Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutStudy Session Agenda Packet 01-07-19 STUDY SESSION AGENDA CITY COUNCIL CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO 7500 W. 29th Ave. Wheat Ridge CO January 7, 2019 6:30 p.m. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to participate in all public meetings sponsored by the City of Wheat Ridge. Call Sara Spaulding, Public Information Officer 303-235-2877 at least one week in advance of a meeting if you are interested in participating and need inclusion assistance. Citizen Comment on Agenda Items 1. Sam Mamet – CML Executive Director 2. City Council Candidate District I Presentation 3. TRAX Finance Agreement/Ward TOD Update 4. Staff Report(s) 5. Elected Officials’ Report(s) ADJOURNMENT Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Patrick Goff, City Manager DATE: January 7, 2019 SUBJECT: Sam Mamet – CML Executive Director ISSUE: Colorado Municipal League (CML) Executive Director Sam Mamet will be coming to the January 7 City Council meeting to introduce himself and discuss topics which may be relevant to the City of Wheat Ridge. BACKGROUND: Colorado Municipal League is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization which provides services and resources to assist municipal officials in managing their governments and serving the cities and towns of Colorado. Sam Mamet is the Executive Director of CML, and he manages 13 staff members as well as the executive board. He and his staff are responsible for executing the policies and programs CML. He has been with CML for almost 40 years, and has been Executive Director since 2005. Sam would like to speak with City Council regarding topics related to the City prior to his retirement scheduled for March 2019. Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Patrick Goff, City Manager DATE: January 7, 2019 SUBJECT: City Council Member District I Presentation ISSUE: District I Council Member Monica Duran was elected as the District 24 Colorado State Representative on November 6, 2018, and has vacated her City Council seat effective December 31, 2018. In order to fill the District I vacancy, prospective candidates have been invited to present to City Council during the January 7, 2019 study session. City Council will appoint the District I replacement within thirty days. BACKGROUND: The Wheat Ridge City Charter addresses vacancies of elected officials as stated below: Sec. 4.5. - Vacancies. (a) A councilmember shall continue to hold his office until his successor is duly qualified. A council position shall become vacant whenever any councilmember is recalled, dies, becomes incapacitated, resigns, refuses to serve, or ceases to be a resident of the city or district from which elected, or is convicted of a felony. (b) Within thirty (30) days after a vacancy occurs on the council, the remaining councilmembers shall choose by majority vote a duly qualified person from the proper district to fill such vacancy… Sec. 4.4. - Qualifications. (a) No person shall be eligible to hold the office of a councilmember unless, at the time of his election, he is a registered elector, as defined by Colorado Revised Statutes, and is a resident of the district from which he is elected for a period of at least twelve (12) consecutive months immediately preceding the date of the election. City Charter, Wheat Ridge Code of Laws or Council Rules and Procedures do not address specific procedures for the appointment of elected officials. For this appointment, City Council allowed District I residents to apply for the position. On December 3, the application period for the District I council member position was opened, and it was closed on December 28. Staff informed all qualified respondents to prepare a brief presentation to City Council on January 7, 2019. Three applications were submitted, all of which were eligible for the District I position. The applications and resumes have been included as an attachment for City Council review. 2 ATTACHMENTS: 1. Jahi Simbai – Application and Resume 2. David Kueter – Application and Resume 3. Anne Brinkman – Application and Resume 1 Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Kenneth Johnstone, Director of Community Development DATE: December 28, 2018 (for January 7, 2019 City Council study session) SUBJECT: Request for financial assistance for TRAX multi-family project and general 2E project update for the Wheat Ridge · Ward station area ISSUE: In November, 2016, the Wheat Ridge voters approved ballot measure 2E, providing a temporary ½-cent sales tax increase to provide infrastructure funding for four areas of the City: Anderson Park, Clear Creek Crossing, Wadsworth Blvd., and the Wheat Ridge · Ward station area. For the Wheat Ridge · Ward station area, the ballot measure identified $12,000,000 in funding that was intended for a variety of potential public infrastructure that would then facilitate and catalyze private sector investment in the area surrounding this future G Line end of line station area. The list of potential projects included local multi-modal streets, a pedestrian bridge over the RR tracks, a regional park associated with the two ponds along I-70, Ward Road improvements, a linear park associated with the pedestrian bridge, regional stormwater improvements, pedestrian plazas, amenities and other public improvements to the station area. Since that approval, a staff working group committee has been meeting on a monthly basis to identify projects, prioritize them, coordinate with adjacent jurisdictions, coordinate with property owners, etc. A variety of parallel efforts are also underway to facilitate the overall realization of the City’s vision for this area, as established in the Northwest Subarea Plan, and the more recently developed 2016 WSP Vision Plan, which also identified the concept of outdoor recreation themes for the area and a Base Camp brand. One potential project for 2E funding is a public private partnership opportunity to develop TRAX, a 4-story, higher density, market rate multi-family project immediately adjacent to the northeast of the station platform. The site is 2.2 acres and approximately 220 units are proposed. The project would be highly amenitized, including structured parking, allowing the development team, HRE, to achieve the higher densities. The project does not make financial sense, without some form of public participation. HRE has presented to the Renewal Wheat Ridge Board to request participation in the form of property tax increment financing. At their