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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19931012Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 12, 1993 Mayor Bennett called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. with Councilmember Waggaman, Reno and Richards present. CITIZEN COMMENTS There were none. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Mayor Bennett asked about the intergovernmental agreement with Pitkin County on transportation. Amy Margerum, city manager, said this will be on the next city and county agenda. 2. Councilman Reno said there have been a rash of bicycle thefts in the community. There are comments about what the police are doing and Council should reaffirm that the police department is allowed to do whatever necessary to find the culprits. Tom Dalessandri, assistant police chief, told Council his department made two arrests this weekend which may have solved the bicycle theft epidemic. Dalessandri said they recovered 9 of the stolen bicycles and arrested two people from Texas. Councilman Reno said Council has not given the police department direction o what they can and cannot do to solve crimes. 3. Amy Margerum, city manager, said the g eneral fund budget has been changed to October 19 with the Wheeler. The arts grants will be hear November 9 at 5 p.m. and the non-profit organizations November 29th. Ms. Margerum asked whether Council wanted separate presentations from the arts groups or one presentation from the Arts Council. Council requests a separate 3 minute presentation from each arts group. Ms. Margerum suggested Council meet with the County Commissioners October 26th at 3 p.m. to do the human service budget requests. 4. Amy Mar gerum, city manager, asked how Council wants to proceed with naming the ice rink. Council requested a list of the top 30 names and they will discuss it at brown bag lunch October 25th. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilman Reno moved to approve the consent calendar; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. The consent calendar is: A . Minutes - September 27, 1993 B . Juan Street Property - Request for pre-development funds C . Resolution #74, 1993 - Lease with Dooger Digging All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #51, SERIES OF 1993 - Appropriations 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 12, 1993 Rob Umbreit, budget director, told Council this ordinance has been amended since first reading to include funding the asset manager position, $12,525 for outside legal counsel, increasing the parks budget $7750 because of the installation of water meters, and appropriating $31,825 for the east water plant construction. Mayor Bennett opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Bennett closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Richards moved to adopt Ordinance #51, Series of 1993, on second reading as amended; seconded by Councilman Reno. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Reno, yes; Waggaman, yes; Richards, yes; Mayor Bennett, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #49, SERIES OF 1993 - Kastelic PUD/Subdivision Leslie Lamont, planning office, told Council this is one parcel with two single family detached homes on it. The estate is seeking to divide the parcel into two lots, each with a single family house. There is no redevelopment proposed at this time. Ms. Lamont pointed out the proposed building envelopes include significant trees. The proposed building envelopes also encroach into future trail alignments. Council urged the applicant to preserve the trees and to pull the building envelopes out of the trail alignments. Ms. Lamont pointed out the building envelope for lot 1 does not encroach into the proposed trail easement. Ms. Lamont recommended the new building envelope be drawn on the plat before recordation. Glenn Horn, representing the applicant, said they worked with staff to try and accommodate Council wishes. Horn said after conferring with the attorneys representing the estate, there are changes having to do with two trees on site. One of the cottonwoods may die and the applicants would like the ability to straighten out the building envelope line. Horn requested some changes in the conditions, like if an accessory dwelling unit would be allowed and would the applicant have to comply with the dimensional require- ments in a remodel. Ms. Lamont told Council an accessory dwelling unit would not be precluded in this condition of approval unless the ADU program changes. Ms. Lamont told Council she has just heard of these requests and would like a chance to review them before commenting. Ms. Lamont said she would also like staff to examine the trees. Councilwoman Richards moved to table Ordinance #49, Series of 1993, to October 25; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #53, SERIES OF 1993 - Code Amendment, Condominiumization 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 12, 1993 Councilman Reno moved to read Ordinance #53, Series of 1993; seconded by Councilwoman Richards. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #53 (Series of 1993) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, AMENDING CHAPTER 24 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE, LAND USE REGULATIONS, TO PROVIDE THAT SECTION 7-1007 "CONDOMINIUM IZATION" SHALL BE REVISED TO DELETE HOUSING IMPACT FEES AND TO REVISE THE "PURPOSE" SECTIONS OF THE R-6, R-15, R-15A, R-15B, R-30 AND RR ZONE DISTRICTS TO INCLUDE THE PHRASE "LONG TERM" IN DESCRIBING TERM OCCUPANCY LIMITS IN RESIDENTIAL ZONE DISTRICTS was read by the city clerk Francis Krizmanich, zoning department, reminded Council two years ago the state legislature passed the common interest ownership, which states municipalities may not treat condominium ownership differently than other types of ownership. Krizmanich said the condominium procedure was passed in Aspen out of concern for lot of housing. Most of the condominiumization code deals with mitigating housing impacts, fees and 6 month rental restriction. The city's legislation seems directly opposed to the state legislation. (Councilman Paulson came into Council meeting). Krizmanich pointed out "long term" has been defined and added to the land use code. This is to tell people Aspen wants their residential zones to be long term. Krizmanich said the tendency to short term houses in Aspen has been shrinking. There seems to be a good mix of lodge and short term mix in the community. Kriz manich noted P & Z recommended that Council not remove any 6 month rental restrictions currently existing. Councilwoman Richards said she is interested in keeping 6 month restriction or long term as it relates to the compatibility of neighborhoods. Krizmanich said it is not condominiumization that is displacing residents; it is the cost of housing and people bidding that up. Krizmanich said there are other tools to control this, like zoning and GMQS. Councilman Reno moved to adopt Ordinance #53, Series of 1993, on first reading; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Richards, yes; Reno, yes; Paulson, yes; Waggaman, yes; Mayor Bennett, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #54, SERIES OF 1993 - Aspen Ski Company Buttermilk Water Service Agreement Councilman Reno moved to read Ordinance #54, Series of 1993; 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 12, 1993 seconded by Councilwoman Richards. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #54 (Series of 1993) AN ORDINANCE O F THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, AUTHORIZING AND APPROVING AN AGREEMENT FOR THE EXTRATERRITORIAL EXTENSION AND DELIVERY OF MUNICIPAL WATER SERVICES TO THE BASE OF BUTTERMILK MOUNTAIN AND ASSOCIATED AREAS was read by the city clerk Bob Gish, public works director, told Council there were two existing buildings at the base of Buttermilk. A new 18,000 square foot two-story building is being built to replace these two existing buildings. The total square footage will be the same. The old facility was served with a 2 inch water line, which is being replaced with an 8 inch water. The increase in size of the water line is for fire protection. The agreement was negotiated with staff, water counsel and the Skiing Company. The city staff used the current water policy. Gish pointed out the total ECU use at the new facility is less than the current use. Gish said the agreement states that the parties acknowledge that if water rights are not transferred, payment of cash-in-lieu of water rights sufficient in quantity and quality to provide the water required. Gish said in this case the quantity of water will be no greater than that historically provided. Gish said the Skiing Company owns water rights for irrigation and for snowmaking and staff determined it was best for the Skiing Company to keep these water rights. Boots Ferguson, representing the applicant, said the reason they were required to upgrade the existing 2 inch line was the necessity for a second hydrant. This also triggered payment of $195,000 in water tap fees. Gish said the Aspen Skiing Company paid for all the infrastructure improvements. The applicant will use water conservation devices. The city will get easements to the new line. Gish said there is no contract for the original water service, which is 30 years old. Ferguson said the Ski Company has agreed to pay the costs to connect the Maroon Creek development loop with the 82 loop through Buttermilk. This is an additional $50,000 cost. Ferguson said the high cost of the tap fees for this project are the number of ECUs and the project is located out of the city in a different service area. Ferguson said if the applicant could prove they had paid some tap fees, these would have been credited against this project and lowered the fees. Gish said the applicant were given credit for the 2 inch line. Councilwoman Richards asked what 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 12, 1993 other projects the tank behind Pfister's house serves. Gish said this is a 1 million gallon reservoir down to the airport. Ferguson said the old restaurant had 489 seats; the new restaurant will have 290 seats inside and 100 outside. Councilwoman Richards moved to adopt Ordinance #54, Series of 1993, on first reading; seconded by Councilman Reno. