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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 Vail Town Council Evening Meeting Minutes ICV3195 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 Veit Town Council Evening Meeting Minutes 1013195 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 �SjN OF (�A,- a)", R S A-L Lori Aker, Deputy Town Clerk i � a (-Names of certain Individuals who gave public input maybe inaccurate.) so 49 Vail Town Council Evening Meeting Minutes 10/3/95