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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-10-20 PZC MINUTES• • • Planning and Zoning Commi ss ion Public Hearing Case #2009-04 October 20, 2009 Page 1of10 CITY OF ENGLEWOOD PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING October 20, 2009 I. CALL TO ORDER ~ The regular meeting of the City Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Englewood Civic Center, Chair Bleile presiding. Present: Absent: Staff: Bleile, Roth , King, Welker, Krieger, Knoth, Fish , Calonder Brick, Kinton (alternate) Alan White, Community Development Director Audra Kirk, Planner I Nancy Reid, Assistant City Attorney II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES October 6, 2009 &lll Knoth moved: Krieger seconded: TO APPROVE THE OCTOBER 6, 2009 MINUTES Chair Bleile asked if there were any modifications or corrections . Mr. Welker noted on page 2, first paragraph , last sentence the word "in " be added before the word residential. Mr. Knoth and Ms. Krieger accepted Mr. Welker's friendly amendment. AYES : NAYS : Bleile, Roth , Welker, Krieger, Knoth, Fish , King, Calonder None ABSTAIN : None ABSENT: Brick Motion carried. Ill. PUBLIC HEARING Case #2009-04, Amendments to Title 16 Related to Medical Marijuana 'f~ .. , ·~ Roth moved: Krieger seconded : TO OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING ON CASE #2009-04 • • • Planning and Zoning Commission Public Hearing Case #2009-04 October 20, 2009 Page 2 of 10 AYES: NAYS : ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Bleile, Roth , Welker, Krieger, Knoth, Fish, King, Calonder None None Brick Motion carried. ~: Ms. Kirk, Planner, was sworn in. She stated the case before the Commission is Case #2009-04, proposed changes to Title 16 Related to Medical Marijuana. Already submitted for the record are the Staff Report and proof of publication that the hearing was published in the Englewood Herald on October 2, 2009 and on the City of Englewood website from September 23, 2009 to October 20, 2009. In 2000 Colorado voters passed a constitutional amendment allowing the use of medical marijuana. On August 17, 2009 Englewood City Council approved Ordinance No. 34, an emergency ordinance establishing a temporary suspension or moratorium on Medical Marijuana Primary Care-givers until licensing and zoning regulations could be put into place. On October 5, 2009 City Council approved through a second reading Ordinance No. 41. This Ordinance amends Title 5 of the Englewood Municipal Code to include licensing for Medical Marijuana Primary Care-givers . On September 9, 2009 Englewood Planning and Zoning Commission began discussion on Medical Marijuana and how to regulate it within Title 16 of the Englewood Municipal Code -the Unified Development Code. Th~ discussion carried over to the October 6, 2009 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. During these discussions the Commission discussed appropriate zone districts, required permits and conditions that would be suitable for Medical Marijuana Primary Care-givers. Also discussed at the Planning and Zoning Commission meetings were Use Classification, Definitions, Zone Districts, Approval Procedures, Use Specific Standards and distancing. The Commission recommended the use be added as a Commercial Use in Table 16 ~5-1.1 Table of Allowed Uses. The Commission determined to use the same definition as the State Constitution relating to Medical Marijuana, Medical Marijuana Use, and Medical Marijuana Primary Care-giver . The Commission determined that Medical Marijuana Primary Care-giver is not an appropriate use in the R-1-A, R-1-B , R-1-C, R-2-A, R-2-B, MU-R-3-A, MU-R-3-B and M0-1 zone districts . These districts are primarily residential districts . The Commission also determined that the use would be prohibited as a home occupation. It was also determined that the industrial districts were not an appropriate district due to the lack of high traffic found in commercial districts that would make the area more visible to the public. It was determined that a Medical Marijuana Primary Care-giver would be an appropriate use in the M-1, M-2 and M0-2 medical districts with a conditional use permit and as a permitted use in the MU-B-1 and MU-B-2 zone districts with distancing requirements . • • • Planning and Zoning Commi ss ion Public Hearing Case #2009-04 October 20 , 2009 Page 3of10 After discussion the Commission recommendation was: Prohibit Medical Marijuana Primary Care-givers in the R-1-A, R-1-B, R-1-C, R-2-A, R-2- B, MU-R-3-A, MU-R-3-B