Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-05-19 PZC MINUTESCITY OF ENGLEWOOD PLANNING AND ZONING C01\1MISSION MAY 19, 1992 The City Planning and Zoning Commission convened in Conference Room A at 7:00 P. M. for a study session. Members present: Covens · Members absent: Also present: Glynn, Gerlick, Leonard, Tobin, Shoop, Dummer, Draper, Schultz, Martin, Ex-officio None Harold J. Stitt, Planner ********** Inasmuch as this was a study session, there was no approval of Minutes. ********** · -Mr. Stitt reported that the issue of the prohibition of outdoor theaters, which had been raised by Mayor Wiggins, has been resolved. Mayor Wiggins now feels that the licensing and per- mitting process which is currently in place will be sufficient to address the concerns he had. Thus, there is no further need for action on the part of the Commission at this point in time. ********** Mr. Stitt led discussion on the issue of comprehensive planning, and referred to an article from the ICMA . MIS Report dated November, 1991, "Setting Standards for Community Design and Awearance". This article had previously been reproduced and included in the May 5 , 1992 packets for _ the Commission members. Mr. Stitt also distributed a page from the DRCOG Metro Vision Plan, and made particular note of the first two statements: "Any plan is intended to be a statement of the future vision of a community. The vision should express the basic values of the community and outline what the community wants to be like in the long-term." Mr. Stitt reported that he had attended the National Conference of the American Planning As- sociation in Washington, D.C. last week, and that one of the sessions he attended was centered on the "vision process". Mr. Stitt stated that a number of communities have used this vision- ing process to develop their Comprehensive Plans, and it has proven to be quite successful. The process is taken to the "community", and consultants have been used to facilitate discus- sions of the various focus groups. Mr. Stitt stated that the session he attended presented ten case studies; these ranged across the entire United States. A number of the communities were "small towns" --smaller than Englewood. Consultants were relied on heavily to identify the issues; pot luck suppers in the communities were held to encourage an informal exchange of discussion and ideas. One small community in Maine that depends heavily on tourism, had a focus group centered on musicians; another was centered on children. Mr. Stitt pointed out that in Englewood, the schools and school activities are strongly supported, and that this could become a "focus" point. Children themselves might well be involved in what they want their community to be in the future. Mr. Stitt stated that in many instances, members of Planning Commission, City Councils, and staff are too close to an issue and that consultants are "disinterested third parties", and would 1 not "lead" discussions in any particular direction until the issues have been identified by the a community in general. Mr. Stitt suggested that if the Commission and Council choose to use ., the consultant/visioning process, this will be a "constituent-based" Plan. Ms. Tobin inquired about the cost of pursuing the consultant process. Mr. Stitt stated that es- timates range from $100,000 to $200,000. Ms. Tobin suggested that this is a great deal of money that the City doesn't have, and discussed the process the Housing Task Force used in revising the Housing Section of the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Stitt discussed a seminar he had attended recently at DRCOG, which focused on trans- portation issues and the clean air program. This seminar explored ways to obtain information from . a community, and enact laws to reduce air pollution. Three means of obtaining commu- nity response were cited: 1) face-to-face surveys (the respondent will tell you what they "think" you want to hear); 2) mail or telephone surveys (respondents will not take the time to . participate in the survey); and 3) focus groups (this elicited the best response because of the informal discussion setting). Mr. Stitt stated that original consideration had been to ask that each Commission member fo-· ... cus on an issue and meet with members of the community to explore that issue. However, he . is now of the opinion that using outside facilitators (consultants) is the way to proceed, and let . the focus groups decide what the issues are that should be addressed.. The consultants will ·. gather the information, submit it to staff, and it will be the responsibility of the staff to com- pile the information into the ultimate "Plan". Ms. Tobin stated that there is training available for persons who gather information polls; she stated that she had worked for the Gallop Poll previously, and is aware of this training so that "leaders" do not lead the respondents in their answers. Mr. Glynn asked what individual commission members' responsibilities would be were they to lead a focus group. Mr. Stitt stated the commission member would, once the issues are framed, get the focus group together, and to stick with this group through all the meetings it would require to gel the ultimate "vision" on whatever topic they were considering. Mr. Stitt stated that he is very . cognizant that there have been