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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/15/2007 ORIGINAL CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes of Meeting February 15, 2007 1. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Wheat Ridge Planning Commission was called to order by Chair WESLEY at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, 7500 West 29th Avenue, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. 2. ROLL CALL Commission Members Present: Anne Brinkman Jim Chilvers John McMillin Phil Plummer Jerry Scezney Cassie Spaniel Kim Stewart Scott Wesley Staff Members Present: Alan White, Community Development Director Travis Crane, Planner Sally Payne, Senior Planner Ann Lazzeri, Recording Secretary 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 4. APPROVE THE ORDER OF THE AGENDA It was moved by Commissioner PLUMMER and seconded by Commissioner SCEZNEY to move item SA, Wadsworth Corridor Subarea Plan, to be heard before items 7A & B, Briefing and Updates on the X-Zone and the Architectural Manual. The motion passed 7-1 with Commissioner BRINKMAN voting no. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - February 1, 2007 It was moved by Commissioner McMILLIN and seconded by Commissioner CHIL VERS to approve the minutes of February 1, 2007 as presented. The motion passed 7-0 with Commissioner SPANIEL abstaining. 6. PUBLIC FORUM (This is the time for any person to speak on any subject not appearing on the agenda.) Planning Connnission February 15, 2007 -1- There was no one present to address the Commission at this time. 7. OTHER ITEMS A. Wadsworth Corridor Subarea Plan Alan White commented that the corridor plan is the first step in a very long process to arrive at a vision for the future of Wadsworth. The subarea plan is the result of a planning study so there has been little engineering analysis. This plan gives information to property owners who want to develop or redevelop before the actual widening takes place. Sally Payne distributed a revised table of contents that addressed concerns expressed at the previous meeting about layout of the plan. Commissioner SCEZNEY expressed concern that the plan is in opposition to the Comprehensive Plan and about calling this a "preferred option." While he agreed with the I 62-foot right-of-way, he would like the document to list all options rather than just proceeding with the preferred option. He expressed concern about the preferred option causing an alienation of the east and west sides of Wadsworth from 38th to 44th Avenues. He was concerned that the consultant stated he "didn't know" when asked how a major intersection example would work. He suggested that if details are not clear or need further study, these exhibits be removed from the main document and placed in an appendix Commissioner PLUMMER agreed with having 162 feet from 1-70 to 32nd Avenue. This would leave options and guidelines for development when the time comes. He commented that none of the buildings are over five stories in the Bel Mar development. He wasn't sure if the Bel Mar concept would work in Wheat Ridge. He stated his opposition to raising height limitations at this time. He didn't agree with the preferred option because he didn't get the feeling from meetings he attended that the majority of people preferred increased density. Commissioner STEWART agreed that it was not her feeling that the majority of people at the meetings wanted higher density. She preferred replacing the higher density in the plan with medium density. She commented that there are other ways to make changes without changing the charter. She expressed concern that the plan didn't show any areas where kids could play which is important if Wheat Ridge wants to attract young families to the area. Commissioner McMILLIN commented that he would like to hear statistics about the success of Bel Mar at a future study session. He commented that the plan makes a statement that the city might consider changing the height limit in the charter; however the charter can only be changed by election. Planning Connnission February 15, 2007 -2- Commissioner CHILVERS commented that the 2020 plan wants to attract vibrant families in Wheat Ridge in general, but the new urbanism is more likely to attract couples without children. Families with children would most likely settle in parts of the city where houses have yards. He expressed more concern about whether the quality of schools in the district would attract families. Commissioner BRINKMAN stated that she was in favor of making Wadsworth 162 feet all the way through Wheat Ridge. She was not in favor of narrowing it down. She expressed concern about noise impact and stated that there needs to be adequate buffering for the surrounding neighborhoods. She didn't believe Winston & Associates adequately explained why they suggested narrowing a portion of Wadsworth. She expressed concern as to whether the plan is in direct opposition to the Comprehensive Plan. Commissioner WESLEY commented that he thought confusion arose because of the layout of the plan which was presented at the last meeting and the new layout should be a good clarifier. He believed the plan was too specific in certain areas like changing the charter because many things can be dealt with in other ways when specific developments come up. While he preferred sending it to Council with recommendations at the last meeting, he believed the Commission was correct in voting to continue the case to allow more discussion in order to be more