TC Minutes 04-27-2004MINUTES OF THE REGULAR- MEETING OF THE AVON TOWN COUNCIL
HELD APRIL 27, 2004
A regular meeting of the Town of Avon, Colorado was held at 400 Benchmark Road, Avon,
Colorado in the Council Chambers.
Mayor Buz Reynolds called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM. A roll call was taken with
Councilors Michael Brown, Debbie Buckley, Peter Buckley, Brian Sipes, Ron Wolfe and Mayor
Pro Tern Mac McDevitt present. Also present were Town Manager Larry Brooks, Town Attorney
John Dunn, Assistant Town Manager Jacquie Halburnt, Town Clerk Patty McKenny, Town
Engineer Norm Wood, Finance Director Scott Wright, Commungy Development Director Ruth
Borne, Police Chief Jeff Layman, Public Works / Transit Director Bob Reed, Recreation Director
Meryl Jacobs as well as members of the press and public.
Citizen Input
Carolyn Bradford, Eagle River Watershed Council, addressed the Council regarding the
Community Pride Cleanup event to be held this coming weekend. She spent a few minutes
describing the event & locations of the cleanup. She requested financial support from the Town
of Avon to assist in covering the hard costs of the event. Councilor Wolfe moved to fund the
event $750; Councilor D. Buckley seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. It was
noted that the funding be taken from the Town Manager's contingency funds.
Ordinances
Finance Director Scott Wright presented Ordinance No. 04-06, Series of 2004, An Ordinance of
the Town of Avon, Eagle County, Colorado, Granting by Franchise to Public Service Company
of Colorado, its affiliates, successors and assigns, the right to use the Streets within the Town to
furnish, sell, transport and distribute gas to the Town and to all Residents of the town, granting
the right to acquire, construct, install, located, maintain, operate and extend into, within and
through the Town all facilities reasonably necessary to furnish, sell, transport, and distribute gas
within and through the Town; and fixing the Terms and conditions thereof. He noted that this
was the ordinance tabled at the last meeting. He explained that this ordinance would adopt a
franchise agreement with Public Service Company of Colorado ("PSCo°)and in summary it
conveys the right to PSCo to provide public utility service (in this case natural gas) within the
Town of Avon boundaries and allow the use of Town rights-of-way for the location of utility'
facilities and equipment, in exchange for the payment of a franchise fee. He explained that the
rights are non-exclusive and the Town reserves the right to make or grant a similar franchise to
any other company. The terms proposed is twenty years and the franchise fee proposed is
equal to three percent (3%) of revenues. Revenues generated by this fee in 2003 were
$47,404. It was thought that second reading of the Ordinance would occur at the meeting on
May 11th.
Councilor Wolfe moved to adopt Ordinance No. 04-06, Series of 2004, Granting by Franchise to
Public Service Company of Colorado, its affiliates, successors and assigns, the right to use the
Streets within the Town to furnish, sell, transport and distribute gas to the Town and to all
Residents of the town, granting the right to acquire, construct, install, located, maintain, operate
and extend into, within and through the Town all facilities reasonably necessary to furnish, sell,
transport, and distribute gas within and through the Town; and fixing the Terms and conditions
thereof. Mayor Pro Tern McDevitt seconded the motion and it passed with a unanimous roll call
vote.
Resolutions
Councilor P. Buckley indicated he would step down for the next two agenda items due to conflict
of interest related to pending litigation with Vail Resorts. To the citizens he also noted that he
attended an Avon Planning & Zoning Commission meeting last week and spoke as a citizen
only on this issue at hand. He noted that Councilor Wolfe was also at that meeting, but stepped
out of the room during his comments.
