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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-04-20 PZC MINUTES~ CITY OF ENGLEWOOD PLANNING AND ZONING COMM!SSION • APRIL 20, 1982 I. CALL TO ORDER. The regular meeting of the City Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:05 P.M. by Chairman McBrayer. Members present: Allen, Barbre, Becker, Carson, Gilchrist, McBrayer, Senti, Stoel, Tanguma Powers, Ex-officio Members absent: None Also present: D. A. Romans, Assistant Director II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES. Mr. McBrayer stated that the Minutes of April 6, 1982, were to be considered for approval. Tanguma moved: Stoel seconded: The Minutes of April 6, 1982, be approved as written. The motion carried. III. FINDINGS OF FACT §22.4-10 and §22.4-11 CASE #7-82 Mr. McBrayer stated that the Findings of Fact regarding the amendment of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, §22.4-10b(3), §22.4-10h§§2, and §22.4-llh§§4 were to be considered for approval. He asked if there was any discussion on these Findings of Fact? Carson moved: Stoel seconded: The Findings of Fact on Case #7-82, the amendment of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, be approved and re- ferred to the City Council. Mr. Stoel asked if the staff had received any comments or further informa- tion regarding the matter of the video games and other amusement operations? Ms. Powers stated that this matter was briefly discussed at the City Council study session on April 19th; she felt that the City Council is in favor of controlling these businesses through this type of review. The proposed amendments have also been brought to the attention of the Downtown Business Association and the Englewood Downtown Development Authority, and members of those organizations plan to come to the Public Hearing before City Council. Mr. McBrayer asked if there was further discussion? Hearing none, he asked for the vote. The motion carried. -2- IV. PUBLIC FORUM. There was no one present to address the Commission. V. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE. Ms. Powers stated that there is a meeting scheduled for Thursday evening, April 22nd, at 7:00 P.M. in the City Council Chambers, relative to Little Dry Creek improvements in the downtown area. She stated that this is a very important meeting, and urged members of the Commission to attend if at all possible. Four designs on the improvement of Little Dry Creek were initially presented, and have now been narrowed down to two alterna- tives. These alternatives are concerned with the area of Little Dry Creek between West Hampden Avenue and West Girard Avenue. One of the alternatives is to place the Creek in a closed conduit; the other alternative is to keep the open channel for this block. The Advisory Committee has recommended the alternative with the open channel. Ms. Powers stated that each of the Boards and Commissions invited to this meeting will be asked to review these alternatives, and submit their recommendations to City Council by May 7th. Cost factors of the alternatives were discussed. Ms. Powers stated that improvement of this one block reach of the Creek would be approximately $2,000,000 without acquisition costs. Mr. Gilchrist asked if inflation factors were figured into the cost figures? Ms. Powers indicated that the cost figures being used were 1983 dollars. Mr. Gilchrist asked if a contingency was built into the figures; he noted that many pro- jects result in cost over-runs. Ms. Powers stated that the initial contract on Little Dry Creek improvements was for $9,300,000, with actual construction costs estimated at $6,000,00o+. Construction costs are now being considered on a phase-by-phase basis. She stated that the contract is · with Wright- McLaughlin, with a completion date of January, 1984. Ms. Powers pointed out that properties will have to be acquired by January, 1983, to give Wright-McLaughlin a one-year construction period. She pointed out that most of the right-of-way that is needed would be from South Logan Street west. The City will get the properties appraised before negotiations with the property owners are begun. If the negotiations are unsuccessful, then the City Council would have to consider condemnation proceedings. Ms. Powers stated that there is nothing further to report on the Prowswood development. Ms. Powers discussed the remodeling of the Cinderella City Shopping Center, noting that there is construction underway in Joslins, Penneys and the construction of the Food Court on the lower level under the Blue Mall. Ms. Powers suggested that Gary Pittman be invited to the next Commission meeting to give an overview of the various remodeling plans in the shopping center. Mr. Tanguma asked if they were planning to do anything to improve the ap- pearance of the parking lot? Mrs. Romans stated that she was not aware of any plans for this. Ms. Powers stated that the building permit for the parking structure between Penneys and The Denver has been issued. Mrs. Romans reminded members of the Planning Commission of the tour of the City Facilities scheduled for 8:00 A.M. on April 24th. Members are to meet in the south parking lot at City Hall. Mr. Tanguma and Mr. Allen stated that they would be unable to go on this tour. -3- VI. COMMISSION'S CHOICE. Mr. Allen asked if there was any program to require the picking up and removal of trash and debris from properties in the City. He discussed the problems he has experienced with trash blowing onto his property, and noted that it was particularly bad during construction of the Orchard Place mid-rise. Discussion ensued. Mr. McBrayer asked if there had ever been an active "No Litter" campaign in Englewood. Ms. Powers stated that there is a "clean-up" campaign which begins in May. Discussion ensued. Mr. McBrayer suggested that possibly a letter could be drafted to the Code Enforcement supporting an active enforcement of the Weed and Litter Ordi- nance. Mrs. Romans and Mrs. Becker suggested that school children could be involved in the clean-up/litter pick-up program. Mr. McBrayer suggested that an active anti-litter program be added to the list of Planning Com- mission goals for the coming year. Mr. Allen stated that he would like to see the City, the Chamber of Commerce, DBA and EDDA get a campaign going to clean up the City. Ms. Powers asked that if the Commission members see properties that are poorly cleaned to notify the City. Mr. Gilchrist