HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-10-05 Town Council Minutes�1
Vail Town Council Evening Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, October 5, 2004
6:00 P.M.
Vail Town Council Chambers
The regular meeting of the Vail Town Council was called to order at approximately
6:00 P.M. by Mayor Rod Slifer.
Members present: Rod Slifer, Mayor
Dick Cleveland, Mayor Pro -Tern
Diana Donovan,
Farrow Hitt,
Greg Moffet
Kim Ruotolo,
Members Absent: Kent Logan
Staff Members: Stan Zemler, Town Manager
Matt Mire, Town Attorney
Pam Brandmeyer, Asst. Town Manager
The first item on the agenda was Citizen Participation. Colorado Senator Jack Taylor,
who was running for re-election, expressed his continued interest in working with Town
Manager Stan Zemler, Colorado Motor Carriers representative Greg Fulton and officials
from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to help mitigate 1-70 traffic
noise. Taylor also described his success in working with CDOT to approve installation of
a traffic light in Eagle -Vail. Taylor encouraged the Town Council and the citizens of Vail
to call upon him for help in resolving matters that require assistance from the state. He
also said he understood the importance of and would fight to protect Western Slope
water.
Kaye Ferry, Executive Director of the Vail Chamber and Business Association (VCBA),
announced that Aspen Chamber Resort Association Downtown Catalyst Lisa Baker
would be speaking at the next VCBA meeting to be held at 8 a.m. Oct. 12 in the Town
Council Chambers. Ferry then made it known that Brian Vogt, the state Director of the
Office of Economic Development and International Trade, would speak to the public 8
a.m. Oct. 19 at Manor Vail.
The second item on the agenda was a Construction / Streetscape Update. Public Works
Director Greg Hall reported the restrooms on Wall Street were almost complete and
water features on Wall Street and Earl Eaton plaza were partially operational. In
addition, utilities on Hanson Ranch Road, Bridge Street and Gore Creek Drive were
almost complete and planters were beginning to go in on Gore Creek Drive. Hall
confirmed that utility work in the LionsHead core was postponed, although some work
directly related to the Gore Creek Townhomes would continue. Moffet questioned the
unevenness of the pavers recently installed in the Village. Hall acknowledged there had
been some quality control issues with the pavers, which were being addressed.
The third item on the agenda was a Conference Center Update. Community
Development Director Russ Forrest announced representatives from Fentress Bradburn
Architects, Inc., met with Council, Planning and Environmental Commission, Design
ofReview Board and the Conference Center Oversight Committee earlier in the day to
report on progress made on the refinement of the conference center site plan. Forrest
reported the following: The site plan concept calls for the facility's parking to be located
under the center, and was identified as the preferred option from five alternatives
presented to the Council, PEC, DRB and the general public in September. At that time,
Council requested an assessment of the actual parking need for the conference center.
Felsburg, Holz, and Ullvig (FHU), the town's independent traffic and parking consultant,
presented a parking needs assessment. FHU representative Chris Fausching explained
parking needs are driven by estimated attendance levels contained in the conference
center business plan. In a scenario where a 600-700 attendee conference occurred
during the ski season, 125 new parking spaces would be needed. Calculations were
based on an estimated 20% of attendees arriving by automobile. Fausching reported an
average of 1.25 conference -goers arrive by car, combined with staff parking
requirements of 20 vehicles, amounted to the 125 number. Forrest then stated Fentress
Bradburn representative Mike Winters presented parking, transit, vehicular circulation,
pedestrian circulation, and floor plan possibilities associated with the preferred site plan.
Potential vehicular access points, Frontage Road configurations, guest access, parking
relocation and service access points were illustrated. Winters also reported new
information was recently received which included a survey with property lines,
topographic information and utilities. Winters stated the next steps would include: civic
center schematic design, stacking diagrams, blocking diagrams and preliminary building
design concepts. Forrest continued that upcoming dates in the conference center
planning schedule included: an October 18, Conference Center Committee Meeting to
finalize recommendation on governance; October 19, Town Council Meeting to review
Master Plan and alternative architectural concepts; and October 21, public meeting on
architectural character.
The fourth item on the agenda was the Consent Agenda. Council unanimously
approved the evening meeting minutes from Sept. 7 and Sept. 21 with minor
amendments. Donovan requested a statement be replaced in item seven of the Sept 7.
minutes. Cleveland requested a statement be modified in item four of the Sept. 21
minutes. Moffet moved and Ruotolo seconded the motion.
The fifth item on the agenda was the award of the Vail Information Centers Contract.
