 2012—Adoption of 2013 Fees Don Taylor, finance department, reminded Council as part of the budget process, all city fees are reviewed with a committee and changes are recommended by that committee. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Torre moved to adopt Ordinance #29, Series of 2012, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Frisch. Councilman Torre asked about the Wheeler fees for user groups and the new theatre equipment and the rates for Aspen Film. Mayor Ireland suggested adopting this and hearing from the director of the Wheeler if this fee needs to be change. Roll call vote; Frisch, yes; Johnson, yes; Skadron, yes; Torre, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. 12 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 26,2012 ORDINANCE #30, SERIES OF 2012—Water Rate Adjustment Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Lee Ledesma, water department, said this is a cost of service transaction and encompasses 5 years of water rate adjustment. Staff will return in 2017 to report on how the cost of service transaction is going. Ms. Ledesma said this starts at a 3.7% increase and at the end of the fifth year it is a 4.1% increase. The bill for the average residential customer will go up $.89 Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing. Councilman Johnson moved to adopt Ordinance#30, Series of 2012, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Torre. Roll call vote; Skadron, yes; Torre, yes; Johnson, yes; Frisch, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. RESOLUTION #103, SERIES OF 2012—South Aspen Street Lodge Project Councilman Johnson left as he lives within 300 feet of the project. David Parker, representing the applicant, reminded Council when they came to Council with an amended townhouse project, Council requested the applicants re-examine building a lodge on this site. Parker said they spent 6 months looking at a lodge and have expressed the concern that a lodge project is not viable. Parker noted Council asked the applicant to look at what it would take to make the project work. Parker said that would be too big a project. The COWOP I project was not approved by the community at 70' and 400,000 square feet of development. Parker said their project would have to be close to that size in order to be sustainable and Council discussed earlier concerns about height in the community. Parker told Council they reviewed this with Byron Cost at CU who noted the applicant's proposal was overly optimistic in their assumptions and that the proposed hotel is not big enough. Parker said the applicants have tried hard to make this work, and they cannot make a hotel work unless it is 6 stories of condominiums and 5 stories of hotel, which the community would not support. Chris Bendon, community development department, said with a formal application is the correct time for Council to vote on that project. Bendon suggested the applicant be allowed to amend or to withdraw their application and then pursue the townhouse project. Mayor Ireland said Council made a mistake approving a townhouse project for this location, but this a is decision that has to be lived with. Councilman Skadron moved to adjourn at 10:55 PM; seconded by Councilman Torre. All in favor, motion carried. , L Kai yn Koch City Clerk 13