commented on the excellent breakfast meeting with Swedish Medical Center. He stated that he was very impressed with this facility, and has made arrangements to also be taken on a tour of Craig Rehabilitation Hospital. Mr. McBrayer stated that the City Council will hold a Public Hearing on the proposed Sign Code on May 10th; he urged Planning Commission members to attend this meeting and support the Sign Code. Mr. McBrayer stated that he would be attending the APA meeting in Dallas beginning May 8th. He stated that if there is any particular item on the conference agenda that a member would like to have him attend, he would attempt to do so. The meeting adjourned at 7:40 P.M. The Commission then met in study session to consider work items and goals for this next year. Ms. Becker led the discussion of the item~ previously identified by the Commission members as important matters they felt should be considered. She stated that these matters had been arranged in order of the number of votes each received, and by topic. She stated that it is clear that matters pertaining to public relations, the Comprehensive Plan and .Zoning were matters that were of vital concern to the Commission, with concern also being expressed on traffic and transportation, the com- munity center, and other items that did not seem to fit into any one category. Ms. Becker stated that she felt the next step is to consolidate the goals and objectives outlined, and to eliminate those that are not felt to be of vital importance, and to add others that may be suggested. Ms. Becker reviewed those items that had received the most votes at the previous study session. Mr. Stoel stated that he would like to see the matter of landscaping guidelines established in the very near future. Discussion ensued. Mr. Gilchrist stated that he felt the Commission was an advisory body to the City Council, and he felt this list of projects should have input from the City Council and from the staff. Ms. Becker -4- pointed out that this list is a compilation of suggestions by the Commission members and the staff, and while she agreed that the Commission is an ad- visory body to the City Council, she felt this list was more initiative items than advisory items. Further discussion ensued. Mr. Allen stated that he felt a great many of the items on this list are already underway, or should be the responsibility of the EDDA, the City Council, etc. Mr. Allen asked for explanation of several of the items included on the list, such as the Downtown Zone District and the community center. Mrs. Becker stated that she did not feel that the Planning Commission had to be "reactive", but could also be "pro-active", and that by developing a list of projects to work on was a means to be "pro-active". The items that were grouped in the Public Relations category were dis- cussed. Only those items that received three or more votes were considered. It was determined that there is a need to compile a data base of information on the City for public and private use; there is a need for political support and leadership in dealing with highway department, etc., regarding Santa Fe and the Corps on South Platte Improvements. The Commission determined that the suggestion to hold neighborhood discussions be eliminated. The establishment of a committee to study revitalizing older housing, code en- forcement, financial assistance and incentives from the City is on-going, and the Commission would like to be brought up-to-date on these activities by the City staff. The items listed under the Comprehensive Plan category were then considered. Mrs. Romans noted that it has been the plan of the staff to review the Plan every couple of years, with a major review every five years. It was deter- mined that there should be an in-house review of the Comprehensive Plan to determine if it still reflects the City's posture. The items listed under Zoning were considered. Ms. Powers stated that the City Attorney has drafted a preliminary ordinance dealing with the conversion of apartment units to condominium units. Mr. Allen suggested that the ordinance requiring landscaping in multi- family, commercial and industrial developments be written to specifics to avoid some of the experiences he has been through with "over enthusiastic" enforcement by staff members. The Downtown Zone District is being drafted at the present time. It was also felt by the Commission that they should consider zoning revisions regarding lot sizes, setbacks for single and low-density multi-family. It was determined that the establishment of a development site plan review committee should be eliminated, as should the matter of the Sign Code inas- much as this is presently before the City Council for Public Hearing on May 10th. No item in the Traffic/Transportation category received three or more votes, so none were considered during this session of the Commission. The need for a Community Center was considered. It was noted that there is a committee working on this at the present time. It was suggested that an informational meeting with this committee be scheduled, and that the Commission offer their support to this committee. .. -5- Mr. McBrayer stated that he would like to see the matter of an annexation policy discussed with the City Council. Ms. Becker stated that the Commission has outlined seven matters that they seem to feel are of importance to consider in depth this coming year. She stated that the next step is to come up with the action program to realize these objectives that the Commission has outlined. It was suggested that this be reviewed further at the next regular meeting, and that these goals be prioritized. Mr. Tanguma stated that he felt the development of a Downtown Zone Dis- trict should have a high priority. Further brief discussion ensued. The work session adjourned at 8:55 P.M. trude G. Welty ecording Secret ry ..... MEMORANDUM TO THE ENGLEWOOD CITY COUNCIL REGARDING ACTION OR RECOMMENDATION OF THE CITY PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION. DATE: SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATION: Carson moved: Stoel seconded: April 20, 1982 Findings of Fact on Amendment of Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, Case #7-82 The Findings of Fact on Case #7-82, the amendment of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, be approved and referred to the City Council. The motion carried. By Order of the City Planning and Zoning Commission.