and M0-1 zone districts. Allow the use in M-1, M-2 and M0- 2 (mixed use medical) as a Conditional Use with distancing requirements and 1n MU-B-1 and MU-B-2 (business) as a permitted use with distancing requirements. The Unified Development Code identifies three types of "allowed " uses that are differentiated by the type of review performed by the City. A "Permitted Use" is allowed as a use-by-right provided all Code requirements are met. A "Conditional Use" requires a Conditional Use Permit with review by the Development Review T earn and approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Commission approval requires a public hearing which includes public notice by posting of the property and publication in the designated official newspaper and /or the City's website. The Commission reviews the permit application for compliance with criteria and may impose additional requirements of approval specific to the application. The Conditional Use Permit is the one review process that offers the opportunity for community input in a public review. The Conditional Use Permit also requires an annual review for compliance with any requirements for approval. The third type of use is a "Limited Use". The limited use does require additional review, however can be done administratively . Use-specific standards are zoning compliance requirements that form the basis of review criteria and recommendations for a particular use. Commission recommendation: Add Section 16-5-2.C.13 to Chapter 16 that establishes use specific standards for Medical Marijuana Primary Care-giver as follows: 1. The use shall apply for and receive a Conditional Use Permit in the M-1, M-2 and M0-2 zone districts. 2. The use shall not be located within 500 feet of a licensed child care facility. 3. The use shall not be located within 500 feet of any educational institution either private or public. 4. The use shall not be located within 500 feet of any church or religious institution. 5. The use shall not be located within 2,500 feet of another like use if in the MU-B-1 or MU-B-2 zone districts. 6. The use shall have a City Sales Tax license. 7. The use shall comply with all applicable City Codes. (Allows for review for compliance with all applicable City Codes) Ms. Kirk referenced the distancing map that was distributed at the start of the meeting. The map shows the locations of the existing Medical Marijuana Primary Care-givers. She noted • • • Planning and Zonin g Co mmis s ion Public Hearing Case #2009-04 October 20 , 2009 Page 4of10 each large blue circle has a diameter of 5,000 feet; 2,500 feet of each side, which is the required distance in the MU-B-1 and MU-B-2 zone districts. Ms. Kirk noted portions of the 2,500 foot buffer extend into the M-1 and M-2 zone districts . The Commission must determine if the distancing buffer from the MU-B-1 and MU-B-2 zone districts end at the zone district or extend into the M-1 and M-2 zone districts . That concluded Ms. Kirk's presentation and she offered to answer any questions the Commission might have. Mr. Welker asked if there is a Medical Marijuana Primary Care-giver just across Englewood 's borders, does that facility preclude a new one inside Englewood's City limits within the 2,500 feet. Ms. Kirk said Staff would only regulate what is inside Englewood 's boundaries . Staff would have no way of kn .owing what is happening outside Englewood 's borders. Director White noted the Commission could make that a recommendation and part of the applicant's application would be to address where other like businesses in the area are located . Chair Bleile asked if there were any other questions for Ms. Kirk . There were none . Chair Bleile noted for the record that no one in the audience wished to address the Commission. Welker moved: Calonder seconded: TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING ON CASE #2009-04 AYES: NAYS: Bleile, Roth, Welker, Krieger, Knoth, Fish , King, Calonder None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Brick Motion carried . -~. '\ 'I = ...