HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-07-17 Town Council MinutesVail Town Council Evening Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
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
Greg Moffet
Kim Newbury
Mark Gordon
Kent Logan
Farrow Hitt, Mayor Pro-Tem
Kevin Foley
Staff Members: Stan Zemler, Town Manager
Matt Mire, Town Attorney
Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant Town Manager
The first item on the agenda was Citizen Participation.
Local resident Diva May, a new American citizen, encouraged Council to continue to
illliw battle the pine beetle infestation with whatever techniques are at the town's disposal.
She also expressed concerns about the volume of air -pollution being created by
construction vehicles and expressed her support for additional recycling efforts.
Stephen Connelly shared an idea to improve efficiency in distributing town information.
In the case of a recently produced forest health brochure, Connelly suggested sending a
postcard notification to households with instructions on how the pamphlet could be
downloaded from a web as well as information on requesting the pamphlet via mail, as
opposed to a bulk mailing of the information to Vail households. Connelly said he was
disappointed to see that numerous recipients of the mailing had thrown their copies in
the trash at the Vail post office.
Kaye Ferry of the Vail Chamber & Business Association questioned the town's closing of
the Vail Village Visitor Information Center facility for a day earlier in the month to
accommodate a roofing project. Ferry said the closure should not have taken place
during the busy summer tourist season. She then expressed concern about the
Rucksack building redevelopment possibly occurring during Thanksgiving and
Christmas.
The second item on the agenda was the Town Manager's Report.
Stan Zemler reported there would be an intentional power disruption at Town Hall on
July 18, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. The disruption is an effort to test the town's backup
electrical generation system that would power the 911 Call Center in the event of a
kaw natural disaster or other emergency.
He then reported progress was taking place in organizing a process to involve the
business community in developing options for a dispersed loading and delivery system
in Vail Village. When asked how long the public input process would take, Zemler
responded, "It will take as long as it needs to take ... We'll take the time it takes to get it
right." A 17-member working group has been formed to help develop options. Zemler
said the group will hold its first organizational meeting from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 19 in
the Vail Transportation Center conference room next to the Visitor Information Center.
The meeting is open to anyone interested in attending.
Zemler then stated he was open to any suggestions residents/business owners might
have in regard to the Fourth of July parade and its movement through the LionsHead
area. He then apologized for any inconvenience created by Village Parking Structure re-
roofing and commended the staff for recovering quickly by setting up an outdoor visitor
information center near the Covered Bridge for the remainder of the closure.
The third item on the agenda was the 2007 Community Survey Results.
Community Information Officer Suzanne Silverthorn stated the town's biennial
community survey had been conducted earlier this year in which a random sampling of
400 households received telephone calls during a two -week period between March 26
and April 14. Responses were obtained from 300 year-round residents and 100 part-time
residents. Chris Cares, from the research firm RRC Associates, presented the key
findings. Respondents identified employee housing, development, protection of
environmental resources, addressing the pine beetle infestation and providing adequate
illliw and safe parking for peak visitor periods as the top issues important to Vail's future. In
addition, nearly twice as many people who were surveyed said the town is going in the
"right direction" than those who said the town has "gotten off on the wrong track."
Because the survey is comparable to previous efforts, it is possible to make direct
comparisons from year to year to identify shifts and trends, according to Chris Cares.
For example, respondents were asked to identify the "two biggest issues" facing the
town. This year, housing was the most identified issue in an open-ended question, with
21 percent of overall respondents mentioning affordable or employee housing as one of
the top two issues, an increase from 10 percent of respondents who had mentioned it in
2005. The topic of "development" (which included "overbuilding" and "overcrowding")
was the next most mentioned with 18 percent of responses, up from 7 percent in 2005.
