HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-02-03 Town Council MinutesVail Town Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
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 Dick Cleveland.
Members present: Dick Cleveland, Mayor
Mark Gordon
Farrow Hitt
Kevin Foley
Margaret Rogers
Andy Daly
Not present: Kim Newbury
Staff Members: Stan Zemler, Town Manager
Matt Mire, Town Attorney
Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant Town Manager
The first item on the agenda was Citizen Input.
Jonathan Levine expressed concern about limited access to the Vail Village
transportation center and skier drop-off locations for transportation companies. Council
asked staff to make a written summary of what the complaints are.
Michael Cacioppo expressed concern about recent actions of the Vail Police
Department.
President of the Arrabelle at Vail Square Homeowner's Association Don Zelkin explained
to Council the association had several concerns that were not being addressed by the
Vail Resorts Development Company (VRDC). Cleveland told Zelkin to share his
concerns with staff although the matters were more than likely only able to be resolved
by the association and VRDC.
Paul Rondeau questioned a possible increase in the town's mill levy. Cleveland clarified
the abatement levy varied from year to year.
Vail Homeowner's Association representative Jim Lamont provided an update on the
latest developments with the "greeter' program and Hanson Ranch Road/Gold Peak
traffic management issues. Zemler explained town employees had been assisting
guests in the LionsHead, Vail Village and Golden Peak areas on Fridays to enhance the
visitor experience. He said he believed it too late in the season to incorporate a paid,
professional greeter program. "The issue will be addressed in the 2010 budget." Daly
said he would support matching any funds Vail Resorts may contribute toward the issue.
Vail Resorts representative Kristen Williams said the company would be willing to put
$10,000 toward the program if there were other participants. She stressed that greeter
efforts should only take place in Vail's main pedestrian corridors. Zemler said he was
not willing to use greeters for traffic control.
Kaye Ferry expressed concern that Vail Village was losing first floor retail space due to
lack of zoning enforcement. Ruther said he would return with a comprehensive analysis
of the concerns.
The second item on the agenda was the Town Manager's Report.
• Timber Ridge Update.
Zemler said ten responses had been received for the Request for Proposals to
redevelop Timber Ridge. "A group has been formed to evaluate the proposals and we'll
be meeting very shortly." Daly asked if he would employ the use of an independent real
estate professional in the analysis of the RFP's. Zemler said many of the respondents
were professional groups who have done significant amounts of affordable housing.
Revenue Update.
Budget and Financial Reporting Manager Kathleen Halloran reported when all sales tax
returns are received for the month of December, collections for the month were expected
to be $2,654,679, down 5.92% from December, 2007. Year-to-date sales tax collections
of $19.6M are up 3.8% overall from 2007. Inflation as measured by the consumer price
index was up only .1 % for the month of December, and up 3.8% for all of 2008
compared to prior year. Use tax collections as of January 28, 2009 total $4,527. 2008
collections totaled $613,283 of revenue. 2008 construction permit revenue totals
$2.5M, down 14% from full year 2007. The decrease in activity from the prior year is
due to both major and non -major redevelopment projects. Major redevelopment projects
make up 79% of the total, and construction permit fee revenue from those projects is
down by 10% from prior year. Revenue from non -major projects is down 24% from
2007. January 2009 construction permit revenue totals $12,000, down 74% from
January, 2008. A significant portion of that variance is due to a major redevelopment
project in 2008. With the majority of 2008 transactions recorded, year-to-date Real
Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) collections through December 31, 2008, total $9.0 million
with over $1.5 million received in December. As of today, RETT collections for 2008 are
31 % higher than 2007. In addition, 2008 revenues have exceeded the annual budget by
$1.8 million, or 25%. Major redevelopment projects including Arrabelle, Chalets at the
Lodge at Vail, Forest Place, Manor Vail, One Willow Bridge, Vail Plaza and The Willows
contributed $6.3 million or 69% of the total in 2008, while only $2.0 million or 30% of the
total in 2007 consisted of major redevelopment projects. Meanwhile, RETT collections
from property transfers not related to major redevelopment projects dropped by 38% in
2008 compared with 2007. The overall real estate market in Eagle County is down 27%
in sales dollars and down 41 % in sales transactions as of November, 2008. January
2009 RETT collections total approximately $124,000, This is 53% less than collections
in January of 2008. The entire variance is due to major redevelopment project sales in
2008 that did not occur in 2009; collections not related to major projects in January are
12% higher than January 2008. Pass sales for the full year 2008 currently total
$793,592, a 13% decrease from full year 2007, and a 25% decrease (or $257,000) from
the 2008 budget. Parking pass sales for November/December total $746,607, down
14.8% (volume of pass sales down 43%) compared to November/December 2007.
