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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-10-07 PZC MINUTES• • • Plannin g and Zon in g Co mmi ss io n Stud y Sessio n -Lan dscap ing, Hard Surface and Co mm ercial Vehi cle We ight Octo ber 7, 2008 Page l of 8 CITY OF ENGLEWOOD PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION October 7, 2008 I. l?] CALL TO ORDER Th e re gul ar meeting of the City Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Community Developm ent Conference Room of the Englewood Civic Center, Chair Bleile pr esiding. Present: Bleil e, Roth , King, Welker, Calonder, Krieger, Knoth, Fish Absent: Brick Staff: Tricia Langon , Senior Planner Guest: Ed Dolan, All Recycling 11. APPROVAL OF MINUTES September 16, 2008 Welker moved: Knoth second e d: TO APPROVE THE SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 MINUTES Chair Bleile asked if th e re were an y modifications or corrections. Mr. Kin g noted on pa ge 7, second paragraph he voted y es instead of no. AYES : NAYS: Roth, Welker, Kri eg er, Calonder, Knoth, Fish, King None ABSTAIN: Bleile ABSENT : Brick Motion carri ed. APPROVAL OF FINDINGS OF FACT Case #2008-1 2, Sign Code and Flag Amendments Kri ege r mov ed: King second ed: TO APPROVE THE FINDINGS OF FACT FOR CASE #2008-12 Chair Bleile asked if there were any modifications or corrections . There were none. • • • Plannin g and Zoning Commission S tudy Se ssio n -Land scaping , Hard Surface and Commercial Veh icle Weight Octo ber 7 , 2008 Page 2 of 8 AYES: NAYS: Roth, Welker, Krieger, Calonder, Knoth, Fish, King None ABSTA IN: Bleile ABSENT: Brick Motion carried. 111. AMEND ME NTS TO TITLE 1 6 RELATED TO LANDSCAPING Ms. Langon said this is the initial kick-off of the landscaping discussion. For background, the first landscaping ordinance was in the 1985 code, which consisted of about 5 pages . The first rew rite was in 1996 and it was expanded to 15 pages. Now we are looking at more updates and rewrites to make the Code easier to use and to understand . She stated she has been looking at a number of landscape ordinances and feels t he Commission can take parts of those and pa rts out of the Englewood Ordinance and come up with a good Ordinance. She said what she did not want to do tonight is to give the Commission copies of various codes and have you pick and choose. What will help her as she goes through the process is if she has a bette r understanding of what the Commission and the City is looking fo r as far as landscap i ng goes. She asked the Comm ission what landscaping means to you. The following is the list the Commissioners provided: Growing things Beautify the City Hardscape Non hardscape Xer iscape Non growing things Open Space Non-structural things -benches, paseos, rocks , water features, artwork, walkways Trees -minimum number Shrubs -minimum number Ground cover -minimum number Buffer zones Non weeds Area -minimum amount Right-of-way area Hardscape -retaining walls Sc reening Berms Green roof Permanency • • Plannin g and Zoning Commission Study Sessio n -Land scaping , Hard Surface and Commercial Vehicle Weight October 7, 2008 Page3of8 Mr. Welker felt at some point Staff needs to address the hierarchy of things, such as encouraging trees, minimum number of certain items, differentiate between ground cover that is growing and trees, etc. The next question she asked was: What is the purpose of landsc aping? Beautify the City Buffer "Gre en" Health -both physical and mental Cleans air and water Creates oxygen Creates shade Visual Change Environmental health Regulate temperature Retain soil -slows run off Defines space Place creator Pedestrian friendly Human friendly (Humanity) She said eventually we'll take all these words and put them into a purpose statement and eventually come up with a definition, whether it is our current one or some version of it. She said the one thing she would like the Commission to not do is come up with a laundry list of what landscaping is . Ms. Langon distributed two handouts. The first was a copy of the current definition of landscaping and the different sections of the current landscap e code and the second was the first two sections of the Landscape Code . Mr. Fish asked if regulations for noxious wee ks are included in the Landscape Code. Ms . Lan gon stated the y are not. Ms. Langon said at a f uture stud y session she would print out the definition of landscaping from the other codes to cut and paste from and also to see how they are laid out. She said Englewood's Code may be a bit long and could be shortened. One of the biggest changes we need to be looking at is more differentiation between residential and commercial landscaping . Mr. Welker asked if Staff would be looking to incorporate some of what has been discussed in the Medical Small Area Plan to reword for the whole code. Mr. Langon said yes, there • will not be two separate lands caping codes. Planning and Zoning Commission Study Session -Landscaping, Hard Surface and Commercial Vehicle W eight October 7 , 2008 Page 4 of 8 • She said she believed photographs would be helpful for everyone. Mr. Welker said he would be happy to take pictures as he travels around the City. • • Applicability will be discussed . Is the code for just new construction or across the board? Mr. Welker said obviously, when landscaping has been there a while it's an enforcement issue , but you can't enforce something that is not written as a standard. Ms. Krieger had concerns that people will remove landscaping and rock t heir entire front yard. Ms. Langon said there is a maintenance clause that states you cannot take out the required landscaping on a property . Ms. Langon asked the Commission to email her with their thoughts and ideas between meetings . She also asked them to write down the address of properties the y photograph in case she wants to go out to the property. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 16, RELATED TO HARD SURFACE AND COMMERCIAL VEHICLE WEIGHT Ms. Langon stated she read the minutes from the last meeting and as she understands there wasn 't a major issue on the hard surface part of the discussion. Mr. Fish said we did not even discuss it. Ms. Krieger said no, we did not, but no one seemed to care to either . Mr. Welker said there really wasn 't an issue about the weight itself; it was all the other things in that section of the Code that weren't being discussed. Mr. Fish said his impression was that we never discussed the hard surface issue itself because after discussion regarding the weight change we continued the hearing . Ms. Langon said you 're sa y ing it was not discussed within the public hearing. Mr. Welker said it wasn 't discussed in detail. Ms . Krieger asked if an y one on the Commission had a problem with the hard surface amendment. She said she did not. The other Commissione r's did not. Ms . Langon outlined several options for the Commission in the Staff Report. The purpose of both Amendments was to bring the UDC in line with other sections of the Code . She cited several examples . She said she understood there were concerns regarding the definition of commercial vehicle as there are multiple versions within the Municipal Code and the State defines a commercial vehicle in another way. This is a larger issue than just making adjustments within the UDC and also it is a policy issue that is a Council discussion of what is or isn 't a commercial vehicle. Ms. Krieger asked if it was a current discussion point. Ms. Langon said she knew Council had been talking about parking in neighborhoods and various other things . What Planning and Zoning can do is look at some definition terminology and make recommendations. Planning and Zoning Commission Study Session -Landscaping, Hard Surface and Commercial Vehicle Weight October 7 , 2008 Page5of8 • Whether it is within these Amendments or separately, that's part of what this is . The purpose of the Amendments was to have uniformity among the codes and if we can at least get uniformity that's a step forward. If the definitions are uniform throughout the code it is going to be easier to make future changes. • • Mr. Knoth said he believes the Commission understood that, but felt there were other issues we wanted to discuss and were afraid if we passed the amendments as is we would never have the opportunity to make changes to the other parts of the code. Mr. Welker said we have so little control over our agenda when something like this comes forward we want to address it. Mr. King said his understanding is the changing of the weight applies to commercial vehicles, but there is no definition for commercial vehicle. Ms. Langon stated there is a definition for commercial vehicle . He asked what it was. Ms. Krieger said Mr. White read the definition from the Code at the Public Hearing. Everyone agreed it is a poor definition. Ms. Langon said that definition is not the issue of these Amendments. She said she is trying to move the Amendments forward so that we can have continuity; then we can come back and look at the other issues. It is hard to enforce if the Zoning Code states 6 1 000 pounds and other parts of the Code states 7,000 pounds. Chair Bleile said this is a waste of time talking about the difference between 6,000 and 7,000 pounds. If the code is 7,000 consistently throughout then the only issue the Commission should be talking about is changing that variable. Ms. Krieger said we disagree . Chair Bleile said he understands the other issues , but doesn't believe the Commission should hold up this change . Ms. Krieger said she agrees with Mr. Welker that in the past some things have never ever come back to the Commission. Chair Bleile said the Commission controls what we are going to discuss. The other members did not agree. Mr. Welker said that's part of the problem . Mr. Welker asked Staff now that this issue has been put on the table, what kind of time frame can we expect to see further discussion on this . He asked if a six month timeframe was reasonable . Ms. Langon said she believed so , as least to discuss it. She said she is not saying it will be done in six months . Chair Bleile said he personally feels Ms. Langon will not let the commercial vehicle discussion fall off our radar screen. Mr. Welker said he is in agreement that the two little issues are really little issues and doesn 't believe there is a lot of reason or even desire to stand in the way of clarifying something as long as we can get some commitment. Ms. Langon offered four options to the Commission: 1. Table the public hearing for the hard surface and commercial vehicle amendments. This means it may or may not come up again. The Commission agreed this was not an option. • • Planning and Zoning Commission Study Sessio n -Landscaping , Hard Surface and Commercial Vehicle Weight October 7, 2008 P age 6 of 8 2. Continue the October 21 st public hearing for the hard surface and commercial vehicle amendments to a particular date . This gives Staff time to try and prepare, but not enough tim e to coordinate with other areas. This was not an option either. 3. Amend th e Case request b y remo v ing the commercial weight limit amendment and proce ed with only the public hearing for propos ed hard surface amendments on October 2 1st. The Commission decided that was not an option either. 