Parking was the next most mentioned this year at 13 percent, down from 21 percent in
2005. While both full-time and part-time residents identified housing as the top issue,
there were differences of opinion throughout the response groups about what should be
done to address the problem, Cares said. In general, most respondents said they
supported direct action by the town to provide workforce housing. In contrast, when the
survey was last fielded in 2005, parking had surfaced as the top priority and was
identified by twice as many respondents as any other issue. Cares says the data
suggest the perceptions of community issues can change from year to year. "This
question elicits top -of -mind responses," said Cares. "It's not only what citizens are
thinking about, but also what they're hearing and reading about. This year, with the
heavy emphasis on housing issues by the Town Council and in the media, it was
obvious that this topic was on peoples' minds." Similarly, the large amount of new
development was clearly identified as an issue by a large segment of the community,
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according to Cares. In addition to the open-ended question, the 2007 survey also asked
respondents to evaluate a list of 10 topics important to Vail's future. In this case,
"environmental protection" received the highest score with a rating of 4.3 on a 5.0 scale,
with 5 being "extremely important." Next highest was the category of "addressing the
pine beetle infestation" which received a 4.1 score, with most respondents, 71 percent,
also suggesting the town place a high priority on "enforcement of requirements for
private property owners to remove dead beetle -infested trees." As in previous surveys,
parking also topped the priority list with a ranking of 4.0. The remainder of the prioritized
issues and their rankings for 2007 are as follows:
• Facilitating a range of workforce housing opportunities for those who work in Vail, 3.8
• Construction and/or maintenance of public infrastructure, 3.8
• Sustaining year-round tourism in Vail, 3.8
• Improving recreational facilities such as parks, trails and bike paths, 3.5
• Improving fire response times and firefighting capabilities, 3.4
• Improving various modes of transportation in and around Vail, 3.4
• Growth and development, 3.4
In this instance, housing was rated lower than in the open-ended response. According to
Cares, this is, in part, because while housing was found to be important to many people
(65 percent called it a 4 or 5 in importance) there is also a significant segment that gave
it a relatively low importance ranking (18 percent rated it 1 or 2). Similar splits occurred
in the "growth and development" category, according to Cares. This is in contrast to the
environmental question where almost 82 percent called it "important/very important." In
rating their satisfaction with a variety of municipal services with 5 being "very satisfied,"
the highest scores were given to the following categories:
• Dependability of bus service, 4.4
• Courtesy and helpfulness of firefighters and fire prevention staff,4.4
• Parking availability during summer periods, 4.4
• Response times to basic medical emergencies and fires, 4.3
• Snow removal on roads, 4.3
• Overall feeling of safety and security, 4.3
• Frequency of the in -town shuttle, 4.3
The lowest score was given to parking availability during winter periods with a rating of
2.4. Satisfaction ratings with town staff, Town Council, DRB and PEC ranged from 3.5 to
2.7, showing slight declines from 2005. The survey results indicate that attitudes toward
town government and the direction of the community are generally positive in 2007;
however there were some notable declines from 2005, according to Cares. For
example, when asked if the town is on the "right track," 58 percent responded favorably
(down from 70 percent in 2005 but similar to the 57 percent obtained in 2003), with 30
percent saying "wrong track," up from 19 percent in 2005 and similar to the 28 percent
rating in 2003. In a question first asked in 2005, respondents were asked, "Thinking
about the vision for the new Vail, and all the improvements that are occurring, how would
you describe your attitude?" In 2007, about 32 percent of respondents said they were
,'very excited" with 23 percent "not excited." This is in contrast to 2005 when 47 percent
(almost half) were "very excited" and only ten percent "not excited." On a more positive
note, of the respondents who indicated they were "very excited" about the vision for the
new Vail, many cited the development and revitalization in the Village as a positive and
important aspect to the town's future, Cares said. In evaluating the shifts in attitudes and
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priorities this year, Cares said he noted a distinct pattern that can be explained largely
by length of time respondents have lived in or owned property in Vail. Long-time
residents who have lived in Vail for 15 years or longer, by and large, were generally
more negative about the direction of Vail than those who have lived in or owned property,
in Vail fewer than five years. Additionally, as in past surveys, part-time residents
continued to generally be more positive than full-time residents in virtually all categories
of questions that involved ratings. "Clearly, Vail serves multiple stakeholder groups who
have different wants and needs and their ratings reflect some of these differences," said
Cares. The survey also measured "sense of community" in a question identical to past
years. The results suggest that feelings about community have returned to the levels
measured in 2003 with about 14 percent saying it has "improved." In 2007 more
respondents said the sense of community has "gotten worse" (36 percent) than in 2005
(21 percent), with opinions once again similar to 2003. When asked to rank potential
recreation facility improvements, respondents gave the highest priority to a recreation
center/gymnasium/aquatics facility with a 3.4 score with 5 being "extremely important,"
followed by reconfiguration and renovation of Ford Park at 3.1. The list also included:
• Dobson Ice Arena remodel and upgrade, 3.0
• Vail Golf Club Clubhouse remodel, 2.8
• Permanent skateboard park, 2.5
An Internet and mailback version of the phone survey was also made available to the
public. It resulted in 59 responses which were tabulated and reported separately from
the phone survey in order to maintain the direct comparability to past studies. Logan
clarified the results were typical of a community experiencing redevelopment and growth
issues. Gordon noted the survey results may have been a bit skewed by the large
number of longer term residents who participated, due in part to the absence of a
representative sample of newer residents. This may have been due to the growing use
of cell phones by the newer residents. Only land lines are permitted to be solicited during
telephone surveys. Cares and Silverthorn conceded that in the future different polling
methods would have to be utilized. Hitt said he believed some people may be
dissatisfied with development because they haven't seen the finished version of many of
projects going up around town. He encouraged people to run for Town Council in
November and help the community continue to improve.
