HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-10-03 Town Council MinutesMINUTES
VAIL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
October 3, 1995
7:30 P.M.
A regular meeting of the Vail Town Council was held on Tuesday, October 3, 1995, in
the Council Chambers of the Vail Municipal Building. The meeting was called to order
at 7:30 P.M.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Peggy Osterfoss, Mayor
Tom Steinberg
Sybill Navas
Jan Strauch
Rodney E. Slifer
Paul Johnston
MEMBERS ABSENT: Mery Lapin, Mayor Pro-Tem
TOWN OFFICIALS PRESENT: Bob McLaurin, Town Manager
Tom Moorhead, Town Attorney
Pamela A. Brandmeyer, Assist. Town Manager,
Lori Aker, Deputy Town Clerk
The first item on the agenda was Citizen Participation. There was no citizen
participation.
The second item on the agenda was the Consent Agenda:
A. Approval of the Minutes for the meetings of September 5 and 19, 1995.
B. Ordinance No. 15, Series of 1995, second reading of an ordinance correcting
Ordinance No. 1, Series of 1995 which amended Chapter 17.26, Condominium
Conversions of the Municipal Code of the Town of Vail.
C. Ordinance No. 16, Series of 1995, second reading of an ordinance regulating
roundabouts and/or rotary traffic islands and one-way roadways.
Mayor Osterfoss read the Consent Agenda in full. Rod Slifer moved to approve the
Consent Agenda with a second by Tom Steinberg. A vote was taken and passed
unanimously, 6-0.
The third item on the agenda was Ordinance No. 17, Series of 1995, first reading of
an ordinance repealing and reenacting Ordinance No. 3, Series of 1977, Special
Development District No. 7, The Marriott Mark; amending an approved Development
Plan for Special Development District No. 7; amending the Title of the Special
Development District to the Marriott Vail Mountain Resort SDD in accordance with
Chapter 18.40 of the Vail Municipal Code; located at 715 West Lionshead Circle/Lots 4,
7, C, and D, Block 1, Vail/Lionshead Third Filing; and setting forth details in regard
thereto. George Ruther presented this item to Council. The first reading of a proposed
ordinance for a major amendment to Special Development District No. 7, the Marriott
Vail Mountain Resort, to allow for the conversion of 17 dwelling units to accommodation
units. Pursuant to Section 18.40.020 (Major SDD Amendment) of the Town of Vail
Municipal Code "any proposal to change uses; increased gross residential floor area;
change the number of dwelling or accommodation units; modify, enlarge or expand any
approved Special Development District is defined as a major SDD amendment." A
major amendment to an SDD is reviewed by the Planning Commission and approved
upon two readings of an ordinance by the Vail Town Council. The applicant, the
Marriott Vail Mountain Resort, represented by Mary French, is currently proposing to
convert 17 dwelling units to accommodation units. Prior to the actual conversion of the
17 dwelling to accommodation units, the applicant first needs an approval of their major
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amendment to a Special Development District request approved by the Town Council.
Section 10 of the approved Marriott Vail Mountain SDD establishes the development
standards for the project. According to subsection 10(E), Density Control, "the total
number of dwelling units shall not exceed 34 and the total number of accommodation
units shall not exceed 304". Currently, 49 dwelling units and 259 accommodation units
exist at the Marriott Vail Mountain Resort. An approval of the applicant's request to
convert 17 of the dwelling units to accommodation units will result in 32 dwelling units
and 277 accommodation units. Pursuant to Section 18.66.140, the Planning and
Environmental Commission held a public hearing on September 25, 1995 with regard to
the major amendment to the SDD proposed by the applicant. Upon review of the
applicant's proposed major SDD amendment request to convert 17 dwelling units to
accommodation units, the Planning and Environmental Commission voted unanimously
in favor of recommending approval of the applicant's request to the Vail Town Council.
