Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19970224Asoen City Council Regular Meetin~ February 24, 1997 Mayor Pro Tem Richards called the meeting to order at 5:00; p.m. with Councilmembers Waggaman, Marolt and Paulson present. PUBLIC APPEARANCES A visiting contingent from Aspen' s Sister City in Japan, Shimakappu, brought greetings and a present to City Council. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION There were none. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Mayor Pro Tem Richards announced there is a transportation network meeting this week in Glenwood Springs at the Hotel Colorado to talk about the fitture of transportation improvements and types of fitnding. 2. Councilwoman Waggaman said there was a Roaring Fork Holding Authority meeting this morning. The closing is March 281h for the Rio Grande right-of-way. 3. Mayor Pro Tem Richards said Mayor Bennett is in Washington D.C. with Mayors from other cities in the valley for the transportation/railroad project. 4. City Manager Margemm told Council staff has copies of the briefing notebook on the rail project that the Mayor took to Washington D. C. Councilwoman Waggaman said it is very informative and is a comprehensive explanation of what Aspen is trying to do. 5. City Manager Margemm told Council the transportation linkages workshop on how people will move from ski area to transportation to rail has been rescheduled to early April. 6. Amy Margemm, City Manager, reminded Council of the joint work session with the BOCC at noon on March 1 lth to hear the appeal on GMQS scoring of Stage 3. Asoen City Council Regular Meetin~ February 24, 1997 7. Amy Margemm, City Manager, said RFTA and the BOCC would like a meeting with Council to discuss additional members for RFTA Board from down valley communities. Mayor Pro Tem Richards suggested waiting until after the May election. 8. Amy Margerum, City Manager, requested the appointment of Gil Sanchez to the Design Review Committee be added to the consent calendar. Councilwoman Waggaman moved to add this to the consent calendar; seconded by Councilman Marolt. All in favor, motion carried. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilman Paulson moved to approve the consent calendar; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. The consent calendar is: · Minutes - January 28, February 1 O, 1997 · Appointments to Asset Planning Committee - Sara Chase, James Knowlton, Scott Lindenau · Resolution #9, 1997 - Supplemental 1/2 Cent Sales and Use Tax Budget Request · Transportation Funding Requests · Appointment of Gil Sanchez to DRAC All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #7, SERIES OF 1997 - Hallam Lake Annexation Mayor Pro Tem Richards opened the public hearing. John Worcester, city attorney, told Council this ordinance will annex Hallam Lake, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, adjacent to the city limits. Worcester said this will generate no taxes since ACES is a non-profit institute. No development is proposed other then the next agenda item. This area is already patrolled by the police department. Councilman Marolt asked what kind of benefits 2 Asoen City Council Regular Meetin~ February 24, 1997 there are to annexation. Worcester said this property borders the city and there is no reason why it should not be included in the city. Worcester told Council ACES entered into a water service agreement several years ago. All of the city' s water service agreements require consent to annexation. City Manager Margerum said the annexation was part of the settlement of a lawsuit between ACES and the city. Mayor Pro Tem Richards closed the public hearing. Councilman Paulson moved to adopt Ordinance #7, Series of 1997, on second reading; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. Roll call vote; Councilmembers, Paulson, yes; Waggaman, yes; Marolt, yes; Mayor Pro Tem Richards, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #6, SERIES OF 1997 - Hallam Lake Rezoning, SPA, GMQS Exemption Suzanne Wolff, community development department, told Council after being annexed into the city, the property has to be rezoned. This ordinance will rezone the property Academic with and SPA overlay. The ACES mission for this development is to design and build an educational model for environmentally sensitive employee housing, recognizing the importance of enhancing the natural surroundings with both human and animal habitat. Ms. Wolff said currently the property is non-conforming and ACES cannot do any new development. This proposal is for 5 affordable housing units in 2 structures, a straw bale and tree house structure. ACES is also retrofitting the existing professor' s house and rehabilitating the area surrounding the development. P & Z recommends approval of the application. An amendment to the academic zone district is also proposed. This amendment will amend a