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ASPEN — The director of the Aspen Art Museum doesn't appear willing to tone down the dimensions of a controversial structure that received conceptual approval from the City Council in August.
Appearing at Wednesday's Aspen Business Luncheon at the St. Regis Aspen Resort hotel, Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson fielded a tense volley of questions from audience members about whether she would retreat from the proposed design for the new museum. She held her ground, adding that the City Council approved the project under its vested authority, and her job is now to see it through.
“It's not my place to approve” building projects, she said.
The City Council approval allows for a 47-foot-high, 30,000-square-foot facility on the corner of Hyman Avenue and Spring Street, which, Zuckerman Jacobson said, would bring a number of benefits to Aspen. Those benefits include a free public rooftop downtown, a boost to the economy, establishing Aspen as an international player in the modern arts arena, and opening the museum's current location up to another nonprofit.
Wednesday's forum comes at a time when the Aspen community appears divided over the project.
The City Council, the museum and the owner of the proposed site property announced in June that, as part of a lawsuit settlement between the city and the owner, the museum wanted to move to the heart of downtown Aspen. The museum is currently located at 590 N. Mill St., right off of a bike trail and near the banks of the Roaring Fork River.
Critics, though, say the process circumvented the normal land-use approval protocol to push through a project that didn't fit with zoning rules. They want the project to endure the normal application process, which includes a full review by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Chris Bendon, the city's director of Community Development and one of the panelists, said the project complies with zoning rules. He added that he felt there was a legitimate public process.
Several public meetings were held to introduce the city's residents to the idea, including the Aug. 2 public hearing during which the City Council approved the application.
Mayor Mick Ireland said during those meetings that if the City Council were to challenge the case at the appellate court level, the judges might have made a decision that would be detrimental to both parties in the dispute.
“I think the community should decide,” Ireland said at the Aug. 2 meeting, referencing the City Council's responsibility to represent the community. “I don't think it should be made by three people in robes I don't know yet.”
But Steve Ferrell, a member of the citizens' group of opposition and a panelist at the luncheon, said the City Council circumvented the public process.
“I'm not sure three people in robes could have done any worse representing the community,” Ferrell said.
Ferrell said group couldn't find any rules or case law that exempts municipalities from normal land-use process through a settlement.
“We're not concerned about whether a process was followed,” he said. “We're concerned whether due process was followed.”
The deal in question was part of a lawsuit settlement the city struck with the owners of the Wienerstube building, located at Hyman Avenue and Spring Street, that came after the owners sued the City Council in 2007 for denying a redevelopment of the property. The application for that redevelopment did not include the art museum.
The property owner, 633 Spring Street LLC, then filed an appeal with the state in 2009. After the appeal was filed, the museum, which had been eying properties around town and throughout the Roaring Fork Valley, approached the owner and proposed to partner with the LLC as part of the redevelopment settlement.
The city engaged in private meetings with the LLC to discuss the potential settlement of the appeal.
The two developments that will come from the approval of the redevelopment are the 30,000-square-foot new museum and a 15,000-square-foot redevelopment of the current space on which the Wienerstube restaurant sits; 11,250 square feet is dedicated to commercial leasing.
Of the museum, 10,000 square feet would be underground, and 12,000 square feet would be dedicated to galleries — more space than the museum's current spot offers. Plans call for a glass building encased in a screen-like transparent wooden facade.
ahedge@aspentimes.com
Appearing at Wednesday's Aspen Business Luncheon at the St. Regis Aspen Resort hotel, Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson fielded a tense volley of questions from audience members about whether she would retreat from the proposed design for the new museum. She held her ground, adding that the City Council approved the project under its vested authority, and her job is now to see it through.
“It's not my place to approve” building projects, she said.
The City Council approval allows for a 47-foot-high, 30,000-square-foot facility on the corner of Hyman Avenue and Spring Street, which, Zuckerman Jacobson said, would bring a number of benefits to Aspen. Those benefits include a free public rooftop downtown, a boost to the economy, establishing Aspen as an international player in the modern arts arena, and opening the museum's current location up to another nonprofit.
Wednesday's forum comes at a time when the Aspen community appears divided over the project.
The City Council, the museum and the owner of the proposed site property announced in June that, as part of a lawsuit settlement between the city and the owner, the museum wanted to move to the heart of downtown Aspen. The museum is currently located at 590 N. Mill St., right off of a bike trail and near the banks of the Roaring Fork River.
Critics, though, say the process circumvented the normal land-use approval protocol to push through a project that didn't fit with zoning rules. They want the project to endure the normal application process, which includes a full review by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Chris Bendon, the city's director of Community Development and one of the panelists, said the project complies with zoning rules. He added that he felt there was a legitimate public process.
Several public meetings were held to introduce the city's residents to the idea, including the Aug. 2 public hearing during which the City Council approved the application.
Mayor Mick Ireland said during those meetings that if the City Council were to challenge the case at the appellate court level, the judges might have made a decision that would be detrimental to both parties in the dispute.
“I think the community should decide,” Ireland said at the Aug. 2 meeting, referencing the City Council's responsibility to represent the community. “I don't think it should be made by three people in robes I don't know yet.”
But Steve Ferrell, a member of the citizens' group of opposition and a panelist at the luncheon, said the City Council circumvented the public process.
“I'm not sure three people in robes could have done any worse representing the community,” Ferrell said.
Ferrell said group couldn't find any rules or case law that exempts municipalities from normal land-use process through a settlement.
“We're not concerned about whether a process was followed,” he said. “We're concerned whether due process was followed.”
The deal in question was part of a lawsuit settlement the city struck with the owners of the Wienerstube building, located at Hyman Avenue and Spring Street, that came after the owners sued the City Council in 2007 for denying a redevelopment of the property. The application for that redevelopment did not include the art museum.
The property owner, 633 Spring Street LLC, then filed an appeal with the state in 2009. After the appeal was filed, the museum, which had been eying properties around town and throughout the Roaring Fork Valley, approached the owner and proposed to partner with the LLC as part of the redevelopment settlement.
The city engaged in private meetings with the LLC to discuss the potential settlement of the appeal.
The two developments that will come from the approval of the redevelopment are the 30,000-square-foot new museum and a 15,000-square-foot redevelopment of the current space on which the Wienerstube restaurant sits; 11,250 square feet is dedicated to commercial leasing.
Of the museum, 10,000 square feet would be underground, and 12,000 square feet would be dedicated to galleries — more space than the museum's current spot offers. Plans call for a glass building encased in a screen-like transparent wooden facade.
ahedge@aspentimes.com
