HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-12-17 Town Council Minutes,li
MINUTES
VAIL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
DECEMBER 17, 1991
7:30 P.M.
A regular meeting of the Vail Town Council was held on Tuesday, December 17, 1991, at 7:30 P.M., in the Council
Chambers of the Vail Municipal Building.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Peggy Osterfoss, Mayor
Jim Gibson
Jim Shearer
Tom Steinberg
Rob LeVine
Bob Buckley
MEMBERS ABSENT: Mery Lapin, Mayor Pro-Tem
TOWN OFFICIALS PRESENT: Ron Phillips, Town Manager
Larry EskwRh, Town Attorney
Pam Brandmeyer, Town Clerk
• The first item on the agenda was Citizen Participation. Bob Baker, resident of The Falls at Vail and president of that
association, first extended congratulations to new and re-elected council members. He said residents there fen left
out of the public process and he would be bringing their concerns to Council more frequently, He expressed concern
about bushes and sprinklers being damaged at the East Vail exit after recent work done there, and he hoped the area
by the telephone and remaining mudhole would be finished with a drainage system and a covered bus stop.
Additionally, he asked what was being done about the use of jake brakes, proposing they be eliminated except if
headlights are off. He suggested the speed limit coming into Town from the top of Vail Pass to Booth Creek be 30
mph. Further, he felt the 65 mph speed limit sign at Dowd Junction should be removed, and he asked to have truck
drivers present proof of their driving capabilities. He added Heritage CableVision should have competition.
Second on the agenda was a Consent Agenda consisting of two items:
A. Ordinance No. 45, Series of 1991, second reading, an ordinance repeating and reenacting Chapter
3.40 - Sales Tax of the Municipal Code of the Town of Vail; and setting forth details in regard
thereto.
B. Ordinance No. 47, Series of 1991, second reading, an ordinance amending Section 18.52.170 -
Leasing of Parking Spaces, of the Vail Municipal Code; and setting forth details in regard thereto.
• Mayor Osterfoss read the titles in full. Tom Steinberg moved to approve both items on the Consent Agenda, with a
second from Jim Gibson. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0.
For the convenience of anyone present concerning Item No.10 on the agenda, Mayor Osterfoss announced the item
was tabled at the applicant's request until January 7,1992. The item concerned an appeal by applicant/appellant, Ron
Riley/D.R.R., Inc., of a denial by the Planning and Environmental Commission regarding a request for a Conditional
Use Permit for an outdoor dining patio for Russell's Restaurant Deck at The Gallery Building, 228 Bridge Street; a part
of Lot A, Block 5, Vail Village First Filing.
Rem No. 3 on the agenda was Ordinance No. 48, Series of 1991, first reading, an ordinance amending Section
16.60.080 - Permit Issuance and Effect of the Municipal Code of the Town of Vail, and Section 18,62.080 - Permit
Issuance and Effect of the Municipal Code of the Town of Vail; and setting forth details in regard thereto. Mayor
Osterfoss read the title in full. Jill Kammerer explained the ordinance modifies the procedure to be followed notifying
individuals of the period of time conditional use permit and variance requests are effective. Jim Gibson asked if
affected individuals needed to be notified in writing. Larry Eskwfth said there is no legal obligation to do so. Rob
LeVine moved to approve Ordinance No. 48 on first reading, with a second from Tom Steinberg. A vote was taken
and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0.
Item No. 4 on the agenda was Ordinance No. 49, Series of 1991, first reading, an ordinance amending Chapter 18.60,
Conditional Use Permits, Section 18.60.020(G) Application - Contents and Chapter 18.62, Variances, Section
. 18.62.020(F) Application - Information Required; and setting forth details in regard thereto. Mayor Osterfoss read the
title in full. Jill Kammerer advised this was a housekeeping ordinance bringing two sections of the code into
conformance, Jim Gibson moved to approve Ordinance No. 49 on first reading, with a second from Tom Steinberg.
A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0.
Item No. 5 was Ordinance No. 50, Series of 1991, first reading, an ordinance amending Section 3,52.060 of the Town •
of Vail Investment Policy, and setting forth details in regard thereto. Mayor Osterfoss read the title in full, Steve
Barwick and Shelly Raemisch explained this ordinance would allow the Town to invest in no load mutual funds in order
to enhance the Town's investment yields. They said the Town would probably not invest for more than one year,
maximum investment would be $1 million, there was no penalty to withdraw at anytime, and the Investments would
be monitored daily. Jim Gibson moved to approve Ordinance No. 50 on first reading, with a second from Jim Shearer.