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Waggaman, yes; Reno, yes; Paulson, yes; Richards, yes; Mayor Bennett, yes. Motion carried. EAST COOPER AFFORDABLE HOUSING WATER TAP FEE Bob Gish, public works director, told Council staff made a mistake and this mistake has financial implications to the applicant. Gish said the original estimate for water tap fees for this project was $60,250 and the corrected amount was $147,800. Gish said the paperwork for the application for water tap fees showed lot 8 Lacet subdivision. Staff assumed this was in water service area 1. The Roaring Fork River is the difference between service area 1 and 2, which is was raised the cost of the water tap fees. Gish told Council the tap fees are set by number of ECUs and service area. Gish told Council water tap fees have to be paid in full and the only thing he could do for the applicant was to allow the differ- ence be financed over 10 years. Gish said staff initiated an internal policy that requests for quotes shall be in writing addressed to the customer service department. Gish said water tap fees are being assessed at the appropriate level. Gish said staff has always been encouraged to come forward when mistakes are discovered. Craig Glendenning, applicant, said staff and the Council have worked with him and gone the extra mile on this project. Glen- denning said it does not seem fair to him to have to come up with another $87,000 at this point. Glendenning said there were a lot of costs in the affordable housing process that were not anticipat- ed. Glendenning suggested Council look at more incentives in the AH district. Amy Margerum, city manager, pointed out recommendations from the housing office and city staff on the affordable housing zone were originally on this agenda. This was to look at whether the city is providing enough incentives to get the private sector involved in affordable housing, and not giving enough incentives that the tax payers are being hurt. This was not ready for Council; however, the general consensus was that a discount should be offered for the affordable component of AH zone projects. There are some costs so the tap fees should not be waived all together. These reductions should be applied to all housing projects. The recommendation of 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 12, 1993 the housing office was that waiver be based on categories of units, and no tap fee waiver for resident occupied units. Ms. Margerum said there might be something less complicated staff will recommend to Council. Mayor Bennett asked why the applicants were 3 years into the project before they determined what the tap fees were. Glendenning said they received the tap fees a couple of years ago. Councilwom- an Richards said she supports a policy to make more affordable housing units and also favors a sliding scale in order to offer greater incentive for lower category units. Councilman Reno pointed out there have been public meetings with this project and its location was known. Michael Gassman stated the public subsidy on this project is zero, and for zero public subsidy the community is getting 13 deed restricted units. Gassman said it is not inappropriate to ask for some help for this project. Doug Allen agreed the community is not being overwhelmed by affordable housing projects. John Worcester, assistant city attorney, told Council the courts would look at this in that the error was made in good faith. The difference would come from the tax payers. A court would ask the applicant to prove damages. Councilwoman Richards said an error was made. Legally the city would probably not be required to make up this loss. Councilwoman Richards said there is enough difficulty in creating an AH project. The AH zone district was somewhat experimental in its inception and this might be the first changes Council makes to the AH zone to try and encourage more affordable housing. Councilwoman Richards said she would like to see the staff recommendations before making any decision about this request. Mayor Bennett agreed there should be a reduced rate for tap fees in affordable housing projects. Mayor Bennett said if this were a 3 week mistake, he would feel there is no harm to the developer. Mayor Bennett said he feels citizens have a right to rely on the word of their government. If the government has mislead a citizen for a length of time and a lot of money, it is not right to charge the whole amount. Mayor Bennett said he is inclined to stay with the original quote of $60,000; however, he would like to see evidence of when this was quoted to the applicant. Councilman Paulson said he supports Bennett's position. The city made a mistake. Councilwoman Waggaman agreed with changing the policy for afford- able housing zones in general. Councilwoman Waggaman said she is inclined to review the policy first and then address this particu- lar tap fee. Councilman Reno said he agrees with the Mayor; however, this developer will benefit and the tax payers will be 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 12, 1993 paying the bill for the mistake. Councilman Reno said the cause of the mistake within the organization needs to be dealt with. Ms. Margerum said the employee found this mistake and immediately brought it to the attention of her supervisor. This was followed up immediately. Staff also initiated some internal changes. Ms. Margerum