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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20071128powderpandaMEMORANDUM TO: Board of County Commissioners Regular Meeting -November 14, 2007 THRU: Cindy Hoube~n`,~ommunity Development Director FROM: Suzanne Wolff, Senior Planner* RE: Powder Pandas Temporary Use Permit Extension SUMMARY: The Applicant is requesting a three year extension of the temporary use permit to continue to utilize the temporary Powder Pandas facility at the base of Buttermilk. APPLICANT: Aspen Skiing Company REPRESENTATIVE: Dave Bellack LOCATION: Buttermilk Base Area, adjacent to the administrative building BACKGROUND: The BOCC required relocation of the Powder Pandas children's center from the Crown property as a condition of Resolution No. 97-187. The Applicant obtained growth management allotments in the 2000 commercial GMQS competition to construct a mixed use facility at the Buttermilk base area, which would include a new children's center. The BOCC approved a temporary use permit for a 2,880 square foot temporary, modular children's center, pursuant to Resolution No. 172-2001 (attached), to accommodate relocation of the children's center prior to construction of the permanent facility. The approval required removal of the temporary children's center by September 26, 2006. Aspen Skiing Company representatives Phillip Ring and David Corbin came to a BOCC meeting on September 27, 2006 at public comment and raised the issue of the expiration of the temporary use permit. At that time the BOCC directed staff to bring back a resolution for an extension on a separate agenda. Staff was preparing that item for the October 11, 2006 meeting, when we realized that ASC needed to address the employee generation issues from the 2001 approval before the BOCC could grant an extension. The approval required mitigation for additional employees generated after the 2001-2002 ski season. This information was not provided until this fall, so the item never went back before the BOCC for disposition last year, and the Applicant has been operating the facility without a permit. ISSUES: Employee Generation: The Applicant has submitted documentation showing an increase in employees since the 2000-2001 baseline of 8.84 employees (see attached letter from Dave Bellack). Based on this increase, the Applicant proposes to pay an employee housing impact fee of $75,520.12 based on the current formula in the Code (copy of check attached). Payment of the fee will bring the Applicant into compliance with the conditions of Resolution No. 172-2001. Permit Extension: The Applicant is working on a master plan for the Buttermilk ski area and base area. Construction of a permanent children's facility will be included in the master plan. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the BOCC accept the employee housing mitigation and approve a three year extension, subject to the attached Resolution. Attachments A. Letter dated October 12, 2007 B. Resolution No. 172-2001 • Ms. Wolff is a professional planner with a Bachelor's degree in Urban Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. Ms. Wolff has worked for the Aspen/Pitkin County Community Development Department for I S years, and as a Planner/Senior Planner within that department for 1 I Y years. In her planning position, Ms. Wolff has reviewed numerous land use applications pursuant to the Pitkin County Land Use Code. RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO, APROVING AN EXTENSION OF A TEMPORARY USE PERMIT TO THE ASPEN SKIING COMPANY TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE A TEMPORARY CHILDREN'S CENTER (POWDER PANDAS) AT THE BASE OF BUTTERMILK Resolution No. - 2007 RECITALS 1. Aspen Skiing Company Applicant has applied to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) for a three year extension of the temporary use permit for the temporary modular children's center (Powder Pandas) facility at the base of Buttermilk. The Applicant is working on a new master plan for the Buttermilk ski area and base area, which will include a permanent children's facility. 2. The BOCC approved a five year temporary use permit for the Powder Pandas facility, pursuant to Resolution No. 172-2001. This resolution required removal of the temporary facility by September 26, 2006. 3. The BOCC considered the request at a regular meeting on November 14, 2007. 4. The BOCC finds the proposed temporary structure complies with the standards for issuance of a temporary use permit. The BOCC further finds that payment of an employee housing impact fee of $75,520.12 will mitigate for the 8.84 FTEs generated by Powder Pandas since the 2000-2001 baseline, and that payment of the fee will bring the Applicant into compliance with the conditions of Resolution No. 172-2001. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the BOCC that it does hereby approve an extension of the Temporary Use Permit for a temporary children's center at Buttermilk, subject to the following conditions: 1. The temporary children's center shall be operated for no longer than 3 additional years, and shall be removed from the property by November 14, 2010 at the latest. 