A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0.
Item No. 6 was Resolution No, 25, Series of 1991, a resolution authorizing employees of the Town of Vail to purchase,
sell, resell, to or from R.G. Dickinson and Co.; and setting forth details in regard thereto. Mayor Osterfoss read the
title in full. After brief discussion, Tom Steinberg moved to approve Resolution No. 25, with a second from Jim
Shearer. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, H.
hem No. 7 was Resolution No. 26, Series of 1991, a resolution authorizing employees of the Town of Vail to purchase,
sell, resell, to or from Kirkpatrick, Pettis, Smith, Pollan, Inc;, and setting forth details in regard thereto. Mayor Rose
read the title in full. Jim Gibson moved to approve Resolution No. 26, with a second from Tom Steinberg. A vote was
taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6.0.
Rem No. 8 was a request for a sign variance from The Chad House Restaurant located at 610 W. Lionshead Circle
on Lot 1, Block 1, Vail Lionshead 3rd Filing. Shelly Mello advised the applicant, Mr. Barry Host, had not yet arrived, •
and asked Council to proceed with the next item on the agenda.
Rem No. 9 on the agenda was a request for a sign variance from The Village Popcorn Wagon. The applicant, Ms. Jan
Wening, had not arrived yet either, so Council proceeded to hem No.11 on the agenda, as Item No.10 on the agenda
had been tabled as noted above.
Rem No. 11 on the agenda was the appointment of one Planning and Environmental Commission member. Mayor
Osterfoss advised Council had interviewed the three applicants, Dalton Williams, Linda Fried, and William Pierce for
this vacancy created by Jim Shearer's election to Town Council. Following a ballot, Tom Steinberg moved to appoint
Dalton Williams to fill the remaining one month vacancy and the following two year term on the Planning and
Environmental Commission, with a second coming from Jim Shearer. A vote was taken and the motion passed
unanimously, 6-0.
A brief break was taken to await the arrival of the applicants for Rem Nos. 8 and 9 on the agenda to arrive.
Upon arrival of the applicant from The Chart House, Council returned to Item No. 8 on the agenda. Shelly Mello
explained the applicant was requesting a variance from the sign code to allow a menu box to be located off the
business site and on Town of Vail property. She noted staff felt there was a physical hardship due to the location of
the business and a variance was warranted, but recommended denial of the applicant's request to locate the menu
box at mall level, instead recommending approval of the variance with location at the top of the second stair level in
closer proximity to the access of the business. After discussion about lighting of the menu box and getting electrical
power supply to it, Council expressed concern about setting a precedent by approving this variance request. Larry
noted each applicant for variances has to be reviewed individually, so one variance would not set a precedent. Peggy
Osterfoss noted granting of this variance depended on establishing physical hardship, and asked for an explanation
of staff's reasoning allowing placement of the menu box on the second level, but not mall level. Shelly said staff felt
location of the menu box at second level would be amply visible to pedestrians. Further, she said staff considered
historical references of sign variances of other businesses, and rationalized from that research the proximity to the main
access of the business was important. Brad Groll, General Manager of The Chart House Restaurant appearing for
applicant Barry Host, Regional Manager, said they appreciated the offer to have the menu box placed at the second
level, but preferred the main level since that was really the entrance to his restaurant and would be a much greater
convenience to his guests. Rob LeVine agreed with Brad on that point. Jim Gibson added having the menu box at
mall level was a better solution to the hardship admitted to exist, and would not destroy any character at Lionshead.
Rob LeVine moved to approve the applicant's request to place a menu box at the mall level based on the fact there
is a physical hardship of being removed from the main pedestrian flow and for the convenience of the guests in the
Lionshead area in accordance with items AA and C of memo from the Community Development Department to the
Design Review Board dated December 4, 1991, with a second from Jim Gibson. Before a final vote was taken, there
was additional conversation with regard to setting a precedent based on this action. Ron Phillips said he felt staffs
recommendation to have the menu box placed on the second level was based on what this might lead to over time.
