HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 02/02/2021 PUBLIC HEARING
February 2, 2021
Present: Kathy Chandler-Henry Chairman
Matt Scherr Commissioner
Jeanne McQueeney Commissioner
Jeff Shroll County Manager
Beth Oliver Deputy County Attorney
Regina O'Brien Clerk to the Board
Kathy Scriver Deputy Clerk to the Board
This being a scheduled Public Hearing,the following items were presented to the Board of County
Commissioners for their consideration:
Commissioner Updates
Chairman Scherr stated that there would be no commissioner updates today.
County Manager Updates
Jeff Shroll opened the meeting stating that Birch Barron was working with the Town of Eagle and others
while awaiting news regarding staff from the county who were missing in the San Juan Mountains. There wasn't a
lot of information at this time. Prayers were with the Town of Eagle as well as internal county staff. There was an
avalanche and everyone was waiting for search and rescue news. As far as COVID there was a downward trend in
cases. The"Five Star"program was moving forward. The governor moved teachers into the next phase of
vaccinations along with the 65 year old population. He hoped for better news coming our way.
Chairman Scherr stated on behalf of the board there were a couple of coworkers and another community
member who were missing after an avalanche. He expressed support for all friends and family,coworkers, and
community members. Their thoughts were with everyone.
Commissioner Chandler-Henry stated that people could search the Colorado Avalanche Information Center
for the avalanche report. The avalanche was in the San Juan area.
Commissioner McQueeney stated that this was the time for folks to reach out for help if they needed
assistance coping.
COVID-19 Update
There was no COVID-19 update.
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Consent Agenda
1. Second Amendment to Intergovernmental Agreement Between Eagle County and Town of Minturn for Law
Enforcement
Christina Hooper,Attorney's Office
2. Resolution 2021-009 Appointing the Local Licensing Administrator for Administration and Enforcement of
the Cigarette,Tobacco Product and Nicotine Product Business Licensing Regulations of Eagle County
Christina Hooper,Attorney's Office
3.Amendment No. Seven(7)to Jviation Engineering Services Contract for EGE AIP-64
Josh Miller, Project Management
4. Resolution 2021-010 for Limited Review at 450 Miller Ranch Road
Olivia Cook,Planning
5. Approval of the Minutes for the Board of County Commissioner Meetings for August 4,August 11,August 18,
and August 25,2020
Kathy Scriver, Clerk&Recorder's Office
6. December 2020 Payment Report
Jill Klosterman,Finance
Commissioner McQueeney moved to approve the Consent Agenda for February 2,2021,as presented.
Commissioner Chandler-Henry seconded the motion. The vote was declared unanimous.
Constituent Input
Chairman Scherr opened and closed constituent input.
Joanna Kerwin spoke. She commented on the January 26 discussion regarding the Edwards River Park
application. She was amazed with the parameters placed on affordable housing. She asked that the board
recommend not recommending 100%AMI for low income housing. She believed that 100%AMI was more like
the market rate. It was her opinion that 60%of AMI would make the homes more affordable. She also suggested
a tiered tax break.
Chairman Scherr explained that AMI was a federal standard. This standard did not always work well for
the county. He hoped to create something better in the future.
Business Items
1. Agreement between Eagle County and L'Ancla PLLC for Health Advocacy Efforts
Faviola Alderete,Public Health&Environment
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Executive Summary: The Contractor shall provide community-participatory systems-level approach to health
advocacy by supporting community voice and power-building efforts that provoke changes in systems and
environments that influence health outcomes in underserved communities in Eagle County.
Commissioner Chandler-Henry moved to approve the agreement between Eagle County and L'Ancla
PLLC for Health Advocacy Efforts.
Commissioner McQueeneyseconded the motion. The vote was declared unanimous.
2. The Board of County Commissioners will meet as necessary to review and take action on any issues related to
the COVID-19 Local Disaster Emergency.
Chairman Scherr stated that there was nothing to address related to COVID-19.
Commissioner McQueeny moved to adjourn as the Eagle County Board of County Commissioners and
reconvene as the Eagle County Liquor Licensing Authority.
