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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19890410Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 CITIZEN COMMENTS 1 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 2 CONSENT CALENDAR 4 ORDINANCE #7, SERIES OF 1989 - Substantive Land Use Amend- ments 4 ORDINANCE #8, SERIES OF 1989 - Amending Clean Indoor Air Act 6 ORDINANCE #9, SERIES OF 1989 - Adopting 1988 Uniform Fire Code 7 ORDINANCE #10, SERIES OF 1989 - Appropriations 7 ORDINANCE #11, SERIES OF 1989 - Amending R-6 Zone District 7 ORDINANCE #12, SERIES OF 1989 - Zoning Williams Addition 8 ORDINANCE #14, SERIES OF 1989 - Real Estate Transfer Tax 8 ORDINANCE #13, SERIES OF 1989 - Wolftone Lawsuit 8 ORDINANCE #18, SERIES OF 1989 - 1989 Housing Guidelines 9 REQUEST FOR TAP FEE WAIVER - Pitkin County 10 REQUEST TO USE RIO GRANDE PROPERTY - TATC Tent 10 MESA STORE BANNER 11 ORDINANCE #16, SERIES OF 1989 - Amending Historic Landmarks GMQS Exemption 11 BALLOT QUESTION INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION 13 PARKING STRUCTURE AMENDMENTS 13 ORDINANCE #17, SERIES OF 1989 - Demolition of Historic Structures 15 17 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 Mayor Stirling called the, meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with Councilmembers Tuite, Gassman, Fallin and Isaac present. CITIZEN COMMENTS 1. Henry Goldsmith told Council he intends to replace his dwelling unit on Cemetery Lane and will have to demolish most of the existing unit. Goldsmith said he feels it is a good idea to use this building for employee housing if it can be moved to another piece of property. If the city wants this building, they can have it. Jim Adamski, housing office, told Council the housing office has asked the private sector to step forward and help with employee housing, and this is a private citizen doing that. Adamski said his preference would be to find a suitable lot for the Goldsmith' s to build on rather than to move the unit . Adamski said this would be saving a structure and not creating a large impact. Adamski said he is looking at city-owned parcels for a possible trade. Adamski told Council this needs to be moved quickly. Mayor Stirling moved to have the housing authority follow up on this request and come back to Council April 24; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. Councilwoman Fallin asked if staff is looking at county-owned land. Adamski said he will investigate that. The school has been contacted. Jon Busch said this is a 3 apartment unit and would be a significant addition to the community. Councilman Tuite said he is interested in pursuing this and would like all the legal variations. All in favor, motion carried. 2. Jon Busch told Council he has been researching the status of Little Annie ski area. Busch said this is a critical mass issue which needs some action now. Busch told Council in 1986, the Skiing Company had lift plans drawn up to service the Little Annie area from the gondola. Since then the Skiing Company has con- centrated all their efforts on Burnt Mountain. Busch said Burnt Mountain does not offer anything good for Aspen; it contributes to traffic on highway and a greater impact on the transit system. Busch reminded Council Little Annie would triple the ski terrain on Aspen mountain and would keep some skiers in town. Busch said there are pressures that the Little Annie land be sold off for homesites. Busch said if the Little Annie proposal falls apart, there will never be an opportunity to expand Aspen mountain. Busch requested Council use staff' to work with the Skiing Company, forest service and the county to get the Little Annie ski area back in the picture. Busch said Little Annie should be included in the Burnt Mountain deliberations as an alternative. 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 3. Jack Hatfield reminded Council he has spoken previously about his reservations about the drug grant. Hatfield said he feels even more strongly about this due to the way the grant was approved last week, that the public had no knowledge of the meeting. Hatfield said his reservations are that there is federal monies and strings attached to the community, and the information gathering potential and how this is controlled. Hatfield said he sees great potential for abuse. Hatfield said, Aspen can fight the drug problem by ourselves with rebudgetting and redirecting of resources. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Mayor Stirling asked about absentee ballots. City Clerk Kathryn Koch told Council the absent ballot machine is set up, ready for people who are leaving town to vote. 2. Mayor Stirling moved to reconsider the action taken April 3 regarding the drug grant; seconded by Councilman Gassman. Mayor Stirling suggested this be put on the April 24th agenda. Mayor Stirling said he would like to reconsider this because it was done with haste and Council was not aware they would have to take an action. Mayor Stirling said Council should meet with staff and talk about philosophy and emphasis in the police department rather than waiting six months. Councilwoman Fallin asked if this grant has already been applied for. Tom Delassandri, police department, told Council the police department has made the proposal for the grant. Councilman Tuite said he will not vote for reconsideration because the city still does not know if they have the grant. Councilman Tuite said it is necessary to have a public hearing and address the concerns. Councilman Gassman and Mayor Stirling in favor; Councilmembers Tuite, Isaac and Fallin opposed. Motion NOT carried. Council scheduled a work session for Thursday, April 20 at 5 p.m. to consider the drug grant. 