The planning staff views the major SDD amendment request as having a public benefit
for the Town of Vail, therefore, the staff is recommending approval of the applicant's
request to convert 17 dwelling units to accommodation units. The staff believes that the
applicant's proposal will have a positive effect upon the number of available short term
rental units within the Town of Vail. The staff also feels that the reduction in density
and the resulting surplus parking spaces will help alleviate parking problems that may
currently occur at the Marriott Vail Mountain Resort. Additionally, staff finds that the
applicant's proposed major SDD amendment request meets the SDD review criteria as
• outlined in Section 2 of the Planning and Environmental Commission memorandum
dated September 25, 1995. (See attached PEC memo dated 9/25/95.) Paul Johnston
moved to approve Ordinance No. 17, Series of 1995 on first reading, with a second by
Sybill Navas. A vote was taken and passed unanimously, 6-0.
The fourth item on the agenda was Vail Commons Discussion presented by Tom
Moorhead. On September 24, 1995 The Vail Town Council received a letter from Carol
L. Curtis, who is the attorney for the Common Sense for the Vail Commons. The letter
contained numerous factually incorrect assumptions. Prior to responding to Carol
Curtis' letter, Moorhead gave a through review of the Vail Commons project process.
The TOV acquired real property as set forth in the Vail Charter. The Charter clearly
sets forth what actions need to be taken by ordinance, resolution or simply by motion.
The Town Charter enables the Town Council to lease the Vail Commons property
through an administrative action to any private or governmental entity without enacting
a legislative ordinance. if the Charter property were sold, the Town Charter specifies
such action would require an ordinance. The Vail Commons land was purchased
based on the resolution dated February 2, 1993. The land consisting of 6.6 acres, and
purchased for 3.2 million dollars was purchased from Hud Worth. The land was
purchased using general funds as opposed to the real estate transfer funds. This
resolution authorizing the purchase of this property was preceded with 4 executive
meetings. Council then reviewed a draft of the contract at a public session. The
February 2, 1993 minutes reveal what the discussion was as council considered the
terms of the contract. There were no restrictions put on the use of this property. This
property is zoned as "Community Commercial" and allows for employee housing. The
Master Land Use Plan which was adopted in November, 1986 includes the Vail
Commons land. Moorhead reviewed the public meetings and discussion on
commercial growth, ski industry, and residential growth leading up to the Master Land
Use Plan. Employee housing needs were addressed extensively, existing land uses in
the TOV were reviewed. The commercial uses which have traditionally been in the core
area were discussed and it was agreed that commercial development needs to diversify
to outlying areas. The proposed land use map was developed based by input from
public meetings. Existing buildings were analyzed, preservation of open space became
a high priority, and parks were also a high priority. The study revealed a need for
balanced residential, commercial and recreational land. No one wanted to create new
commercial areas, however it was agreed to locate them adjacent to existing
commercial spaces. The uses would then be controlled by zoning. Moorhead said its
important that there is an extensive land use plan in existence and it has been followed
closely by the Town Council during the process of the Vail Commons. Next, Moorhead
addressed certain items from Carol Curtis' letter. The third paragraph states "why has
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Council chosen to approve the City Market development plan by the mere passing of a
motion and with no master plan in place" Moorhead indicated this statement is very
inaccurate. The letter goes on to state a council member has a conflict of interest.
Moorhead stated Mery Lapin recused himself due to conflict of interest from the Vail
Commons proceedings. He has not participated in this process and therefore, this is
not an issue. Curtis' letter is concerned with the WHEREAS clause in Resolution No. 2,
Series of 1993 stating the uses for the property are specifically prescribed to be "open
space, parks or other purposes." Moorhead indicated this is purely editorial language in
the resolution. The council followed the charter i.e., they can purchase property and
there would have had to have been deed restrictions on the property to limit the use of
this Vail Commons Land. There are no deed restrictions on this land. The wording in
the Resolution does not restrict the uses of the Vail Commons land. Curtis' letter states
Council acted outside the scope of its charter by entering into a 49 year lease with City
Market and 99 year lease for employee housing. Moorhead replied that the authors of
the Charter clearly stated a lease can be entered into with a motion and does not
require an ordinance. The letter states that a formal bidding process should have
occurred and council has proceeded behind closed doors and to date has refused to
allow public review of the contract involved. Moorhead said this is a misstatement to
say council has not entered into a public bidding process. A formal bidding process
was in fact conducted and 20 people responded at which time narrowed to 7 then to 3
finalists, ending up with City Market. The bidding process was a competitive process
&, and the council did study different alternatives. The letter says the voters are gathering
sufficient signatures for an initiative process. Moorhead stated an initiative is for
legislative acts only and not appropriate for administrative actions such as the Vail
Commons decision. The committee has submitted their amended petition. The
sufficiency is being assessed currently and will be brought to council when complete.
