Town News

Catch Up With Council, January 14, 2025: Deed Restriction Discussion, Parklet & Town Property Discussion, Town Councilmember Resignation & More

Housing Restrictive Covenant/Deed Restrictions Discussion

The January 14, 2025 Town Council work session is the fourth work session with Council regarding housing restrictive covenants (deed restrictions). The first work session was held on August 27, 2024, the second on September 16, 2024, and the third work on December 10, 2024. These work sessions are intended to result in a new housing restrictive covenant, which will be presented to Town Council for review and approval after the additional work sessions on this topic, likely in the first quarter of 2025.

The purpose of the January 14, 2025 work session was to present a draft covenant for Council to react to that reflects the changes discussed during the three housing restrictive covenant work sessions held in 2024. Staff sought feedback and additional direction from Council on the changes presented in the draft covenant and whether they accurately reflected the direction that Council had already provided. Topics were to include housing lottery specifics, proposed resale calculation with capital improvements, and owner/renter employment requirements.

What is a Restrictive Covenant/Deed Restriction?

A restrictive covenant/deed restriction is a common tool used for placing limitations on the uses of a housing unit and are frequently utilized when a housing unit has been partially (or fully) funded by public funds, and subsequently, deed restrictions are recorded on applicable properties. The covenant is a written agreement that restricts or limits the activities that may take place on a property or development. When purchasing a property that has a covenant recorded on it, new property owners acknowledge a written statement affirming that they understand the restriction recorded on the property and that they will abide by it.

There are approximately 155 properties within the Town that have restrictive covenants/deed restrictions on them through various development measures primarily stemming from development agreements or bonus density commitments. Approximately 40 of these units are employee units with no resale price cap (often referred to as “light” or “live/work” restrictions). The remaining have some type of limitation on household income and/or resale calculation, typically tied to an area median income (AMI) between 80-120% area median income; some units have a higher AMI, up to 160% AMI.

Lottery

Discussion during the December 10, 2024 work session included support for a housing lottery and for accommodating additional lottery entries for lottery entrants who have longevity within the Town through employment. There were differing opinions about giving priority for Frisco or Ten Mile employment locations. During the January 14 Town Council meeting, Council gave staff direction that additional entries into the lottery should be considered if you meet length of residency or work requirements, such as one ticket for 0-1 year of longevity, one ticket for two years, one ticket for 5 years, and one ticket for 10+ years. Council indicated that they will review these specifics again later and will then also address how geographic considerations around living or working in Frisco, Ten Mile Basin, and/or Summit County will factor into that. Council also maintained that lottery entrants would need to provide proof around their eligibility with supporting tax returns or other relevant documentation, rather than relying on just an applicant affidavit.

Proposed Resale Calculation with Capital Improvements

Council gave direction that resale price should include the purchase price plus 3% appreciation a year (not compounded) with unlimited Qualifying Capital Improvements (QCI), but they tabled further discussion about whether to incorporate the AMI table into also determining resale prices.

Owner and Renter Employment Requirements

Due to a lack of time, Council tabled the discussion of an employment location requirement after the purchase of a property until the next meeting where housing will be discussed.

Next Steps

Staff will return with a further discussion when the four Councilmembers who have not been recused from the discussion are available, likely the January 28 Town Council meeting.  

Parklet & Town Property Discussion

Since the summer of 2020, Frisco Main Street has accommodated various commercial uses, beginning with the 2020 Main Street Pedestrian Promenade between 2nd and 5th Avenues and continuing with parklets in the fall of 2020. As the program enters its fifth year, Town Council gave direction to staff to bring it back to Council for discussion and review. Council also had a general discussion of the use of Town property for all commercial uses, in order to have a comprehensive review of not just the parklet program, but all uses of Town property. Town property not only includes streets and adjacent parking, but it also includes sidewalks, often right up to the buildings and businesses on Main Street.

Parklets have been made available to all categories of Main Street businesses since 2020. In 2024, out of the 19 businesses that had parklets, 11 were restaurants/bars, six were retail, and two were primarily service providers. Most businesses who opted to use public property for commercial purposes did choose to use parklets in the parking spaces in front of their businesses, except for Rebel Sports, which paid the same fees but did not utilize parklet structures.

Use of Town Property

Per Frisco Town Code, obstructions or improvements on Town property are not allowed unless permitted through a revocable license agreement or a right-of-way permit (ROW).  Right-of-way permits are typically used for temporary, construction related uses of the right-of-way, while revocable license agreements are used for more permanent improvements, landscaping, or temporary commercial uses such as parklets. While the Town has required license agreements for parklets, there have been many smaller commercial uses in the ROW, such as restaurant seating and signage encroaching in the Main Street ROW, in which the Town has not enforced the licensing or permitting requirements.