3. Mayor Stirling commended Jay Hammond, who is resigning as head of the public works department. Mayor Stirling said Jay has done a remarkable job in a sophisticated and challenging situation. 4. Mayor Stirling moved to add to the agenda Ordinance #17, Series of 1989, Demolition of Historic Structures as VIII (h); seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, motion carried. 5. Mayor Stirling said he would like Council to consider in the next 60 to 90 a resolution in support of a new equal rights amendment. Mayor Stirling said he will submit a resolution to the city attorney's office for consideration. 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 6. Councilwoman Fallin said she would like to discuss parking enforcement in the off season. Councilwoman Fallin moved to add this to the agenda as VIII (i); seconded by Councilman Tuite. All in favor, motion carried. Jay Hammond, city engineer, told Council this will be part of the discussion on the parking structure because all of the parking on the Rio Grande will be lost. Council agreed. 7. Councilman Isaac proposed Council consider auto-free day/s this off season in an evaluation of having the downtown auto free. Councilman Isaac said he has talked to RFTA about having a shuttle system to Buttermilk and some additional down valley buses. Councilman Tuite said the 'off season is a good time to do this. This proposal should be coordinateu with the Skiing Company and with RFTA. Councilman Tuite said he would like to see the buses free for these day/s. Councilman Tuite said he will bring it up at the next RFTA meeting. Councilman Isaac moved the city request RFTA provide a plan for an auto free day or several days in May and this be brought back to Council April 24; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, motion carried. 8. Councilman Isaac said he feels the city has been left out of the EPA hearing with the County. Councilman Isaac said he would like to get together with the Commissioners to find out what is going on and to formulate some kind of plan. Councilman Isaac moved to set up a meeting with the Commissioners on the superfund site as soon as possible; seconded by Mayor Stirling. Council picked tentative dates of April 17 at 4:00 or at 6:30 p.m. or April 18 at 5:00 p.m. City Manager Bob Anderson said he will let Council know which date. 9. City Manager Bob Anderson said the planning staff has asked for a special meeting on the conceptual PUD for Aspen Greens, which is the development at the golf course, May 1st. Council said they did not want to meet the night before the regular election. Council said they will begin to hear this on the regular meeting May 8. 10. Paul Taddune, special counsel, requested an executive session on two issues of litigation after the regular Council meeting this evening. The two issues are the referendum lawsuit and Wolftone lawsuit. Councilman Isaac moved to go into executive session to discuss litigation on Wolftone and the referendum petition lawsuits; 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 10~ 1989 seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman and Mayor Stirling. Motion carried. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilwoman Fallin moved to approve the consent calendar; seconded by Councilman Isaac. The consent calendar is: A. Minutes - March 20, 27, 29, 1989 B. Liquor License Renewals - Aspen Mine Company, Abetone, Red Onion Restaurant C. Special Event Permit - Design Conference D. Liquor License Transfer - Club Paradise E. Villa of Aspen Townhouses Reconsideration of PUD Amendment F. Request to Not Initiate Rezoning of Aspen Mountain PUD G. Resolution #14, 1989 - Polling Places H. Lot Line Adjustment -Aspen Valley Hospital Employee Housing Project All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #7, SERIES OF 1989 - Substantive Land Use Amendments Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. Mac Cunningham said he is concerned that attempts in the ordinance to create affordable housing may be creating the reverse. Cunningham said requiring the second units in duplexes to be deed restricted may eliminate duplexes in those zones. Cunningham said this will encourage large single units rather than smaller duplex units. Cunningham said there are other ways to encourage people to build without eliminating duplexes. Cunningham suggested two units of 50 percent of the gross area of the larger single unit. Laurie Moss suggested make it mandatory to have someone building a duplex to additionally build a studio or one-bedroom accessory unit. Alan Richman said that suggestion was made in Ordinance #47 and it did not pass through the public hearing process. Richman said it would be an expansion of Ordinance #7. Richman told Council P & Z has discussed making duplexes prohibited in the office zone. Council has previously voted to make duplexes in the office zone a conditional use. Richman told Council P & Z also discussed the concept of 50/50 for duplexes to other residen- tial zones, which will be forwarded to Council in a code amendment. Bil Dunaway said the FAR is smaller for single family houses than for duplexes, and the community would benefit if people did not build duplexes. Councilman Tuite asked if this proposed change will get the community what they want. Richman said this is an outgrowth of Ordinance #47. Richman said staff has tried