HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/20/2001
CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE PLANNING COMMISSION
Minutes of Meeting
December 20, 2001
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1. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER
The regular meeting of the Wheat Ridge Planning Commission was called to order by Chair
THOMPSON at 7:30 p.m., December 20, 2001, in the City Council Chambers of the Municipal
Building, 7500 West 29th Avenue, Wheat Ridge, Colorado.
2.
ROLL CALL
Commission Members Present:
Anne Brinkman
Jerry Collins
Paulette Cooper
Marian McNamee
Phillip Plummer (Left at 8:45 p.m.)
Nancy Snow
Janice Thompson
Paula Weisz
Staff Members Present:
Alan White, Planning Director
Travis Crane, Planner
Ann Lazzeri, Secretary
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The following is the official set of Planning Commission minutes for the public hearing of December
20, 2001. A set of these minutes is retained both in the office of the City Clerk and in the Department
of Planning and Development of the City of Wheat Ridge.
4. APPROVE ORDER OF AGENDA
It was moved by Commissioner SNOW and seconded by Commissioner McNAMEE to
approve the order ofthe agenda as presented. The motion passed 8-0.
5. APPROVE MINUTES
It was moved by Commissioner McNAMEE and seconded by Commissioner COOPER to
approve the minutes of December 6, 2001 as presented. Commissioner SNOW requested
three amendments to the minutes: (1) page six, item 3, the second line should read "approve all
three speed bumps.. ..."; (2) page nine, condition no. 6 should be changed to read..... "change
back to 25% landscaping........"; and (3) page ten, item 8, should be changed to five (from ten)
passenger trucks. (Staff will listen to the tape of the meeting to confirm the third amendment.)
Staff listened to the tape and confumed the number of trucks was limited to ten. The motion
to approve the minntes as amended passed 6-0 with Commissioners PLUMMER and
WEISZ abstaining.
Planning Commission
December 20, 2001
Page 1
6. PUBLIC FORUM
There was no one to appear before the Commission.
7. PUBLIC HEARING
A. Case No. MS-OI-02: Application by John Michael Jones for approval ofa three-lot
minor subdivision plat on property zoned Residential-Two and located at 6745 West
32nd Avenue.
This case was presented by Travis Crane. He reviewed the staff report, entered all pertinent
documents into the record and advised the Commission there was jurisdiction to hear the case.
He presented slides and overheads of the subject application. Staff recommended approval of
the application for reasons as outlined in the staff report.
Commissioner McNAMEE expressed concern about possible ground contamination at the site
from chemicals such as DDT since the area had been used for greenhouses for many years.
John Michael Jones
1585 Leyden, Denver
Mr. Jones, the applicant, was sworn in by Chair THOMPSON and entertained questions from
the Commission.
In response to Commissioner McNAMEE's concerns about possible ground contamination, Mr.
Jones stated that an EP A study performed before he purchased the property revealed there were
no hazardous materials on the property.
Commissioner WEISZ asked if the proposed duplexes would be rented or sold. Mr. Jones
replied that he understood the units would be sold.
Dottie Anderson
8463 East Amherst Circle, Denver
Ms. Anderson was sworn in by Chair THOMPSON. She stated that she was a real estate agent
who formerly lived in Wheat Ridge. She spoke in favor of the application. In response to a
question from Commissioner BRINKMAN, Ms. Anderson stated that she hoped to become the
real estate agent for the duplexes. In response to a question from Commissioner SNOW, Ms.
Anderson stated that each individual unit would be sold separately.
Joanna Long
3220 Otis Street
Ms. Long was sworn in by Chair THOMPSON. She stated her home faces the proposed single
family dwelling and indicated she was in favor of the application.
It was moved by Commissioner McNAMEE and seconded by Commissioner WEISZ that
Case No. MS-OI-02, a request for a three-lot minor subdivision for property located at
6745 West 32nd Avenue be approved for the following reasons:
Planning Commission
December 20, 2001
Page 2
1. All requirements ofthe City's Subdivision Regulations have been met.
2. The minimum lot size and lot width requirements of the R-2 zoning district have
been met.
With the following conditions:
1. The City's standard dedicatory language shall be added to the final plat.
The motion passed 8-0.
Commissioner SNOW requested that the applicant furnish a copy of the EP A report for the
case file.
B. Case No. ZOA-OI-07: An ordinance amending Article II of Chapter 26 of the Wheat
Ridge Code of Laws concerning the addition of a Planned Mixed Use Development
District.
This case was presented by Alan White. City Council adopted the proposed ordinance on first
reading and referred it back to Planning Commission for a recommendation. Mr. White
reviewed his memorandum of December 20,2001, which set forth several suggested changes to
the proposed ordinance.
Commissioner PLUMMER stated that he is in favor of commercial/residential development but
expressed concern about allowing 50-foot buildings adjacent to residential neighborhoods.
Commissioner McNAMEE indicated she was in favor of the new urbanism concept of mixed
commercial and residential and believed the proposed ordinance would give the city control
over each individual application.