said Council is the correct body to bring the request for waiver of fees. Councilwoman Richards moved the water tap fees for the East Cooper AH portion of the project be lowered in accordance with the policy Council will develop at the next meeting regarding all AH projects if they are in fact lower; if not lower, the applicant can have another opportunity to talk to Council; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. Councilmembers Richards and Waggaman in favor; Council- members Reno, Paulson and Mayor Bennett opposed. Motion NOT carried. Councilman Paulson moved to charge the water tap fees originally quoted; seconded by Councilman Reno. Mayor Bennett requested an amendment that this be subject to the applicant producing some reasonable evidence that they relied on this figure; seconded by Councilman Reno. Councilmembers Paulson, Reno and Mayor Bennett in favor; Council- members Waggaman and Richards opposed. Motion carried. REQUEST FOR FUNDS - Co Housing Amy Margerum, city manager, said Pitkin County is requesting money from the housing/day care tax fund to help subsidize the affordable housing project. The city already waived $190,000 tap fees for this project and $38,500 park dedication fees was taken out of the general fund for this project. Ms. Margerum said the co-housing project was supposed to be for people who put sweat equity into it and it wasn't to cost the governments money. Mark Fuller, Pitkin County, said the project did not produce the kind of savings the county hoped for. Fuller said the subsidy for co-housing, with this request, will be in the ballpark of subsidies for other affordable housing projects. The unit prices are lower than other projects. Fuller said the amount of the subsidy reflects the increasing difficulties of producing low cost housing in Aspen. Fuller told Council all members of the common ground housing group have been qualified under the housing guidelines. Fuller said the people involved have done a tremendous amount of work and have saved the county money. Councilwoman Richards said she likes the idea of creating a neighborhood and also achieving maintenance of the buildings. The resales will go through the housing office; the units are deed restricted. The people involved come from a broad 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 12, 1993 spectrum of ages, categories, backgrounds. Fuller said what is left of the community center will be remodeled as a meeting space and will be available to the public under certain circumstances. This is a hybrid project with no prece- dents. The members of the group have held up their end. Fuller said the bids came in $300,000 higher than anticipated in the pro formas. In order to keep the project in the affordable range, it needs a subsidy. The county is requesting the city take some ownership in this and make use of the housing sales tax funds. This project is tangible and will be occupied in the near future. Councilwoman Richards moved to approve splitting the $306,774 additional subsidy needed for the co-housing project; if the project comes in under budget, whatever is left will be split between the city and county; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #55, SERIES OF 1993 - City Reorganization Councilwoman Waggaman moved to read Ordinance #55, Series of 1993; seconded by Councilman Reno. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #55 (Series of 1993) AN ORDI NANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 64 (SERIES OF 1992) REFINING THE CITY MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE AND AFFIRMING THE APPOINTMENT OF STEVE BARWICK AS ASSISTANT CITY MANAG- ER/FINANCE DIRECTOR was read by the city clerk Amy Margerum, city manager, pointed out this ordinance changes the structure of management slightly and appoints the finance director as assistant city manager and in charge of data processing, city clerk and personnel. Councilwoman Richards moved to adopt Ordinance #55, Series of 1993, on first reading; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Reno, yes; Paulson, yes; Richards, yes; Waggaman, yes; Mayor Bennett, yes. Motion carried. Councilwoman Richards moved to add consideration of an executive session for the purpose of discussing the city attorney position to the agenda; seconded by Councilman Reno. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Reno moved to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel; seconded by Councilwoman Richards. All in favor, motion carried. Council went into executive session in the 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council October 12, 1993 city manager's office at 8:10 p.m. CITY ATTORNEY POSITION Mayor Bennett moved to come out of executive session; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. All in favor, motion carried. Councilwoman Richards moved to appoint John Worcester as city attorney and to authorize the Mayor to execute a professional services agreement between Worcester and the city; seconded by Councilman Reno. All in favor, motion carried. Councilwoman Richards moved to adjourn at 8:45 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Reno. All in favor, motion carried. Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk 9