Community Development Director Ruth Borne began by thanking Council for their support
during the last five years she has worked for the Town. She has resigned effective the end of
April. She then presented Resolution No. 04-13, Series of 2004, Resolution Denying the
Rezoning from Open Space, Landscaping and Drainage (old) to Residential Medium Density
(RMD) for the 40 Acres Parcel known as West Avon, Forest Service Annexation - Parcel B,
Town of Avon, Eagle County, Colorado. She presented some historical information and a
summary of the proposal from the Vail Corporation to rezone a 40-acre parcel from "Open
Space, Landscaping and Drainage" (OLD) to "Residential Medium Density" (RMD) by the Vail
Corporation. The subject property is located directly west of the end of Nottingham Road, and
the rezoning application is•part of the Vassar Meadows Land Exchange. The area sought to be
re-zoned actually consists of 22 acres of developable area for RMD, multi-family dwellings at a
density not to exceed fifteen dwelling units per acre. Accompanying the rezoning application is
a sketch plan subdivision application with the proposed Resolution No. 04-14, Series of 2004.
She noted that the Planning & Zoning Commission unanimously recommended denial of the
proposal and she then identified the numerous concerns the town has expressed throughout the
last year regarding # of units, traffic, transit, water, potential revenues generated, etc. Details of
the application are written in the Planning & Zoning Commission staff report included in the
Council packet. It was noted by Town Attorney John Dunn that Councilors are to leave the
room when stepping down due to conflict of interest, at which time Councilor P. Buckley left the
room.
Tom Braun, Braun & Associates representing the applicant, addressed the Council at this time
with some historical information, details about the land exchange application, difficulties the
project has presented, and a review of the criteria and Avon Master Plan requirements. There
were also comments on specifics of the project, i.e access, number and type of units and what
would happen if this project did not get approval for the zoning, specifically the question of will
Vail Resorts proceed with the land exchange if Avon denies the zoning? Jack Huhn, Vice
President Development, Vail Resorts, Inc., addressed the Council and noted that there needs to
be an economic end zone for this project and that the justification for VRI in buying Vassar
Meadows would be a property that could be developed so that VRI could recover most of the
investment in Vassar Meadows and without zoning, the exchange would make no sense for the
company. He noted that the exchange in Vail was separate to this exchange. Councilor Sipes
asked if VRI was locked into the number and type of units. Huhn noted that a reduction in
zoning and a change to "for sale" type units would be a major departure from what they need.
Not economically feasible for the project. Some discussion ensued about water rights and
about the process, as it would relate to new owners. Councilor Wolfe offered a suggestion of
buying out VRI on the parcel and proposed the creation of a conservation easement on the
property that would benefit adjacent communities. He proposed possibly tabling action on the
item, so that VRI might refine a buyout price, and Avon along with the Open Space Advisory
Committee might develop a deal to keep this parcel as open space. After some discussion,
Council did not want to table action on the current application. Huhn noted that Vail Resorts,
Inc. would prefer action on the item that evening for various reasons. Town Attorney John Dunn
advised Council review the zoning application only and not begin negotiations on related
matters.
Regular Council Meeting Page 2 of 7
April 27, 2004
Barry Sheakley, U.S. Forest Service, was asked to answer questions. He reminded everyone
that there are strict regulations the Forest Service must comply with in order to exchange land.
Mayor Reynolds opened the public hearing. Barry Sheakley at this time presented clarifications
to the land exchange agreement noting that zoning was not a requirement of the U.S. Forest
Service for the land exchange agreement to move forward and that the clause could be
removed if agreed to by the parties. Mayor Reynolds asked that if the land exchange were not
successful, would the U.S. Forest Service sell the land to someone else? Sheakley answered
that the land would likely be included in another land exchange, the Forest Service is not able to
directly sell the parcel to another developer. No other comments were made and the hearing
was closed. After some further comments were made by Council, consensus was that this
application was not what they agreed to last summer, especially related to number & type of
units, access, etc. Mayor Pro Tern McDevitt moved to approve Resolution No. 04-13, Series of
2004, Resolution Denying the Rezoning from Open Space, Landscaping and Drainage (old) to
Residential Medium Density (RMD) for the 40 Acres Parcel known as West Avon, Forest
Service Annexation - Parcel B, Town of Avon, Eagle County, Colorado. Councilor Brown
seconded the motion and it passed unanimously by a roll call vote excluding Councilor P.
Buckley who stepped down earlier.
