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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-03-21 PZC MINUTESCITY OF ENGLE W OOD PLANNING AND ZONING CO M MISSION March 2 1, 2 006 I. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the City Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:05 p.m. in the City Counci l Conference Room of the Englewood C iv i c Center, Chair Roth presiding. Present: Abs e nt: Staff : Welker, Diekmeier, Hunt, l<noth, l<ri eger, Mosteller, Roth , Bleile Brick (Excused) Robert Simpson, Director Tricia Langon, Senior Planner Harold Stitt, Community Development Manager Mark Graham, Senior Planner John Voboril, Planner Darren Hollingsworth, Econom ic Development Coordinator Brook Bell, Planner · Ryan Huffman, Planning Technician II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES March 7, 2006 Mr. We lker moved: Ms. l<rieger seconded: TO APPROVE THE MARCH 7, 2006 M INUTES AS WRITIEN AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Mosteller, Roth , Bleile, We lker, Hunt, l<rieger None Diekmeier, l<noth Brick Motion carried. Ill. APPROVAL OF FINDINGS OF FACT Mr. Welker moved: Ms. Moste ll er seconded: THE FIND INGS OF FACT FOR CASE #USE2005-00011 BE APPROVED AS AMENDED Mr. We lker requested the wording of the motion be rephrased to say "there wi ll be a so lid fence along the no rth line and around the trash enclos u re." 1 AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Mosteller, Roth , Bleile, Welker, Hunt, Krieger None Diekmeier, Knoth Brick Motion ca rri ed. IV. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PRESENTATION Mr. Simpson introduced himse lf and asked everyone 111 attendance to introduce themselves. Mr. Simp son reviewed what was discussed at the Econom ic Development Retreat held in February. A rather large book was comp il ed for the City Council. He noted a compact disk had been burned for the members of the Commission w ith some of the information conta in ed in the book. He reviewed severa l sections contained in the book. Mr. Simpson gave a short powerpoint presentation regarding Economic Development. He stated the purpose tonight was to talk and inform and provide the Commission with information, discuss Economic Development issu es and gaps, and to let the Commission know staff is going to be working on strategies to wo rk towards filling some of those gaps in order to remain competitive. Mr. Stitt reviewed several trade articles to provide background information on the City. Regulatory barriers were discL/'Ssed. Mr. Simpson stated the method of doing business has changed in the last five years, whether it is more through the computer or whether deve lopment standards are different. The biggest difficulty is figuring out methods to keep up with that change. Mr. Hollingsworth d iscussed the Community Profile marketing piece. It is a user friendly document for people interested in Englewood. It is also available on the City's website. Targeted industries are sports related, medical and entertainment and cultural. More than 15% of the employment base in Englewood is medical. Swedish Hospital alone employs approximately 2,800 people. Ms. Mosteller asked about the website that shows vacant properties that are avai lable. Mr. Hollingsworth stated that site is eng lewoodsites.com. She suggested that site wou ld be good to include in the Community Profile. She also thought the Art Shuttle and the commun ity vision may be good to include. Mr. Simpson noted there were two awards announced this week from the Denver Region al Council of Governments. They were for the Art Shutt le and the Commercia l Catalyst Program. 2 Ms. Mosteller wanted to know if it is typical of a first tier suburb not to have Class A office space. Mr. Simpson stated Englewood was incorporated in the early 1900's. Towers that were built in the 19SO's and 1960's on Hampden were Class A at the time they were built, but Englewood became landlocked and was passed over. He said Englewood may not have the demand for Class A space, but when we get new office space, such as in the CityCenter project, it does well. Mr. Welker stated he is happy to see the government evolving. Fifteen years ago most builders in the entire Denver area thought that Englewood's government, especially the part that dealt with builders, was the worst around. There was corruption and a lack of cooperation. He feels that is one of the biggest things that have changed. Economic development is now being supported, people speak nicely of the staff and the job they do and some parts of the development code have been addressed. Mr. Simpson said one of the things he has heard through interviews is staff provides very good assistance to big business. Mr. Welker stated staff does not stand in the way of development. In fact, staff seeks it out and from his point of view is succeeding at changing the image of what the City government has been. It