Commissioner SNOW expressed concern that this new zone district could be used allover the
city. She also expressed concern that the proposed ordinance would allow using land twice and
indicated she was not in favor of the 50-foot height limitation. She expressed further concern
about landscaping limitations.
Commissioner COLLINS stated that, in view of possible water limitation, alternative
landscaping requirements should be considered. He was in favor of the ordinance with the
exception of the 50-foot height limitation.
Commissioner BRINKMAN asked which land use classifications would apply to PMUD. Alan
White stated that transitional residential, village commercial, and neighborhood serving retail
would apply to PMUD. He also explained that PMUD would not become an overlay but
another zone district. Commissioner BRINKMAN also expressed concern about the 50-foot
height but indicated she would support 40 feet.
Commissioner THOMPSON suggested that PMUD only be allowed along arterial or collector
streets and not be allowed on residential streets. She was in favor ofthe 50-foot height
limitation only if the lot was big enough and the 50-foot building was adjacent to a collector or
Planning Commission
December 20, 200 I
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arterial street. Height should be 35 feet when adjacent to residential. There should be
maximum lot size restrictions. She would like to see protection written into the ordinance to
provide that mixed commercial and residential cannot be changed to commercial only. There
should also be provision for landscaping and play areas for residential units. She expressed
concern about developing an ordinance on the basis of a single application to the city for a
mixed residential and commercial use.
(Chair THOMPSON declared a briefrecess at 8:45 p.m. Commissioner PLUMMER left the
meeting at this time. The meeting was reconvened at 9:55 p.m.)
There was a consensus of the Commission to accept the following change to Section 26-
306.5 Purpose: The first sentence should remain as written. The rest of the paragraph
should be substituted with the following wording: "It is not intended to be used solely to
permit a higher density than allowed in the planned residential development (PRD) district
nor to circumvent other specific standards of the planned residential and planned
commercial districts. Instead it is intended to create a zone district which will allow
flexibility in use, design, orientation while maximizing space, community interest and
protecting nearby and adjacent residential neighborhoods. "
There was a consensus of the Commission to change item "A" to read: "Permitted Uses:
Permitted uses shall be a mixture of residential and commercial as governed by approval of
the preliminary development plan. "
There was a consensus of the Commission to leave item "B" as written.
There was a consensus of the Commission to change item "C" to read "Height: Maximum
of thirty-five (35) feet."
There was a consensus of the Commission that item "D" should read: "Lot coverage:
Maximum eighty percent (80%)."
There was a consensus of the Commission that item "E" should read: "Density:
Maximum of sixteen (16) units per acre." Alan White was directed to rewrite the sentence
about how the density is calculated with one-half of the commercial building footprint to
be subtracted from the lot area to calculate density.
There was a consensus of the Commission that item "F" should read: "Landscaping:
Minimum twenty percent (20%). Amount of landscaped area covered by nonliving plant
material may comprise up to a maximum of 50% of the landscaped area; otherwise
landscaping must be consistent with Section 26-502."
There was a consensus of the Commission to change item "G" to read: "Parking: Based
upon specific use consistent with Section 26-501: Allowances may be made for shared
parking spaces if it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the City that parking demand
for different uses occurs at different times. "
There was a consensus of the Commission to leave items "H" and "I" as written.
Planning Commission
December 20, 2001
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There was a consensus of the Commission to add a new subsection "B. Applicability. This
zone district can only be used in the mixed use areas shown on the streetscape classification
map in the streetscape and architectural design manual." Purpose would become
subsection "A".
Commissioner BRINKMAN asked iflighting should be addressed. Alan White stated that if
something is not addressed in a planned development, the code must be followed.
It was moved by Commissioner COLLINS and seconded by Commissioner SNOW that
Case No. ZOA-OI-07, an ordinance amending Article II of Chapter 26 ofthe Wheat
Ridge Code of Laws concerning the addition of a Planned Mixed Use Development
District be forwarded to City Council with a recommendation of approval with changes
suggested by Planning Commission at the meeting of December 20, 2001. City Council is
strongly encouraged to pass the ordinance with those amendments proposed by the
Planning Commission because of serious concerns about the lack of guidelines and
controls in the original ordinance. The motion passed 7-0 with Commissioner
PLUMMER absent.
8. OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business to come before the Commission.
9. NEW BUSINESS
A. January 3, 2002 Planning Commission Meeting - It was moved by Commissioner
SNOW and seconded by Commissioner McNAMEE to cancel the January 3, 2002
Planning Commission meeting. The motion passed 7-0 with Commissioner
PLUMMER absent.
B. City CounciI/Planning Commission meeting - Alan White advised Commission
members that a joint City Council/Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for
January 21,2001 at 7:00 p.m.
10. COMMISSION REPORTS
There were no commission reports.
11. COMMITTEE AND DEPARTMENT REPORTS
There were no committee or department reports.
12. ADJOURNMENT
It was moved by Commissioner McNAMEE and seconded by Commissioner COLLINS to
adjourn the meeting at 9:30 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
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Planning Commission
December 20, 2001
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