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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20050809Continued Meeting Aspen City Council Aueust 9. 2005 Mayor Klandemd called the continued meeting from August 8 to order at 4:20 p.m. with Councilmembers Torre, Richards, DeVilbiss and Johnson. RESOLUTION #50~ SERIES OF 2005 - Conceptual PUD Limelite Lodge Mayor Klandemd noted the public heating was closed at last night's meeting. There will be no comments from the public at this meeting. Mayor Klandemd said the applicants met with the City Manager this morning and Council has some information regarding that meeting. Dale Paas, applicant, said they met with the city manager this morning to go over possible options. Sue Woolery, applicant, said the applicants feel they have told the city and the community that they will build a hotel people will come back to. Ms. Woolery said the applicants feel the city does not think they will come back with a mid-market property. Ms. Woolery said the applicants do not have a lot of capital; they have a time line in which to complete this project. Ms. Woolery told Council the most recent AAA report stated the Limelite has dated rooms and dated bathrooms. Ms. Woolery said they do not want to mn a fractional fee property and have an office and all that goes with that business. Ms. Woolery said banks will not lend money for fractional fee projects but will lend money for free market residential units. Ms. Woolery stated the Paas/Woolery family takes the stewardship of this comer very seriously. Margaret Paas told Council she represents 4 generations of a family-operated hotel business in Aspen. The Paas family owns the land but does not have the capital to rebuild the project. Ms. Paas said they cannot continue to operate this aging property with high maintenance and repair costs. Ms. Paas said the issues are what is moderately priced lodging; how can Aspen be assured the Limelite will not become a high end lodge; how does Aspen know the Paas family does not intend to sell out. Ms. Paas said it is implied that the applicants have a hidden agenda. Ms. Paas said the applicants have widespread community support. The applicants have responded to issues brought up. Ms. Paas said the applicants feel the best use for this property is lodging. Steve Szymanski, representing the applicants, said if the proposal were for 25% free market FAR and 42' height, Council would not review the project and the room rate would not be an issue. Szymanski said the 40% FAR is to cover the costs of the underground parking and to help make this a moderate priced lodge. Szymanski told Council the free market condominiums will be managed and marketed through the hotel, not through a third party, which widens the number of rooms that can be marketed by the Limelite. Jerry Biehl, applicant, told Council he is part of the team to help with financing. Biehl said when the project is complete, the hotel will be 100% owned by the Paas/Woolery family. Biehl said he is responsible for finishing both parts of this project on time and on budget. Biehl noted once the hotel is operating, he will be done with the hotel and released from any guarantees. Biehl said financial institutions have stated that fractional fee projects are saturated and they would not want to finance that type of project. Continued Meeting Aspen City Council August 9, 2005 Councilwoman Richards said the applicants have been involved with and working on this project for a year; however, the Council has only seen this in the last two weeks. Council has had limited time to ask questions and to discuss the project. Councilwoman Richards said one of Council's jobs is to get the project that is best for the community, a good design and a financial success. Councilwoman Richards said new information is that the Limelite will manage the residential condominiums. Councilman DeVilbiss said he is concerned about the way Jerry Biehl's financial interest was revealed; he is concerned that the pro formas were given to staff for some purpose and he would like to see those. Councilman DeVilbiss said he is not convinced that the free market portion of the property needs to be more than 28'. Councilman DeVilbiss stated it is his obligation to make sure the city gets something in return for any variances granted. Councilman Torre said his problems are with the south parcel, the height, and the ownership of the condominiums. Councilman Torre asked what the applicants have done in the design of the south parcel to assure the city these would operate as a condo/hotel. Councilman Torre said the floor plans do not look as if these units would lend themselves to rental use. Councilman Torre said the city has given a lot to get this project to this point. Councilman Torre said there is public comment about the city not following the city code and giving variances. Councilman Torre said he wants assurance about the use of the condominiums as condominiums, which is opposite of the way the city has been going recently. Councilman Johnson said he has no doubts about the contribution of Limelite to the community or any doubts about the need for lodge rooms in Aspen. Councilman Johnson said the purpose of a PUD is to vary from the underlying zoning for public benefit. Councilman Johnson said it is a good thing this project still meets the lodge incentives in the code. Councilman Johnson said this project does not ask for a lot of variances relative to the public benefit; however, Council has no guarantees the benefits of mid-price rooms will materialize. Councilman Johnson stated he has concerns about the project and about the incentive lodge criteria. It is important to the community to get mid-priced rooms. Councilman Johnson said he can support this project at conceptual; however, if the concerns regarding the assurances about the community benefits or the mass are not addressed, it will be difficult to vote for at