sets the stage for people to want to come to Englewood. The Transit Oriented Development has been very positive. Mr. Bleile asked what exactly is broke in Englewood . Mr. Simpson said probably the biggest thing that is heard over and over is parking, such as spaces are too big and requirements are too excessive. The parking issue needs to be addressed. Also, requiring a certain percentage of landscaping does not make sense any more. What staff needs to be doing is looking at what makes the best impact and what provides the need. Mr. Simpson said staff is beginning to study Denver's main street zoning. Staff is going to look at it and see if it is something that can apply to Englewood. Mr. Simpson reviewed the concept. Discussion ensued. Ms. Krieger asked what can be done to interface better with small businesses. Mr. Simpson stated staff is trying to understand that issue better. A discussion ensued regarding the flexibility of the Building Code. Mr. Fish asked if the City has ever tracked or measured whether Englewood is becoming more urban versus residential. Mr. Graham said that information could best be found though DRCOG. Mr. Graham reviewed the Community Indicators information. All information he addressed is located on the compact disks the Commission was given. Discussion ensued. Mr. Simpson noted staff has identified targeted categories and business that the City is trying to go after. The City is trying to pay attention to how sports, entertainment, medical, and cultural type of categories can be integrated into the community. A Councilmember stated Englewood can expect higher quality development in this community and we should expect it. Mr. Simpson believes Englewood is moving in that direction. 3 Ms. Krieger asked if the City sees the Sh eridan redeve lopm e nt as a positive or a negative. Mr. Simpson stated it is a littl e of both. Unfortunately, all th e b usin esses go in g in there wanted to be in Englewood, however Englewood does not have g round for them short of doing what Sheridan is doing, co nd em nin g and reaggregati n g properties. Council does not want to go in that d ir ection. Tho se businesses are sales tax dollars th at unfortunately Englewood will los e. On the othe r hand, people do n ot recog ni ze governmenta l jurisdi cti ons, so they will beg in to think of this lo cat io n as a place to be and will shop in Englewood also. Mr. Simpson stated staff is work in g o n reta1n1ng Wal-Mart. They are looking to do an expansion of approximately 7,300 square feet. Ms. Mosteller asked if Englewood is keeping businesses. Mr. Graham stated we have actually lost businesses in many categories; we have fewer businesses, but lar ger ones with more emp loyees . Manufacturing is one of the top six empl oym ent categories in Englewood. Staff is trying to un derstand how many of those compan i es will k eep some part of th eir manufacturing operation in Englewood and how many will leave or take part of their operation ove rse as. Mr. H o llin gswo rth n oted that Preferred Machine ex pand ed and added fifty n ew emp lo yees . Englewood has a very str o n g industrial presence. Mr. Simpson said as th e world c ha n ges, the City h as to become more flexible and more competitiv e. Our ab ility to reta in our quality of life in this co mmunity r eq uir es that the City do that. The City has to start doing business differently ac ross all categor ies. Ms. Krieger stated she feels that Englewood's in d u st rial and manufacturing presence is downplayed and overlooked. When people t alk about Englewood it is about housing and businesses. The industrial and m anufa cturi n g is a huge compo n ent and is short-changed to a la rge degree. She feels it needs to be b uilt up ... n ot downplayed. Mr. Roth said he feels the City is heading in the ri g ht direction, but there is st ill a lon g way to go. V. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE Mr. Simpson thanked the Commission for t akin g time to list en and visit w ith staff. H e said if the Commission has any thoughts over th e next seve ral weeks or months, to please let staff know. Ms. Langon rev i ewed th e u pcom in g m eetin g dates. She stat ed th e re would be n o meeting on Apr il 4. A Public H earing is t entativ ely sched ul ed for April 18th. VI. ATTORNEY'S CHOICE Ms. Reid was n o t present. 4 VII. COMMISSIONER'S CHOICE Ms. Krieger said it was great meeting staff and thanked them for attending. Mr. Simpson stated that staff is really the Commission 's team . They are a great, hard working team and noted all staff members provided in put into the information that was discussed tonight. Ms . Krieger said she fel t the information presented was good quality, important information. She was very pleased the City is starting to quantify and get a real c lear picture of what is happening. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Barbara Krecklow, Recording Secretary 5