Commissioner Chandler-Henry seconded the motion. The vote was declared unanimous.
Eagle County Liquor Licensing Authority
1. Application by Beaver Creek Promotional Association Inc. for Recertification and Common Consumption
Area Renewal
Regina O'Brien, Clerk&Recorder's Office
Executive Summary: Application by the Beaver Creek Promotional Association Inc. for recertification and renewal
of the Common Consumption Area within the Beaver Creek Entertainment District.
Regina O'Brien presented the request for recertification of the Beaver Creek Promotional Association
and renewal of the Common Consumption Area(CCA). In addition to a request for recertification,the Beaver
Creek Promotional Association is requesting the following changes from the original certification:
• The addition of two Board Members to the Beaver Creek Promotional Association Board -
Angela Mueller of The Landing Mercantile and Chris Pryor of Vail Mountain Coffee and Tea.
• The addition of two New Liquor Licenses to the Common Consumption Area - The Landing
Mercantile (Beer & Wine license) and Vail Mountain Coffee and Tea (Tavern license). Both new
licenses were approved by the Board in its capacity as the Local Licensing Authority on November
17,2020.
• The addition of non-licensed Vail Resorts Retail Properties to the Common Consumption Area.
Participating retail stores could allow a guest with a CCA cup in hand to enter their shop and browse with their
beverage. Participating retail stores would have a window cling on their entry door indicating participation in the
CCA. Non participating stores would have a window cling denoting non participation in the CCA (Exhibit F,
Pg.40 in Application).
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Elizabeth Jones, Beaver Creek Resort Company Administrator,weighed in via Google Meet. She spoke
about the soft launch in May of 2020 and believed the launch had been very successful.
Commissioner Chandler-Henry moved to approve the application by the Beaver Creek Promotional
Association for recertification as a Promotional Association and designation of the Common Consumption Area
as proposed.
Commissioner McQueeney seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.
Commissioner McQueeney commented on the number of plastic cups used and wondered if a more
sustainable type of cup could be used.
Ms. Jones recognized the issue and believed there could be a resolution.
Commissioner McQueeny moved to adjourn as the Eagle County Local Liquor Licensing Authority and
reconvene as the Eagle County Board of County Commissioners.
Commissioner Chandler-Henry seconded the motion. The vote was declared unanimous.
Planning File - Eagle County Room
1. Edwards RiverPark-Combined Sketch/Preliminary Plan,Zone Change, and 1041 Permit-
PDSP-9050/ZC-9029/1041-9030
Morgan Landerd, Planning
DESCRIPTION: Application for a Consolidated Sketch/Preliminary Plan for a mixed-use PUD,to include
approximately 540 residential units (100 of which are currently proposed as deed restricted workforce housing)
and 56,500 square feet of commercial uses. This application includes single-family and multi-family residential,
deed restricted workforce housing,hotel, conference and retail uses, active and passive recreation, and open space
areas. Also included is a Zone Change application to rezone the Subject Parcel from Resource to PUD and a 1041
permit application for the extension of water and sewer services. The application is subject to change throughout
the review process.
Morgan Landers,Eagle County Planning Manager, opened the meeting stating that this was the fourth
hearing. A fifth hearing would be held next month. Public comment was updated regularly in BoardDocs. There
were a variety of county staff available for questions. The topics being reviewed today included the proposed
housing plan, financial impact analysis,and the management structure. There was not a formal presentation today.
Chairman Scherr wondered about the housing impact and the job creation the project would create.
Tori Franks with the Eagle County Housing Department stated that there was commercial mitigation in
place. The calculation concluded that the residential impact was higher. The total jobs generated was about 616 on
the commercial side. Concluding that the job generation and the mitigation rate in the Housing Guidelines was
lower than what the residential impact would be.
Dominic Mauriello,Mauriello Planning Group, added that the analysis that was done for the project
included the hotel rooms as part of the residential mitigation.
Commissioner Chandler-Henry asked for a review of water supply and provisions. She also asked if there
was a water budget and landscaping limitations.