Town Engineer Norm Wood presented Resolution No. 04-14, Series of 2004, A Resolution
Denying Subdivision Sketch Plan approval for the Subdivision of a Parcel of Land Located in the
Southwest % of Section 2, Township 5 South, Range 82 West of the 6t" Principal Meridian
(Forest Service Annexation - Parcel B), Town of Avon, Eagle County, Colorado. Note for the
record Councilor P. Buckley was still absent from the Council Chambers. He noted that this
was a subdivision sketch plan application to verify suitability of the land for subdivision in
conjunction with the proposed zoning application. The subject property is located directly west
of the end of Nottingham Road, and the rezoning application is part of the Vassar Meadows
Land Exchange. It was noted that a public hearing was not required for sketch plan. Mayor Pro
Tern McDevitt moved to adopt Resolution No. 04-14, Series of 2004, A Resolution Denying
Subdivision Sketch Plan approval for the Subdivision of a Parcel of Land Located in the
Southwest % of Section 2, Township 5 South, Range 82 West of the 6`h Principal Meridian
(Forest Service Annexation - Parcel B), Town of Avon, Eagle County, Colorado. Councilor
Sipes seconded the motion and it passed unanimously with a roll call vote excluding Councilor
P. Buckley who stepped down earlier.
Town Engineer Norm Wood presented Resolution No. 04-15, Series of 2004, A Resolution, to
approve the Village at Avon, Filing 3, Preliminary Subdivision Application. He noted that the
Village (at Avon) Filing 3 Subdivision is for the purpose of creating road rights-of-way for the
extension of Swift Gulch Road from Buffalo Ridge Apartments to its intersection with Post
Boulevard and for Post Boulevard to the existing right-of-way at the 1-70 Interchange. The
proposed public improvements include construction of roadways and utilities in the proposed
rights-of-way as well as the corresponding bike path from Buffalo Ridge to Post Blvd. north of
the new 1-70 Interchange. Town Engineer Wood noted that this Preliminary Subdivision
application requires a public hearing. He also noted that a number of conditions were outlined
in the resolution as well. Construction is proposed to begin in June. Some questions were
asked by Council, one related to the need for zoning designations before the subdividing of the
property. Dave Kautz, Traer Creek LLC, responded to the zoning question noting that the tract
would be dedicated to both the fire and ambulance districts.
Kent Kreihn and Mike Sliper, both with Alpine Engineering and representing the applicant Traer
Creek LLC, presented the project in detail as well. Topics of discussion included some of the
following topics: the location of the bike path / trail, the need to have the road dissect the park,
the responses from both the fire & ambulance districts regarding their assigned parcels. Mayor
Regular Council Meeting Page 3 of 7
April 27, 2004
parked per the Town Code standards. He noted that T.J. Conners, a noticed property owner
and operator of the AAA mini storage and warehouse facility on Metcalf Road, appealed the
Commissions' decision to the Town Council. He then reviewed the findings and staff report for
the P&Z Commission and other materials included in the council packet. He noted that the
Resolution approved by P&Z included several conditions as well. In researching a standard for
number of parking spaces for storage complexes, there was nothing provided from numerous
sources that "standards" exists. Town Attorney John Dunn reviewed the procedure for the
appeal of variances per the Town Code (Title 17) outlining the three types of motions that might
occur with this review, i.e. confirm P&Z decision based on the findings, reverse P&Z decision
and deny variance and specifically outline reasons for disapproval, or modify P&Z decision. The
Council was directed to consider the decision made by P&Z based on the criteria presented and
then submit their own decision about the application. He again noted that this was a public
hearing, and that the appellate will address the council first followed by the applicant.
Neil Movitz, the attorney representing the Vail/Avon Commercial Park Condominium Association
including TJ Connors and owner of one of the businesses within this commercial park,
presented an appeal to the decision primarily due to the public safety issues this project would
create on Metcalf Road, in essence increasing more traffic issues. He spent some time
addressing the case studies presented in the application, access to the project, and the criteria
used to assess the variance. Paul Benicoff, also a business owner in the commercial park,
spoke about his concerns with the project, primarily safety as related to traffic.