4. Proceed with the public hearing Oil October 21 st for the proposed hard surface and commercial vehicle weight amendments as written provided Staff prepares an analysis of commercial vehicle parking in residential zones and keeps the Commission apprised of its progress . Chair Bleile suggested the Commission ask City Council to put a moratorium on enforcement. That way it will make the City Council act. Ms. Krieger said if we 're going to do that we might as well not do anything. Discussion continued on what the definition of a commercial vehicle is . Mr. Welker said he feels this definition can be redefined more clearly . He said he would make a motion at the next meeting to go with option #4. He said the intent was never to hold Staff hostage to get this done, but to sa y this is an important issue . Mr. Welker said he would like to hold a discussion with City Council on how the Commission can introduce something that we feel is important to the agenda, not just City Council saying what is important to them. Ms. Langon said that is an option . Mr. Fish asked if this is the way to force issues, to withhold approval of something until there is action . Chair Bleile said if you propose a moratorium for enforcement that definitely triggers somebody to do something. Mr. Welker said we don't have the power to write the moratorium. Ms. Langon said she doesn 't believe the Commission needs to force an issue or a moratorium when you already ha ve the authority within the Code to paraphrase "updates of the title". It's a matter of whether y ou want to use it. She read the applicable section of the Code. She asked if that was what the Commission is askin g to do. Mr. Welker said it is exactl y what we are asking. Mr. Fish said he had read that and said an individual would have to write something up and bring it to a session. Mr. Welker said we could make a motion at a publ ic hearing that we would like to discuss this issue within a timeframe. Ms . Langon reminded the Commission that Council reads the minutes and all you reall y need to do is in your minutes do a motion or a recommendation that Staff take something to Council. The other thing is to request that the Commission hold a meeting with Council. There have been in the past Study • Sessions where the Plannin g and Zoning Commission met with Council. If y ou do that y ou .. Plann ing and Zoning Commission Study Session -Landscaping, Hard Surface and Commercial Ve hicle Weight October 7 , 2008 Page 7 of 8 • need to come with an agenda of what you want to discuss. It could be a short list of topics the Commission thinks is of importance to the City. • • Ms. Langon suggested for a November meeting we take a half hour or so and white board things that are of importance to you, the areas you would like to see worked on , and maybe prioritize some of them. She said she could also bring the Department priority items and the Council priority items and see where they all match . Mr. Welker said maybe that type of meeting should be held once or twice a year. Ms. Langon said we've covered more ordinance work this year than in past years. Part of that reason is because Director White gave me the directive early on in the year that I was to spend the majority of my time doing ordinance work. Chair Bleile asked Ms. Langon what the goal is that she wanted to see relative to the hard surface and commercial vehicle weight question . She said she wants to know what to expect and how to handle things at the next meeting as to whether she needs to prepare something that would address all aspects, including how definitions and other things worked with other departments and other areas of the Code or could we move these two Amendments forward with the understanding that the larger issue will be brought back before the Commission . Ms. Krieger said you answered our question for us too ... it's not a simple matter of just writing a better definition because there are so many different layers to this. Mr. Fish said Mr. White stated at the last meeting he promised that Staff would bring back to this meeting all the parts of the Code that are impacted. He said he didn't think Staff could do that so quickly. Ms . Langon said probably if she didn't already have a lot to do and hadn't been out of the office for a week. Ms. Krieger said all Mr. White said he would do was to try and find a definition for commercial vehicle in the rest of the Code since he didn't have the complete Code at the hearing. Mr. Welker asked the members if an y one had a problem with going forward with proposal number 4, which is to clear up these two items with the understanding that the other issues will be brought back to us. They did not. Ms. Krieger said she thought the Recording Secretary did a super job on the September minutes. Mr. Welker concurred. The Recording Secretary thanked the Commission for the compliment. • Planning and Zoning Commi ssion Study Sess ion -Land scaping, Hard Su rface and Com mercial Vehicl e We ight October 7, 2008 Page 8 o f 8 IV. PUBLIC FORUM ~ There was no public present. Mr. Dolan left the meeting at the beginning of the hard surface and commercial vehicle weight discussion . V. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE ~ Director White was not present. VI. STAFF'S CHOICE li!lJ Ms. Langon stat ed the October 21 st meeting will be two public hearings . The first will be a Conditional Use for a trash transfer station and the second will be the continuation of Case #2008-11 . VII. ATTORNEY'S CHOICE ~ Ms. Reid was not present. VIII. COMMISSIONER'S CHOICE • ~ Mr. Welker said he liked what the Commission talked about tonight as far as a future agenda item . Chair Bleile concurred . The meeting adjourned at 8 :25 p .m . •