On a 5-1 vote, with Donovan dissenting, Council approved a committee recommendation
to enter into negotiations with the Vail Valley Chamber and Tourism Bureau (WCTB) for
a one-year contract to operate the Information Centers, with the contract to expire
September 30, 2005. Hitt moved and Ruotolo seconded the motion. Council also
requested the Request for Proposal (RFP) process for Visitor Center operation be
completed in 2005 by June. The negotiations were to include: Information Center
displays, content distribution, monthly accountability summarizing direct bookings from
the Information Centers, and hours of operation. Moffet expressed concern that the brief
contract period would not create incentive for the operating body to invest in people or
capital. In presenting the recommendation, Farrow Hitt stated the Visitor Information
Centers Council Subcommittee met on Sept. 28 to interview both respondents to the
RFP the Vail Chamber and Business Association (VCBA) and the WCTB. Hitt then
announced that based on information from the received RFP's and interviews, it was the
recommendation of the Vail Information Centers Subcommittee to recommend the
WCTB. Recognizing larger issues remain to be considered, the Council members
assigned to this subcommittee further recommended continued discussions with the
Town Manager and staff to define more specifically the role of information centers in
serving Vail's guests and businesses. The discussions would then culminate in a series
of policy decisions to be determined by the full Council. After substantial input from
supporters of the VCBA and WCTB, Council agreed to refine the RFP process,
crystallize the goals and objectives of the Visitors Centers, and research how other
successful visitor centers are operated. Comments made by Council and the public
predominantly focused on a "Vail first" vs. "Vail only' philosophy of operations. Rob
Levine, Geoff Wright, Pam Stenmark and Tom Backus spoke in support of the WCTB
operating the centers. Michael Cacioppo, George Knox, Bill Jensen, Carol Allman, John
Kaemmer, Steve Rosenthal, Kaye Ferry, John Gorsuch, and Ghigui Hoffman spoke in
support of the VCBA operating the centers. Ruotolo emphasized Council would like to
revisit what was expected from the information centers and a new RFP would be utilized
next year. Ruotolo stated: "This has nothing to do with confidence in whose running
them. It's more about what council wants to see taking place at the information centers."
Donovan stated she believed Vail assets be used to promote Vail only, as the
information centers were built with Vail dollars. Donovan emphasized her point by
stating the information centers contract should be terminated if any guest was found to
be sent down valley if the requested service was available in Vail. Cleveland expressed
he believed the community is larger than the Town of Vail; however, other local
governmental entities have not been willing to spend marketing dollars. Council agreed
that investigating and benchmarking other information centers was a good idea and
should be pursued. Cacioppo stated he believed Hitt and Ruotolo were wrong to be a
part of the Visitor Information Centers Council Subcommittee as their personal ties to the
lodging sector in Vail constituted a conflict of interest. He then suggested both recuse
themselves from the vote. Matt Mire, Town Attorney, rebutted it was his opinion the two
Council members did not have a conflict of interest.
The sixth item on the agenda was a Chamonix Property Master Plan Update.
Community Information Officer Suzanne Silverthorn reported since July 20, 2004, at the
direction of Council, the planning team of Davis Partnership/Michael Hazard Associates
had been working to facilitate a master land use plan for the town -owned Chamonix
property at 2310 Chamonix Rd in West Vail. The purpose of the planning is to
accommodate Council's desire for a future fire station on the property, as well as other
potential uses. The planning steps:
➢ A kick-off meeting with the West Vail neighborhood on Aug. 9, in which five key
themes were identified;
➢ Development of a series of fire station site plan options;
➢ A residential density analysis showing height relationships and density
comparisons to existing properties;
➢ A second neighborhood meeting on Sept. 27 in which the most recent work was
shared and comments and suggestions were collected.