Mr. Mauriello stated that the water budget for the project had been fully vetted with the Eagle River Water
and Sanitation District. The applicant would be purchasing water rights from the district to service the needs of the
project. There was a spring on the property and a water right was being pursued. In the event that this was
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approved, the water would be used for irrigation on site. If that wasn't secured,the irrigation water would be
through the water district's water supply.
Jason Cowles stated that it was estimated that 110 acre ft of augmentation water was required for the
project. In August and Septementer they account for augmentation for total diversions to insure effect on stream
flow levels. A water budget was included in the PUD guide. There was a conditional water right for a well in the
area. The hole in the river would be filled in the months where there was an instream flow.
Chairman Scherr wondered if any of the water or sewer infrastructure for this project would have any
future capability of impacting downstream services west of the development.
Mr. Cowels indicated that the main had plenty of capacity and there was plenty of water storage above
Cordillera that fed the zone.
Mr. Mauriello reviewed the stormwater and drainage plan.
Gary Brooks stated that the concept of having buffer zones allowed them to provide for some bio swells
going to rain gardens. In addition, they had some mechanical stormwater drainage. He believed that they were
doing additional things for water quality and were in compliance with all of the Eagle County regulations.
Commissioner McQueeney asked about the 50 ft. riparian setback and if it was enough to protect the
wetlands.
Ms. Landers stated that staff determined that additional width was necessary to be fully protective of the
resource because of how close all the areas were to the developed areas of the site.
Nicole Mosby,Eagle County Engineer,explained that the flood plain for the site was most restrictive. The
setback was to protect the water resources in the riparian areas.
Maureen Mulcahy, Eagle River Water and Sanitation District, stated that the original application had a
variable wetland buffer proposed but a number of the areas were below the 50 ft. mark. The 50 ft buffer was
reasonable considering the buffer and ongoing management.
Mr. Mauriello showed a map of the location of the wetlands and the building envelopes with a 50 ft.buffer.
Some areas were greater than 50 ft.buffers. The area less than 50 ft. was where the proposed amphitheater would
be located.
Heather Houston with Birch Ecology,spoke about the other factors that went into the setback. The
applicant had a detailed wetland protection plan and monitoring plan that would study the health of the wetlands
over time. The riparian management plan provided a detailed overview of policies and guidelines to protect and
preserve the area. The wetland protection and access control plan would complement the support of the buffer and
manage access to the wetlands. The monitoring plan would track effectiveness of the wetlands protection
measures.Annual monitoring reports would be provided to the county. The vegetation screen would help support
and protect the wildlife.
Commissioner McQueeney asked about who would be responsible for providing a report.
Ms. Landers stated that staff wrote into the PUD guide the regulatory requirement for the annual reports. If
the project were approved and moved forward, during the final plat PUD phase, all the final riparian management
plans and the access and control plans would be finalized. The annual reporting documents would be submitted to
the Community Department and be reviewed. In the event that the report was not in compliance, code enforcement
would get involved.
Ms. Houson stated that there was a state of the art stormwater treatment system proposed.
Ms. Landers stated that there were a set of robust recommended conditions of approval related to the
wetland buffers. There were some subsequent buffers that needed to be conducted to insure there was good data to
formalize the plans. It was important to staff that the wetlands were protected during stormwater runoff during the
construction period.
Mr. Mauriello stated that there was an energy source proposed to heat the streets that helped reduce the use
of other pollutants that might flow into the buffer and the wetlands. Most of the parking in the project was below
grade.
Commissioner McQueeney asked about the solar use.
Mr. Mauriello stated that what was being proposed in the plan was the goal of a 15%offset.
Commissioner McQueeney asked about the"TAKE"permit for the eagles nest.
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Mr. Mauriello stated that the permit allowed construction activities to go on near the eagles nest. The nest
would stay in place untouched and hopefully be there for a very long time. There was a monitoring program put in
place and had been monitored for the last three years; in those three years there had been no nesting. Monitoring
was no longer required after three or four years of noting that the eagles were not present. There was no plan to
have anything happen to the nest.
Ms. Landers added that there would be a seasonal closure and monitoring would happen throughout that
time. The seasonal closure would be extended if necessary to insure minimal disturbance of the bald eagles.