final. Mayor Klanderud said through conditions at conceptual, Council has the opportunity to address some of their concerns. Mayor Klanderud said she finds it acceptable to approve this at conceptual and to continue working on these concerns. Mayor Klanderud noted both the AACP and the economic sustainability report state replacing lodge rooms that have been lost is very important to the community. There have been meetings with the lodge community about preservation of historic lodges and of smaller lodges. Part of this discussion was what incentives could the city allow to encourage redevelopment of smaller, older, and moderately priced lodges. Mayor Klanderud said the city allowed greater height, the free market driver, lesser employee mitigation in exchange for 2 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council August 9~ 2005 community benefits. In this proposal, the community benefit is 120 to 128 new, moderately priced lodge rooms. Mayor Klandemd reiterated it has been determined this is the appropriate location for lodges. Mayor Klanderud stated this is all balance and there are compromises on both sides. Mayor Klanderud said she would like to require this stay a condo/hotel. Mayor Klandemd said the height of the south parcel is appropriate; it is next to the Dancing Bear. Most of the height is across from the hotel rather than 210 Cooper Avenue. Mayor Klandemd said she can support this at conceptual approval; however, there would be conditions on that approval. Councilman DeVilbiss said if the pro formas have been discussed and have been part of the determination for this project, he has to see those pro formas as well as the economic sustainability report. Councilwoman Richards said the underground parking and the bulb outs on the street are fine. Councilwoman Richards supports the number of parking spaces and the loss of on street parking will be compensated by not selling the parking spaces for lodge guests. Councilwoman Richards noted she likes the Hyman avenue as the significant structure and favors the option 3 for the heights along Hyman avenue. Councilwoman Richards said the entrance to the garage on Hyman avenue is appropriate. The alley vacation is all right. Councilwoman Richards said at final she would like to be assured that there is adequate loading and unloading without an alley for the project. Councilwoman Richards supports working jointly to find a solution for the historic cabins. Councilwoman Richards said she is okay with the percentage of free market as proposed. Councilwoman Richards said when the lodge zone code amendment was passed, it was acknowledged that that would not work for all projects. At that time, Council did not want to put a higher percentage of free market square footage in the code so that all projects would go for that amount. Councilwoman Richards said at final, she would like demonstrated what in the free market floor plans lend itself to on-going rentals. Councilwoman Richards said the height of the hotel in option 3 is all right; however, she is concerned with the blockiness of the design. Councilwoman Richards said the land use is either appropriate for this area or it is not. Councilwoman Richards said she does not think there are legal mechanisms to bind lodge rooms to a market rate in the future. Councilwoman Richards stated the preservation and increase in lodge rooms is a large community benefit. The price of these rooms will be what the market will bear. Councilman Torre asked if the entry way on the east side of the building would have conflicts with special events at Wagner Park. Syzmanski said this would have to be addressed by the applicants. Ms. Woolery pointed out there are two other entrances. Councilman Torre said he prefers options 2 or 3 and is interested is maintaining as many lodge rooms as possible. Councilman Torrc said sensitivity to the Hyman residences would be appropriate. Councilman Torre said eliminating the 4th floor unit on the east part of the building would address a lot of his concerns. Councilman Torre said the barrel vault could also be eliminated. Councilman Torre said he does not think a 4400 square foot condominium lends itself to general rental. 3 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council August 9, 2005 Councilwoman Richards said the free market component should remain at the 42' limit. Councilwoman Richards noted she would be amenable to more free market units at a smaller square footage. Councilwoman Richards pointed out staff did a calculation on affordable housing mitigation on the free market component as if this were a new project. Councilwoman Richards said for the lodge district, 30% mitigation of 128 rooms calculates to 19 employees. Councilwoman Richards stated this is less than the credit from existing employees. Councilwoman Richards said with the way the condominium hotel rooms will be managed, there could be flexibility on the housing mitigation on the free market units. Councilman Johnson asked if this will still be one PUD when these units are sold off and the Limelite is not managing them. Lindt said there are code requirements that if one does a PUD amendment, 50% of all property owners within the PUD has to consent to that application. Lindt said if this is different, it should be written into the ordinance. Councilwoman Richards said before final adoption, she would like staff to list pros and cons of that type of condition. Councilman Johnson stated he does not have a problem with the loss of parking for bulb outs. Councilman Johnson said he would like to see the 50' peak lowered closer to what is allowed in the zone district. Councilman Johnson suggested the Deep Powder cabins might be relocated next to 210 as a one-story element. Councilman Johnson stated he prefers the 128 lodge rooms; he could accept the 123 rooms, which mixes the faqade up some. Councilman Johnson said it is important that the applicants explore ways to