different alternatives, none of which have been acceptable so far. Council- 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 man Isaac said he likes the ideas of duplexes in the RMF zone putting in accessory units. This will guarantee some affordable housing. Richman reminded Council they have been discussing how. to handle duplexes in the RMF zone in this ordinance since first consideration. Councilwoman Fallin suggested this be an either/or situation. A person could deed restrict one side of the unit to affordable housing or could have two, free market units and two accessory units. Richman said there is nothing wrong with offering both options if Council supports both options. Buzz Dopkin said he is afraid these units will be created as subterranean units. Dopkin said he would rather see the city or county find a large piece of property and have housing developed on it. Dopkin said he feels housing as can be built for $70 per square feet rather than $108 per square foot. Dopkin said the private sector should be getting together with the city and county and building this housing. Dopkin said he is against housing dispersed throughout the community and making employees second class citizens. Chris Bigley said he is against accessory dwelling units in duplexes because it restricts ownership for people who would like to purchase their units. Frank Peters said he does not feel the Council should leave any stone unturned in search of affordable housing, and everything that comes up should be looked at. Peters suggested looking at an internal FAR so that people do not build the absolute minimum units. Laurie Moss said allowing duplexes and accessory dwelling units in the RMF zone could create some units soon. Councilwoman Fallin said these type of units still would not be addressing family-style housing. Councilwoman Fallin said her suggestion would produce units in town. Councilman Isaac said he would like to encourage the development of affordable housing in town as much as possible as well as spreading it around. Councilwoman Fallin moved that duplexes be a permitted use in the RMF zone as long as either one side is restricted to residential housing restricted to middle income or both can be free market as long as accessory units are provided; seconded by Councilman Isaac. Councilwoman Fallin asked if restricting this to middle income guidelines will eliminate some buyers and families. Richman said the niche for this type of housing is for two-income, management type families. Richman asked if Council wants to put an internal guideline on the 50/50 duplex, that the restricted unit has to be one-quarter or one-third of the total. Richman said with the present FARs, one-third of the total would be about 1300 square feet. Mac Cunningham asked Council to consider allowing this either/or proposition in some portions of the office zone. Cunningham said there is a lot of residential character along Main street in the office zone. Cunningham said he feels it is 5 Regular Meeting Aspen___City Council April 10, 1989 practical to have a mixed use on Main street. Chris Bigley said there is a positive side to integrated quality of living that would come to Aspen with this proposed plan. Bigley said this is a minuscule portion of the overall employee housing need. Councilman Isaac said he would like the motion to add that 1/3 of the duplex be the middle income unit. Councilwoman Fallin amended her motion to add this; seconded by Councilman Isaac. Councilman Gassman said he is concerned as this is rezoning the RMF to allow 4 units where there could have been 2 units. Richman pointed out the RMF zone is intended for multi-family; a duplex would be under building. The accessory dwelling units are required to go through the conditional use process, which gives the neighborhood protection. Councilman Gassman said he does not agree with the 1/3 limitation. Councilman Gassman said the city cannot solve every problem with every ordinance. The intent of what the Council is doing is to provide some flexibility. Councilman Isaac said he is concerned if the city does not put any minimum, they will get small one-bedroom units. Councilwoman Fallin said the purpose of her motion is to get larger units for families. The city is working on studio, dormitory type housing. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman and Mayor Stirling. Motion carried. Councilman Isaac moved that in the office zone, duplexes are a conditional use provided they have the choice either 1/3 of the duplex is middle income deed restricted or each side of the duplex creates an accessory use; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman and Mayor Stirling. Motion carried. Mayor Stirling moved to continue the public hearing on Ordinance #7 to April 27; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Isaac. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #8, SERIES OF 1989 - Amending Clean Indoor Air Act Lee Cassin, environmental health department, told Council this change clarifies how extensions for bar areas are granted. Ms. Cassin told Council the director of the environmental health department would make administrative determinations about whether a variance should be granted. The Clean Air Board would have a chance to review this determination. Ms. Cassin said this will facilitate the process for extensions but will still allow for public input. Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 Councilwoman Fallin moved to adopt Ordinance #8, Series of 1989, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Gassman. Councilman Isaac said this may be weakening the no smoking ordinance. Ms. Cassin said the 30 foot addition makes the ordinance stricter than it was before. Previously there was no limit to the size of the extension. Now the extension cannot be beyond 30 feet. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Fallin, yes; Gassman, yes; Tuite, yes; Isaac, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #9, SERIES OF 1989 - Adopting 1988 Uniform Fire Code Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Fallin moved to adopt Ordinance #9, Series of 1989, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Gassman. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Gassman, yes; Isaac, yes; Tuite, yes; Fallin, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #10, SERIES OF 1989 - Appropriations Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilman Isaac moved to adopt Ordinance #10, Series of 1989; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Isaac, yes; Fallin, yes; Tuite, yes; Gassman, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #11, SERIES OF 1989 - Amending R-6 Zone District Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilman Tuite moved to adopt Ordinance #11, Series of 1989, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Isaac. Tom Baker, planning office, told Council this is the best attempt at keeping Williams addition in a local scale. This amendment to the R-6 deals with subdivided lots annexed after January 1, 1989. Baker said R-15 would have made all the lots in the Williams addition non-conforming. Staff and P & Z felt it was more appropriate to go with R-6 and allow duplexes on 7500 square foot lots. 7 Reaular Meeting Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 Roll call vote; Councilmembers Fallin, yes; Isaac, yes Tuite, yes; Gassman, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #12, SERIES OF 1989 - Zoning Williams Addition Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Fallin moved to adopt Ordinance #12, Series of 1989, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Isaac. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Gassman, yes; Isaac, yes; Tuite, yes; Fallin, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #14, SERIES OF 1989 - Real Estate Transfer Tax Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. Mayor Stirling said Craig Overbeck's analysis of this tax shows it will not generate as much revenue as hoped. This analysis shows the tax will generate $562,000 annually. Councilman Tuite moved to adopt Ordinance #14, Series of 1989, on second reading; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. Rachel Richards said that employee housing is exempted from this tax. Ms. Richards said that people who have benefited from employee housing should continue to support employee housing. Ms. Richards said she feels a 15 percent tax on the capital gains would be more equitable. Sy Coleman said he feels exempting bankruptcies creates a mechanism by which the tax can be avoided by speculators . Paul Taddune, special counsel, reminded Council the city earlier litigated the issue of receiving a real estate transfer tax in a bankruptcy and lost. Mayor Stirling said he would rather have the seller paying the real estate transfer tax. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Isaac, yes; Tuite, yes; Fallin, yes; Gassman, no; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #13, SERIES OF 1989 - Wolftone Lawsuit Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. Paul Taddune, special counsel, told Council Wolftone claims it owns a portion of Summit street, which the city claims was dedicated to the city through the Mountain Queen condominiums. Taddune said he is going to discuss the lawsuit in the executive session. Councilwoman Fallin moved to continue this to April 24, 1989; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, with the exception of Mayor Stirling. Motion carried. 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 ORDINANCE #18, SERIES OF 1989 - 1989 Housing Guidelines Councilwoman Fallin moved to read Ordinance #18, Series of 1989; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #18 (Series of 1989) AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE 1989 AFFORDABLE RESIDENT HOUSING GUIDELINES AS RECOMMENDED BY THE ASPEN/PITKIN COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY was read by the city clerk Councilman Isaac moved to adopt Ordinance #18, Series of 1989, on first reading; seconded by Mayor Stirling. Jim Adamski, housing office, told Council included in the guide- lines is a cpi of 4.75, which reflects on the rents and the sales prices. Adamski said the payment-in-lieu has increased from $25,000 to $30,000 for low income. The guidelines include a special review committee to review applications that may not fit within the guidelines. Adamski said the residency has been lowered to 6 years for priority. Priority is also given to people already living in the complex. Adamski said the board recommends stepping the asset limitation to $125, 000 for low income units; $175, 000 for moderate and $250,000 for middle income guidelines. The guidelines state that retirement accounts shall not be included in the calculation of assets. Councilman Isaac said he does not like giving families with children priority. Janet Raczak, housing office, said priority is given to the number of people applying for a unit. Adamski said the concern of the housing authority is to house as many people as possible. Housing is a scarce resource