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Home My WebLink About2015-07-07 PZC MINUTES• • • [?lJ I. CITY OF ENGLEWOOD PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING CALL TO ORDER CITY COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM JULY 7, 2015 The regular me eting of the City Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order at 7 :00 p.m. in the City Council Conference RoorT] of th~ Englewood Civic Center, Chair Fish presiding. Present: Bleile, Brick, Freemire, King, Kinton , Knoth (arrived 7:05), Madrid, Townley, Pittinos, Fish Absent: Staff: None Mike Flaherty, Deputy City Manager Chris Neubecker, Senior Planner Harold Stitt, Senior Planner John Voboril , Planner II Also Present: Elliot Sulsky , Consultant, Felsburg Holt & Ullevig [?] II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • May 20 , 2015 King moved ; Townley seconded: TO APPROVE THE MAY 20 , 2015 MINUTES Chair Fish asked if there were any modifications or corrections. There were none. AYES : NAYS: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Brick, Freemire , King , Kinton, Knoth, Madrid, Townley None Knoth, Madrid, Bleile, Fish None Motion carried . ltl1 Approval of Minutes • May 27, 2015 King moved; Kinton seconded: TO APPROVE THE MAY 27 , 2015 MINUTES Chair Fish asked if there were any modifications or corrections. There were non e. AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN: Bleile, Brick, Freemire, King, Kinton, Madrid, Townley None Freemire 1 • ABSENT: Non e Motion carried. ~ Approval of Minutes • Jun e 2, 201 5 Fr ee mire moved; Kinton sec onded: TO APPROVE THE JUNE 2, 2015 MINUTES Ch air Fi sh as ked if th e re w e re any modifi c ation s o r c orrec tion s. Th e re w e re no ne. AYES: NAYS: A BSTAIN: ABSENT: Bleil e, Bri c k, Fr ee mire, Kin g, Kinto n, Knoth , Madrid, Tow nl ey, Fi sh Non e Non e Non e M o ti o n c arri ed . l?] Approval of Minutes • Jun e 16,2 01 5 Freemir e moved; Knoth sec ond ed: TO APPROVE THE JUNE 16, 2015 MINUTES • Ch air Fi sh asked if th e re we re any modi f ic ati o ns o r correc tion s. Th e re we re no ne. • A YES : N A YS : ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Bl e il e, Fr ee mire, Knoth , Madrid, Fi sh N o ne Brick, Kin g, Kinton , To w nl ey Non e Motion carried. l?] Ill. PUBLIC FORUM (Th e o rd e r o f th e age nd a was c h ange d to acc omm o d at e publi c comm e nt.) Cassa nd ra Letkomill e r, En g lewood resid e nt, ex presse d con ce rn ove r th e numbe r of dupl exes bein g built in th e R-2-B zon e on Lin co ln and Sh e rm an. H e r o pinion i s th at th e re are too many hom es be in g scrap ed and re pl ace d with new buildin gs th at ca n be detrim e nt al to th e c harac te r of th e nei ghborhood. H e r e-mail of Jul y 1, 20 15, outlinin g her con ce rns will be forw arded to th e Commi ss ion. ~ IV. STUDY SESSION Englewood Light Rail Corridor "Next Steps" Study Jo hn V o boril introdu ce d Elliot Sulsk y of Felsbur g Ho lt & U ll ev ig. Mr. V obo ril rev iewe d th e hi story of th e plannin g proj ec t. Th e D enve r Reg ional Coun c il of G ove rnm e nts (DRC O G ) w as th e sour ce of fundin g for th e proj ec t with th e goal of e nc ourag in g in ves tm e nt in th e 2 • • light rail corridors of the metro area. The City embarked on a Station Area Master Plan in 2012 and a number of different connections were identified that would be necessary to implement the plan. The Next Steps Study advances the ideas from the Station Area Master Plan and studies the feasibility of implementation. lt] In particular, improvements on the west side of Santa Fe were proposed. Due to the cost of extending Floyd Avenue across Santa Fe, other options need to be examined. One of the challenges on the west side of Santa Fe is that there are multiple property owners who are not interested in selling or redeveloping their land. As a result, planning efforts for the west area are very long term and energy will be focused on the other components of the plan in the near term. ~ The rail trail is the highest priority at this time partly due to the fact that there are PUDs (Planned Unit Development) in place in the north and south station neighborhoods and the trail would facilitate travel to those areas. The City of Sheridan also participated in the Next Steps Study. A public hearing is planned to be held on August 4th for the Planning and Zoning Commission to provide a recommendation on the plan to City Council. If] Ms. Townley asked about the prioritization of projects. Mr. Voboril replied that the rail trail is the first priority. Mr. Sulsky guided the Commissioners through the report where the projects were prioritized according to different criteria such as cost, scope and