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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-11-21 PZC MINUTES• • CITY OF ENGLEWOOD PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION November 21, 2006 I. CALL TO ORDER The regular meetin g of the City Planning and Zoning Commission was ca ll ed to order at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers of the Englewood Civic Center, Chair Roth presiding. Present: Absent: s t::1 ff : Brick, Krieger, Knoth, Roth , Diekmeier Hunt (Excused), Blei l e (Excused), Mosteller (Excused), Welker (Excused) Tricia Langon, Senior Planner Nancy Reid, Assistant City Attorney 11. APPROVAL OF MINUTES November 7, 2006 Mr. Brick moved: Mr. Knoth seconded: TO APPROVE THE NOVEMBER 7, 2006 MINUTES AS WRITIEN. AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Brick, Knoth, Roth None Diekmeier, Krieger Mosteller, Welker, Hunt, Bleile Motion carr i ed. Ill. APPROVAL OF FINDINGS OF FACT Case #USE2006-06 Mr. Knoth moved: Mr. Brick seco nd ed: TO APPROVE THE FINDINGS OF FACT FOR CASE #USE2006 - 06 AS WRITIEN AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Brick, Knoth, Roth None Diekmeier, Krieger Mosteller, Welker, Hunt, Bleile • Motion carried. 1 • VI. PUBLIC HEAR I NG Case #2006-07 Temporary Emergency Shelters Chair Roth stated the issue before the Commission is Case #2006-07, Temporary Emergency Shelters. Chair Roth asked for a motion to open the public hearing. Ms. Krieger moved: Mr. Knoth seconded : THE PUBLIC HEARING ON CASE #2006-07 BE OPENED. AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Brick, Knoth, Roth , Diekmeier, Krieger None None Hunt, Mosteller, Bleile, Welker Motion carried. Ms. Langon, Senior Planner, was sworn in. She stated the issue before the Commission is Case #2006-07, Amendments to the Unified Development Code pertaining to 16-5 Use Regulations related to Emergency Temporary Shelters. Ms. Langon stated notice was published in the Englewood Herald on November 3, 2006. This was done in accordance with Section 16-2:3G of the Englewood Municipal Code . The publication was officially • entered into the record. • She stated the Amendments are being brought forward as a result of a request by City Council. In 2004 with the adoption of the Unified Development Code Council added a definition of Emergency Temporary Shelters. Previous to the UDC there was no listing for temporary shelters and was not an allowed use. In 2004 in the UDC it was allowed in the MU-B-2 and the MU-R-3-A zone districts . Those districts were chosen because they are along the Broadway zone in the northern portion of the City and in close proximity to transit. In late 2005 a church in the R-2-B residential zone district began using their basement for a shelter . Because of citizen complaints there were some issues identified by Community Development and the Building and Safety Division related to zoning, building code and fire code violations. Because of the frigid temperatures at the time, the facility was allowed to operate for a short time after providing some minor fire safety measures. However, they were not willing to adhere to all of the required safety measures, notwithstanding the zoning issues, so they did not continue to operate the shelter . Council reviewed the situation in January of 2006 and again in October and determined that they would like to see Amendments to the Code that: • Maintained Emergency Temporary Shelters as permitted uses in the MU-B-2 and the MU-R-3-A zone districts; • Provided review criteria including a maximum thirty (30) day time frame for the operation of a temporary shelter; and • Addressed hea lth and safety issues. 2 • • • Changes to Table 16-5-1.1 Table of Allowed Uses include: • The removal of food shelters as a Use Type; • Change Conditional Use to Limited Use under the MU-R-3-A and MU-B-2 zones; and • Add reference to 16-5-6:D-1 under Additional Requirements: This provides direction to applicable regulations and requirements. Create Section 16-5-6: Limited Uses which: • Establishes Limited Use criteria in the UDC with Subsection D.1 pertaining specifically to Emergency Temporary Shelters; • D.1 a Establishes that an Emergency Temporary Shelter may operate only within public/institutional buildings such as churches, schools or government buildings. • D.1.b: Requires that Building and Fire safety measures are met before a Limited use permit can be obtained. • D.1.c: Establishes a definition of "temporary" by setting a maximum five (5) consecutive days timeframe per Limited Use permit, with a maximum of six (6) permits per calendar year. • D.1.d: Establishes additional criteria if a shelter attempts to operate more than thirty (30) days per calendar year . • D.1.e: Provides the City Manger discretion to allow a shelter to operate based on the nature of the emergency. • D.1.f: Provides City Manager discretion to impose other regulations as necessary. Mr. Brick asked how the hearing was advertised to the public. Ms. Langon stated it was advertised in the Englewood Herald, as all hearings are . Mr. Brick asked if the community around the church was notified separately. Ms. Langon stated the church was notified