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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/01/2007 ORIGINAL CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes of Meeting November 1, 2007 1. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair SCEZNEY at 7:00 ~.m. in the City Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, 7500 West 29' Avenue, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. 2. ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS Commission Members Present: Anne Brinkman Jim Chilvers Dick Matthews John McMillin Davis Reinhart Jerry Scezney Cassie Spaniel Kim Stewart Staff Members Present: Ken Johnstone, Community Development Director Sally Payne, Senior Planner Ann Lazzeri, Secretary 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 4. APPROVE THE ORDER OF THE AGENDA It was moved by Commissioner MATTHEWS and seconded by Commissioner STEWART to approve the order of the agenda. The motion passed 8-0. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - August 16, 2007 It was moved by Commissioner BRINKMAN and seconded by Commissioner MATTHEWS to approve the minutes of August 16, 2007. The motion passed 7-1 with Commissioner McMILLIN abstaining. 6. PUBLIC FORUM (This is the time for any person to speak on any subject not appearing on the agenda.) There was no one to appear before the Commission at this time. Planning Commission Minutes November 1,2007 7. PUBLIC HEARING Prior to presentation of the following case, Commissioner REINHART disclosed that he is a consultant for a real estate developer with property interests in close proximity to, but not in the area of, the Arvada transit station framework plan. His client owns no property in Wheat Ridge and has no financial interest or preferred outcome of this hearing. He stated that he met with the City Attorney who advised that there would be no conflict of interest in his hearing of the case. A. Case No. WPA-07-03: A resolution adopting Arvada's Kipling TOD Station Plan as an amendment to the Wheat Ridge Comprehensive Plan. Sally Payne introduced this case. The City of Arvada has been working on transit station planning for the RTD FasTracks Gold Line stations. One of the proposed stations in Arvada is the Kipling Station located in close proximity to the Super Target at Kipling and 51". Transit oriented development (TOD) consisting of mixed uses and higher densities is being proposed for the Kipling Station. The City of Arvada has requested the City of Wheat Ridge adopt their Transit Station Framework Plan as it relates to the lands within the City of Wheat Ridge. The Framework Plan is proposed to supersede the Wheat Ridge Comprehensive Plan for the area within the Wheat Ridge city limits. By adopting this plan, the City of Wheat Ridge would be supporting cooperative land use planning ensuring that compatible land uses are being proposed in areas adjacent to surrounding jurisdictions. City staff supports the resolution for reasons outlined in the staff report. Ms. Payne introduced Kevin Nichols with the Arvada Community Development Department. He presented Arvada's goals and principles for TOD. Arvada believes it is important to have inter-jurisdictional coordination in development of the transit station. He reviewed the details of the Plan. Commissioner McMILLIN agreed with the breakdown of housing in the Plan. However, he expressed concern that 200 parking spaces for the Kipling station seems to be extremely inadequate. Also, structured parking would be preferable over surface parking. Mr. Nichols explained that RTD has indicated it would only fund surface parking. Commissioner CHIL VERS commented that many light rail customers would probably end up using the Target parking lot. Mr. Nichols stated that shared parking with Target is something to be considered. Commissioner STEWART asked about building height restrictions in the Plan. Mr. Nichols stated that Arvada's present zoning allows for 35-feet for building height, however, the height can be varied and taller heights will be allowed in the zoning for the TOD areas. Commissioner STEWART asked if Arvada would Planning Commission Minutes 2 November 1, 2007 expect Wheat Ridge to change its height restrictions. Mr. Nichols replied that Arvada would ask Wheat Ridge to consider that. Sally Payne reminded Commissioners that the city charter sets height limits at 35 feet and density at 2 I units per acre. Commissioner STEW ART asked how many residents are envisioned for the area. Mr. Nichols estimated about 2,000. Commissioner STEWART expressed concern about bringing more traffic into an already congested area. Commissioner BRINKMAN asked what Arvada's vision was for the character of the Kipling transit station. Mr. Nichols stated that Red Rocks College and residential use would playa big part in the character of the station. Commissioner BRINKMAN favored keeping the parking where it is shown in the mixed use and she highly recommended going up with multi-level parking rather than out with more surface parking. She agreed that 200 spaces did not seem sufficient. Commissioner SCEZNEY asked Mr. Nichols to explain the market survey recommendations and bus service in connection with the transit station. Mr. Nichols stated that the survey didn't show strong retail use for the area. He explained that RTD plans to link the transit stations with bus service. Commissioner REINHART expressed concern about access to I-25 from Kipling. In response to his questions, Mr. Nichols stated that RTD would be responsible for building a platform and surface parking. IfRTD believes a new road is necessary to access their parking facility and for bus circulation, the road would be part of their budget. A pedestrian bridge may also be needed but the need has not been determined at this time. There was discussion about changing the height and density provisions of the city charter. Commissioner STEWART commented that citizens have shown over and over that they do not want a change in these provisions. Increased density will bring more vehicle traffic. Commissioner McMILLIN commented that changing the Comprehensive Plan is done occasionally, however changing the charter is a matter than cannot be taken lightly. Commissioner REINHART suggested that if these limits should ever be waived, transit oriented development would be the place to do it. Commissioner MATTHEWS stated that he would support a bonus in height and density along light rail corridors. Planning Commission Minutes 3 November 1, 2007 It was moved by Commissioner REINHART and seconded by Commissioner MATTHEWS to adopt Resolution 04-2007, a resolution recommending adoption of the Arvada Transit Station Framework Plan as it applies to land within the City of Wheat Ridge and forwarding this recommendation along with the Resolution to City Council for their consideration. The motion passed 7-1 with Commissioner McMILLIN voting no. It was moved by Commissioner McMILLIN and seconded by Commissioner STEWART that because the sense of the Commission is that 200 spaees, as currently envisioned, is not sufficient to serve vehiele trips from Wheat Ridge and Arvada, planners should lobby for more parking by three possible solutions: (a) preferably building a multi-story garage; (b) using undeveloped land in the interim until the garage is built, and (c) seeking shared parking arrangements with the existing large parking lot of the Target store. The motion passed 8-0. 8. OTHER ITEMS There were no other items for the Commission's consideration. 9. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Commissioner STEWART and seconded by Commissioner SPANIEL to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m. The motion passed unanimously. Planning Commission Minutes 4 November 1, 2007