Mark Donaldson, Victor Mark Donaldson Architects, addressed the Council at this time,
presenting the application and making some clarifications with regard to the type user of this
particular type of "self-storage" project. He noted that access to the units is via an elevator. He
noted that his client Chad Lund, with Lund Capital Group was present as well. He spent some
time addressing the criteria used in the application review, including a detailed review of the
case studies presented. Council reviewed the plans with regard to the deceleration lane & the
parking lot configuration. Donaldson explained the case study review and how the analysis was
made. Chris Juergens, with VMDA, also presented details on the statistics. An estimate was
made on the area required for parking if the variance were not granted. Donaldson outlined the
number of months & public process that this project has seen, and commented on the
"Findings" made with regard to the project. Some discussion ensued about the number of
parking spaces required for the entire site and the number or parking as related to the self-
storage vs. the industrial-commercial use on the site. It was also confirmed that retail was not
allowable in this location.
TJ Connors, owner of AAA Mini-Storage, addressed the Council with comments regarding the
history and facts of his project, statistics related to storage units, concerns with grading of the
driveways, traffic impacts from the project, and proposed standards presented regarding
parking. Chad Lund, with Lund Capital Group, made some comments about his company and
his experience with these types of storage unit projects.
Mayor Reynolds opened the public hearing, comments were made from one Wildridge resident
(unable to hear name) who expressed concern with traffic on Wildridge / Metcalf Road. The
public hearing was closed. Some of Council's comments are as follows:
■ Not supportive of project due to traffic impacts
■ Not supportive of the reasons described with the criteria
Concerned with traffic impacts but not the parking variance
■ Appreciated that application included deceleration & turnaround lanes
■ Not supportive of the variance because it really allows for more parking on the site
Metcalf Road needs attention
Regular Council Meeting Page 5 of 7
April 27, 2004
Councilor Wolfe moved to uphold the appeal that was made after significant deliberation based
on the documentation provided by staff, the applicant, public comment and the review of the
requirements of Section 17.36.050, and that we overturn the Planning & Zoning
recommendation that was adopted in Resolution No. 0410 and on the speck basis of the
following:
a. that the granting of the variance will constitute a grant of special privilege inconsistent
with the limitations on other properties classified in the same district;
b. and that the granting of the variance will be detrimental to the public health, safety or
welfare or materially injurious to properties of improvements in the vicinity
c. and that the variance is not warranted on the basis of any of the three reasons as
follows:
1. the strict, literal interpretation and enforcement of the specified regulation would
result in practical difficulty or unnecessary physical hardship inconsistent with the
objectives of this title'
2. there is no exceptional or extraordinary circumstances or conditions applicable to
the site of the variance that do not apply generally to other properties in the
same zone;
3. the strict or literal interpretation and-enforcement of the specified regulation does
not deprive the applicant of privileges enjoyed by the owners of other properties
in the same district.
Further discussion ensued about other variances that have been. granted to storage facilities.
Councilor P. Buckley seconded the motion and it passed with a four to three vote (P. Buckley,
Wolfe, Reynolds, Sipes - yea; Brown, D. Buckley, McDevitt - nay).
Consent Agenda
Mayor Reynolds asked for a motion on the Consent Agenda. Councilor D. Buckley moved to
adopt the consent agenda. Councilor Brown seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
a.- Approval of the April 13, 2004 Regular Council Meeting Minutes
b. Western Enterprise, Inc. Contract
c. CJ Chenier Band Contract
d. Resolution No. 04-12, A Resolution approving the Final Plat, A Resubdivision of Lot 11, Block 1
Eaglebend Subdivision, Filing 1, Town of Avon, Eagle County, Colorado (4500 W & 4500 E
Eaglebend Drive)
Regular Council Meeting Page 6 of 7
April 27,2004
There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 9:35 PM.
APPROVED:
Michael Brown
Debbie Buckley
Peter Buckley
Mac McDevitt
Buz Reynolds
Brian Sipes
Ron Wolfe
Regular Council Meeting Page 7 of 7
April 27, 2004