Rob LeVine asked if a variance could be granted on a temporary, reviewable basis should the variance become a
problem. Larry Eskwith checked the Code and found an ordinance may be revocable or granted for a limited period •
of time. He suggested If this variance were to be revocable, standards should be set. Jim Gibson said f there are
businesses truly faced with a physical hardship in terms of ;heir location, TOV should do something to help them solve
it, so if it does come before Council again by someone else with a hardship equal to the one faced by The Chan
House, TOV should look very seriously at granting ft. Peggy expressed the Importance of establishing unique
circumstances. Tom Steinberg felt such things as this menu box placed on TOV property needed to be covered by
• a lease so the applicant would be liable for it, and this should be revocable in case of changes made to the mall
necessitating moving the menu box. Larry said he would prepare a lease incorporating such conditions, and the
variance should be made subject to the conditions of the lease. Rob amended his motion to make the variance subject
to a lease drawn up by staff. He moved to approve The Chart House sign variance request with the finding there was
a physical hardship in conjunction with points A, B, and C under Section 2 A and B of the memo, and, because the
menu box would be on Town of Vail land, there would be a written lease prepared with provisions therein allowing for
modification at the Town's discretion based on mall improvements, that the applicant would be responsible for
maintenance, etc., and the final actual location of the menu box on mall level would be determined by staff. Jim
Gibson seconded the amended motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0.
hem No. 9 was a request for a sign variance for The Village Popcorn Wagon by applicant, Jan Wening. Jill Kammerer
referred to the Community Development Department's memo dated August 21,1991, detailing the original request from
the applicant for three sign variances. Of the three variances requested, (1) a variance to allow the words "Beverages
Sandwiches Pastries" on an existing awning, (2) a variance to the total amount of sign area permitted, and (3) a
variance to the number of exterior signs permitted, staff had found variance requests 2 and 3 were not necessary as
the metal signs affixed to the wagon were apart of the wagon design and should not be counted as signage. Further,
the popcorn wagon was permitted to have two exterior signs stating the name of the business, and staff felt there was
no physical hardship making wording on the awning necessary, given the allowable signage. Therefore, the final
request before Council to uphold or deny the Design Review Board's recommendation denying the variance to allow
the name of the business to be on the awning was under consideration. The Design Review Board had not been able
• to find grounds for granting the variance to acceptable information permitted on a sign because 100% of the awning
contained information describing the nature of the business with no reference to the business name. Jill noted at least
60% of the sign must state the name of the business; the nature of the business could not exceed 40% of the same
sign. Jan said she was in the process of changing the business name to "Wall Street Beverages Sandwiches and
Pastries Company", and said that was on the awning now. She added she had replaced the old awning with one
reading "Beverages Sandwiches Pastries" across the front not realizing she needed to make an application to do so.
When It was pointed out "Wall Street" and "Company", part of the business name, did not appear on the awning, Jan
advised the awning company was currently correcting the awning to read "Wall Street" on one side and "Company"
on the other, with "Beverages Sandwiches Pastries" across the front of it. Further note was made to point out the
business's lease is not executed in the new name, and Jan advised she was waiting for necessary documents from
the State before she came in to change the lease. Peggy Ostedoss asked it there would be a problem having parts
of the sign on different sections of the sign, Jill recalled a recent similar situation involving awning signage. In that
situation, Jill said Betsy had interpreted having the same signage on either end of the projecting awning sign as being
one sign, but having additional language on the front of the awning was denied as that would constitute another sign.
There was additional discussion about observations made at the site visit during work session, and, as the business
of making a motion on the variance request began, Tom Steinberg expressed serious reservations about granting any
variances to the applicant. He noted this applicant had repeatedly been in non-compliance with regard to signage
laws. He felt requests for variances should not be considered until existing signage was in conformance. He felt
strongly 0 this variance was approved, he would not like to see the applicant's lease renewed because the popcorn
• wagon, although originally unique and pleasant, no longer presented an appropriate image in Vail with all of its signs,
Further, approving the request allowing this on Town of Vail land would set a precedent making it difficult to bear down
on other merchants to control their signs. Bob Buckley agreed, and moved to deny this sign variance request from
The Village Popcorn Wagon as no physical hardship existed and there were no unique circumstances, with a second
from Jim Gibson. Rob LeVine asked if the applicant could in fact come back and put "Wall Street Beverages
Sandwiches and Pastries Company" all on the front side of the awning. Jill said yes, provided ft did not exceed 3.6
square feet, and the signs determined to be integral to the wagon could also remain. Rob referred back to and agreed
with Tom's comments about the number of signs already on they wagon. He felt those looked like signs to him, and
he deemed they are over the allowable amount of square footage and number of signs. He felt it would be a hardship
not to leave those signs in place because they were an integral part of the structure. Bob Buckley wanted to withdraw
his motion in light of Rob's point, feeling there would be too much sign clutter f the whole name was on the front of
awning. A vote taken on Bob's motion and it failed, 4-2, Peggy and Rob opposed. Jim Gibson said he felt the signs
that were an integral part of The Popcorn Wagon itself are part of the design of the wagon and he recognized there
was a message there, but because The Popcorn Wagon was what ft was, he considered those signs to be the same
as the red spoked wheels which were part of the design, but certainly carried no message. Without those integral
signs, he felt the wagon would be less colorful, and he was willing to consider those signs part of the wagon design.
