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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19980921Special Meeting Aspen City Council September 21, 1998 Mayor Bennett called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. with Councilmembers Vickery, Paulson, Richards, and Markalunas present. Also present were HPC members Suzannah Reid, Susan Dodington, Melanie Roschko, Jeffrey Halferty, Gil Sanchez, and Heidi Friedland ORDINANCE #20, SERIES OF 1998 - 930 King Street Historic Designation and Lot Split Julie Ann Woods, community development department, told Council the request for a lot split is to accommodate two smaller homes on this property. Ms. Woods presented 3 different scenarios for the property put together by the applicant. Ms. Woods reminded Council at the last meeting on this development, there was a lot of discussion on the mass and scale and Council focused on moving the driveway from Neale Avenue. There is a petitions signed by many of the adjacent residents concerned about the drive accessing Neale. There is also a report from the city engineer indicating this access drive does meet the standards. This was a recommendation from HPC. The applicant is concerned about going back to HPC with a preferred alternative from Council and then not being able to get an approval. Ms. Woods pointed out the 3 scenarios all have a shared driveway with the new house on the west of the property and the historic house with addition. The shared driveway in plan #1 is 32 feet and is tight between the two houses. In plan #2, the driveway is 37 feet and the house is shifted closer to Neale avenue with a 20 foot front yard setback. In plan #3, there will be a planting buffer to reduce the pavement surface and divides the driveways into two 10 feet driveways and shifts the house over to the minimum setback of 16 feet. This plan encroaches into the neighbors view plane. Ms. Woods said staff suggested a plan #4 with a shared driveway, 10 foot at the entrance, widened out to accommodate both vehicles with 37 feet of maneuverability between the 2 garages. It does move the house to a 20 foot setback off Neale avenue. This is a compromise from the original recommendation of a driveway off Neale for the new structure. Ms. Woods said staff is requesting Council consider these alternatives; however, final action on Ordinance #20 will have to be at the next regular Council meeting due to publication requirements. Augie Reno, representing the applicant, told Council they prefer plan #3 as it is important to get the green space between the driveways. Reno pointed out the garages have been shifted so they are not right across from each other. 1 Special Meeting Aspen City Council September 21, 1998 Mayor Bennett opened the public hearing. Julie Maple asked if there is a possibility to shift the garage mass over 5 feet without having to get a variance. Reno said they have eliminated the back walkway and pushed the garage an additional 5 feet. Reno said they cannot move the garage another 5 feet without a total redesign of the project. Reno said they are not asking for a variance on either Neale or King streets for the new house. Ms. Woods noted under the historic lot split ordinance, variances can only be granted to the historic structure. When the driveway was shifted, the front yard changed to the Neale street side. Mike Maple said the change in the front yard setback is a wholesale shift and should be rejected. Maple said the focus has been to have the front yard off King street and changing this setback at this late date is inappropriate. Maple said in order to have a lot split, there have to be compromises and Council should not go overboard to grant the lot split and to accommodate the best design for their property needs. Charles Maple said the driveway and parking will be right below his bedroom. Maple suggested the garage not be all the at the back of the property. Maple said granting historic designation to this property has changed this property to his detriment. This lot is 2 feet higher than the Maple’s property. Councilwoman Richards noted there is an agreement to have this built at natural grade before the fill was added to the lot. Ms. Woods told Council staff searched the topographic maps, met on site and reached an agreement to use the historic elevation. The community plan and design review standards establish that the garages have to be on the back of the properties. Where the garage is establishes the front yard, which establishes the setbacks. Jeff Shoaf, adjacent neighbor to the east, said he appreciates the driveway being moved off Neale street. Shoaf said the driveway should be minimum width required and only accommodate one car at a time; people do not need a two-lane driveway. The 25 foot setback off Neale is appropriate. Jim Mickey said the problem with this project is the mass; it is too big. The proposed building will take away his entire view. Mayor Bennett agreed Council should have addressed reducing the FAR. Mike Maple noted the applicant is asking for an FAR bonus on the historic site. Maple said a 3,000 square foot house will be allowed on the historic site without the 2 Special Meeting Aspen City Council September 21, 1998 bonus and this bonus is being applied to the new house. Maple said the garage of 400 square feet also does not count in the FAR. Amy Guthrie, historic preservation office, told Council the FAR bonus is added to the project and the applicants allocate the FAR the way they want. Maple said the code states the FAR bonus goes to the historic house. Ms. Guthrie said the bonus does go to the historic house but then FAR can be transferred anywhere on the project. City Attorney John Worcester agreed the statues allows an applicant to shift FAR between the 2 lots so long as the FAR on each lot does not exceed what is permitted on that lot. HPC granted an FAR bonus of 250 square feet at conceptual review. Gil Sanchez, HPC member, told Council the discussion at HPC centered around saving the character of the neighborhood with the driveways located on King street and Neale street; it seemed reasonable to have driveways between houses. Sanchez said with this configuration there was a 25 foot setback from Neale, which preserved the view for the Maples house. HPC gave the historic house a variance to be pushed as far east as possible with more landscaping and less pavement. Sanchez told Council HPC members, too, are concerned that the FAR is too big; however, the applicant is asking for the allowable FAR for this lot. Mayor Bennett closed the public hearing. Mayor Bennett asked how many bonuses have been approved