=1 Krieger moved: Fish seconded: CASE #2009-04 AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 16 UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT CODE RELATED TO PRIMARY CARE-GIVER AMENDMENTS APPROVAL TO CITY COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION FOR ADOPTION . MEDICAL MARIJUANA BE RECOMMENDED FOR WITH A FAVORABLE • • • Planning and Zoning Commissi o n Public Hearing Case #2009-04 October 20 , 2009 Page S of 10 Discussion ensued regarding distancing requirements. Mr. Welker noted he did not believe distancing requirements have ever applied to businesses outside Englewood's boundaries, but felt if there was a school on Denver or Littleton's boundary it should be considered. Mr. Fish asked if that type of distancing applies to any other businesses in the City. Ms. Kirk said it did not. Mr. Fish said of the entities that the City does have distancing requirements for does the City apply that kind of a rule to them. Ms. Kirk said no. Discussion ensued. Mr. Welker asked Assistant City Attorney Reid if there would be issues if the City regulates based upon a like business in another jurisdiction, but within Englewood's distancing requirements. Ms. Reid said that has never been done and she would have to do some research and present her findings to City Council. Mr. Fish said if the City does goes down that path, the issue of who provides the information needs to be determined . He stated he is hesitant to go that way because of legal issues; we are not sure how to do it and it has a variety of complex issues surrounding it. Mr. King said these are complex legal issues; the State's Attorney General doesn 't even know how to regulate Medical Marijuana. He stated he doesn't necessarily have a problem with Medical Marijuana in general, but he does have a problem with the conflicts between the Federal and State laws and that are no defined regulations from the State Attorney General, leaving it all up to the cities and towns on how to deal with this issue. Ms. Krieger stated the Commission is not dealing with the same issues at the State's Attorney General. The Commission is dealing only with zoning issues; where do we want to allow something that the State has said is legal. Discussion ensued. Mr. King stated the Commission could always relax the regulations at a later date. He felt the regulations need to be tighter rather than looser to begin with . Ms. Krieger said she 's probably in the minority, but after looking at the distancing map she feels that the 2,500 foot distancing requirement is too great. Mr. Fish agreed. He said there are some members of the Commission who have clearly stated that they want none of these facilities or uses inside the City, but to set up rule structures that say you can have it, but not really, is a poor way of going. If the Commission does not want them at all, then let's write the rules clear and simple. Let's not write distancing so it precludes them being in the City. Ms. Krieger said she would feel more comfortable if the distancing requirement was reduced to 1,250 feet. Mr. Welker said there are three issues to resolve tonight and the Commission may have to make motions on them independently. Mr. Roth said looking at the distancing map there is room for approximately 7 or so facilities outside of the medical district. One of his concerns is that in several of the allowable areas it is doubtful a facility would locate there, such as in Cornerstone Park. The Commission did not suggest a distancing requirement for parks . Ms. Krieger said there are many neighborhood parks that blanket the City. • • • Planning and Zoning Commi ssion Public Hearing Case #2009-04 October 20 , 2009 Page 6of10 Mr. Fish suggested the Commission work on one issue at a time . -~ Fish moved: Welker seconded: Discussion ensued. THE 2,500 FOOT DISTANCING REQUIREMENT BETWEEN LIKE BUSINESSES IN THE MU-B-1 AND MU-B-2 ZONE DISTRICTS NOT AFFECT PLACEMENT OF LIKE BUSINESSES IN THE M-1, M-2 AND M0-2 ZONE DISTRICTS. AYES : NAYS: Bleile, Roth, Welker, Krieger, Knoth, Fish, King, Calonder None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Brick Motion carried. l~ Welker moved: Krieger seconded: REDUCE THE 2,500 FOOT DISTANCING REQUIREMENT FROM LIKE BUSINESSES TO 1,250 FEET. Mr. Roth felt reducing the distancing requirement to 1,250 feet would allow for too many facilities for the Englewood population service area of 60,000 people. Mr. Fish stated he f elt that was reasonable . Mr. Knoth said he felt the Commission was being anti-business placing any restrictions on something that is legal by the State Statutes. Mr. Roth quoted from an article in Westward that said Denver is the wild wild west of the medical marijuana business. We have precedence of being anti-business when those businesses do not reflect the values of the citizens. Ms. Krieger said she did not know how helping sick people is not reflecting the values of the citizens. Mr. Roth said one of the existing Englewood busines?es is advertising in Westward as a