11.16.17 P&Z Hearing / PUD Amendment
P&Z Meeting for the PUD Amendment
Planning and Zoning Commission hearing for our proposed Planned Unit Development amendment.
November 16, 2017
Meeting starts at 6pm
We're on the agenda after 7:15
SUMMARY FROM TODD:
Telluride Transfer Warehouse
Telluride Arts began negotiating with Meriwether and the Zoline family over 3 years ago, with a vision of protecting the historic shell of the Telluride Transfer Warehouse, and creating a vibrant community space for the arts in the heart of town. Our first and primary goal was to guarantee the building would be rehabilitated for public purposes within the guidelines of historic preservation.
While the vision was clear, the path to this goal was not, and Telluride Arts embarked upon a multi-pronged approach, which included negotiating a purchase agreement for the restored building to assure it will become a public benefit, facilitating the development of Meriwether’s PUD, and funding a community-wide study with ArtSpace to help define the needs and desires for the space. Throughout the process, Telluride Arts has worked with the Ah Haa School, the Wilkinson Public Library, and others to coordinate the community’s needs and desires without duplication.
The Telluride Arts purchase agreement with Meriwether, and the subsequent PUD describe the Warehouse historic renovation and the construction of a “warm, dark shell” as the minimum essentials to protect the historic stone structure and to house Telluride’s future center for the arts. We always envisioned something much grander and more appropriate as the end result, but didn't have those plans at the time. Since then, as you know, Telluride Arts has gone through a public process to select world-reknowned architects LTL to design the building that will reside inside the restored Warehouse shell, incorporating the important, relatively recent history of a roofless ruin into the vision.
This set of documents and the PUD amendment are consequently and appropriately complex, but serve to:
Remove the “warm, dark shell” from the PUD, so none of the parties spend more time or money constructing something that would have to be subsequently demolished to build the LTL designed interior structure and roof.
Relieve Meriwether from the pressure of completing the “warm, dark shell” prior to selling the restored shell to Telluride Arts, and prior to earning Cerificates of Occupancy for their Stronghouse parcel developments.
Create a financial reserve to support Telluride Arts’ construction of the remaining historical preservation components.
Provide Town with legally sound remedies and financial reserves in case either Meriwether or Telluride Arts is unable to complete their portions of the project.
The net result will be a better project for the community, with better fund-raising potential for Telluride Arts, more efficient construction, and Telluride’s center for the arts truly fitting the potential of the historic Transfer Warehouse.