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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/19/151. 2. 3 4. City of WheatRidgc PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes of Meeting November 19, 2015 CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair BUCKNAM at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, 7500 West 291h Avenue, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS Commission Members Present: Commission Members Absent: Staff Members Present: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Alan Bucknam Dirk Boden Emery Dorsey Donna Kimsey Scott Ohm Steve Timms Amanda Weaver Steve Art, Economic Development & Urban Renewal Manager Lisa Ritchie, Planner II Zack Wallace, Planning Technician Tamara Odean, Recording Secretary APPROVE ORDER OF THE AGENDA It was moved by Commissioner Timms and seconded by Commissioner Kimsey to approve the order of the agenda. Motion carried 7-0 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES — November 5, 2015 It was moved by Commissioner Ohm and seconded by Commissioner Kimsey to approve the minutes of November 5, 2015, as written. Motion carried 7-0. Planning Commission Minutes November 19, 2015 6. PUBLIC FORUM (This is the time for any person to speak on any subject not appearing on the agenda.) No one wished to speak at this time. 7. PUBLIC HEARING 8. OTHER ITEMS Mr. Steve Art, Economic Development and Urban Renewal Manager, gave a short presentation regarding the current five active urban renewal areas in the City of Wheat Ridge, which were formed at different times. What Urban Renewal is are asking for at this time is do a substantial modification to begin the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) clock on all the urban renewal areal in the city. The purpose of the modification is in response to legislation at the state level. State Legislature passed bill HB -15-1348 which goes into effect on January 1, 2016, but there is a lot of uncertainty about this bill and the Governor has appointed a working group to address some of these issues. HB -15-1348 will be adding 3 new members to the Urban Renewal Board: 1 member from the County, 1 member from the School District and 1 member for all the other Taxing Entities. Also, if the TIF clock is started after January 1, 2016 then the city must appeal to each one of the tax entities and negotiate a tax sharing revenue. The problem with this is it can then take add an additional 7-12 months for an activity to be approved. Also, after January 2016 if there is another activity that comes up in the same area, then the City has to negotiate with the tax entities and they can go back to the previous activity and renegotiate all those deals. This is not good for lending institutions and they may stop funding Urban Renewal Projects. By starting the urban renewal clocks we will avoid negotiating. What Urban Renewal is asking for tonight is for the Planning Commission to adopt the Resolutions to recommend approval for the start the 25 year TIF clocks on all plans. There is no specific Activity or initiation of collection of TIF revenues being requested. This modification will just start the clock, which will also level the playing field with other Urban Renewal Areas throughout the State. We will bring resolutions before the City Council on December 14 in hopes of beating the January 1, 2016 deadline and bring to our citizens new development. A. Resolution 03-2015 Mr. Art stated the 38`h Avenue Corridor Plan was adopted in October of 2001, it has four previous amendments, and the Plan looks for public and private investments, creates a "Main Street' feel and includes some infrastructure improvements. The plan adheres to Envision Wheat Ridge and the Comprehensive Plan which include: commitment to quality development and redevelopment, development of a Town Center and promotes a vibrant neighborhood and an array of housing options, and includes tools for Development (TIF). B. Resolution 04-2015 Planning Commission Minutes -2— November 2_November 19, 2015 Mr. Art stated the I-70/Kipling Corridors Urban Renewal Plan stretches along the west side of town from the Applewood Shopping Center along I-70 to Kipling Street and down to 26th and Kipling. It was adopted in August of 2009, has been amended twice, looks for public and private investment and supports the Gold Line starting November of 2016. It also supports Clear Creek Crossing which needs about $30 million of infrastructure. The plan adheres to Envision Wheat Ridge and the Comprehensive Plan which include: commitment to quality development and redevelopment, development of a Town Center and promotes a vibrant neighborhood and an array of housing options, and includes tools for Development (TIF). C. Resolution 05-2015 Mr. Art stated the Wadsworth Corridor Urban Renewal Plan goes from approximately W. 44th Avenue along Wadsworth Boulevard down to 35th Avenue. It was adopted in October of 2001 and amended once. The Plan looks for public and private investment, it creates a Town Center and adjoins the 38th Avenue Corridor Plan. The plan adheres to Envision Wheat Ridge and the Comprehensive Plan which include: commitment to quality development and redevelopment, promotes a vibrant neighborhood and an array of housing options, and it is a primary commercial corridor which provides tools for Development (TIF). D. Resolution 06-2015 Mr. Art stated the West 44th Avenue and Ward Road Redevelopment Plan includes the truck stop area on West 44th Avenue. It was adopted October 2001 and has never been amended. There has not been much activity in this area, but as the city advances, there may be more. It supports the Gold Line and looks for public and private investment. This plan also supports the Fruitdale Subarea Plan and has an agricultural feel to it. The plan adheres to Envision Wheat Ridge and the Comprehensive Plan which include: commitment to quality development and redevelopment, promotes a vibrant neighborhood and an array of housing