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HomeMy WebLinkAboutbocc.res.061.1974BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PITKIN COUNTY RESOLUTION NO. 74-61 July 15, 1974 WHEREAS, James Hopkins Smith has filed application to rezone approximately 253 acres from AF-1, agriculture/forestry district, to AR-2,accommodations/recreation district, and WHEREAS, the Planning and Zoning Cormnission held a public hearing to consider the above application on October 17, 1973 and by resolution of February 6, 1974 recommended a conditional approval of the proposed rezoning request subject to certain conditions therein set forth, and WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Pitkin County held a public hearing to consider the proposed rezoning request on April 29, 1974 at which time the applicant, through his agent the Moana Development Corporation, requested that the matter be tabled until the applicant could submit a proposed subdivision agreement and made various responses to the con- ditions included in the Planning and Zoning Commission's con- ditional approval of the clustering "concept" proposed, and WHEREAS, at the subsequent request of the applicant and certain commissioners a further public hearing was held before the Board of County Commissioners on July 15, 1974, and WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners has examined the information provided by the applicant, the Planning and Zoning Commission's resolution, and all testimony, letters and exhibits submitted by the applicant or members of the public at such public hearings in connection with such application. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of County Commissioners of Pitkin County hereby denies such request for zoning change, such denial being based upon the following findings and conclusions: 1. That the proposed rezoning does not conform to the recommendations of the adopted Master Plan (Aspen Area General Plan 1966, as amended), as is re- James Ho~s S~h Rezoning Page Two~ o quired by 12.06.01 of the Pitkin County Zoning Resolution, as amended. That the presently existing zoning does conform more closely to such recommendations; That the proposed rezoning and the attendant proposed development do not constitute a logical and contiguous extension of development within the county but in fact constitutes "leap frog" developed portions of the county; That the proposed rezoning and the proposed land use will unduly impede and interfere with existing agricultural uses and operations in the area; That the present rezoning application seeks to rezone only a portion of applicant's land and to reserve the remainder for future development. That the entire ownership and all proposed develop- ment thereon should be disclosed in one application so that ultimate impacts of the entire proposed ultimate development can be identified; That the existing access roads are inadequate to handle the additional traffic loads which would be generated by the proposed development and would cause unde and substantial congestion and burdens upon Highway 82 and the various connecting commuter roads in the area as was indicated by the report on traffic volumes on Highway 82 to the east of Aspen dated July 5, 1974 by Briscoe - Maphis, Inc., management consultants, and other information. That these undue additional unplanned burdens on the existing road system would create additional hazards to the public and financial and management hardships for the County and for the State in providing and maintaining roads in the area. That there are no immediate plans for the expansion of the road and access system in the area of the proposed rezoning~ James Ho~ Rezoning Page Three 6. That the proposed rezoning is not in close proximity to any of the existing schools, and that additional bus routes or other transporta- tion means would be necessary to move children residing in the proposed development area to the Aspen area school systems, which would cause a financial and management hardship to the Aspen School District; 7. That the population of Pitkin County has increased during the last five years at an estimated rate of 15% to 20% per year, which growth rate has created a serious lag in the ability of the governmental bodies to provide the necessary services and facilities to meet the community needs, and that the communtiy has reached a critical size such that if such high growth rates continue because of departures from approved master plans the viability of local government to meet these needs will be seriously threatened. That such growth rates have caused a substantial impact by rapidly increasing the numbers of people who require public services such as roads and main- tenance, water and sewage treatment, police and fire protection, airport, hospital, sanitary landfill, parks, and public transportation. That certain serious deficiencies exist in these services and facilities at the present time which deficiences were addressed by the present Master Plan and that the proposed rezoning and departure from the Master Plan could significantly aggravate these deficiencies and place additional and untimely and unplanned for burdens upon the governmental bodies; 8. That fire protection is not adequately assured for the proposed urban type development because of James ~s Rezoning Page Four questionable ability of the