medical lounge. Ms. Krieger said she understands the abuses of medical marijuana. Mr. Roth said the use is ripe for abuse; we need to place controls on it and it is harder to tighten controls rather than loosen them . Ms. Krieger agreed. Mr. King asked how the City is hurting the people by not allowing 20, 30, 80 or 100 facilities. He said he believes the three existing facilities could service the whole population base. Mr. Fish asked what he was basing that on. Ms. Krieger said from a business standpoint the City doesn't tell clothing stores we don't want you . When the City put restrictions on the car dealers several years ago we lost several of the good dealers and they were very angry with us. Ms. Krieger said she believes Medical Marijuana needs to b e kept under control, but doesn 't think limiting it to whoever got here first is the way to go . Mr. Knoth said he believes the free market will dictate how many will open . Mr. King said again his concerns aren 't with Medical Marijuana, it's with the image issue and until there • • • Planning and Zoning Commis si on Public Hearing Case #2009-04 October 20 , 2009 Page 7of10 are clearly defined legal guidelines, what happens when this all blows up and we have to deal with the mess? It may or may not, but the State Attorney General doesn't even know how to handle it. Discussion ensued. Mr. Welker said he would rather have large shops that are visible rather than many small ones. Mr. Fish said he believes the City's rules will have an impact on how many can open. Chair Bleile called for a vote. AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Motion failed. Krieger, Knoth Fish, Bleile, Roth, Welker, King, Calonder None Brick Welker moved: Calonder seconded : ALL DISTANCING REQUIREMENTS IN ALL ZONE DISTRICTS SHALL APPLY TO FACILITIES WITHIN THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD AND/OR ACROSS THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD 'S BOUNDARIES. Ms . Krieger said historically the City has not taken into consideration what happens outside of the City's borders. She did not believe it is a good idea. Mr. Knoth said that motion could knock out every area in the medical district. Ms. Krieger agreed . Mr. Welker said not necessarily so because in that area the use would be a Conditional Use with no distancing requirements. Ms. Krieger said by potentially eliminating the rest of the areas all we are doing is forcing any applicant who wants to apply for the use in the medical district to see how many they can fit in there and that we will let them. Mr. Welker said he would just like to consider the motion. Chair Bleile said he feels it is a good sense of community. Chair Bleile called for a vote. AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Roth, Welker, King, Calonder, Bleile Fish, Krieger, Knoth None Brick Motion carried . Mr. Fish asked what the purpose was of having Conditional and Permitted uses in the two areas. Mr. Welker said so that they might have closer spacing in some areas . Ms. Krieger said she voted for a Conditional Use in the medical area because there is a lot of residential there. The Conditional Use also allows for public input. Mr. Roth felt the distancing requirements helps simplify the process . • • • Planning and Zoning Commission Public Hearing Case #2009 -04 October 20, 2009 Page 8of 10 Mr. Roth asked Director White if he felt not having a distancing requirement from a park would be an issue, especially near Belleview Park. Director White said he did not. Chair Bleile stated for the record he was disappointed that there wasn't more public in attendance. He said he thought this particular issue, from a community perspective, would bring some passionate people forward to comment either way, especially considering the records of prior City Council meetings and the comments that were raised. He said he understands business requirements, as somebody who has had a small business in the past and is all for small businesses. He doesn 't feel restrictions should be placed on businesses all the way from the Federal government down to local communities, but at the same time we do establish Planning and Zoning committees to make sure or to have a voice as to what we want to see and what kind of value our community has. He does not want a sign with a marijuana plant on it at each end of Broadway saying "come to Englewood, we sell pot". He noted some time ago the City Council went after an established business in Englewood with a sign of someone smoking pot. We were against a sign