options, and it is a primary commercial corridor which provides tools for Development (TIF). E. Resolution 07-2015 Mr. Art stated the West End 38 Urban Renewal Plan is brand new and will help the West End 38 Project which will include apartments, parking and a Vectra Bank. Its anticipated adoption is December 14, 2015. This property was originally part of the Town Center Urban Renewal Plan, and the intent is to break this property off and form a new plan, because a site cannot be TIF twice.. The plan adheres to Envision Wheat Ridge and the Comprehensive Plan which include: commitment to quality development and redevelopment, promotes a vibrant neighborhood and an array of housing options, and it is a primary commercial corridor which provides tools for Development (TIF). Commissioner DORSEY asked that with the TIF starting a 25 year clock some of the projects can be years down the road before there is development and the window can go to 5 years, can that be readjusted or is it set in stone. Planning Commission Minutes -3— November 3_November 19, 2015 Mr. Art stated the current timeline would be set in stone and we would rather have 100% of a five year period instead of renegotiating and only having, say, 10%. If a clock runs out we can reevaluate. Hopefully this will spur activity in the urban renewal area. Most TIF's run about 10-15 years. Commissioner TIMMS asked if the proposed TIF is meant to be property tax and sales tax. Mr. Art stated that in all of the plans they have utilized sales and property tax, but we are only starting the TIF clock, we are not collecting any TIF. Commissioner TIMMS asked if the properties with the existing amendments where we have already established a TIF, they won't be affected by any action from City Council. Mr. Art explained this is correct because the plans were started before the HB -15-1348 start date of January 1, 2016. Commissioner OHM asked why there is a separate 38`' Corridor and now a West End 38 and what happened to Perrins Row. Mr. Art stated that Perrins Row was part of the 38`h Avenue Corridor and still exists within that plan. West End 38 is just outside the 38`' Avenue Corridor and it was a lot less cumbersome to form a new plan area. Commissioner OHM asked if the TIF had started on the West End 38 Plan yet. Mr. Art stated there is an approved agreement for West End 38. We are now waiting to see how the retroactivity portion of Ballot 300 comes into question on that.. Commissioner OHM asked about deterioration of site and other improvements like unpaved parking services. Isn't it only deterioration if it was existing? Also, with regards to lack of landscaping, that seems broad and I don't know if these are considered a blight. Bill Cunningham Ricker/Cunningham 8200 S. Quebec Street, Littleton Mr. Cunningham stated there are a lot of issues that are a part of the statute. What we look at during blight analysis is the surrounding environment for whatever parcel we are looking at. We will hold it to a higher standard depending on its surroundings. There is definite subjectivity. Chair BUCKNAM was wondering what hazardous contaminants were found on the project site. Planning Commission Minutes -4— November 4_November 19, 2015 Mr. Cunningham stated that when they look at the parcel the first source we go to is the EPA and their data base and if they have anything adjacent to the parcel we are looking at. In this instance we found the Bradley Petroleum site that was adjacent to what we were looking at and if there is the potential for contamination. That is how we evaluate. Chair BUCKNAM asked about the data for traffic accidents. Mr. Cunningham said they rely on police and fire department data and they give us all the incidents within an area, maybe not on that site, but within close proximity and there may have been a higher amount within the 38`h Avenue Corridor when we looked at the data. Chair BUCKNAM asked Mr. Art if there were any other modification besides starting the TIF for any of these plans. Mr. Art said there were no other changes to the plans, only to start the TIF clock. Mr. Cunningham said there were no other changes, just cleaning up the language. Chair BUCKNAM was wondering about the GIS map location around Xenon Street by the redevelopment site and why it stuck out. Ms. Ritchie explained that that particular parcel it is one continuous parcel that is oddly shaped. It was moved by Commissioner TIMMS and seconded by Commissioner WEAVER to adopt Resolution 03-2015, finding the Amended 38`' Avenue Corridor Redevelopment Plan is in conformance with the Wheat Ridge Comprehensive Plan, Envision Wheat Ridge. Motion Carried 7-0 It was moved by Commissioner OHM and seconded by Commissioner KIMSEY to adopt Resolution 04-2015, finding the Amended I-70/Kipling Corridors Renewal Plan is in conformance with the Wheat Ridge Comprehensive Plan, Envision Wheat Ridge. Motion Carried 7-0 It was moved by Commissioner TIMMS and seconded by Commissioner WEAVER to adopt Resolution 05-2015, finding the Amended Wadsworth Boulevard Corridor Redevelopment Plan is in conformance with the Wheat Ridge Comprehensive Plan, Envision Wheat Ridge. Motion Carried 7-0 Planning Commission Minutes - 5— November _November 19, 2015 It was moved by Commissioner BODEN and seconded by Commissioner TIMMS to adopt Resolution 06-2015, finding the Amended West 44"' Avenue Ward Road Redevelopment Plan is in conformance with the Wheat Ridge Comprehensive Plan, Envision Wheat Ridge. Motion Carried 7-0 It was moved by Commissioner OHM and seconded by Commissioner DORSEY to adopt Resolution 07-2015, finding the Amended West End 38 Urban Renewal Plan is in conformance with the Wheat Ridge Comprehensive Plan, Envision Wheat Ridge. Motion Carried 7-0 9. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Commissioner WEAVER and seconded by Commissioner KIMSEY to adjourn the meeting at 7:41 p.m. Motion passed 7-0. I Alan Bucknam, Vice Chair Planning Commission Minutes November 19, 2015 Tamara Odean, Recording Secretary