He agreed with Tom that the constant disregard for the sign ordinance by the hanging of paper signs in and about the
windows had to be stopped. And, until such time, Jim was ready to uphold the Design Review Board decision that
the sign they wanted to now add had to be in accordance with the ordinance, and any signs to follow would have also
have to be in accordance with the ordinance. Larry Eskwith reminded Council about the need to make the findings
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demonstrating hardship, that there were special circumstances or conditions applying to the structure, that special
circumstances were not created by the applicant, that the granting of the variance would be In general harmony with
the purposes of this Title, and the variance applied for did not depart from the intent of the Title. With regard to the
number of signs and area of signs which were integral to the structure, it was found there was a physical hardship,
and those findings were substantiated by Section 2 A,B,C, and D. Rob LeVine moved that the signs that were an
integral part of the building could remain, that to change them would be a hardship, that lt was a special circumstance .
being they were part of the design of the wagon, that the applicant did not create that special circumstance, that the
granting of the variance would be in harmony with the purposes of Title 16, and that the hardship found was in
accordance with Section 2, A,B,C, and D, and that the variance applied for did not depart from the provisions of Title
16 anymore than is required to identity the applicant's business, and the request for a variance for signs above and
beyond those signs that were part of the wagon itself be denied, and further the applicant bring the rest of the signage
- both temporary exterior and window signs - Into conformance with the ordinance. Jim Gibson asked If this motion
specifically eliminated the signing at the head of the awning. Jill said no, the applicant could came back in and put
the name of the business on the awning In an area no bigger than 3.6 sq. ft. This motion went unseconded, Tom
Steinberg then moved the whole Item be tabled until all signs were In conformance with the present sign code and staff
be informed they should enforce the sign codes as presently written on this project, and anything short of that was
condoning illegal signs, with a second from Jim Shearer. Peggy said she wanted Council to act on this request rather
than table it. A vote was taken on Tom's motion, but It failed 3-3, Peggy, Jim Gibson, Rob opposed. Peggy then
moved to grant a variance that would take into account the existing signs appearing to be incorporated into the
structure of The Popcorn Wagon although they apparently totaled more than was allowed in square footage, and were
four integral wall signs totaling 8.3 square feet, and apparently 3.6 square feet of exterior signage would be allowed,
therefore the variances for some additional square footage on signage was necessary because there was a physical
hardship that resulted from the construction of the wagon itself, and special circumstances were not created by the
applicant, that the granting of this variance was in accord with Section 2 A,B, C, and D. Further, part of this approval
would mandate any illegal window signs would be eliminated, and a second came from Rob LeVine. Peggy said Jan
would have to come in with another variance request lf she wanted to put a header on the awning stating her business
name. Jan asked 0 the problem would be solved lf the lettering on the awning were removed. Peggy said that would
solve the entire problem, explaining once the awning was without lettering, R was no longer a sign. Jan said then she
would take off all the lettering from the awning. It was agreed signs built in as an integral part of the wagon, glass
etched signs, could stay as they were. A final vote was taken, and Peggy's motion passed, 5-1, with Tom Steinberg
opposed,
There being no further business, a motion to adjourn the meeting was made and passed unanimously. The meeting
was adjourned at 9:10 p,m.
Respectfully submitted,
at �retA,sterloss, Mayor
ATTEST:
Pamela A. Brandmeyer, Town Clerk
Minutes taken by Wanne S. Deto
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STATE OF COLORADO
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COUNTY OF EAGLE
ALLEN KNOX do solemnly swear that I am
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Subscribed and stivorn to before me, a notary public in�for C nTy fe.
A.D. 19 L
State of Colorado, this _--da/ J,
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