present facilities and manpower to meet adequate response time to the area, uncertainty of water supply and the possible adverse burdens on the local fire de- partment; 9. That the proposed rezoning is in an area out- side of the municipal police service area and would require police service and protection by the Pitkin County Sheriffs office which is not planned to be staffed or housed so as to be able to pro- vide such service for the intensity of development contemplatedl 10. That the area proposed for rezoning is located outside of the present municipal water service district of the City of Aspen and therefore municipal water services would not be available to the property and no showing has been made to indicate water would be available to the proposed development, which was a failure to comply with the third condition of the Planning and Zoning Commission's conditional approval; 11. That the greater portion of the area proposed for rezoning is not located in the municipal or any special district providing for municipal treat- ment of sewage and no adequate plan or provision has been shown to indicate that sewage from the proposed development could be adequately handled. That this failure of showing is also a violation of the third condition of the conditional approval of such project by the Planning and Zoning Com- mission; 12. That the State of Colorado, Division of Wildlife (formally titledl Department of Game, Fish and Parks) has indicated that the proposed development would have an adverse impact on the existing wildlife in the area and specifically upon the winter range of the large elk herd that frequents the James Page Five Sm~Rezoning area and that no adequate provision for the mitigation of such impacts have been shown which is a violation of the fourth condition of the Planning and Zoning Commission's conditional approval; 13. That the proposed rezoning and the attendant development and the proposed land use could generate air pollution in violation of the applic- able laws, regulations and standards of the County of Pitkin and the State of Colorado as reflected in part by the letter of June 25, 1974 from the Colorado Department of Health, Mr. Robert D. Siek, acting Director of Environmental Affairs and the Pitkin County Air Quality Impact Report published August, 1973; 14. That the Colorado Geological Survey has expressed concern regarding stability of the alluvial fans planned for development and has recommended Engineering Geology and Hydrologic investigations of the site to determine suitability for develop- ment and such determination has not been made; 15. That the certain areas of the proposed rezoning and proposed development appear to be located within snow and land avalanche areas or potential avalanche areas as depicted on Map No. 1-785-G of the Aspen Quadrangle published in 1972 by the U.S. Geological Survey entitled "Map Showing Avalanche Areas in the Aspen Quadrangle, Pitkin County, Colorado"; That the occurrance of actual dangerous snow avalanches in the recent past was testified by various local residents; 16. That the proposed rezoning and land use will not contribute or add to the availability of housing of the type and price which appears appropriate to the county's current needs and may be exclusionary of low and moderate income housing for residents; John Rezoning Page Six 17. That there is no specific provision or commitment to maintain the housing for permanent residents, and if a development of the size proposed becomes a tourist use, it will generate an additional permanent service population roughly equal to the new tourist population and residents will require housing of a type for which there is currently a serious existing deficiency in the community; 18. That the proposed rezoning and the attendant proposed development contemplates cott~ercial operations in violation of the condition number six of the Planning and Zoning Commission's conditional approval of such rezoning; 19. That the currently adopted Zoning and Master Plan constitutes and reflects the results of a year long study to balance and accommodate all of the negative and positive considerations referred to above and on a area wide basis is the best judge- ment of responsible local officials in such respects; which zoning and master plan should be applied to the area in question, as further refined and amended in actual application. Dated this %,~ day of ~ 1974. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a public hearing will be held before the Board of County Commissioners of Pitkin County, Colorado, in the Commissioner's Room at the Pitkin County Courthouse, 506 East Main Street, Aspen, Colorado, at 2:00 p.m., on July 15, 1974, to consider the request of James Hopkins Smith to rezone approximately two hundred fifty- three (253) acres, known as the North Star Ranch, east of Aspen, Colorado, from AF-1 and AF-2 (PUD) to AR-2 Accommodations- Recreation District. More specifically, said property is situate in Section 17, Township 10 South, Range 84 West of the 6th Principal Meridian. All interested persons are invited to attend and an opportunity will be given to all persons in attendance to comment on the proposed rezoning. DATED: , 1974. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO By Joseph E. Edwards, Jr. Chairman To be published once in the Aspen Times on June 6, 1974