conditional use in order to allow attached residential dwellings which give more flexibility in providing housing on properties and to create an incentive for institutions in the academic zone district to create on-site affordable housing. Attached residential units are more attractive to year-round staff and also more consistent with the housing guidelines. Ms. Wolff said this rezoning is consistent with the AACP, it creates affordable housing, it maintains the Hallam Lake nature preserve. The new structures will be a model for energy conservation and resource use. The academic zone fits the current uses at ACES. These units will be 3 Asoen City Council Regular Meetin~ February 24, 1997 occupied by ACES' employees. This is within walking distance of town and of shopping. Ms. Wolff said the new housing is in a meadow that is already impacted by seasonal housing structures. This area will be rehabilitated after construction. The units will be constructed around the edges of this meadows. SPA designation is a requirement with the academic zone district to allow design flexibility and development for multiple uses. Ms. Wolff told Council the applicants have imposed limitations on the building footprints and square footage in order to limit the impact. The straw bale structure is 800 square feet and the tree house footprint is 450 square feet. The applicants are requesting a GMQS exemption for affordable housing. These units will be deed restricted. P & Z approved a conditional use for the attached dwelling unit as well as a special review for parking, subject to Council' s approval. Staff recommends approval with the conditions outlined in the memorandum. Ms. Wolff said noted one condition requires these units be rented to any qualified employee if there are no ACES employees; however, the deed from the Paepcke estate prohibits rental to non- ACES employees. Ms. Wolff said a standard condition is to require the construction of sidewalk, curb and gutter. In this instance, that condition has been amended in order to allow ACES to work with staff to see if alternates can be found for pedestrian access. Tom Cardamone, executive director of ACES, presented an aerial photograph to orient Council. Cardamone told Council ACES is working on getting Puppy Smith street vacated from the gates onto the property. The city has not maintained this street for the last 20 years. Mayor Pro Tem Richards asked if there are plans for the house the city owns at the east end of Puppy Smith street. Cardamone said they are investigating land trades with the city; however, there was not enough time to get it done before this application. This application does not preclude flirther discussions about land trades. Boots Ferguson, representing the applicant, suggested the SPA agreement could contain some language that the city and ACES would cooperate on land trades in the area. Worcester said Council can conclude at this meeting that that would be an insubstantial amendment to the SPA and it could be handled by staff at a later date. A1 Dietsch, ACES board, said the professor's house is not being deed restricted and it is not clear in these conditions. Dietsch noted condition #2 requires an SPA agreement be entered into. This will be prepared by ACES's attorney. Dietsch said 4 Asoen City Council Regular Meetin~ February 24, 1997 ACES is concerned that the area stay natural and not become a hardscape. Dietsch said they feel sidewalks would be inappropriate; dirt or gravel paths would be more appropriate. Councilwoman Waggaman agreed and suggested the agreement might list some more appropriate pedestrian access treatments. Dietsch said condition #6 requires they join any improvement district formed for the purpose of constructing improvements in adjacent public rights-of-way. Dietsch said they have no problem with Puppy Smith street; however, the Rio Grande trail is adjacent on two sides and ACES is concerned about having to improve that right-of- way. Dietsch requested this be clarified to the right-of-way on Puppy Smith street only. Worcester said what was intended was the street. Dietsch said there should be a sidewalk along the post office and the city property of the switching station to keep pedestrians separated from traffic. Dietsch said this is 1.24 acres received from the Paepcke estate. ACES owns 25 acres in the area. Dietsch said the footprint are about 2 percent of the land, or 1,200 square feet out of 1.24 acres. ACES agrees with a parking lot in the area for visitor traffic. ACES would like to rehabilitate the rest of the area and develop a bird habitat. Dietsch said this work has been going on for 3 years, trying to house employees on-site and to make it as minimal as possible. ACES has purchased a 3 bedroom unit at Hunter Creek, which is also used for their staff. This proposal will house 7 people. Councilman Paulson asked if the brochure mentions mass