2. The Applicant shall provide documentation annually to the Community Development Department for the next three years regarding employee generation (by September 30, 2008- 10). If Powder Pandas has more than 17.77 full time equivalent employees (FTEs), then the Applicant shall mitigate for those FTEs at that time, based on the employee housing impact fee in effect at the time of payment. APPROVED AND ADOPTED on the 14~' day of November, 2007. ATTEST: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO Jeanette Jones, Deputy Clerk and Recorder APPROVED AS TO FORM: John Ely, County Attorney Michael Owsley, Chair Date: APPROVED AS TO CONTENT: ~t~ Cindy Houben, Community Development Director 273503400007 51~OVVNlASS AS~'EN ~JIUtJNTAQN ASPEPJ €f6~HLAN©s BL'TTERI~fiIK A S P E N C S N O V~ M A S SN 0.SPEN SKIINI; f:fDMPltNY October 12, 2007 Ms. Cindy Houben Community Development Director Pitkin County 530 E. Main St. Aspen, CO 81611 Re: Buttermilk -Power Pandas FTE generation Dear Cindy: In 2001 Aspen Skiing Company applied to the Board of County Commissioners for approval of a temporary use permit for the relocation and construction of the Powder Pandas Children's Ski School program and building. The Board approved the request for a Temporary Use Permit in Resolution No. 172-2001. Among the conditions of approval, the following requirements were included: "1. The temporary children's center shall be operated for no longer than 5 years from the date of this approval, and shall be removed from the property by September 26, 2006 at the latest." This condition was accepted at the time of approval because the Applicant and the County each presumed and believed that the temporary facility would not be in service longer than five years. Approval of a revised master plan and redevelopment of the Buttermilk base area was contemplated within that time frame. Last fall Phillip Ring and David Corbin of ASC appeared before the BOCC and acknowledged that we were not yet ready to submit an application to redevelop the Buttermilk base area, that the present facilities were still necessary for ski area operation, and that these facilities were still in place. ASC asked the Corrunissioners for approval to extend the temporary use permit. The matter was referred back to staff for review. Community Development staff subsequently noted that other conditions of the approval relating to employee housing impacts, including documentation of the number of employees generated by the use of the temporary facility and mitigation for this generation, which should have been performed prior to November 5, 2002, had not been completed. These conditions, numbers 2 through 4, require that the "Applicant...provide documentation of the [then] current number of employees associated with the...center." Further, the "Applicant shall complete an audit of employees...within one year...or after one complete ski season...whichever is greater" and "[i]f the audit shows that additional P.0. Box 1248 Aspen, CO 81612.1248 970-925-1220 www.aspensnowmass.com ® Printetl on Re~ycletl Paper. N®lM1!!~fASS ASPEN f~dUtdTAt6V ASPEN HgGNLANE~s BUtTERiI~lLK ASPEN S N O W M A S STM ASPEN SKIING CONTPAN~' employees have been generated by use of the new facility, the Applicants all mitigate for those employees by providing unit(s)...or by making a payment in lieu..." We presume that the County's expectation is that the employee generation and impacts of the facilities use be documented and mitigated in accord with the underlying rationale of the conditions. Given ASC's continued desire and need to utilize the temporary facility, we have assumed the mitigation sought by the County would not be for merely one year of growth as originally prescribed by the Resolution, but mitigation calculated to address the actual growth through this past ski season. The employee hours incurred for the Powder Pandas Children's Ski School in ski season 2000 - 2001 were 18,574.53 and rose somewhat continuously to 36,966.43 in ski season 2006 - 2007 (see year by year summaries attached). Using the full time equivalent calculation formula typically applied by the County in the past to "unclassified development" [as described in current code section 8-30-60] such as ski services facilities, i.e. a 40 hour work week multiplied by 52 weeks equaling 2,080 hrs/yr per FTE, the full time equivalent employee count for the Powder Panda Ski School in ski season 2000 - 2001 was 8.93 employees. The full time employee equivalent count for ski season 2006 - 2007 was 17.77 employees, yielding a growth in the number FTE's of 8.84. Code Section 8-30-60 provides that for "unclassified development" employee housing mitigation fees shall be calculated based upon the most comparable type of property. We therefore assume the County intends to apply current code commercial development valuation standards to the required mitigation as the most analogous standard. Section 8- 30-40 (b) of the Pitkin County Code defines the impact fee for commercial development to be the "Number of Employees x $8,543." Therefore we calculate the current FTE generation mitigation requirement to be 8.84 FTE's x $8,543, or $75,520.12. A check for that amount is enclosed. We have recently opened discussions about planning and development issues arising at