Council was looking at the issue. Mr. Brick asked if the church was sited for any unsafe practices. Ms. Langon stated they were not. The City tried to work with the church because of the situation and because the church was not aware of all the requirements for a shelter. Ms. Langon stated they used the church as a shelter for only one or two more nights. Mr. Brick asked whose decision it was not to cite the church. Ms. Langon stated ultimately it may have been the Director's decision. Mr. Brick asked if she meant the Director of Community Development. Ms. Langon stated she could not honestly say exactly whose decision it was. She said in most zoning violation cases Staff tries to work with the people and understand the situation before citing them. This was a unique situation and one that the City is not familiar with. Mr. Brick asked how many of the people sent to the church from the Denver Rescue Mission were families. Ms. Langon stated she did not believe the Denver Rescue Mission worked with families and did not know the makeup of the people staying at the church. Mr. Brick wanted to know if the Denver Rescue Mission keeps track of the ones that are substance abusers or have criminal records. Ms. Langon stated she had no idea. Mr. Brick stated his problem is the Colorado Division of Housing's voucher program, which especially relates to families, goes mostly to illegal aliens in the City of Denver. Mr. Brick stated he has been trying to obtain information from Mr. Rich McMannis, 3 • • • community representative, in the Colorado Department of Housing. Mr. Brick stated he was told the Department has not done an audit since 2004 to verify this is not happening. He stated he feels there is a lot of housing availability within the City of Denver, but some of the economic and sanctuary City policies of the City of Denver are creating this problem. He stated he has a concern about importing that poverty into the City of Eng lewood. Mr. Knoth stated he did not see how housing the homeless related to emergency shelters. Mr. Brick stated he did not either. He said that's why he is concerned that this whole thing is predicated on just that paradox, if you will. Ms. Krieger stated she did not believe it is. Ms. Langon reminded everyone the issue is a general Emergency Temporary Sh elter regulation that would cover homeless peop l e if there were a flood such as the one in 1965 where massive numbers of people were witho ut homes, a tornado, or electrical outages for massive areas. These Amendments are not just for the homeless. They will cover every type of situation in which people need emergency shelter. Mr. Brick said he believes they were predicated on the homeless and the Denver Rescue Mission to send homeless people to a religious institution . Isn 't that why we are hearing this? Ms. Langon stated that is only one portion of it. Mr. Diekmeier asked if the maximum of five consecutive days and six permits per calendar year is for an address. Ms. Langon stated that is correct, it is per address. Mr. Diekmeier asked what a food shelter is. Ms. Langon stated it usually is a food bank. Mr. Knoth asked what constitutes a public institution. Ms. Langon said it is churches, schools, and government buildings. Mr. Knoth asked what most churches and schools are zoned. Ms. Langon said they are all across the board, probably in all but industrial districts. Mr. Knoth asked why not allow the use in other zones? Ms. Langon stated it was Council's request to maintain only the two districts that wou ld offer people the abil ity to travel on public transit and only short distances off of Broadway. It was concentrated in an area viable for people to be traveling in. Ms. Langon again stated there is always the provis ion that the City Manager, based upon the nature of the emergency, can deem other p laces could be used. Mr. Diekmeier asked if there were any group living facilities in the City. Ms. Langon stated there are. He asked for further information. Ms. Langon said there are several group homes that are for the developmentally disabled, some for the elderly, and there is a group home that is a women's shelter. Ms. Krieger asked if the applicant has to justify it is an emergency in order to obtain a permit. Ms. Langon stated that is part of the lim ited review ... .what is the emergency. Chair Roth stated the Denver Rescue Mission does not normally bus people out of their facility. They only do it when they have run out of room. Mr. Brick said the Denver Rescue Mission is an excellent organization, but he fee ls they will see more of a need to ship people to other faci li ties in the future. 