transit. Cardamone said ACES promotes the Galena Street shuttle and they encourage people to use mass transit. This promotion can be added to the brochures. Mayor Pro Tem Richards opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Pro Tem Richards closed the public hearing. The amendments to the conditions are to #6 will only apply to Puppy Smith street right-of-way and that to #7 the "new" units, not the professor's house will be subject to the "income" guidelines so that it is consistent with the deed restrictions imposed by the Paepckes. Councilwoman Waggaman moved to adopt Ordinance #6, Series of 1997, on second reading with the amendment to emphasize alternate softscape improvements to the portion of Puppy Smith; #6 to include ACES is responsible for improvement district only along Puppy Smith street and #7 "new" units consistent with the deed Asoen City Council Regular Meetin~ February 24, 1997 restrictions from the Paepcke estate; seconded by Councilman Paulson. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Marolt, yes; Paulson, yes; Waggaman, yes; Mayor Pro Tem Richards, yes. Motion carried. UNRESOLVED 1997 NON-PROFIT GRANT REQUESTS Doug Smith, finance director, reminded Council the non-profit grant committee did not give Council a recommendation on Sister Cities or Energy 2000. There was confitsion of the relationship between these 2 organizations as last year the Sister Cities gave money to Energy 2000. Smith said these are separate organizations and what happened in 1996 was unusual. Smith said last year Sister Cities received $12,360; a 4 percent increase would be $12,850. Sister Cities requested $14,360, a 16 percent increase. Energy 2000 received $2500 in 1996 and had requested a 300 percent increase to $10,000. Councilwoman Waggaman said Energy 2000 is an excellent project and they are putting together a good conference for this year; however, it seems to be getting out of hand. Mayor Pro Tem Richards pointed out the Energy 2000 conference will be held in other cities after this year. Mayor Pro Tem Richards said she can support the Sister Cities grant at a 4 percent increase. Councilman Marolt questioned the $15,000 salary item in the Energy 2000. Mayor Pro Tem Richards said the conference will not happen with just volunteer help. Energy 2000 is also getting contributions from other businesses. Amy Margemm, city manager, noted staff had asked if Sister Cities could make their one large event in 1997 this Energy 2000 and join efforts and fitnds. The Sister Cities group decided against that. Mayor Pro Tem Richards said the Energy conference is a continuation of a Sister City activity. The Aspen Sister City group is not endorsing this Energy 2000 event. Council agreed with a 4 percent increase in the grant to Sister Cities. Mayor Pro Tem Richards suggested this be the last time Energy 2000 be fitnded at this amount with the understanding it should be integrating with Sister Cities or CORE. The fitnding for 1997 is because the participants from 5 Sister Cities will be present. Ms. Margemm suggested Energy 2000 attend a brown bag lunch and explain their conference and outlining where the money is going. Smith suggested a $2500 on-going grant and a $5000 one-time grant to Energy 2000 because the energy seminar is in Aspen this year. 6 Asoen City Council Regular Meetin~ February 24, 1997 Councilman Paulson moved to fitnd Sister Cities at $12,850 and a one-time grant of $5000 and a continuing grant of $2500 to Energy 2000 to hold the October conference in Aspen this year; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. All in favor, motion carried. Amy Margemm, city manager, reminded Council when the ACES grant to cover their annexation costs was before the city, there was confitsion as to whether some of the grant had already been fitnded. The packet contains an amended request of $12,238; staff recommends approval at this amount. This should conclude fitnding of the annexation costs. Tom Cardamone, ACES, pointed out the costs were reduced by using prior annexation maps, revised city fees and clarifying some of the other city costs. These fees include $3,000 of quiet title work. Ms. Margemm said this is a reasonable request and now agrees with staffs' understanding of the costs of this development proposal Councilwoman Waggaman moved to approve the ACES grant at $12,328; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. PARKS & GOLF MAINTENANCE/STORAGE FACILITY Rebecca Schickling, assistant parks director, told Council the Asset Planning Committee had some concerns after conceptual approval of this project. This is the parks and golf maintenance facility, adding a supplemental storage facility 12,000 square feet for housing the equipment and additional office space of 5,000. P & Z also required an on-site employee unit of 600 square feet. Some of their concerns were character and design issues and justifying