Council Direction

Town Council was supportive of using Town property for commerce and gave staff direction to make some changes to the parklet program, including an increase in parklet fees to completely cover Town expenses, which will likely result in a significant increase to fees. Council also gave staff direction to maintain and improve parklets in the interests of aesthetics and safety. Council reiterated that they want the Town to continue to make parklets available to all types of businesses, but that all commerce activities should be contained to the parklets and not spill onto the sidewalks, including brick pavers.

Council expressed an ongoing concern about the accessibility of Frisco’s sidewalks and gave staff direction to make changes that prioritized accessibility and safety on public property.  To that end, Council gave staff direction to no longer allow unlicensed, informal use of Town property on sidewalks. This will result in sidewalks, including brick paver areas, no longer being available for use by businesses for seating, merchandise displays, or any other use. Council felt strongly that this prohibition on using Town sidewalks was particularly important to support access, ADA requirements, and safety for all users. Staff will be doing outreach to businesses in the next several months to communicate these changes to use of public property for commerce and to the parklet program.

Charlotte Clarke Recognized as Frisco’s Finest

During the January 14 Town Council meeting, Charlotte Clarke was recognized as Frisco’s Finest due to her remarkable contributions to celebrating and preserving Frisco’s history. In 1994, Charlotte Clarke moved to Frisco and brought her passion and knowledge from a career as a college professor to the Frisco community, leading tours on plant life, history, and junior archeology to the public in the following decades. In the 1990s, Ms. Clarke interviewed and hiked with the last generation of Friscoites to mine and ranch during the 1930s, documenting mine and cabin locations and recording numerous stories and history that would have otherwise been lost forever. Throughout her involvement with the Frisco Historical Society, Ms. Clarke acted as secretary along with accessioning and preserving dozens of artifacts donated to the Museum.

In January 2023, Ms. Clarke gifted the Frisco Historic Park and Museum and the Town of Frisco the rights to her field guide The Mines of Frisco and Beyond for the Frisco Historic Park and Museum to update and publish for the good of the community. Ms. Clarke continues to volunteer her time to the community, recently retiring from her role on the board of Friends of the Dillon Ranger District but still volunteering at the Community and Senior Center and the hospital and making her wealth of knowledge a resource easily accessible to the Frisco Historic Park and Museum and the whole community.

Therefore, Frisco Town Council presented Frisco’s Finest award to Charlotte Clarke for outstanding contributions in making Frisco a better place to live, work, and play.

Councilmember Resignation & Vacancy Discussion

Councilmember Lisa Holenko gave her resignation from Town Council to Mayor Rick Ihnken on Monday, January 13 due to the needs of her family and the recent death of her husband, Doug Robinson.

When a Councilmember resigns during their term, Council has the choice to call a special election or to appoint a resident to the vacant Town Council seat within 45 days. Council decided to go forward with an appointment process and not a special election. Council subsequently gave staff direction to ask for a letter of interest, to provide an online application containing general questions, including questions regarding length of residency, reasons for interest in serving on Frisco Twon Council, and professional background and experience. Council will also be requiring all candidates to submit a candidate petition with 25 qualified signatures, just as they would in preparation for an election. The successful candidate will serve out the remainder of the Councilmember Holenko’s term until April 2026.

Council agreed to the following timeline:

  • January 15- Informational candidacy packets available to the public at Frisco Town Hall and at FriscoGov.com
  • February 5- Petition and application, along with letter of interest, due
  • February 6-7- Cure period for petitions
  • February 11- Council meeting for application review and interviews
  • February 25- Last regular meeting within the required 45 days- Council makes candidate selection
  • March 11- Swearing in and first meeting for the new Councilmember

Frisco Municipal Election Code Amendments

During the April 2024 Town Council elections, ballots were mailed and received by voters, even though the election was canceled, due to the race being uncontested. The ballots still had to be printed and mailed due to the timing requirements in Frisco’s code surrounding write in candidates.

Staff subsequently recommended to Town Council that the code be amended to be consistent with State statute by moving the write-in candidate affidavit deadline. This change would have saved over $6,500 in unnecessary printing and postage costs in 2024, and similar savings are expected in the future if an election is canceled.

Council approved Ordinance 24-11 on the second reading

Frisco Town Council Meetings: Ways to Participate

Frisco Town Council meetings are available to view via Zoom and YouTube, and are also held in person to make Town Council meetings easier to access for everyone.

The public can provide comment during meetings via Zoom or in person (not YouTube), and a public comment period will be available at 7:00pm; during the consideration of ordinances; and at the discretion of Town Council during work session items, which are discussions that don’t require a formal vote by Town Council and do not require public comment. Again, this hybrid approach is intended to make Town Council meetings more accessible, and meeting recordings will typically also be made available the day after a meeting in the meeting archive with agenda topics bookmarked to the discussions in the video.