and the housing authority would like to house as many people as possible. Priority is based on tenure, occupancy, and living in the project already. Council- man Tuite asked if the housing authority is trying to get their guidelines to coincide with those of Snowmass. Adamski told Council the housing board is going to appoint an ad hoc member from Snowmass to the housing board. Councilman Isaac said he feels the cash-in-lieu program puts the burden of housing on the city and county and takes it off the developer and forcing the housing outside the city. Doug Allen, housing board, pointed out the cash-in-lieu payments have been increased substantially in the hopes of getting more housing produced by developers. Adamski said cash-in-lieu will prove to produce more units that GMP. Adamski reminded Council they have the final say in what is accepted for housing. Over the last 3 years, the city and county have received about $1,200,000 in cash- in-lieu and have spent about $700,000. Adamski told Council there 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 is an increase in the cash-in-lieu amounts required. The housing authority recommended, and the BOCC concurred, to allow 90 days to make the payments before the developers have to go under the new guidelines. Mayor Stirling said he is concerned that the asset limits are high. Allen said the consensus of the housing authority is to graduate it according to the income category. Adamski said the previous asset limitation was one figure for all categories. Adamski said over the last 5 years, the cpi has averaged 3.4 percent; the housing costs have averaged 3.9, and the average income has increased 4.7 percent. Adamski said the housing is tracking very well if averages are used. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Tuite, yes; Gassman, yes; Fallin, yes; Isaac, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. REQUEST FOR TAP FEE WAIVER - Pitkin County City Manager Bob Anderson told Council the Commissioners want to withdraw this request. Anderson told Council the tap fee for the maintenance facility calculates to $44,000, which is within the county budget for this facility. Anderson said the county has some short term irrigation needs, and the city has agreed to bill the county as though it wi 11 be permanent . I f the county takes out the temporary irrigation in 2-1/2 years, the city will drop the bill. Anderson said the city has been discussing dumping the dirt from the parking structure at the airport, which could have been a trade for the tap fee. Anderson said using the airport for the dirt will not result in as substantial savings as originally thought. The county is not requesting a waiver for these tap fees. REQUEST TO USE RIO GRANDE PROPERTY - TATC Tent Kent Reed, Aspen Theatre Company, told Council this is their sixth season in town and they have used the Rio Grande for the last two years. Reed said the tent on the Rio Grande has been very success- ful. This land has been designated as arts usage, and the tent is compatible with that. Reed requested permission to erect the tent for May 1st to October 1st. Councilwoman Fallin moved that the Aspen Theatre Company be allowed to use the snow melt property for the 1989 season; seconded by Councilman Tuite. Reed said they would like to start their season earlier this year for the Design Conference, and also the snow has been removed. All in favor, motion carried. 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 Reed said because of the construction of the parking garage, the Rio Grande parking will be disrupted. The staff would like overflow parking on the snow melt property. Reed said he feels it would be nice to separate public parking from the tent. Reed said they came up with the idea of a temporary art park environment around the tent. Reed told Council he has talked to staff about this project, and they all support it. Reed said the temporary art park would take up about 1/4 of the snow melt area. Reed said he has gotten together a group of people on this idea to involve the community. Reed said this idea will not cost the citizens any money and will separate the tent from the parking area. Reed said the entrance to the tent will come from the art museum. They plan to have some sculptures and some temporary landscaping. City Manager Bob Anderson said he would like to coordinate this project. Mayor Stirling moved to approve the temporary art park contingent on the city manager coordinating this; seconded by Councilman Gassman. Councilman Gassman said this is a good idea and what the city has been trying to get going on in this area. All in favor, motion carried. MESA STORE BANNER Eve Homeyer, Westec, showed Council the proposed banner on the Westec building on Main street. Ms. Homeyer said this is a temporary banner with no ,commercial signage; there will be no stakes driven into the building. There will be no reference to Westec on the sign. The sign will be to mark a historic 100 year old building. Councilman Gassman moved to approve the temporary banner from mid- June through mid-September; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #16, SERIES OF 1989 - Amending Historic Landmarks GMQS Exemption Councilman Tuite moved to read Ordinance #16, Series of 1989; seconded by Councilman Gassman. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #16 (Series of 1989) AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL ADOPTING AMEND- MENTS TO THE ASPEN LAND USE REGULATIONS TO PROVIDE INCENTIVES FOR THE ADAPTIVE REUSE OF HISTORIC LANDMARKS was read by the city clerk 11 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 Councilwoman Fallin said this ordinance seems to be only referring to one project. Alan Richman, planning director, said this ordinance is a response to one project but has gotten a broader - perspective through staff and P & Z. Richman said the applicant explained to P & Z the nature of problems on the Berko building and how this would help to resolve them. Richman told Council the ordinance applies to other historic landmark buildings. Richman said this is a privately initiated code amendment that Council and the applicant agreed could ,be submitted. Richman said the purpose of the code amendment is to address several exactions which apply to historic landmarks, which the owners believe are excessive exactions. Richman said when Council adopted the code last year, two significant changes were made; establish a parking requirement and the increased amount of affordable housing from 35 percent of the employees generated to 60 percent. Richman said in the historic growth management regula- tions to be eligible as a historic structure for expansion, one had to mitigate the impacts like everyone else. Richman said at the time it was not realized how much more was required of a historic building than in the past. Richman said the applicant is suggesting that the increase from zero mitigation to the current legislation is too much of a jump. Richman said staff went to HPC and P & Z feeling they did go too far with the exactions and to see if there is a way to reduce these for historic structures. Richman told Council one amendment is when there is a change in use, there is no mitigation required. Richman said the city wants to encourage people to adaptive reuse buildings, that it is important to provide that flexibility for historic structures. Richman said affordable housing is the most expensive of the exactions. Richman told Council staff and P & Z tried to reduce the housing exaction and tie it to FAR reduction. Richman said if people agree not to build out a historic structure to the FAR maximum, they would get more benefit in terms of reduced costs. P & Z has recommended if one builds out to the maximum FAR, the affordable housing is only 50 percent of the threshold, which is 50 percent times 60 percent of the employees generated. Richman said for each 1 percent below allowable FAR, the affordable housing can be reduced. Richman said at 50 percent of allowable FAR, an applicant pays zero for affordable housing. P & Z also allowed this exaction at the moderate income level rather than low income level. Richman said another idea is to exempt any space which doesn't count as FAR from affordable housing requirements. Richman said the thought was if a developer can get some development potential 12 Reaular Meeting ___ Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 subgrade, which doesn't effect the historic integrity, it is worth it . Richman said the parking requirement is to get as much on site as possible and not to charge applicants for the cash-in-lieu. Richman told Council P & Z addressed moving historic buildings that sit back on the site to the f ront of the site to make them more prominent. Richman said P & Z agreed not to charge for using open space. Richman told Council the HPC made a strong recommendation about the FAR tied to affordable housing because they want a conservative scale and do not want to encourage significant additions to historic buildings. Richman said the amendment makes a lot of sense but staff and HPC encourages Council to be restrictive in terms of scale. Councilman Gassman asked if the city could treat an already built out historic building differently from a historic building that could have an addition on it. Richman said staff discussed having a scale relating to the percent of the increase, but this penalizes the small buildings. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Isaac, yes; Gassman, yes; Fallin, yes; Tuite, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. BALLOT QUESTION INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION City Manager Bob Anderson said staff feels a $2500 expenditure is appropriate for information on the ballot questions Councilwoman Fallin moved to approve an expenditure of $2500 for ballot information ads and brochures for the May 2, 1989, ballot questions; seconded by Councilman Tuite. Mayor Stirling said he feels this is a grey area and by simply printing information one reflects a positive point of view. Mayor Stirling said if it is just information given, it is not viewed as an improper use of taxpayers' money. Mayor Stirling said this can be dealt with by proponents and opponents of the ballot issues debating in public. Councilman Gassman said he does not feel there is informationally neutral advertising. Councilman Isaac said he feels there are some voters who are not aware of what the pros and cons of the issues are. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman and Mayor Stirling. Motion carried. PARKING STRUCTURE AMENDMENTS City Manager Bob Anderson reminded Council the bids came in higher then the budgeted amount. Staff's direction was to get together 13 Regular Meetinct Aspen City Council April 10, 1989 with the two major contractors with close bids and do a parallel system of negotiations to pare the amount of the bids down. Steve Newman, RNL, said in negotiating the bids, the low bidder is PCL construction at a bid of $5,464,000, which is a reduction of about $600,000 over the previous bid. Newman gave Council a list of 32 items which are cost reductions or alternations negotiated with the contractor to reduce the total cost. Newman broke these items down into categories of no impact, minimal impact and moderate impact. Newman said the overall budget for the project is very tight. There is a contingency allowance of 5 percent of the overall budget, which is only for construction only. Newman recommended the city work with the county to use the airport for dirt dumping location. Newman said he would like to have the contracts signed this week. The contractor intends to mobilize on the site next week. Newman said the contractor will start taking dirt out of the site by the end of April, and the dumping site can be negotiated by then. Newman said the items in the no impact cost savings are mostly nuts and bolts items. Councilwoman Fallin questioned in the minimum impact list, revising plaza loading to 250 pounds. Councilwoman Fallin asked if this would preclude putting any structure on the plaza. Newman said this would still retain the 250 pound loading, which is consider- able. Newman said he had 500 pound loading in some places. They redesigned some landscaping and substituted styrofoam blocking and use of less dirt. Newman said there is still flexibility in the design and in the column loads to build on top of that roof. Councilwoman Fallin asked about reducing the quantities of light fixtures and the deleting of high voltage wiring. Newman said the deletion of high voltage wires is the transfer of a cost from the contractor to the city. The city's electric department will do the connection rather than the contractor. Newman said the reduction in the overall lighting has to do with some street lights and some decorative lighting on the outside of the parking struc- ture. Councilwoman Fallin said she wants to make sure the interior is well lighted. Newman said no interior lights have been deleted. Councilwoman Fallin said in moderate impact cost savings, one elevator has been eliminated. Councilwoman Fallin asked if this will be efficient for people moving. Newman said this is eliminat- ing one elevator in the garage. Newman said one elevator was added into the project during the design process, which is the elevator in the library. There will still be 2 elevators in the projects. The library elevator allows access even when the library is closed. Newman said the elevator shaft will be enclosed and used as a storage room. 14 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April lOl 1989 Councilman Isaac asked about the alley modifications. Newman said Council wanted improvements from the property line to Mill street. Newman said this was a $22,500 additive to the contract and has been taken out of the project. Newman said they did not have to change the alley to make the drainage work. Newman said the Mill street driveway to the garage has been snowmelted; the stairs to the garage are snowmelted. Councilman Isaac said he feels the alley modifications should be done. This is a steep alley. Councilman Gassman asked if the pergola is being deducted com- pletely. Newman said he would like to see it added back into the project. This is a half round structure which defines one side of the circular park. Newman said this is non-functional. Councilman Gassman said he feels this is a nice addition to the space. Newman recommended Council wait until the excavation is complete before adding any items back in. Newman said there are some unknowns about excavation and how much water is on the site. Newman said in June or July Council can see where they are in the budget. Mayor Stirling agreed the alley to Mill street is very hazardous, and if there is an opportunity, the city should take as much pitch out as possible. Councilman Gassman moved to approve signing the contract for $5,464,230; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, motion carried. Councilwoman Fallin brought up timed parking in the downtown area. Elyse Elliott, engineering department, told Council during excava- tion there is about 10,000 cubic yards of backfill that will be stored on site. Ms. Elliott said this will be stored on the snowmelt area. During that time there will be no place for parking. Ms. Elliott asked about relaxing the timed parking in the downtown area during that 6 weeks. Ms. Elliott told Council once the backfill material is on the snowmelt site and compacted, people can park on it. Ms. Elliott told Council the old impound lot is going to be used by the contractor as their storage site. Councilman Tuite moved to suspend the parking rules starting tomorrow for 6 weeks until the end of May; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #17~ SERIES OF 1989 - Demolition of Historic Structures Councilwoman Fallin moved to read Ordinance #17, Series of 1989; seconded by Councilman Gassman. All in favor, motion carried. -ORDINANCE #17 (Series of 1989) 15 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April l0, 1989 AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL AMENDING THE REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE DEMOLITION, PARTIAL DEMOLITION OR RELOCATION OF HISTORIC STRUCTURES was read by the city clerk Councilman Isaac moved to adopt Ordinance #17, Series of 1989, on first reading; seconded by Mayor Stirling. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Isaac, yes; Tuite, yes; Gassman, yes; Fallin, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. Council went into executive session at 9:00 p.m. Kathryn Koch, City Clerk 16