4 • Ms. Krieger stated she agreed, but that doesn't have anything to do with this Amendment. She said she felt the shelter was initiated by the church more than it was the Denver Rescue Mission. Chair Roth stated he felt the Amendment gives a lot of leeway to the City Manager. He asked Ms. Reid for an explanation of how that would work. Ms. Reid stated she and Ms. Langon had discussed that issue and agree it is a little vague. She said the City Manager cannot make the regulations looser, but he can make it tighter (make people less able to set up an emergency shelter). She stated it is an emergency shelter with a maximum of five (5) days per occurrence. It does give Council or the citizens time to object if the restrictions are too oppressive. Ms. Langon again stated it is an emergency operation. It can cover a wide range of events from the homeless to a Katrina type disaster. Staff does not know all the types of regulations that need to be covered. Ms. Reid said one of the suggestions that came up was say there was an anthrax scare. Shelters could be set up and the City Manager could require anyone with an anthrax vaccination to go to one and people without a vaccination to go to another for isolation purposes. The only areas the City Manager can modify are the length of time and type of huilding. The Amendment does not limit the City Manager as to the restrictions he can • impose. • Ms. Krieger said that both of those sentences are just common sense in an emergency. You have to have someone who can make a decision if you have half the City homeless . Chair Roth asked if there were any further comments or questions. Mr. Brick said he felt it creates problems for the type of shelters we are talking about for the business environment along Broadway. He said although these Amendments have a broader reaching perspective, he feels the reason the Commission is seeing this is so that people can operate emergency shelters for the homeless. Ms. Krieger stated actually it was because someone was operating one illegally. There is nothing in these Amendments that would allow them to operate it again. Mr. Brick said he wants to be sure that the City does not have the kind of situation where the City invites Denver to send its problems, such as poverty, out to Englewood. He stated he would be opposed to that. Ms. Krieger moved: Mr. Diekmeier seconded: THE PUBLIC HEARING ON CASE #2006-07 BE CLOSED . AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN: Brick, Knoth , Roth, Krieger, Diekmeier None None 5 • • • ABSENT: Bleile, Mosteller, Hunt, Mosteller Motion carried. Chair Roth asked if there was any further discussion. Ms. Krieger moved; Mr. l<noth seconded CASE #2006-07, EMERGENCY TEMPORARY SHELTER AMENDMENTS, BE RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL TO CITY COUNCIL WITH A FAVORABLE RECOMMENDATION FOR ADOPTION. Chair Roth stated he feels the Amendments are good, but he is a little troubled with Section F, although it is a necessity. With no further discussion, the secretary called the roll. AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: l<noth, Roth, Krieger, Diekmeier Brick None Welker, Mosteller, Bleile, Hunt Motion carried. v . PUBLIC FORUM There was no one present to address the Commission. VI. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE There was no Director present. VII. STAFF'S CHOICE Ms. Langon stated the next meeting will be December 5, 2006, which will be a public hearing for Case #2006-00003, Amendments to the Denver Seminary Planned Unit Development. Ms. Langon said the second packet that was sent to you contained information from Arapahoe County regarding Habitat for Humanity wanting to construct homes at 2079 W. Vasser. There is currently a structure on the property which they are going to demolish. Because Habitat for Humanity is pursuing Federal funds for the project and because the property is older than fifty years an environmental assessment must be done regarding any architectural significance or historical significance of the property. The Planning and Zoning Cummission serves as the consulting agency for such questions and in the packet you will see Arapahoe County found no significance to the structure and therefore no opposition to its demolition. Your concurrence or non-concurrence is needed and a motion to forward this to Arapahoe County in support of the Habitat for Humanity project. 6 • • • Ms. Krieger moved: Mr. Knoth seconded: THE COMMISSIONS FINDS NO HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE TO THE EXISTING STRUCTURE AND DIRECTS STAFF TO PREPARE A LEDER OF SUPPORT FOR THE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE. Chair Roth asked how this property came to be identified as a Habitat for Humanity property. Ms. Langon said they bought the property and are going to subdivide it to create four lots that will support two units each. They did seek Council support on this project about a month ago. AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN: Al3SENT: Brick, Knoth, Roth, Krieger, Diekmeier None None Bleile, Mosteller, Hunt, Welker Motion carried. VIII. ATTORNEY'S CHOICE Ms. Reid stated she had nothing further . IX. COMMISSIONER'S CHOICE Mr. Brick stated he attended a Metro Mayor's Caucus and will update the Commission at a later date. Ms. Krieger would like to discuss the Commission's attendance policy at a future meeting. Chair Roth agreed there are some members with attendance records at fifty percent, which is not good for continuity sake. Ms. Krieger stated Council requires sixty percent on any commission. The Commission's current requirement is seventy-five percent. lLe meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m . 7