City Looking to Streamline Approval Processes

Amid a slew of vacant buildings and stalled projects, Aspen City Council is trying to figure out ways to move them along through changes made in the CommDev department, the Aspen Daily News reported. There has been growing community disenchantment in recent years over the number of stalled construction projects blighting the commercial core, some of which is directed toward Mark Hunt’s M Development.

Some of the changes implemented include a shift to senior level plans examiners who will conduct final reviews on permits under preview rather than passing them to a plan’s examination manager; applications reviewed by contract examiners will no longer be reviewed by the city’s plans examination staff; and there will be an increase in monthly permit collaboration and prioritization. Staff has already started to “triage” the application queue for permits that could be rapidly reviewed and issues, essentially bumping them up.

Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

Tom and Jody Cardamone, Georgia Hanson and the late Walt Smith will be officially inducted and honored at the annual Aspen Hall of Fame banquet on April 15 at the Hotel Jerome, the Aspen Daily News reported. Like more than 100 inductees before them, they were chosen for the Hall of Fame because of their positive and lasting effects on Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley. “This year’s inductees have educated us, entertained us and charmed us over the years, and they exemplify what the Aspen Hall of Fame is all about,” AHOF co-presidents Madeleine

Osberger and Kim DeCarlo said in the release. “The community has benefited from their passion for the local environment, for embracing and promoting its rich mining, ranching and skiing history, and for entertaining us through the decades.”

Centennial Tenants Notified of Sharp Increase in Rent

Tenants at Centennial Aspen Apartments face a steep rent hike in 2023, well over the rate of inflation and possibly in violation of lease terms with residents, the Aspen Times reported. The landlord, Birge & Held — a national private equity, real-estate investment, construction, and management firm with offices in Denver and Indianapolis — posted notices to apartment doors in December. The notices, dated Dec. 13, 2022, informed each unit of the impending rent increase, going into effect on Jan. 1.

In the notices, Birge & Held referenced an agreement with APCHA that justified the rent increase based on the All Urban Consumers Consumer Price Index for Denver. The increase varied by unit, but two leases showed a rent increase of approximately 17% and 30%. The Denver CPI for 2022 is 8.5%.

Also, according to the leases, Birge & Held is not permitted to increase rent before the initial lease contract term ends, except for any changes allowed by special provisions to the lease. Neither lease had anything written in the specialprovisions clause. And the rent increase occurred during the lease term for both leases. According to a tenant, all 148 units received a rent-increase notice, but only about 20 tenants came forward to the city.