Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-08-22 PZC MINUTES• CITY OF ENGLEWOOD PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION August 22, 2006 I. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the City Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:05 in the City Council Chambers of the Englewood Civic Center, Chair Roth presiding. Present: Absent: Staff Present: Bleile, Diekmeier, Krieger, Mosteller, Roth, Welker, Knoth, Brick Hunt Tricia Langon, Senior Planner Nancy Reid, Assistant City Attorney 11. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of June 20, 2006 Ms. Krieger moved: Mr. Diekmeier seconded: TO APPROVE THE JUNE 20, 2006 MINUTES AS WRITIEN. • AYES: Brick, Diekmeier, Krieger, Mosteller, Roth, Welker None • NAYS: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Bleile, Knoth Hunt Motion carried. 111. PUBLIC HEARING Case #SUB2006-00005 Rodney Jesse 1930 West Baltic Place Chair Roth asked for a motion to open the hearing. Ms. Mosteller moved: Ms. Brick seconded: THE PUBLIC HEARING ON CASE #SUB2006-00005 BE OPENED. AYES: NAYS : Bleile, Diekmeier, Krieger, Mosteller, Roth, Welker, Knoth, Brick None AljSTAIN: None ABSENT: Hunt The motion carried. 1 • • • Chair Roth asked staff to present the case. Ms. Tricia Langon, Senior Planner was sworn in. Ms. Langon stated the case before the Commission is Case #SUB2006-00005, the right-of-way vacation of the alley between South Raritan and South Tejon Streets which abuts properties addressed in the 1800 and 1900 blocks of West Baltic Place and West Iliff Avenue. The applicant is Mr. Rodney Jesse of 1930 West Baltic Place. Already submitted for the record are the Staff Report and proof of publication of the Hearing in the Englewood Herald on August 11, 2006. Written notice was mailed to adjoining property owners on August 10, 2006. Ms. Langon stated the applicant is requesting to vacate a public alley (right-of-way). It is a 16 foot platted alley located in Block 77, Sheridan Heights Subdivision. The alley adjoins the 1800 and 1900 blocks of West Baltic Place and West Iliff Avenue. Ms. Langon refer- enced an aerial photograph included in the Commissioner's meeting packet. The City will consider a right-of-way vacation or a closure when it is shown that the right-of-way no longer is needed for public purpose and also when there is support by abutting property owners. If approved, the land within the 16 foot alley is returned to the abutting property owners. In this case being a 16 foot alley, eight feet goes to the West Baltic Place property owners and eight feet goes to the West Iliff property owners. Mr. Jesse submitted an appli- cation and petition to close the alley. The petition was signed by property owners on both sides of the alley. They all support the closure. The City reviewed the request and there are no City utilities within the alley, Public Works reviewed and since alleys are under the pur- view of Public Works they felt that by vacating the alley and returning it to the property owners the City would no longer have maintenance of the alley and also they are willing to close the curb cut on the Tejon end of the alley to prevent access of vehicles. The alley is not used as a traffic way. It does provide access currently to abutting private properties, but serves only that private access. All properties have street access and the property owners SLjJport the closure. The request was forwarded to outside public utilities and service pro- viders. The request for comment was sent to the 11 licensed trash haulers in the City. Trash pick-up is from the street so they do not need alley access. The request was also sent to Comcast, Qwest and Xcel Energy, all of whom have services within the alley. All provided written comment that they had no opposition provided that the 16 foot utility easement is maintained in that location, which will be done through the Ordinance if the vacation is passed by Council. From a City perspective there is no strong public purpose for retaining a physical alley and coupled with the support from the abutting property owners Community Development recommends approval of the alley vacation and that the Planning and Zoning Commission forward that recommendation to City Council. Ms. Langon stated in considering a vacation request, the primary criterion is whether the existing public right-of-way provides a public purpose. The commission must determine: 1. The right-of-way is no longer needed to provide access to one or more of the adjoining properties and 2 • 2. The right-of-way is no longer needed to provide services to one or more of the adjoining properties. Ms. Mosteller said Ms. Langon stated Public Works agreed to remove the curb cut at South Tejon Street. She wanted to know what is on the other side of the alley at South Raritan Street. Ms . Langon stated there is an Industrial Type B curb, not an actual cut into the curb. The entire block is the same, where on the Tejon side there is an actual cut into the curb and gutter. Mr. Welker asked if the list of property owners signed off represented 100% of the proper- ties. Ms . Langon stated it did at the time the application was submitted. There