The fourth item on the agenda was the First reading of Ordinance No. 22, Series of
2007, an ordinance amending Section 12-2-2, Definitions, and Section 12-16-7, Use
Specific Criteria and Standards, Vail Town Code, to allow for amendments to the
regulation of temporary business offices.
Senior Planner Bill Gibson reported that on July 9, 2007, the PEC forwarded a
recommendation of approval, with modifications, for amendments to the regulation of
temporary business offices by a vote of 3-2-1 (Cleveland and Jewitt opposed, Pierce
recused). Moffet moved to adopt the ordinance with Gordon seconding. Gordon clarified
Vail Resorts would have to apply for a conditional use permit in order to maintain a
business office in the LionsHead area. Representing Vail Mountain, Jay Peterson
emphasized it was important to keep people working in town. Hitt expressed concern the
proposed Ever Vail project would not be habitable for at least four years as that is where
Vail Resorts would later be locating offices. Brian McCartney, vice president of mountain
operations for Vail Mountain, said the request was an attempt to keep Vail Mountain
employees employed in Vail. Peterson explained there was a sense of urgency about the
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decision as Vail Mountain would have to search for adequate office space and renew
leases if the ordinance was not approved. During a pause for public comment, Kaye
Ferry of the Vail Chamber and Business Association expressed concern that a decision
to approve the ordinance did not meet the town's policies and objectives. "This is very
specifically handling a Vail Resorts problem... Things aren't the same now as they were
when they were first allowed to have offices on the first floor." Kent Logan told the Vail
Mountain representatives he thought there had been a lack of a forthcoming attitude on
the part of Vail Resorts in regard to a lot of projects. The motion passed 5-2 with Logan
and Newbury opposed.
The fifth item on the agenda was the first reading of Ordinance No. 18, Series of 2007, an
ordinance amending the prescribed zoning regulations, pursuant to Section 12-3-7,
Amendment, Vail Town Code, to allow for modifications to Section 12-6A-9, Site
Coverage, Vail Town Code (Hillside Residential District), to increase allowable site
coverage from 15% to 20.
Chief Planner Warren Campbell reported that on June 11, 2007, the PEC held a public
hearing on the request to amend the prescribed zoning regulations for the Hillside
Residential District to increase allowable site coverage from 15% to 20%. Upon
consideration of the request, the Commission approved a motion recommending
approval of the text amendment to the Vail Town Council by a vote of 5-1-1 (Cleveland
opposed, Gunion recused). Campbell assured Council that building envelopes would not
increase. Community Development Director George Ruther clarified, "We are only
talking about changing the method in the way Gross Residential Floor Area (GRFA) is
calculated." Moffet moved to table the item to August 21 with Newbury seconding. The
motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The applicant was directed to explore options for
adhering to the town's recently adopted inclusionary zoning requirements into their
proposal.
The sixth item on the agenda was the first reading of Ordinance No. 21, Series of 2007, an
ordinance repealing and re-enacting Ordinance No. 5, Series of 2006, establishing Special
Development District (SDD) No. 39, Crossroads.
Warren Campbell reported that on June 25, 2007, the PEC held a public hearing on a
request for a major amendment to SDD No. 39, Crossroads. The purpose of the major
amendment is to increase the maximum allowable number of dwelling units from 75 to 77
dwelling units and to address several other minor changes, located at 141 and 143 Meadow
Drive. Upon review of the request, the PEC voted 5-1-0 (Cleveland opposed) to forward a
recommendation of approval of the request to amend SDD No. 39, Crossroads, to Council.
Moffet moved to approve the ordinance with Hitt seconding. It was clarified that no new
space/GRFA was being created. Three surplus parking spaces will be lost however. The
motion passed 6-1, with Foley opposed.
The seventh item on the agenda was the second Reading of Ordinance No. 19. An
Ordinance for the Vacation and Termination of Certain Existing Public Utility Easements
within Lot 2, West Day Subdivision.
As part of the approved project on Lot 2, West Day Subdivision, certain platted utility
easements and utilities lying within Lot 2, are being replaced and/or reconfigured at
other locations in connection with the West Day Development, and new easements have
been granted or are in the process of being granted. Moffet moved to adopt with
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Newbury seconding. The motion passed unanimously, 7-0. Representing Vail Resorts
lilliiw Development Company, Jay Peterson clarified where the easements were to be located.
The motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
The eighth item on the agenda was Adjournment.
Moffet moved to adjourn with Foley seconding at approximately 8:15 p.m. The motion
passed unanimously, 7-0.
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ATTEST:
Lorelei onaldson, Town Clerk
Minutes provided by Corey Swisher.
J
Rodney E. Slifer, Mayor
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