impact on the community. ~ Mr. Flaherty asked the Commissioners to examine the projects with one to five year timelines in order to provide feedback to City Council on the most relevant projects. Mr. Flaherty spoke about the possibility of funding the recommended projects and informed the Commissioners that requests for 2016 through 2020 will be submitted this year. [?] Mr. Voboril presented information on the rail trail from the south at Big Dry Creek to the connection on the north at Dartmouth and Santa Fe. The trai I would fol low a bridge over Dartmouth and continue past the Winslow Crane property. Additional funding will be requested for 100% engineering. Land for the trail is owned by the City, RTD and railroad. At this time, the trail is entirely within Englewood and connections with Denver and Littleton will need to be explored in the future. lt] The Floyd Avenue extension was discussed and it has been determined that a bridge over Santa Fe is not feasible due to the cost and the physical dimensions of a bridge. The City of Sheridan is not interested in participating in a connection north of Oxford. ~ Dartmouth and Oxford were identified as candidates for a potential protected bike lane. Clarkson is also a potential bike route due to its proximity to the hospitals and lower traffic volumes. Cherry Hills Village has expressed interest in assisting with the development of a bike boulevard on Clarkson. The bike boulevard will be relatively easy and low cost to • i~lement. 3 • • • A protected lane on Dartmouth will be a challenge due to the parking currently available to the homes that front Dartmouth. The proposal is for striping a double line 8 feet from the curb that would create a shared lane for parking and bicycles. Mr. Flaherty commented that the intersection of Broadway and Dartmouth is in need of improvement to increase safety which includes decreasing parking and adding a bicycle detection system to help with the crossing at Broadway. ~ Mr. Voboril presented the real estate feasibility study and reviewed the research completed by the consultants. The determination is that retail in the area is saturated and there are not any underserved areas of the City. They recommended that the City create a Downtown Development Authority to include City Center, the historical Broadway area and medical districts, with a goal of working with property owners to reposition underperforming parcels. ~ Mr. Flaherty commented on the underperforming office buildings on the south side of Hampden and the retail east of City Center. The owners of those properties are not highly motivated to redevelop but may be willing to participate if a plan were in place. ~ Discussion regarding the development of housing at the former General Iron Works site ensued. Mr. Flaherty explained that the development will contain workforce housing that is available for a reduced rental rate. There will not be any subsidized Section 8 housing in the development. I?] Mr. Voboril summarized the priorities for implementing the plans. The former Martin Plastics site will soon be under construction as will the General Iron Works property in the north side of the City, which will afford opportunities for implementation. Improvements of the bike lane markings along Oxford as well as the rail trail connection should be completed . The Transit Oriented Development overlay zone should also be implemented. l?lJ Ms. Townley spoke about funding for the projects and encouraged staff to pursue grants and determine where the money is available for the projects. Mr. Flaherty added that over- matching grants increases the likelihood of success in obtaining funds. [?] The Commissioners agreed that another study session is necessary and wi 11 take place July 21 prior to the scheduled public hearing at 6:00 p.m. [/] V. Current Planning Project Priorities for 2016 Mr. Neubecker asked the Commission to prioritize projects for 2016. ADUs, setback exemptions, drive through exemptions, group homes definition, ground floor commercial requirements and zone of transparency requirements were identified as future issues for the Commission to address. VI. ATIORNEY'S CHOICE Deputy City Attorney Comer was not present at the meeting. 4 • • • l?ll VII. STAFF'S CHOICE Staff did not have any further comments for the Commission. ~ VIII. COMMISSIONER'S CHOICE Mr. Fish encouraged the Commissioners to be mindful when interacting with the public. Mr. Bleile asked about the neighborhood meetings regarding the Comprehensive Plan taking place over the weekend and Mr. Voboril reviewed the schedule. l?ll Ms. Townley commented on the 100 Poppies Project taking place at Broadway and Englewood Parkway . The meeting adjourned at 9:08 p.m . 5