Tom Steinberg asked if Council should discuss tonight the items discussed in the
executive sessions leading up to the purchase on the Vail Commons property.
Moorhead said it is entirely up to Council. To date all the contract negotiations with City
Market have been conducted in public meetings. Steinberg recalls the then current
Council discussed using general fund money to purchase the land and the land was to
be used as commercial development - possibly a fire house site, employee housing, or
TOV offices, They discussed that the source of funding for the housing should come
from the commercia space. Osterfoss asked for public input. Mike Jewett spoke and
thanked his fellow committee members for their hard work and financial support on the
Common Sense for the Vail Commons committee. The committee feels this project is
the wrong project for this property. He wants council to reconsider their decision in light
of those who have signed the petition against the project. Jewett wanted to know if an
Invitation to Bid was published? Moorhead indicated the Request For Proposal (RFP)
was the vehicle used for this purpose. McLaurin stated staff, and Chris Cares a
consultant from Boulder put the list together of who would receive the RFP. Jewett is
concerned several key individuals were left off the RFP list i.e. Cub foods, Village
Market, Biggs. McLaurin spoke to several people prior to sending out the RFP and up
front said they were not interested. Cub foods was not interested so no RFP was sent
to them. McLaurin will defend the list as being a valid list. Osterfoss said grocery
stores were never a target and not every grocery was contacted. Steinberg asked
Jewett if he revealed that he is a union steward at Safeway and that City Market is a
non -union shop and that he may have a conflict of interest in asking citizens to sign the
petition. Jewett did not declare this to petitioners as he feels he does not have a
conflict of interest. Jeff Christensen, chairman of the Common Sense Committee asked
what the time frame is to verify the supplemental petitions. Pam Brandmeyer
responded the Town has a 5 day period to verify the signatures. Christensen feels it
would be unethical of the Council to move forward on this project given the amount of
signatures they have gathered. Christensen stated the petitioners do not like the idea
of two supermarkets in West Vail. Jan Strauch asked Christensen since they are
against the supermarket, why does their petition mask this by saying "land use" instead
of "super market use". Jeff does not feel it is masking their real question. In
summarizing the Town Council's decision to continue moving forward with the
development, Osterfoss regrets deeply there are 700 people who do not agree with the
vehicle of City Market to provide employee housing. Employee housing is very
Vail Town Council Evening Meeting Minutes 1013195
important to all as well as the Common Sense committee. However there are many
people in support of the Council's decision and the Council will never please everyone.
Kathy Douglas stated she too circulated petitions and the people signing the petition did
not want two grocery stores. It would be unfair to force one to close down.
The fifth item on the agenda was the Town Manager's Report. There was none. Paul
Johnston received clarification from Tom Moorhead on restricting the placement of
newspaper boxes on public property. McLaurin said he was working with
representatives from the newspapers to address the issue and would be reporting back
to the Council soon.
There being no further business, Johnston moved to adjourn at approximately 9:15
P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
?Mar ret A. Osterfoss, yor
ATTEST: '11VIA Om»rNiu
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(�A,- a)", R S A-L
Lori Aker, Deputy Town Clerk i � a
(-Names of certain Individuals who gave public input maybe inaccurate.)
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49
Vail Town Council Evening Meeting Minutes 10/3/95