Manitou Springs City Council approves new mural, regulates ADUs
Manitou Springs City Council approved a revised Manitou Arts, Culture and Heritage (MACH) grant for a mural on the side of the Rockey Art Museum on Canon Avenue by artist Natalia Pulido. Pulido initially requested $8,500, which was recommended for
partial funding of $4,849 by the MACH Board and approved by City Council in March
- Pulido accepted the funding with the commitment that she could complete the project
by the end of 2025. The initial location for the proposed mural was 720 Manitou Ave., but negotiations with the property owner didn't work out.
"That initial proposal was revised and then fell apart," explained MACH Board Chair Ralph Routon "Natalia explored options, then came to the MACH board last month, still in limbo, after dealing with the Rockey Art Museum and the chamber with possibilities. The MACH board realized the project no longer was close to the original approved concept."
The family is really in favor of working with us. - Natalia Pulido
Pulido's new concept is a mural of famed Manitou Springs artist Charles Rockey, known for his impressionistic depictions of the mountain town, who died in 2019. "The idea for this mural is to show our community and how he was an inspiration for a lot of artists here, including myself and my husband," said Pulido. "We met Rockey back then and we have a deep connection with him and the family is really in favor of working with us."
Pulido plans to paint the mural on panels and then install them on the east side of the museum. Councilor Julie Wolfe objected to the revised grant proposal.
"I personally object to public funds being used for improvements to private property," said Wolfe. "I understand that it's something that the public might enjoy looking at, but I just don't like spending money on private property. That property could get repossessed tomorrow. It could be purchased by a new owner. I was under the impression the painting would be on the building, but now there's a possibility that it won't be."
Council voted 6-1, with Wolfe dissenting, to approve the mural.
Emergency ADU ordinance
Council adopted an emergency ordinance to address accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in Manitou. "This is an emergency ordinance and it is intended to asssure that we are in conformance with state law, which required us to to come into conformance as of June 30 of this year," said Manitou Planning Director Fred Rollenhagen. He said the Planning Commission is preparing a more thorough recommendation for a final ordinance that will come to City Council later this year.
"The Planning Commission is being very deliberate in considering all of the alternatives," he said "And while it wasn't our intention for it to take this long for the Planning Commission to make a recommendation, they need a couple more months to go through a couple other things and then make a recommendation that will come to City Council."
In May 2024, the Colorado Legislature passed House Bill 24-1152 that created a series
of requirements related to ADUs. It established unique requirements for subject jurisdictions to allow at least one ADU as an accessory use to a single-unit detached dwelling in any part of the subject jurisdiction where the subject jurisdiction allows single-unit detached dwellings. It also
prohibits subject jurisdictions from enacting or enforcing certain local laws or otherwise acting in certain ways that would restrict the construction or conversion of an ADU.
"The ADU, under this emergency ordinance, is restricted in size to be no less than 500 square feet and no more than 750 square feet in total habitable space, which is what state law allows municipalities to regulate," explained Rollenhagen. "We must allow between 500 and 750 square feet. We can allow ADUs bigger than that, but we don't have to, and currently the Planning Commission is considering those size requirements, and we'll provide a recommendation to council. There are density measurements that are found in the current code that will not apply to the ADU because state law does not permit municipalities to impose density measurements."
Mayor John Graham supported the proposed emergency ordinance, despite his concerns about the state law. "I have concerns particularly in our older section of town where we've got a lot of congestion where we have a lot of old infrastructure, old water pipes, old sewer pipes, and parking problems, that this is not really something we want to be too cavalier in," he said. "All that said, given that the state was successful in passing this bill, I think probably this is a decent resolution and with the hope that we'll have maybe something that's a little more fine-tuned in a couple of months … we are responding to a state government that I think is a little out of bounds."
The ordinance passed unanimously.
Executive session
Council went into executive session to discuss the Metro district and nondisclosure provisions of the Open Records Act pertaining to sales tax information of a confidential nature.
