Town Council Highlights: Work Session Briefs (2)

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" Town of Vail - Town Council - Town Council Highlights - Archive - June 12, 2001 Page 2 of 8 Authority members, the Council assigned staggered terms as follows: Sally Jackle, 1 -year; Kim Ruotola, 2 -year; Chuck Ogilby, 3 -year; Steve Lindstrom, 4 -year; and Mark Ristow, 5 -year. All subsequent appointmen will be for 5 -year terms. The Authority will meet on June 18 to begin reviewing development responses for the Mountain Bell site, which were due June 14. For details, contact Nina Timm in the Community Development Department at 479 -2144. -- Discussion of Employee Housing Unit Occupancy Enforcement During a discussion initiated by Councilmember Diana Donovan, Town Manager Bob McLaurin said he was prepared to begin increasing the le of enforcement to ensure the occupancy of employee housing units (EH built in Vail after 1994. Currently, those property owners are required to respond to a yearly enforcement letter indicating the status of employee occupancy. Owners of EHUs built after 2000 must submit a sworn affida as part of their response. To date, 150 of 160 owners of EHUs built after 1992 have responded to the town with appropriate documentation. According to their responses, 207 full -time employees are currently housed in those units. Donovan, however, has called the response letter process a "waste of time," saying the town is being "cheated" by propert owners who receive approval to add an EHU, but convert it to their personal use. In response, McLaurin said the town would begin using a code enforcement officer assigned to the Community Development Department to investigate units under suspicion, including the 10 proper owners who have failed to comply with the town's reporting process. Violators face prosecution in Municipal Court. McLaurin said the increas enforcement efforts would be applied for the next six months followed by review by the Town Council. Developer Pat Dauphinais also participated in the discussion and urged the Council to review the tone of the town's deed restriction documents. Describing the current documents as "intimidating" and "coercive," Dauphinais said the process creates a climate that runs counterproductive to the town's goal of adding more EHUs. He suggested returning to an earlier deed restriction format whic had no reporting requirements and no punitive requirements. While Dauphinais said he supported enforcement action, when needed, he acknowledged the temptation to "bootleg" illegal EHUs in the community The underlying problem, he said, is the town's square footage calculations, known as GRFA, which are too restrictive. Dauphinais suggested the town consider eliminating the GRFA requirement for property owners who agree to add an employee housing unit. Also durin the discussion, it was noted there are 56 dispersed EHUs throughout to created prior to 1994; these are not required to be occupied due to an interpretation of the older deed restriction documents. Councilmembers directed staff to research various options that could be used to update th deed restrictions, such as requiring occupancy - -or a housing pay -in -lieu option - -once the property owner submits an application for an upgrade t the property. Staff also was directed to provide an update on the http: / /www.ci.vail.co.us /town council /highlights /archive /2001 /010612.htm 01/30/2002