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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/02/20161. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. City of ]��Wh6atPjdgye PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes of Meeting June 2, 2016 CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair OHM at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, 7500 West 291" Avenue, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS Commission Members Present: Commission Members Absent Staff Members Present: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Dirk Boden Emery Dorsey Donna Kimsey Janet Leo Scott Ohm Steve Timms Alan Bucknam Amanda Weaver Lisa Ritchie, Planner II Tammy Odean, Recording Secretary APPROVE ORDER OF THE AGENDA It -*,v-as moved by Commissioner DORSEY and seconded by Commissioner KIMSEY to approve the order of the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. APPROVAL OF MINUTES — May 19, 2016 It was moved by Commissioner KIMSEY and seconded by Commissioner DORSEY to approve the minutes of April 21, 2016, as written. Motion carried 4-0-2 with Commissioners BODEN and LEO abstaining. PUBLIC FORUM (This is the time for any person to speak on any subject not appearing on the agenda.) Planning Commission Minutes June 2, 2016 -1— No one wished to speak at this time. 7. PUBLIC HEARING 8. OTHER ITEMS A. Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) Discussion Ms. Ritchie gave a brief explanation about the CMRS regulations explaining they have been in place since 1996. Three types of CMRS facilities are regulated in the City of Wheat Ridge: freestanding, roof mounted and building mounted. New regulations went into effect in April of 2015. Local governments are now required to approve all applications requesting modifications to an existing facility that does not substantially change the facility and it must be approved within 60 days. This process has been simplified and the City will be expanding the standards in the code. These will include colocation requirements, Federal requirements, safety standards and residential areas. There will also be more development standards for the three types of CMRS facilities. Also, a new category will be added called ground mounted accessory equipment. This category will follow accessory use standards, can't be higher than 12 feet, and must be screened and architecturally compatible. Commissioner Kimsey asked about the screening height limit. Ms. Ritchie stated it will be the 12 feet as well. Commissioner BODEN asked how many freestanding towers are in the City presently. Ms. Ritchie stated there is no solid inventory, but maybe a dozen or so. The city will regulate the distance between colocation sites and have the owners try to work together. Commissioner TIMMS inquired about freestanding towers in Mixed Use - Neighborhood zone districts and are there a lot of inquiries. Ms. Ritchie replied they likely would only be allowed in Commercial or Mixed Use -Commercial zone districts and there are a lot of colocation inquiries. Staff will make sure the freestanding towers are not in Residential or Agricultural zone districts. Commissioner TIMMS asked if the city has the opportunity to make it more stealth. Ms. Ritchie said yes, but it won't be required. Planning Commission Minutes -2— June 2_June 2, 2016 Commissioner OHM added he does not like the freestanding towers that look like trees, but like the ones on church steeples that blend in. Ms. Ritchie said staff is close to getting a CMRS ordinance together to present this summer. B. Self -Storage Discussion Ms. Ritchie gave a brief explanation about Self -Storage Units and why City Council wants staff to have a discussion with Planning Commission. Presently there are two self -storage locations in the city and there have been three applications reviewed by Planning Commission in the last few months, showing the market feels there is a sufficient need. City Council would like to know what an appropriate amount of self -storage in Wheat Ridge could be and should improved architectural standards be considered. Also, City Council landed on three areas of interest for modifications to the zoning regulation: buffer distance, removal from Commercial -Two and considering higher quality in architectural standards. These three items may limit future applications and ensure that those who apply will have a higher quality project. Regarding City Council's thoughts on a buffer zone, they felt comfortable with %2 mile from one self -storage to another. Staff would be fine removing self -storage from the Commercial -Two zone district because there is limited opportunity for development in that zone. Staff also believes architectural standards need to be increased to retail and commercial standards for interior unit access facilities. In looking at architectural standards staff is also recommending that the ASDM be updated to include roof form requirements, applicability of heavy commercial/light industrial standards and improved guidelines for overhead roll -up doors. Commissioner BODEN stated it is hard to compare national averages of self - storage units because the City of Wheat Ridge is small and the self -storage units are probably not an economic driver for the city. He also recommends tightening of the ASDM standards. Commissioner TIMMS believes self -storage units are cash -cows for the developers and industrial land is a premium, is concerned with the amount of land that is limited here in the city and thinks we should be more restrictive rather than less. He agrees with changing the architecture in the ASDM and with regards to the buffer there might be more that can be located in the middle of the city, but maybe not near a transit location. Overall fewer is better. Commissioner KIMSEY added the fewer the better for self -storage units in the city. Commissioner DORSEY stated that once a self -storage unit is built on a property it is there for years to come, so maybe they should be banned from ever being built in the City of Wheat Ridge. Planning Commission Minutes -3— June 3June 2, 2016 Commissioner Leo would like to look at the land and put something there that could benefit the City because self -storage units do not. Commissioner OHM is looking forward about 20-30 years. He stated that if we increase density in the City then storage units are going to be needed and if we raise the architectural bar then the units will sustain and look good in the future. He does not mind them being near transit locations if there is retail mixed in with the building on the main floor. Commissioner TIMMS suggested allowing the indoor climate control storage units as opposed to the old school outdoor units. He believes fagade is extremely important. Commissioner Dorsey also suggested eliminating single story self -storage and building up and indoors. Ms. Ritchie mentioned this issue will require a zoning ordinance amendment to restrict self -storage so the Commission will have additional time to give more feedback. 9. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Commissioner DORSEY and seconded by Commissioner KIMSEY to ad'ourn the me tin at 7:59 p.m. Motion carried 6-0. Planning Commission Minutes June 2, 2016 I Qom_ Tammy Odean, ecording Secretary -4—