comfortable in making a recommendation. Alan White stated that a mailing was sent to over a thousand people in an attempt to get the community involved and resulted in thirty to sixty people attending the meetings. He commented that the subarea plan is intended to set the stage to let CDOT know what the community wants when it comes time to improve Wadsworth. He stated that the plan doesn't preclude further study and consideration of all the alternatives that will be considered during the environmental impact statement process. He further commented that a plan needs to have a vision, rather than several alternatives, in order to make land use decisions. Commissioner PLUMMER agreed that a plan is needed in order to address planning issues such as landscaping, sidewalks, etc. Commissioner McMILLIN commented that he respected the process that led up to the plan and he believed it is necessary to work toward a preferred alternative. While he preferred the frontage road idea, he was concerned about a system for getting people on and off those frontage roads. Alan White commented that the frontage roads still need to be studied in more detail. Sally Payne commented that 60 to 75 people attending a public meeting completed a survey that indicated they preferred the frontage road alternative. Planning Connnission February 15, 2007 -3- Commissioner BRINKMAN stated that she attended that meeting and agreed with Ms. Payne. Commissioner SCEZNEY questioned the frontage road from the perspective of metrics shown in the plan as they related to density. He stated that a one-lane frontage road does not make sense to him. He stated his preference to proceed with all options because he didn't agree that the preferred option is necessarily the public's desire. Alan White commented that the frontage road would be unique in the metro area where cars can drive through but have the ability to pull off for retail shopping. There would be parking in front of the businesses but there would also be access to the back of the buildings where more parking would be located. Concerning the reference that the subarea plan supersedes the comprehensive plan, Alan White commented that this is a more updated vision for the corridor. The Comprehensive Plan references the 1999 plan that was never officially adopted as a plan for the community. There are plans to update the Comprehensive Plan later this year. He stated that he had not done an extensive analysis of what the conflicts are. Commissioner SCEZNEY read a portion of the Comprehensive Plan that states There's a general consensus that the citizens of Wheat Ridge do not want to see Wadsworth Boulevard widened to six through lanes. This is in accordance with many planners and engineers recognition that we cannot build our way out of congestion problems and commented that this represents one conflict with the subarea plan. Commissioner McMILLIN commented that adoption of the subarea plan would not trigger the widening of Wadsworth but, if and when it happens, would tell how the city would like it done. Commissioner STEWART commented that the city has no control over whether or not CDOT decides to widen Wadsworth. Alan White commented that there is a plan to update the Comprehensive Plan later this year. In response to a question from Commissioner SPANIEL, Alan White stated that the subarea plan is a guideline. For example, as a result of recommendations made to City Council, overlay districts could be developed where height and density couldn't be changed, but setbacks and other things could be changed to get the regulatory framework in place for development or redevelopment. There's no flexibility with certain provisions of the charter so, in consultation with the consultant, it was felt that a look at changing the charter might be warranted. Planning Connnission February 15, 2007 -4- Commissioner BRINKMAN expressed concern that if this planning doesn't take place now, it will have to be done in fifty years. Alan White agreed and thought the traffic engineers and CDOT would also agree. He stated that a revised version ofthe subarea plan would be provided to the Commissioners before the public hearing in March. S. BRIEFING AND UPDATE A. X-Zone Alan White reviewed the proposed ordinance that would implement code changes relating to the development review process and form based zoning. City Council will conduct a study session on this ordinance. He answered questions from the Commission to further clarify certain parts of the ordinance. There was a consensus of the Commission to set this ordinance for hearing. B. Architectural Manual Travis Crane reviewed the draft Architectural and Site Design Manual. Working with the current manual for the past six years led to a major transformation as set forth in this new manual. Sections have been reorganized; design principles have been established; standards to achieve design principles have been included; redundant sections have been deleted and ill-defined or redundant processes have been eliminated. Staff has solicited input from the development community and the manual will also be presented to Wheat Ridge 2020 for comments. He invited input from Commission members after they have had a chance to review it. Commissioner McMILLIN suggested including lighting standards in the manual. 9. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Commissioner CHIL VERS and seconded by Commissioner STEWART to adjourn the meeting at 9:23 p.m. aJtl- ~ ~ Secretary cott Wesley, Chair Planning Commission Planning Connnission February 15, 2007 -5-