Mr. Mauriello stated that the closure would extend into July if the nest was active. He believed there had
not been an active nest there until 2016.
Chairman Scherr asked how the management,monitoring,and enforcement would be done. He wondered
if it was possible to adequately enforce and monitor everything.
Ms. Landers stated that this had been a continued discussion throughout the public hearing process. There
was a challenge because the county was reliant on complaint based filings of enforcement action. Part of the
Wildlife Enhancement Fund must go towards education and communication to the residents within the
development. Staff was going to be reliant on community members taking ownership and responsibility for issues
within the development.
Mr. Mauriello added that all those elements requiring all the monitoring would flow into the HOA
covenants that would be recorded. The HOA would be required to enforce these requirements.
Commissioner McQueeney expressed concern over the hotel. She asked about the number of rooms,how
many would be condominized, and how many had additional lock-off space.
Mr. Mauriello stated'that the project was being proposed with 540 units and 182 condos within the hotel.
The condos were in a building geared towards short-term occupancy and short-term rental versus the other
condominiums in the project that were geared towards full-time occupancy. There was a provision that allowed 100
of those units to have lock-off units. It was a way to get more occupancy in a hotel and more flexibility during the
times of the year when other activities were at their peak. The retail space included the spa and restaurant in the
hotel. There was also 20,000 square feet of meeting space.
Commissioner McQueeney stated that Inn at Riverwalk only had 59 units
Mr. Mauriello stated that the proposed hotel would be three times the size of the Inn at Riverwalk.
Rocky Cortina stated that the lock off units would allow for flexibility. The units could be used for
investments and to support short term rentals. It would be up to the person purchasing the unit as to how they
would be used.
Commissioner McQueeney expressed concern for units being used as short-term and people using the
facility on a short-term basis not being part of a community.
Mr. Mauriello believed that the hotel staff would educate the guests as they came in as to what they could
and could not do,what the resources were, and what the riparian areas were. Educational signage would also be
onsite. He believed there was an ability through having a quality operation in the hotel that would achieve the same
goals in terms of being protective of the natural resources.
Commissioner Chandler-Henry asked about the open space and the recreation space and how much would
be available for residents of the project and how much of the area were actually wetlands and not usable space.
Ms. Landers showed a couple of slides from the original presentation. The Land Use Regulations require a
certain amount of common recreation and open space dedicated per number of persons. The calculation for this
project had a requirement of 14.2 acres based on population and persons per household. The project proposes
31.185 acres and additional areas included. What did not count was parking and loading areas, street right-of-ways,
and areas with slopes greater than 30%. Areas that count towards open space were water bodies, land within
critical wildlife habitat areas,riparian areas,and 100-year flood plains. The only area available to the community
during the non-seasonal use period would be the 1.3 acres in Planning Area-8
Mr. Mauriello reviewed the site plan. Within the sensitive area there was a proposed boardwalk. The
boardwalk would provide an opportunity to enjoy the wetlands without disturbance to wildlife. All of these areas
were open to the community.
Commissioner Chandler-Henry asked about the pedestrian connection.
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Mr. Mauriello showed a slide that identified the walkability on the property. People could walk through the
preserve or walk up to Highway 6, cross the road and walk along the sidewalk on Highway 6.
Chairman Scherr asked about the characteristics that defined the small town feel of the development.
Mr. Mauriello presented a slide titled"small town feel"that defined a small town feel. He also showed a
slide that defined"pedestrian scale"and indicated that the project met all of the definitions. He believed the
development was a walkable community and ultimately fit into every definition provided.
Commissioner McQueeney stated that she was not seeing a lot of public benefit. She asked Ms.Landers to
review the true public benefits of the proposal.
Ms. Landers reviewed the public benefit slide in the presentation. The standard as it related to public
benefit in the zone change section identified the impacts and identified the benefits by weighing the two. What was
challenging about the public benefit standard was oftentimes non-quantifiable components being weighed. Staff
outlined the public benefits such as reclamation of a blighted property, economic development from proposed uses,
workforce housing,protection of wetlands and riparian areas, construction of the Highway 6 roundabout, and
revenue generation to the county. From staff's perspective,the workforce housing was a significant public benefit.