January, 2009 pass sales total $20,765, down 14% from January 2008. Daily sales (from
parking structures) for the full year 2008 total $3.9 million, up 7.6% from full year 2007,
and 1.1 % down from 2008 annual budget. Daily sales for November/December total
approximately $1 million, up 26% compared to November/December 2007. Of note, the
town had 5 fewer days of paid parking in November, 2008. As of January 27, 2009, daily
sales total approximately $819,593, up 2.5% from January, 2008. Zemler said he would
return to Council on February 17, with an update on the town's financial outlook.
• Parking Task Force Update.
Public Works Director Greg Hall reported the most recent parking modifications
(locations/price) had led to diminished parking structure demand. "This was the original
intent of the Parking Task Force... We are making the Village more accessible to
people... We are trying to change the travel patterns of the locals... Bus usage is up
(9%)... Added bus service has been added to West Vail as well as increased Frontage
Road service." Hall then explained 3,000 more tickets (3,000 more vehicles were able to
be parked) were taken in January in the Vail Village Structure as compared to 2008.
"LionsHead is down a small bit in January probably due to snow volume as it was very
high in January of 2008." Over the holidays more than 30 van pools were regularly
counted at the structures. Outside of the structures more than one hundred free spaces
had been added compared to 2007-08 ski season. Another goal of the task force was to
create readily available shopper parking. "A lot of the goals of the Parking Task Force
have gone very well." Gordon clarified who the Parking Task Force was comprised of.
"So it's a pretty broad based group." Hitt commented, "It's a matter of supply and
demand and we are victims of our own success... It's been a very difficult thing to deal
with, but we have made an impact and reached some of the results we were looking
for ... This parking problem isn't going away anytime real fast, but we are chipping away
at it." Rogers spoke in support of providing parking vouchers to those who shopped and
dined in the Villages. Daly asked Council to revisit summer parking in the very near
future (six weeks). "We've had two blow outs the last two summers." He then spoke in
support of pursuing a parking validation system. Hall said in February and March
intercept surveys would be undertaken in the parking structures. During a pause for
public input Paul Rondeau said he recently had a very good parking experience in
Arapahoe Basin. "There have to be better ways to communicate with first time Vail
skiers (in regard to parking)."
The third item on the agenda was the Consent Agenda.
• Approval of 01.06.09 and 01.20.09 Town Council Minutes.
Rogers moved to approve the minutes adding a minor amendment with Foley
seconding. The motion passed unanimously, 6-0.
The fourth item on the agenda was the Town of Vail Evacuation Plan update.
Police Chief Dwight Henninger reported when an emergency threatens life and property,
the Town of Vail will activate its evacuation response. Residents will be notified to
evacuate via text message, phone, by a knock on the door or via loudspeakers from a
passing fire truck. The evacuation plan is available at www.vailgov.com/evac and
includes information on household preparedness and other important tips. Henninger
also encouraged citizens to subscribe to www.ecalert.org which allows pubic safety
personnel to send important messages via text message and/or email. Henninger
explained the town hosts quarterly emergency preparedness table -top exercises. When
discussing local infrastructure and its capacity to facilitate an evacuation Henninger
noted, "Each on ramp can handle around 1800 cars per hour... There is a high comfort
level on my part we have the ability to get the people out of here if a situation takes
place where we need to do so ... We should be able to effectively move all the cars out of
the community in a few hours." When discussing the potential use of recreation paths to
facilitate an evacuation he said, "Bike paths probably do not gain us any capacity."
Henninger stated his next goal was to work with local hotels lodges in order to educate
them on how to evacuate their guests in an effective manner.
The fifth item on the agenda was the First reading of Ordinance No. 4, Series of 2009,
an ordinance amending Chapter 5-1, Public Nuisances, to minimize the potential
negative effects of construction work lighting.