with somebody smoking pot, but we're for the act of smoking pot. Mr. Fish noted smoking is not the issue ; the City currently has a smoking ordinance in place. Chair Bleile doesn 't care if people want to participate in the use of medical marijuana in the privacy of their own home, but this issue does not fit into what his vision of Englewood would be from a roadmap perspective . Ms. Krieger said the guidelines the Commission is proposing has severely limited people from coming to Englewood for medical marijuana. From her perspective she doesn't know what the difference is between medical marijuana and all the liquor stores we have . Mr. Welker said by recommending the City do allow Medical Marijuana Care-givers in certain places he doesn't believe we're saying that we don't want business. We've acknowledged it, but we are also saying we have a community standard and we want some limits . Mr. Knoth said medical marijuana is something that is recommended b y a Doctor and there are hundreds of facilities around the metro area. He said he feels Englewood is losing sales tax. Chair Bleile asked if it is o.k. to sell your morals out for a dollar. Ms. Krieger said she doesn't know how this is selling your morals out. It's the difference between seeing it as medicinal marijuana and seeing it as teenage kids trying to get high. Some Commissioner's questioned the fact the City is losing sales tax dollars. ··~1 t~ The original motion shall be amended to include: 7. Th e 2,500 Foot Distancing requirement betwee n like businesses in the MU-8-7 and MU-8-2 Zone Districts not affect placement of lik e business es in the M-7 , M-2 and M0-2 Zone Districts . • • • Planning and Zoning Commission Public Hearing Case #2009-04 October 20, 2009 Page 9of10 2. All distancing requirements in all Zone Districts shall apply to facilities within the City of Englewood and/or across the City of Englewood 's boundaries. Mr. Fish voted no because there are too many flaws in the process and it hasn 't been thought out well enough, not that we haven 't given our best. There are too many implications of things going wrong. Ms . Krieger voted no because it's too restrictive. Mr. Roth voted yes because based on what he has read in the Comp Plan , Section 7, this does allow for more than the three facilities we currently have. Goal 1 of Section 7 states "To provide an economic reliable environment that builds and maintains a diverse base of businesses". We are allowing a new type of business. It also maintains the diverse base because it limits where they can go and also the number. This is probably the most effective approach the Commission could come up with. Mr. Knoth voted no because he believes that the City is cutting itself off of sales tax. Mr. King voted yes even though he feels it is not restrictive enough. He said he's not trying to be anti-business ; he is a business owner himself, but is concerned over the le gal issues . He would rather see some other community work out the issues . Chair Bleile voted no because the use should be restricted to the medical district only. AYES: NAYS: ABSTAIN : ABSENT : Motion failed. Roth, Welke r, King, Calonder Fish , Krieger, Knoth, Bleile None Brick IV. DR COG -2009 DENVER REGIONAL NATURAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN ~ Discussion was tabled. V. PUBLIC FORUM l?ll Mr. Randy Miller addressed the Commission . He stated he is a lifetime resident of Englewood. He said he and a friend have done a· lot of research in regards to opening a dispensary in Englewood. He said he has a printout from the Department of Public Health that clarifies a lot of the facts . It says over 800 physicians have signed for patients in Colorado . He sai 'd he is very pro-business and wants to do everything by the book. He said • • Planning and Zoning Commission Public Hearing Case #2009-04 October 20, 2009 Page 10 of IO it sounded like to him that the Commission is trying to make it as hard as possible for people like us to open a business. VI. DIRECTOR 'S CHOICE ~ Director White provided an update on future meetings: November 3 -Study Session, murals and sign code amendments November 17 -Study Session, murals and sign code amendments December 8 -Review of 2009 p riorities December 22 -Meeting cance led VII. STAFF 'S CHOICE t?l1 Ms. Kirk had nothing further to report. VIII . ATTORNEY 'S CHOICE i@ Ms. Reid had nothing further to report. IX. COMMISSION ER'S CHOICE ~ The Commissioners had nothing further to report. The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p .m.