Silverthorn continued by stating the purpose of the Oct. 5 presentation was to provide an
update, answer questions, collect comments from the Town Council, narrow the fire
station options to two or three, and describe next steps. Michael Hazard of Hazard
Associates then explained the criteria used to develop seven site plan options for the fire
station. The options were based on grade, safety, site access, and site usage. Hazard
noted three of the seven alternatives require a back -in pull-out solution and virtually all
involved in the process, to date, prefer a pull -through solution to avoid the use of back
up warning beepers, which was considered to be a noise nuisance to the surrounding
neighborhood. Moffet, Hitt, and Donovan expressed concern about the size of the
proposed fire station, suggesting, among other things, the site plan reduce the number
of engine bays from four to two. There were also questions about the appropriate
number of parking spaces needed to accommodate the station. Cleveland suggested
caution, saying he didn't want to shortcut expansion opportunities, noting neighborhood
interest in a community meeting room and the notion of possibly relocating the fire
administrative offices to the West Vail station. As for other uses, Moffet and Cleveland
expressed interest in two or three -bedroom housing units to accommodate families, as
opposed to one -bedroom housing units. The need to further define programming for the
fire station facility was acknowledged by Zemler. When asked to narrow the fire station
location options to the top two or three, most Council members expressed support for
options No. 5 and No. 7. In summarizing a discussion earlier in the day, Slifer noted that
while the Council has included construction of a fire station in its five-year capital budget,
the town is still working to identify a funding source for operations. He said he's counting
on assistance from Eagle County to help fund construction. During the public comment
period, Scott Wirth, property manager for the Shell station, expressed a preference for
option No. 7, which locates the fire station on the lower portion of the property closest to
the station. Option 5, which proposes use of an easement through the Wendy's and
Shell property, would create hardships for those businesses, he said. Next steps include
development of a series of master plan options for the entire site based on an evaluation
of the neighborhood themes, zoning considerations, density ranges, preferred fire station
locations, public -private scenarios and land -banking options. A neighborhood meeting
has been scheduled for Nov. 1 to review the concepts, followed by Council review on
Nov. 16.
10 The seventh item on the agenda was the Appeal of Design Review Board (DRB) Denial
of an Application to Allow for a Minor Exterior Alteration (i.e., deck replacement utilizing
simulated wood), located at 2685 Bald Mountain Road/Lot 8, Block 2, Vail Village Filing
13. The Council voted 6-0 to overturn DRB's denial of this application. In introducing
the appeal item prior to the vote, Chief Planner George Ruther noted on October 16,
2001, the Vail Town Council adopted Ordinance No. 25, Series of 2001, amending the
provisions of Section 14-10-D, Building Materials and Design, Vail Town Code. These
amendments were "to clarify the existing regulations regarding the use of building
materials, to create review criteria for the proposed use of building materials, to codify
existing unwritten DRB policies into the Development Standards, to allow the
Development Standards to be more responsive to the requirements of building and fire
codes, and to allow the Development Standards to be adaptive to changing building
material technologies." Title 14, Development Standards Handbook, Vail Town Code,
regulates the types of building materials allowed within the Town of Vail. Ruther
explained the guidelines encourage natural materials, such as wood, and
discourage/prohibit synthetic building materials, although the quality of synthetic wood
materials had dramatically increased in the past few years. Acknowledging the merits of
these synthetic materials (i.e., low maintenance, mold/decay resistance, fire resistance,
etc.), the DRB was reported to have established a consistent policy of approving these
materials for use as the horizontal floor elements of outdoor decks. However, the DRB
had also acknowledged the aesthetic limitations of these materials and established a
consistent policy of not allowing synthetic wood materials to be used for outdoor deck
rails, pickets, support columns, steps, fascia, soffit, corbels, trim, etc., according to
Ruther. Since the adoption of Ordinance No. 25 numerous decks throughout the Town
of Vail had been approved in this manner by both the DRB and the Town Staff, with this
being the first time this interpretation of Title 14, Vail Town Code, had been appealed to
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the Town Council. The Community Development Department recommended Council
uphold the DRB's denial of this appeal. However, Council chose to overturn with the
following finding: upon review of the evidence and testimony presented, the standards
and conditions imposed by the requirements of Title 14, Development Standards
Handbook, Vail Town Code, had not been implemented and enforced correctly by the
DRB. In making this finding the Council noted it has relied upon the interpretation of the
Town's adopted design guidelines by the appointed members of the DRB. During the
hearing, appellants Don and Suzanne Marks thanked the council for performing a site
visit earlier in the day. Don Marks stated he felt he had discovered a product to remodel
his deck that was aesthetically pleasing, maintenance free and ecologically friendly.
Marks then expressed dissatisfaction with the appeals process and general
disagreement with the ban on simulated wood building materials. Moffet moved to
overturn the DRB finding with Cleveland seconding. Cleveland stated he believed the
DRB erred in its judgment.
The eighth item on the agenda was an appeal of the August 18, 2004 Design DRB
denial of an Application for Changes to Approved Plans at the Vail Mountain Lodge
located at 352 East Meadow Drive, Tract B/Vail Village 1st Filing. The appeal was
withdrawn.