On October 21, 2008, the Town Council, reviewed Ordinance No. 21, Series of 2008, an
ordinance amending the Town's outdoor lighting regulations
Chief of Planning Warren Campbell explained during the public comment portion of the
Council's hearing, concerns were raised about the impacts of construction lighting. In
part, the ordinance addressed construction site lighting for access, egress, etc.;
however, neither the town's previous lighting regulations nor Ordinance No. 21, Series of
2008, specifically addressed lighting for construction work activities. The Council
therefore instructed staff to update their work plan to include proposing options for
addressing the potential negative effects of construction work lighting. Staff prepared
options for the Council to consider and on January 2, 2009, the Council directed staff to
draft amendments to the town's nuisance regulations to minimize the potential negative
effects of construction work lighting. The proposed amendments were drafted to meet
the goals of being understandable, enforceable, and to reduce the potential negative
effects of construction lighting on neighboring properties. However, the proposed
amendments are not intended to prohibit nighttime construction activities. Staff stated a
belief the proposed Ordinance No. 4, Series of 2009, accomplished these goals by
requiring construction work lighting to be directed away from neighboring properties and
to be turned off once the related work activities have ended. Foley moved to approve
the ordinance with Rogers seconding. The motion passed unanimously, 6-0.
The sixth item on the agenda was the Final review of Resolution No. 26, Series of 2008,
a resolution amending the LionsHead Redevelopment Master Plan (LHRMP) to
incorporate the property known as the Glen Lyon Office Building site into the LHRMP
Area and to adopt site specific recommendations for the future redevelopment of the
Glen Lyon Office Building site, located at 1000 South Frontage Road West/ Lot 54, Glen
Lyon Subdivision.
Planner Nicole Peterson explained that on December 8, 2008, the PEC voted 5-0-1
(Viele recused) to forward a recommendation of approval to Council for Resolution No.
26, Series of 2008. On January 6, 2009, Council discussed the proposed Resolution
No. 26, Series of 2008, at the afternoon work session. Staff incorporated the changes
and additions requested by the Council at the work session. When asked why a
development's maximum height would be set at 56 feet, applicant representative Jay
Peterson said it was derived through a comparison to the Tivoli Lodge. It was then
explained the applicant proposed to provide 100% of the required employee housing on
the site (the normal requirement would be 50% on -site). Approximately 4500 square feet
of employee housing would be required for the proposal. Peterson said his clients
thought this site could handle employee housing. "This is the direction we are willing to
go with it ... It is something we wanted to do and it could be a benefit to this site." Daly
clarified the height of the existing building was three stories tall on the creek side and the
two on the northern Frontage Road side of the parcel. Ruther clarified any development
could be no more than 56 feet high from the existing grade. Foley clarified the existing
building height maximum was determined by the Special Development District (SDD)
process. Jay Peterson said the existing building was around 40 feet tall. Hitt asked for
reassurance that the Gore Creek Recreation Path would not be eliminated. During a
pause for public comment, Kaye Ferry spoke against allowing office space on the first
floor as a use. Vail Homeowner's Association representative Jim Lamont said he was
ambivalent about potential commercial or retail uses without seeing a detailed
development plan. Daly said scale was very important on the site as it would be the
western entryway to the Ever Vail proposal. He also said the project would only
compound the need for an Interstate-70 underpass. Gordon moved to approve the
resolution with Daly seconding. Foley said he felt that a development plan was
necessary to approve the resolution. "I just think it's the wrong step to take at this time."
Cleveland said he was concerned about allowing office space on the first floor. Peterson
said he was comfortable removing any first floor office space language from the
proposal. He commented, "We have no guidance... Our only guidance is SDD No. 4
(Cascade Village)... It allows us to relate to that area." Mire clarified the resolution was
not an application for a development. Daly then withdrew his second. The motion failed
due to a lack of a second. Daly then moved to approve the resolution, striking the first
floor office space language, with Gordon seconding. Rogers then expressed concern
residential uses could take place on the first floor. Peterson said that residential uses on
the first floor are conditional in LionsHead Mixed Use zoning districts, unlike office, which
is prohibited on the first floor in the LionsHead Mixed Use zoning districts. The motion
passed 5-1, with Foley opposed.
The seventh item on the agenda was Adjournment.
Foley moved to adjourn with Hitt seconding. The motion passed unanimously, 6-0.
Dick Cleveland, Mayor
ATTEST:
AL
Lorelei Donaldson, Town Clerk