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Aspen council asks staff to draft fee-deferral policy for long-term locals after high-profile hearing
Summary
Following the Castle Creek Drive hearing, council directed staff to prepare a narrowly tailored policy and administrative options to allow qualifying working locals to defer or reduce city fees on redevelopment while protecting other funding sources.
After public testimony supporting the Cerise family, the Aspen City Council directed staff to draft a policy resolution that would create a fee-deferral or limited waiver program for qualifying long-term local residents. Council members asked staff to return with a set of options outlining which fees the city can defer or waive, how eligibility would be defined, and safeguards to prevent abuse or adverse budgetary impacts.
Ben Anderson, community development director, told council the existing code already allows an administrative affordable-housing mitigation deferral and a deed-restriction (resident-occupied) path that waives many building-related fees, but that some charges (for example, sanitation-district fees or school-dedication impact fees) fall outside city waiver authority. Council’s direction was to craft a narrowly tailored program that could include deferral percentages by fee type, escalate deferred amounts by CPI, and require collection if the property later transfers out of qualifying local use.