large numbers of citizens involved in de- velopment of previous Comprehensive Plans; however, they were given an "outline" to de- velop, and may not have been encouraged to raise issues they personally felt were important. Discussion ensued. Mr. Covens stated that he also is a little hesitant to commit to a large ex- penditure of funds for this process; he felt those funds could better be spent for economic de- velopment activities. Ms. Martin suggested that the consultant visioning process, as outlined by Mr. Stitt , could very well uncover a "strength" that the City Administration, Commission and Council is not aware of; it could also identify a "weakness" that needs to be addressed. Ms. Martin pointed out the situation in Loveland with their "sculpture bronzing" process ; this arose from one person's idea. Another community Ms. Martin cited is Erie, wherein a gen- tleman was making "mustard", and this product is now marketed widely. Mr. Draper stated _that based on his experience with consultants, in his opinion the money spent will be very worthwhile. Ms. Tobin asked whether the City has the $200,000 to fund this process. Mr. Stitt stated that if this is the route the Commission decides to follow, it then becomes a budget issue that will have to be addressed by the Administration and City Council. He stated that there is a lot of background work that could happen this year, and the consul- tants would not actively begin work until 1993. Ms. Martin addressed the financial concerns of the Commission members, and pointed out that at the goals and objectives meeting of the Council in April, this proposal was discussed. City Council was very supportive, and in some member's opinions this process is "long over-due". Council was also clear that it should 2 clearly be a "grass-roots" process, and there is a need to get out in the community to determine what the citizenry wants. Further discussion followed. Mr. Glynn suggested that sometimes you need to "tear down and begin again." He pointed out that construction and reconstruction projects do create jobs, add to the economy, etc. Mr. Stitt stated that what the City will realize for the money spent, is a focus of where the community wants to be in the future, and this is where the City will need to apply their re- sources. Mr. Draper stated that he felt it was very important that the schools and school chil- dren be involved in this process. Churches were also suggested for involvement in the vision process. Mr. Glynn discussed the proposed rail service that he heard was coming to Denver; he felt this . could be of benefit to the entire metro area. Ms. Tobin suggested the possibility of an "excursion train" running from the Englewood Depot to downtown; she stated that she con- ducts tours of the Molly Brow.n house, and that this brings people in world -wide that spend money in the area. Englewood should explore the possibility of attracting some of this tourism · . .. and money to our area. Ms. Leonard asked for clarification on the role of the consultant in the focus groups. Mr. Stitt ·. stated that the consultant would act as facilitator; set up and continue to monitor the focus groups; help define what the issues are; and submit a report to the staff, who would then be responsible for the compilation of this data into a "Plan". Mr. Sc;:hultz discussed a program he had seen on Television regarding the recent riots in Los Angeles; one point of view that was put forward was tl)at the rioters and looters had no "vested interest" in the community , and did not equate their actions as destruction of something that was theirs.. Mr. Schultz was supportive of the consultant process, pointing that consultants know what' questions to ask, and the right people to bring together to bring up ideas. Ms. To- bin pointed out that consultants "are not of the community", and in her opinion people would work harder if the :'~facilitator" was someone who lived here. Mr. Stitt stated that in discus- sions he has had with people doing consulting, they have stressed the necessity of remaining detached. It is one thing to have people approach you with a specific agenda of issues, but quite another to stimulate thought processes of a group of people on what can be done on any specific issue. Mr. Covens asked if current issues, such as revitalization of Cinderella Ci ty, would be dropped. Mr. Stitt stated that this is not so; in fact, the need to revitalize the Mall might be one of the primary issues and concerns in the community. If this is true, then City Council will know that the citizenry might support additional infusion of funds to upgrade and turn the Mall around. Sales tax revenues were discussed. Ms. Martin stated that the 1992 estimate of sales tax rev- enues is $12 million, only a small part of which are realized from retail activity at Cinderella City. Mr. Glynn pointed out that the funds needed for the consulting process is not a big expenditure paid out at any one time; it could be phased over the year or more, depending on the length of the program. Mr. Stitt stated that he will attempt to get written information from APA on the case issues discussed at the session he attended, and also to get copies of Comprehensive Plans from other communities so the Commission may review the different information contained as well as the 3 formats. Staff will