the project costs. The APC had concerns with the L-shape of the building and felt it was too industrial. Ms. Schickling told Council the parks department held a design charette in January. Members of the APC were invited. One of the goals was to present a more inviting building as this is visible from the highway. They looked at some historical buildings. The design charette came up with 5 designs. The L-shaped building does hide some of the maintenance facility. All the plans include maintaining the storage facility and incorporating the existing office. Ms. Schickling showed the 5 designs from the charette; site plan E seems to meet the needs for both parks and golf, contains the area and allows some architectural breakup of the long face of the building. A mezzanine, which will house small equipment, was added. This helps eliminate the long face of the building and breaks the shape up. George Robinson, 7 Asoen City Council Regular Meetin~ February 24, 1997 parks director, told Council they are attempting to get the cost of the project below or just at $1 million. The building includes an EPA-approved wash site, a place for fitel and grass clippings. There is heated and cold storage. Councilman Paulson suggested staff look at heating the cold storage space so that employees do not have to work in a cold area. Councilman Marolt asked if the wash bay will have a recycling water system. Robinson said it will. Councilman Paulson asked if there is a snowcat storage. Ms. Schickling said there is heated snowcat storage with easy access to the golf course. Councilman Paulson asked if the storage on Marolt will be moved over to this new facility. Robinson said it will be moved. Councilwoman Waggaman asked if the neighbors have seen this. Robinson said the neighbors have not seen this particular design. Ms. Schickling told Council the PUD zone has no height requirements; however, during conceptual, staff agreed to an 18 foot building. Ms. Schickling said they will go back to the neighbors and make sure they see this 22 foot peaked roof. Staff is working on a model. Mayor Pro Tem Richards asked if this will take care of the parks and golf needs for the next 20 years. Robinson said it is planned for that; however, it depends on how many more parks the city buys. Mayor Pro Tem asked about the parking design and cleaning up the existing parking area to be able to offer some improvement to the general area. Mayor Pro Tem Richards said she has mixed feelings about the rusted metal look. Robinson said the office space will be wood to break up the rested look. Mayor Pro Tem Richards said this is more creative than most parks department buildings and something the city can be proud of. Mayor Pro Tem Richards said she wants to make sure everything is covered. Councilman Marolt moved to allow this project to move forward to take this through the development review process conditioned upon having another meeting with the neighbors; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. All in favor, motion carried. Councilwoman Waggaman moved to continue the meeting to Monday, March 3, 1997, for the Aspen Mountain Lodge PUD; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. Council left the meeting at 7:15 p.m. Asoen City Council Regular Meetin~ February 24, 1997 Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk 9 Asoen City Council Regular Meetin~ February 24, 1997 PUBLIC APPEARANCES ......................................................................................1 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION ...................................................................................1 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS .......................................................................1 CONSENT CALENDAR ........................................................................................2 Minutes - January 28, February 10, 1997 .............................................................2 Appointments to Asset Planning Committee - Sara Chase, James Knowlton, Scott Lindenau ............................................................................................................. 2 Resolution #9, 1997 - Supplemental 1/2 Cent Sales and Use Tax Budget Request2 Transportation Funding Requests .........................................................................2 Appointment of Gil Sanchez to DRAC ................................................................2 ORDINANCE #7, SERIES OF 1997 - Hallam Lake Annexation .............................2 ORDINANCE #6, SERIES OF 1997 - Hallam Lake Rezoning, SPA, GMQS Exemption ...............................................................................................................3 UNRESOLVED 1997 NON-PROFIT GRANT REQUESTS ...................................6 PARKS & GOLF MAINTENANCE/STORAGE FACILITY ..................................7 10