Buttermilk, including the scheduling of a meeting to begin a dialogue about public and private goals for the Buttermilk area generally. Issues concerning the Powder Pandas Children's Ski School program should be included on the agenda for these meetings between the Aspen Skiing Company and Pitkin County Community Development department. We look forward to a wide ranging and creative dialogue with the County on these subjects. Please feel to call with any questions. My direct dial number is 300.7150 Very trul `ours, ,% -~ . Davi e ~'~-' Senior Vice President and General Counsel P.0. Box 1248 Aspen, CO 81612-1248 970.925-1220 www.aspensnowmass.com ® Printetl on Recycletl Paper. SN®VJNBASS ASPEN FVf0i1NTA1N ASPEN Ff6GF9LAN®S Bli~'rER'fV~~LK cc P.O. Box 1248 Aspen, CO 81612-1248 970-925-1220 www.aspensnowmass.com Mike Kaplan David Corbin ASPENC SN4WMASS,v as~Ero sKUru~ c~m~ar~v ® Printed on Recycletl Paper. ~~~~'~' ~~~-~ S ~,ti ~C Sum of Cd Hours ~ ~ -- - 728C - Rovrder Pandas SS N 20GG-2001 18,574.53 2001-2002 19,388.92 2002-2003 21.783.G4 2003-2004 23:836.19 2004-2005 27.504.06 2005-2006 33,423.97 Ue artrncnt 72$0 - Pr.,wder Pandas SS N Sum t~1~Cd Hours Year c~tal ~c)ti~-2o()3 ~) 7ts3.t}4 2003-2(>n4 238?,6.19 21 H)4-2t?OS 2 7'i{ i4.Ofi ~OOCi-2007 35yG(,.43 ,rand. Tota! 162)02.(1 ASPEN SN~~~lI~~ ;~~. E~ ~1_~r1~~ v~~..~~~ Direct inquiries to: ® ASPEN SKIING COMPANY /ACCTS PAYABLE DEPT SUppller ACCOUnY POST OFFICE BOX 1248 Check NUmber 00372362 ASPEN COLORADO USA 61612-1246 Check Date 10/15/07 ASC Supplier ID- 12422 a (970) 300.7166 voice (970)300.7178 fax Supplier Payment Detail Stub 1 of 1 Invoice/Reference Date Name/Remarks Amount Discount Net Amount OCTOBER 15, 2007 10115/07 Employee Housing Mitigation 75,520.12 75,520.12 ~`_~ _`~ TOTALS 75,520.12 75 520.12 PLEASE DETACH ATTACHED CHECK IS IN FULL ASCAPCK O1/ZD07 BEFORE DEPOSITING ~ PAYMENT OF ITEMS LISTED ABOVE RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO, APPROVING A TEMPORARY USE PERMIT TO THE ASPEN SKIING COMPANY TO ERECT A TEMPORARY CHII.DREN'S CENTER AT THE BASE OF BUTTERMILK Resolution No. `~-2001 RECITALS 1. Aspen Siding Company (Applicant) has applied to the Board of County Commissioners ("BOCC'~ ppr ~~mrypermi 'r sq m}~rary, modular children's center. fora oval of a use t to build a 2, ago uare foot to The building will replace the existing 1,500 square foot Powder Pandas facility and will be in place for 3-5 years. 2. Pursuant to Section 3-200-030 of the Pitkin County Land Use Code, the Community Development Director ("Director") may approve a temporary use permit for commercial activities or special events, if an applicant demonstrates that adequate provisions have been made for police supervision, public parking, insurance, site set-up, maintenance and clean-up, emergency services and safety of operations. 3. The BOCC required relocation of the Powder Pandas facility from the Crown property as a condition of Resolution No. 97-187. 4. The Applicant obtained growth management allotments in the 2000 commercial GMQS competition to construct a Waxed-use facility in this same location that would house the children's center in addition to rental and retail space, administration space and 7 affordable housing units. However, the Applicant is not yet prepared to construct the permanent facility. 5. The BOCC considered the request at a duly noticed public hearing on September 26, 2001. 6. The BOCC fmds the proposed temporary structure complies with the standards for issuance of a temporary commercial use permit. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the BOCC that it does hereby approve the Temporary Use Permit for a temporary children's center at Buttermilk, subject to the following conditions: 1. The temporary children's center shall be operated for no longer than 5 years from the date of this approval, and shall be removed from the property by September 26, 2006 at the latest. 2. Prior to issuance of a building permit for the temporary facility, the Applicant shall provide documentation to the Housing Office of the current number of employees associated with the Buttermilk children's center. 3. The Applicant shall complete an audit of employees of the children's center within one year after issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy for the structure or after one complete ski season, whichever is greater. The auditor shall be approved by the Housing Office and shall be paid for by the Applicant. Y@IMIIMIW911~IItlIiII~YIYI~MIe Ofi0669' n. Resolution No. f ~-2D01 Page 2 4. If the audit shows that additional employees have been generated by use of the new facility, the Applicant shall mitigate for those employees by providing unit(s) approved by the Housing Office or by making apayment-in-lieu calculated at the mid-point of Category 2 and 3 as stated in the Housing Guidelines in place at the time of the audit. APPROVED this 26'~ day of September, 2001. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO By (~~ ATTEST: Michael C. Ire and, Chair Date ~~-OS-OI e R. an Clerk o the BOCC APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED AS TO CONTENT: a ~. z~. o/ John Eiy, Cindy Houben, County Att y Community Development Director 273503400007 ~las~ol IlI~~IIWIII~II~II~~II~AIIA ¢fi0fi69~...