A change to Aspen’s development requirements is not retroactive. That’s the opinion of an attorney hired by the City after a recent charter amendment. Voters decided last month that an election is needed if developers want exceptions for how big a project can be, or how much affordable housing or parking is required.
The City attorney’s office had interpreted the change as affecting only projects filed after those new limits. Aspen hired a Front Range attorney to review the matter. On Monday night, City Council released that outside opinion to the public, which also came to the conclusion that the new limitations generally apply to new proposals.
They technically can apply to projects previously filed, but only if those projects were not fully reviewed in time by the city’s Community Development office. On Tuesday, Community Development Director Chris Bendon said no applications fall into that category.