Commissioner McQueeney asked about the minimum housing requirement and what was being proposed.
Ms. Franks stated that the recommended mitigation for the development was 135 units and the applicant
was proposing 176.5 units. Additional value was not calculated for the transfer fee or for the short term rental fee.
Ms. Landers stated that the 100 deed restricted units included nine price capped rentals at 80%AMI, 72
priced capped rental at 100%AMI, and the 10 resident occupied for sale that didn't have a transfer fee. She stated
that the workforce housing piece was one of the significant components for staff.
Chairman Scherr asked if Planning Area-7, and Planning Area 9 could be developed.
Ms. Landers stated that Planning Area-7 had some possibilities and Planning Area-9 would offer trail
connections. Staff evaluated the transportation efficiencies and infrastructure improvements that were above and
beyond what the minimum requirements. The Highway 6 roundabout substantially increased the user experience.
Ms. Mosby stated that there were a lot of efficiencies and safet. aapects to roundabouts. From a pedestrian
perspective, it was safer. •
Ms. Landers said staff believed the•proposed roundabout would be a definite improvement to the
intersection. There were two transportation stops planned for the project as well which were also viewed by staff to
be a public benefit.
Mr. Mauriello believed that there was no question that the applicant was going above and beyond given
was being proposed in terms of public benefits. The wildlife enhancement fund,the conservation easements, and
other enhancements they were doing for wildlife benefit were clearly a public benefit.
Ms. Landers stated that there were 42 recommended conditions, and 20 had been satisfied.
Mr. Mauriello spoke about the condition recommended by the Eagle County Planning Commission that
recommended that Building 1 be shorter. When the applicant reevaluated the plan and realized the impact in terms
of density, the applicant proposed a blend of 65 ft. and 75 ft. for Building 1. The applicant proposed a compromise
in this case.
Commissioner Chandler-Henry required visualizations of those changes.
Commissioner McQueeney expressed concern with the mix of units. She expressed concerns with the 100
lock-off units in the condo/hotel and how the condo/hotel impacted the overall"community feel."
Chairman Scherr believed that the Edwards Community Plan indicated that the bulk of commercial should
go in the core. His idea of commercial was neighborhood serving local business.
Mr. Mauriello stated that the property was identified as mixed use commercial/residential and lodging was
acceptable based on the Edwards Community Plan.
Ms. Landers stated that mixed use commercial residential could take many forms and shapes. She
believed there were areas where there was conflicting information in the plan.
Mr. Mauriello stated that what was being proposed was not taking away from the commercial core. There
was a limited amount of commercial floor area being proposed. It was not uncommon for a hotel to sit outside of
the core in the valley.
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Commissioner McQueeney stated that the public comment indicated that the county was not adhering to the
newly written area plan. It was clear that there were components in the plan that conflict with one another.
Mr. Mauriello believed the plan was clear and there was nothing that would suggest that rural character
would apply to the property.
Chairman Scherr suggested that the board conclude the meeting.
Commissioner Chandler-Henry stated that she had a couple things to request for the next hearing. She
requested figures on the property tax exemption and 1%fees on the short term rentals. She'd like to see how the
exemption compares to what would be realized in the 1%fee. She also requested the calculation of the real estate
transfer easement and a review of the red line of the PUD that included the building heights.
Ms. Landers stated that at next week's hearing there would be continued question and answer to address
some of these items. Staff would provide a memo with the recommended conditions and review the 1041
application. She wondered when the board would like to hear additional public comment
Commissioner McQueeney stated that she was trying to balance the protection of wildlife,riparian areas,
and water with education,mitigation, and signage when so much of the population would be transient to some
degree. She requested review of the variance requests and conditions at the next hearing.
Morgan Beryl recommended that public comment be heard on the 16th.
Commissioner Chandler-Henry moved to table the file until February 9,2021.
Commissioner McQueeney seconded the motion. The vote was declared unanimous.
OF EAGLE
There being no further busi s L ce c oard,the meeting was adjourned until February 9,2021.
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