The ninth item on the agenda was the Second Reading of Ordinance No. 17, Series of
2004, an ordinance amending Special Development District #4, Cascade Village, to
allow for the Creation of Development Area E, located at Tract K, Glen Lyon Subdivision,
and setting forth details in regard thereto. On August 3, 2004, Council approved the first
reading of Ordinance No. 17, with a condition requiring resolution of issues related to the
Protective Covenants of Glen Lyon Subdivision, by a vote of 7-0. On August 17, 2004,
Council tabled second reading of Ordinance No. 17 to October 5, 2004, to allow Vail
Resorts additional time to resolve the covenant issues. The outstanding covenant
issues were not resolved; therefore, Vail Resorts requested second reading of
Ordinance No. 17 again be tabled to a future Council meeting. Moffet moved to table the
second reading of Ordinance No. 17, to January 4, 2005; Cleveland seconded. The
motion passed unanimously, 6-0
The tenth item on the agenda was Resolution No. 20, Series 2004, A Resolution
approving the Gore Creek Place Development Agreement between the Town of Vail and
the Vail Corporation, D/B/A Vail Associates, Inc., which agreement pertains to certain
respective rights and responsibilities of the Town and Vail Associates in relation to the
Gore Creek Place Town homes Development Site owned by Vail Associates and
Affiliates. Mire recommended a motion to table the item until the October 19, 2004
evening session. Due to a predetermined statutory conflict, Slifer recused himself from
the item. Moffet moved and Hitt seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously 5-0
(Slifer recused). Mire did report that on Oct. 19, both the Gore Creek Place and
LionsHead Core Site agreements will be included in the resolution.
The eleventh item on the agenda was the Town Manager's Report.
➢ Ice Dome
Council voted 4-2, with Slifer and Donovan opposed, to authorize the Town
Manager to continue with a bid process to sell the Ice Dome. Moffet moved and
Hitt seconded. Brandmeyer reported information on the re -sale value of the Ice
Dome had been collected and a timetable for sealed bids had been prepared. A
component of the bid process would be an evaluation based on an estimated
depreciated value of $375,000. The process would include issuing a public notice
on Oct. 6. Bids would then be due on Oct. 27, followed by a bid opening on Oct.
28, and a review by the Town Council on Nov. 2. The town would specify the
bubble is to be sold as -is and the town would reserve the right to accept or refuse
any or all bids. Brandmeyer announced eight entities had contacted the town
inquiring about the pending sale. In response to council inquiries, Hall stated it
had been determined the refrigeration system and dasher boards were not
appropriate for outdoor use. Brandmeyer then reported the Vail Recreation
District would not provide an outdoor ice rink this winter as they would not
support activities that do not generate revenue. Council agreed the VRD decision
was inappropriate and the town must continue to pursue better recreation
alternatives.
➢ Community Meeting
Brandmeyer announced the annual community meeting had been set for
Thursday, December 30, 2004, at the Donovan Pavilion and staff had already
begun the process to apply for a Special Events Permit (e.g., 1 day liquor license
for that event). Donovan inquired as to why liquor was served at the event.
Brandmeyer responded it had become a custom at the event as it was also social
in nature. Council gave direction to continue planning the event as usual.
➢ Joint Council Meeting with Town of Breckenridge Agenda
Brandmeyer asked if Council had any items they would specifically care to have
included on the joint Town of Breckenridge / TOV Council meeting agenda.
Cleveland asked the Council to investigate Breckenridge's art district. Slifer
recommended looking at the ice rink. Hitt inquired if Breckenridge operated
information centers. Brandmeyer was then directed to explore Nov. 30 as a
possible meeting date.
➢ Grant of Utility Easement for Tract B, Vail / LionsHead Third Filing
Council authorized the Town Manager to sign permanent utility easements for
the construction of utilities within town owned property in LionsHead to allow the
relocation of the utilities prior to constructing the Gore Creek Town Homes and
LionsHead Core site. Due to a predetermined statutory conflict, Mayor Slifer
recused himself from the item. Ruotolo moved and Moffet seconded. The
motion passed unanimously, 5-0 (Slifer recused). Donovan requested Vail
Resorts be required to restore wetlands if any were compromised in the project.
The twelfth item on the agenda was adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at
approximately 8:25 p.m. Moffet moved and Ruotolo seconded to adjourn. The motion
passed unanimously, 6-0.
Respectfully Submitted,
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ATTEST:
Lorelei Donaldson, Town Clerk
Minutes provided by Corey Swisher.
Rodney E. Slifer, Mayor
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