HomeMy WebLinkAbout1972-12-26 Town Council MinutesMINUTES.
SPECIAL MEETING
TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF VAIL
DECEMBER 26, 1972
A special meeting of the Town Council of the Town,of Vail
was convened at 7:30 p.m., December 26, 1972, in the Council
Room of the Vail Municipal Building.
Mayor John A. Dobson and the following Councilmen were present:
Dick Bailey
John Donovan
Josef Staufer
Tom Steinberg
Gerry White
Also present were:
Terrell Minger, Town Manager
Larry Robinson, Town Attorney
The majority of the audience consisted of developers.
The Mayor opened with a brief preliminary statement indicative
of the meaning of the meeting, and went on to say that the Town
of Vail needs an interim solution to the problem of controlling,
fairly, legally, and morally, the growth of Vail before the new
zoning regulations go into effect, after due process of hearings.
He noted that the Council does not propose at this time a mora-
torium on building, but it is considering various interim alter-
natives. The Council did not have an ordinance to present to :
the meeting; it was principally concerned with receiving comments
and suggestions from the community..
The Mayor read an estimate prepared by the Building Department
of beds and units in Vail, which concluded that there were
approximately 18,000 beds available. Jen Wright of Vail Asso-
ciates questioned the Mayor's figures for condominium units and
asked for them to be rechecked.
There was general discussion and the following points were made:
Rod Slifer felt that the real impact is.not in the Town of Vail
but outside the Village, and that the controls needed are in.the
County. He also mentioned that the mountain has handled the
numbers very well so far, and, therefore, ski capacity should
not be used as a determining factor. Council Bailey agreed .that
County planning was needed, and asked Mr. Slifer for a timetable.
Mr. Slifer replied that the County has hired a Planner as of
January lst, and it is proposed to have zoning by districts_..
He suggested it might be possible to do the zoning partially,
as opposed to a total package, and felt that an impact could
be made on the County by the Town taking an early strong stand..
s
Councilman Donovan mentioned that possibly our winter facilities
are adequate, but that more summer facilities are needed.
Dick Elias of Manor Vail inquired about Senate Bill 35. Terry
Minger replied that Senate Bill 35 basically was an attempt to
regulate subdivision and growth in unincorporated areas in
counties, because counties were not doing the job. Senate Bill
35 is a long, complicated document, which says that a munici-
pality may comment on subdivisions within two miles of its cor-
porate boundaries, and since.its introduction, the Town has
been commenting on all subdivisions. He noted, however, that
comment is strictly comment, with no legal weight and authority,
and if there are no zoning regulations in the county, then the
comments go unheeded.
Fred Hibberd, of Treetops Condominiums, felt that we.should.place
emphasis on phased development and keeping projects small. He
also felt developers would be,wi�lling to work with the Councilmen
on the type of building to be done in the future.
Councilman Steinberg suggested that.one:way to slow growth is
to cut density and asked if developers would be willing to pay
more tax for recreational facilities.
The Mayor pointed out that one of the'most important yardsticks
in this matter is addressing ourselves to the skiing crowds.
Dick Peterson of Vail Associates stated that they had completed
a very detailed planning study of Vail mountain versus what the
Valley could handle, which does place a limit on growth of Vail
mountain, with several years of continued increased lift capacity
on the mountain. He expressed the desire of V.A. to work with
the Town's planners to try to help come up with the best answers.
He noted that the mountain facilities were presently in good
shape, with a capacity projection of 13,000 to 14,000 skiers
on an uncomfortable day, and a capacity of 11,000 skiers on a.
comfortable day. Mr. Peterson also stated that increased growth
of other ski areas is changing the pattern of skiers in Vail.
Terry Minger advised that the rewriting of the zoning ordinance
and development package by the planners would not be completed
until April lst, and the Mayor questioned whether we should stand
by and do nothing until the completed report comes in, or should
we now try to limit as much development as we can.
George Knox asked if there were any figures available on unsold
units, and Jen Wright replied that LionsHead is 60-70% sold.
Dana Rickli, architect for Vantage Point, said they had had
good fortune in selling their units, and that the amount of
growth in LionsHead has stimulated good building. He also
felt there was a need for recreational facilities on site and
that an assessment per unit for recreational facilities was a
good idea.
John Amato took issue with the statement that Vail is overbuilt
now and stated that the bulk of people who come to Vail: didn't
feel it was. He admitted that Vail had.a temporary imbalance.
He was of the opinion that the Town would be reneging on their
implied representation regarding annexed property if there were
a moratorium on building or cutback of F.A.R. He questioned
0
f�.
' the legality of a moratorium, and stated that the Councilmen
could be held personally liable. He did agree that developer -
provided amenities should receive a lot of concentration.
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Jim Cunningham felt that developers should be given a set of
rules to adhere to and that the rules should not be changed.
He expressed a need for better communication between the
community and the Council, and the Mayor reminded him of the
Council meetings which are held every other week.
Ted Kindel suggested that we should work on relationship of
mountain capacity as compared to town population. Dick Peterson
brought up the fact that the increased number of people in town
drastically increases the number of non -skiers. Ed Browning of
the Forest Service said they were reviewing the plan submitted
by Vail Associates and that the figures.represented by Dick
Peterson with regard to lift capacity looked good and will be
approved by the end of January.
With regard to annexation, Gerry White advised that the Town iB
trying to annex as much as possible to better control the density
of Vail. Terry Minger brought out that it takes 1/6th contiguacy
to the Town and the owners of 50% of the land must petition in
order to annex.
There was general discussion regarding the environmental problems
in Vail, including water availability, and Ed Browning stated that
the most crittal time would be in the summer. With the completion
of 1-70, Ed Browning gave a projection of 16,000 cars passing
through Vail, with approximately 60,000 people per day.
In summary, the Mayor stated that he understood that developers
are concerned about the uncertainty, but hoped that they also
shared a real concern about overall growth, and promised that
there would be future meetings with developers and other interested
people. He was pleased to hear that developers were in agreement
that more amenities. must be forthcoming : He gathered that the
overriding fear of developers was uncertainty and arbitrary
changing of rules. The Mayor stated they were not going to
impose any unreasonable and unfair arbitrary legislation. He
expressed a disappointment with a lack of statements from the
townspeople of Vail and suggested that George Knox of the Vail
Trail could editorially address himself to that problem.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 p.m.
Town Clb
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