has been at least one sale since and Ms . Langon did speak with the new property owner and he sup- ports the closure. Mr. Diekmeier asked if some of the property owners were not residents of the block in question. Ms. Langon stated that was correct. She stated there are several non -conforming residences in the industrial district. The rest are industrial uses, so therefore there would not be residents. Mr. Diekmeier asked if the industrial property owners were represented . Ms. l angon stated they were. That concluded Ms . Langon's presentation . Chair Roth thanked her. • Mr. Roth asked if there was anyone else in the room who would like to speak. • Mr. Chris Gibbons was sworn in. Mr. Gibbons stated he bought his property last November and has cleaned up trash in the alley. He said when Mr . Jesse came to him regarding the closure he was all for it. He stated he is the one property owner who has a garage door that faces the alley but stated he no longer needs that access. There is not enough room in the alley to drive a car into the garage. Mr. Rodney Jesse was sworn in . Mr . Jesse wanted to know how the 16 feet of land was go- ing to be divided between the property owners. Ms. Reid informed Mr. Jesse the guidelines of a Public Hearing. She asked him to make his statement and if the Commission has ques- tions of the staff they will ask them. He stated the alley was partially closed for years and then reopened several years ago. It has been a dumping ground for trash and a nuisance since being reopened. Mr. Tito Garcia was sworn in. Mr. Garcia has resided in the area for almost 60 years. He stated it's a quiet place to live and we like it there, but we do not like the trash that is scat- tered all over the alley. We also have a problem with code enforcement. They sometimes pick up the trash and other times they do not. They do not always answer their phones when we call. The recording tells us "we'll get back to you", but we don't hear from them. There is a trailer full of junk on West Iliff about 50 feet from the corner. The resident of the property adjacent to the trailer was attempting to sell the trailer full of junk, but it is still there . The police have been out but nothing has been done ... the junk is still there . He stated he would like the alley closed so we can clean it up and keep it clean. 3 • • • /'A:'. Derek Shannon was sworn in. Mr. Shannon urged the Board to approve the vacation . Chair Roth asked if there was anyone else who wished to comment. There were no further comments. Mr. Bleile moved: Mr. Knoth seconded: THE PUBLIC HEARING ON CASE #SUB2006-00005 BE CLOSED. AYES: NAYS: Bleile, Diekmeier, Krieger, Mosteller, Roth, Welker, Knoth, Brick None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Hunt The motion carried. Mr. Bleile moved: Mr. Knoth seconded: THE PLANNING COMMISSION FORWARD TO CITY COUN- CIL WITH A RECOMMENDATION TO VACATE SAID ALLEY PROVIDED THAT THE 16 FOOT PUBLIC UTILITY EASEMENT BE RETAINED Chair Roth asked for discussion. Ms . Krieger stated the vacation sounded like it was in the best interest of the community. She stated since the area is zoned industrial there is really no reason to have an alley that is an eye sore and a problem. Ms. Mosteller thanked everyone who attended the meeting and for taking the initiative to improve their neighborhood. Mr. Brick addressed the problem property on Raritan and Iliff. He stated the property does indeed look bad. He said if Code Enforcement is not addressing the problem he suggested the residents push for it to be cleaned up . He said he wanted to let the residents know that people do care. AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Bleile, Diekmeier, Krieger, Mosteller, Roth, Welker, Knoth, Brick None None Hunt The motion carried . 4 • • • IV. PUBLIC FORUM No one was present to address the Commission. V. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE Ms. Langon reviewed the meeting schedule for the rest of the year. She stated the annual Board and Commission Appreciation Night will be held on Monday, August 28th beginning at 6:00 p.m. at Centennial Par!<. She stated Community Development has hired a new Plan- ning Technician, Audra Kirk, who will be starting on August 28th. VI. ATTORNEY'S CHOICE Ms. Reid stated she had nothing further to bring before the Commission. VII. COMMISSIONER'S CHOICE Mr. Diekmeier stated he will be unavailable for the September 6th meeting. Ms. Mosteller asked Ms. Langon if she knew the reason why Flood Middle School was taken out of the Small Area Plan study. Ms. Langon stated she did not have that information at this time. Ms. Krieger stated they have formally announced the school will be put on the market, which was one of the concerns about having it in the study area. Mr. Welker said part of Planning and Zoning's discussion at the June 20th meeting brought some of that to. light.. .. it is on the other side of Hampden and not really in the study area. Ms. Mosteller also stated she will be unavailable for the September 6th meeting. Chair Roth also reminded the Commission about the Appreciation Night at Centennial Park on August 28t11 • The meeting adjourned at 7:30. Barbara Krecklow, 5