manage the condominium units and to present that to Council. Councilman Johnson said he would like a stronger use statement of the building on Monarch; the way spaces are used is as important as what they look like. Councilman Johnson stated it is not his responsibility to look at the finances ora project; however, the applicant has made claims about the need for 40% free market floor area and claims about public benefits. Chris Bendon, community development department, asked about the free market units, whether there will be a rental program or will these be hotel units but individually owned. Lindt noted the city code requires ifa property is a condo/hotel, owners may only stay 3 months/year. A residential unit does not have that requirement. Paas said the difference !s price and in order to get the money required for the project, they would have to ~ncrease the number of free market units substantially. Paas said they plan on tying the amenities of the hotel to these residences. Paas noted there are legal restrictions against telling purchasers that they have to rent their units. Councilwoman Richards said she would like, for final review, examples of how some condominiums/rentals work in Aspen. Bendon suggested a condition that the final application will include strategy for the free market residential component of the project to insure high occupancy. Bendon suggested another condition that the applicant continues to explore a 42' height for the free market portion of the project as well as the potential to increase the number of free market units. Councilman Torre said he would like to see the 42' height limit met on the residential portion. Bendon pointed out by requiring a 42' height, more of the building may go to the west. Bendon noted a condition should be added about adequate 4 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council August 9~ 2005 areas for loading and unloading and recycling. Robin Schiller, architect, told Council they propose trash and recycling to be taken off the alley. Loading and unload/ng of guests will be on Monarch, with a secondary area on Cooper. Schiller pointed out there is no restaurant on property so there will be less trash generated. Bendon said a condition should be added in section 2 about the construction management plan to include a construction parking plan, construction staging plan, and an agreement to participate in project construction management with adjacent or nearby properties. Mayor Klanderud said she wants to make sure the large trucks involved in this project have the cleanest emissions possible. Bendon brought up the condition regarding a solution to the Deep Powder cabins. Mayor Klanderud said these are not historically designated. Council agreed to the condition as outlined by staff. Bendon quoted Section 26.445.030(d) about conceptual approval, "approval of conceptual development plan shall not constitute final approval for a PUD or permission to proceed with any aspect of development. Approval of conceptual development plan shall only authorize an applicant to submit an application for final PUD in accordance with the city resolution granting approval." Councilman DeVilbiss said he would like to see as many as lodge rooms as possible. Councilman Johnson said he prefers options 1 or 2. Mayor Klanderud said she prefers 2 or 123 lodge rooms. Mayor Klanderud said going down to 120 rooms is only gaining 10 traits above the existing number. Councilwoman Richards said she supports option 3 because the building steps down toward the residences to the west. Councilwoman Richards said she is interested in lodge rooms but also in not having a huge building. Councilman DeVilbiss stated his position is to see as many lodge rooms as possible and have the free market building be smaller. Councilman Torre said he prefers option 2 or 3. Councilman Torre stated he would be in favor of 128 lodge units if the building were 42' on all sides of the building. Bendon said the resolution granting conceptual approval should say "up to" 128 lodge rooms; the dimensional requirements should have that "up to" clause. Bendon suggested a condition, "the proposed PUD agreement shall describe the on-going legal relationship between the lodge portion of the project and the residential portion of the project". John Worcester, city attorney, reminded Council at the last discussion, they requested a condition for a point of one contact for the public regarding construction issues. Lindt said there should be plans for providing for an affordable housing shortfall in case the audit shows the credit does not meet the requirements. Councilman Torte moved to approve Resolution #50, Series of 2005, Limelite conceptual PUD, with conditions as added by staff and Council; seconded by Councilman Johnson. Councilwoman Richards stated she will support conceptual approval; she is in support of the project; however, she is interested in seeing the smallest design go forward. Councilwoman Richards noted there will be 5 street fronts all 4 stories high across the entire project unless there is some relief. Councilwoman Richards said the Council also 5 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council August 9~ 2005 needs to keep in mind the adjoining residences. Councilman DeVilbiss said he cannot support this project; one reason is the size, mass, height of the free market part of the project. Councilman Torre said his largest issue with this project is the 40% free market and the separation from the lodge portion of the project. Councilman Johnson said he supports this at conceptual; however, he will not support it at final unless there has been a move made to reduce the project. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman DeVilbiss. Motion carded Councilwoman Richards moved to adjourn at 6:55 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Torte. All in favor, motion carried. (j~athryn S. Koch, City Cler~'k'''--~ 6