for this project. Ms. Guthrie said there is no bonus for the accessory dwelling unit as it is below grade. There is a garage exemption of 250 square feet. Mayor Bennett said at the August 10 Council meeting, there was agreement not to allow the driveway on Neale but to require a shared driveway off King street. Mayor Bennett questioned whether this is a shared driveway or two parallel driveways. Mayor Bennett said 18 feet sounds like two 9 foot driveways side by side. Mayor Bennett said he prefers staff’s recommendation for a more narrow driveway and agreed that 37 feet in back is needed for maneuverability. The amount of pavement may be mitigated with different materials. Mayor Bennett said at the public hearing August 10, Council heard repeatedly how important the 25 foot setback off Neale is with the smaller setback off King street. Councilman Markalunas agreed changes in FAR have to be addressed. Councilman Markalunas said it is important to preserve setbacks and to preserve neighbor’s views whenever possible. Councilman Markalunas said he would favor the plan 3 Special Meeting Aspen City Council September 21, 1998 with the least impacts on the neighborhood. Plan #4 presented by the staff seems the best one. Reno said a shared driveway can work, technically. The opposition is one property owner blocking the other in a single driveway. Another issue is the distance between the buildings and how the garages work. Heidi Friedland, HPC member, said the HPC was in consensus they would like to see this property landmarked and that they would like to see two smaller homes rather than one huge mass. Brooke Peterson, representing the applicant, said doing a front yard setback on Neale and a 37 foot turnaround both will not work. Peterson said he has been told that the front yard setback has to be on the same side as the driveway. Ms. Woods said under the code for a corner lot, the owner establishes the front yard. Ordinance 30 has a provision that goes to the length of the block and the majority of buildings on a street. As long as the applicant is meeting a front yard setback, he will on a corner lot be able to go down to 16’8” front yard setback and meet the law. Councilman Vickery said he does not feel the proposed plan is a convincing solution nor does it accomplish historic preservation goals. The issue is whether this property should get a lot split and that the property can utilize the intent of the historic lot split, to further historic preservation. Reno said one reason to approve the lot split is that the mass will be broken up into two structures rather than one 4400 square foot structure. Reno said one goal they have always kept in mind is leaving the historic house where it is and renovating it. Another design goal was setting back the new structure so that the historic structure would stand out. Jeffrey Halferty, HPC member, said the lot split was designed to work with smaller R-6 lots. When the massing goes up on larger lots, this causes problems. The code allows for the requested FAR on this site. Halferty said the HPC was concerned with maintaining the historic structure in its place. Councilman Vickery said staff finds this property meets standard B, architecture importance, standard D, neighborhood character and standard E, community character. Considering the deterioration of the structure, it no longer seems to meet the criteria for standard D. Councilman Vickery said he does not feel preservation of this site is critical to the community. However, if these two standards are eliminated, the site no longer meets historic landmark criteria. Suzannah Reid, HPC member, said marginality of historic preservation is something the HPC deals with all over town. Although this structure is in poor condition, it still embodies the 4 Special Meeting Aspen City Council September 21, 1998 scale, form, relationship to the street that is historic; it has qualities that go beyond what is left of it’s actual materials. Mayor Bennett asked what latitude the HPC would have regarding design if Council were to refer this back. Worcester said between HPC and Design Review committee, there is quite a bit of latitude. Councilwoman Richards agreed two smaller structures are better than one larger structure. Councilwoman Richards said she supports landmark designation. Reno told Council HPC has final approval over the design of this project. Reno stated HPC was specific in what they wanted the applicant to address in the conceptual design. Reno said the applicants want to design this with two smaller structures and to have the historic building stand out and be visible from the street. Councilman Markalunas said he would support the lot split and the preservation of the historic resource. Councilman Markalunas said putting huge addition on historic houses is terrible; however, applicants are working within the current regulations. Councilman Markalunas said the Council needs to work on reducing the allowable FAR. Councilwoman Richards said she does not favor the larger turnaround area as garages are exempt from the FAR so that people will park in the garages not out on the pavement. Councilwoman Richards moved to have staff amend Ordinance #20, Series of 1998, for final adoption on Monday, September 28 with the addition of language to maintain a 25 foot setback on Neale and a 10 foot neckdown entry to a dual driveway off King street for the 2 lots created; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. Melanie Roschko suggested this be amended to “shared driveway” rather than dual, which sounds like parallel driveways. Councilwoman Richards moved to amend the motion to “shared driveway”; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. Councilman Vickery said he would like Council to look at the historic lot split code requirements and add criteria to suggest functionality, building envelopes, height restrictions, so they can be considered integrally with the lot split. Councilwoman Richards agreed the real problem is the amount of FAR allowed under current city regulations. Councilwoman Richards said one of her charges is to consider public 5 Special Meeting Aspen City Council September 21, 1998 safety and to consider the safety for both vehicles and pedestrians in this area. Mayor Bennett agreed that hearing from 88 neighbors about moving the driveway off of Neale street is an important consideration. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Paulson. Motion carried. Councilman Markalunas moved to adjourn at 7: 15 p.m.; seconded by Councilwoman Richards. All in favor, motion carried. Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk 6