also attempt to get a better handle on the funding that may be required for the program we have discussed, as well as doing preliminary discussions with the consultants. e Mr. Dummer discussed Swedish Medical Center, and the publicity surrounding the fact that the medical center pays no property taxes. It was pointed out to Mr. Dummer that the medical center itself is tax exempt; however, the four medical office buildings are not under the owner- ship of the medical center, and do contribute to the property tax revenues. It was also pointed out to Mr. Dummer that Swedish Medical Center does contribute monetarily to City activities and functions, most recently donating $5,000 to the fund for the HorseCar Shelter. The need to counteract the negative publicity attendant to the medical center with positive in- formation on the contributions that the medical center makes to the community was discussed at length. Mr. Stitt pointed out that the medical center attracts a huge work force every day, and that the City of Englewood has not capitalized on the economic benefits of having such an institution. Ms. Martin pointed out that Englewood residents in need of paramedic transport to · Swedish are not billed for this service. Several members of the Commission stated that they were not aware of this service . .. Ms. Tobin spoke of her recent experience with Swedish in the treatment of a severely asth- . matic grandchild, and the excellent treatment the child had received at Swedish. Ms. Tobin · also addressed the benefits of having Craig Rehabilitation Hospital sharing the campus with .. ·Swedish; Craig is nationally known for therapeutic treatment of spinal cord injuries. Further discussion ensued regarding consultants, and their role in the vision process. Mr. Stitt reiterated that the purpose of the process is to find out what we want to preserve and enhance in the City or what needs to be changed or eliminated. The "how" this goal is achieved be- comes · a responsibility of the City Council, and could require action of the Commission in making recommendations to Council for specific actions. Brief discussion followed. ********** Ms. Martin gav.e -a .brief update of the City Council meeting of May 18. City Council has de- termined that administrative charges will not be assessed to property owners participating in the 1991 or 1992 Concrete Replacement Districts. The Concrete Task Force is continuing to research the problem, and are considering a District for 1993 at which time the majority of the concrete will have been brought up to a "defined" plateau; after the 1993 District, concrete re- placement would be on a 50-50 basis for the property owner and City. Ms . Martin stressed that this is only one of several considerations of this Task Force .. Ms. Habenicht is running for the Executive Board of the Colorado Municipal League . Mr. Covens inquired about the statement in recent City Council minutes regarding the increase in pawn shops in Englewood. He asked if this is in response to the recent ruling in Denver re- garding the sale of guns. Ms. Martin stated that with in a 10 da y p er iod , the City received our or five inquiries about opening paw.n shops ; City Clerk Crow is interviewing all of the a ~li­ cants and will p repare a rep ort for Ci ty Cou ncil. Safety Services Department is aware of the situation, and is reviewing all requests for pawn shops. This may well be in response to the recent Denver ruling, but we don't know at this time. ********** Mr. Dummer inquired about the Golf Tournament as noted in the recent Minutes of the Parks & Recreation Commission. Ms. Martin stated that this is a business appreciation day Tourna- ment for Englewood businessmen. 4 I \ Mr. Covens gave an update on activities of the Tri-Cities Planning Group. There is a meeting on June 4, 6:00 P.M., hosted by Englewood, at which time there will be a presentation by DHM. This company is one of two chosen for interviews by the Group in response to an RFP. Mr. Covens p~ssed around a copy of the proposal which had been submitted to the Planning Group for the brief viewing of members. He urged the entire membership cif the Commission to attend this meeting on June 4, 6:00 P.M. ********** Mr. Stitt reviewed the upcoming calendar of events for the Commission. On June 2, Depart- ment Heads will be present to discuss the Capital Improvements Program. This meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 P. M. On June 16, staff has scheduled a Public Hearing on the Treecycle Planned Development. A Public Hearing has also been scheduled on the proposed new B-3 Zone District, which will be an amendment to Title 16 of the Englewood Municipal Code. A Public Hearing has then beeq scheduled to apply the B-3 Zone District to the area in northwest Englewood along West Evans · . A venue that has been discussed on previous occasions with the Commission. Also on the . agenda for June 16 will be the wrap-up of the Capital Improvement Program discussion and prioritization of the projects for submission to City Manager Fraser. .Mr. Stitt suggested in ._ light of the full agenda for that . meeting, it might be advisable to meet earlier than 7:00 P .M. Discussion ensued. It was the consensus of the Commission that the meeting of June 16 begin at 6:30 P. M . in the City Cpuncil Chambers. -~_,/4 Recording Secretary . 5