January 15 meeting, Renewal Wheat Ridge will consider approval of a Tax Increment Finance Agreement with HRE pledging the property tax revenues from the developments occurring in the station area. The overall financial gap for the project to be feasible is approximately $9,500,000, with the property tax portion covering just over $6,700,000. As with all public private development agreements in the City, the City has been reviewing the pro forma closely with our 2 economic/market consultants, Economic and Planning Systems. The purpose of the January 7 study session is two-fold: 1) provide an overall station area update and review the current list of potential 2E funded projects; and 2) specifically gauge Council’s support for utilization of 2E funds in the amount of $1,200,000 toward the TRAX multi-family housing development. BACKGROUND: Planning/Visioning The City has been planning for a future transit oriented development type of vision for the area surrounding the Wheat Ridge · Ward Gold Line station for nearly 15 years, beginning during RTD’s development of the Environmental Impact Statement for the Gold Line. The Northwest Subarea Plan was adopted by City Council in 2006. That plan encouraged higher density mixed use development on the north side of the station and a tight grid of multi-modal streets. For the south side of the tracks, mixed-use development with more of a commercial focus was encouraged. As is typical for timing of this type of higher density development surrounding transit lines and stations, it rarely occurs before the train has begun operations, or is very close to begining operational. In the interim, the City sought to take further steps to position the area for the type of development pattern envisioned in the Subarea Plan. By way of example, the following has occurred: • Mixed Use TOD zoning district was developed in 2010 and applied to the former Jolly Rancher property. More recently, it was also approved for the Hance Ranch project, which includes the property for the TRAX project • The City participated in the DRCOG led Sustainable Communities initiative, which included commercial and residential market studies, a design plan for Ridge Road improvements and identified various bike and pedestrian improvements for the area • In 2015, the City invited the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to conduct a Technical Advisor Panel process to make further market based land use and urban design recommendations. That study largely mirrored the recommendations of the Subarea Plan; however, it also noted that higher densities might not be supported in the market in the shorter term and a focus on jobs could be a way to distinguish the Ward Station as unique. It also recommended multi-family housing zones around the station • In 2016, the City commissioned the planning/transportation firm WSP to develop a Vision Plan, which was also used to market the site to the development community in November 2016 at ULI Colorado’s TOD Marketplace Summit. This Vision Plan also generally affirmed previous plans, but identified an outdoor recreation theme and the potential to have a job focus on the outdoor recreation industry • In 2017 a “Base Camp” brand was created, including a marketing logo, which has been used to create marketing materials targeted at that industry and to better communicate the City’s vision to state and regional economic development leaders, who are also focused on attracting the outdoor recreation industry 3 2E Project List As noted previously, the 2E ballot language included several specific examples of types of infrastructure that might be funded by the $12,000,000 in voter approved funding. In the City’s visions, there is certainly well more than $12,000,000 that could be spent. Staff has been working on prioritizing based on a variety of factors, such as project feasibility, ability to leverage and catalyze private sector investment, partnership funding opportunities, etc. Staff provided City Council an update on the project list most recently in June 2018. At that time, following was our draft project list. • Local Streets – up to $8,000,000 • Pedestrian Bridge over RR tracks - $1,500,000 to $4,000,000 • Linear Park – up to $4,000,000 • Regional Park – up to $5,000,000 • Ward Road (state highway) – up to $2,000,000 Some things have also changed in the intervening 6+ months. • Partnership opportunities with the pond property owners has not yet emerged • Hance townhome project identified additional drainage and utility expenses • Pedestrian bridge and linear park have been further designed and appear feasible and well within previous budget estimates • Ward Road grade separation has been further considered and is not a regional priority • Public/private partnership opportunity emerged on the TRAX multi-family project The current staff recommended funding priorities break down as follows: • Professional services (design, development review, ROW consultant, construction management, etc.) - $2,500,000 • ROW acquisition - $725,000 • Construction projects - $8,000,000 • TOTAL - $11,000,000+ The proposed construction projects further break down as follows: • Hance Ranch utilities/drainage - $243,000 • 52nd Avenue (City’s portion) - $1,200,000 • Tabor - $800,000 • Ridge - $1,000,000 • Linear Park - $512,000 • Pedestrian Bridge - $3,000,000 • TRAX project - $1,200,000 Next steps The City has approved contracts for a design consultant (SEH) and a right of way consultant (HDR). SEH has completed conceptual designs for the three local streets. AECOM (the City’s 4 overall 2E project support consultant) has completed conceptual design for the linear park and bridge and SEH could be tasked with furthering those design concepts. The City has been in negotiations with Arvada and Jefferson County to cost share on 52nd Avenue and with Arvada on Ridge Road improvements. We hope to have an Intergovernmental Agreement for City Council action later in January 2019. On the private sector side, three projects are going through the entitlement process and could be under construction within the next 3 to 12 months. These include the 54 townhomes (Hance Ranch/Remington Homes), which have all of their necessary city approvals, short of building permits; 200+ townhomes and live/work units and 5,000 to 8,000 SF of commercial space on the former Jolly Rancher site (Toll Brothers); and the proposed TRAX multi-family project immediately adjacent to the transit platform (HRE Development). In total, these developments represent approximately $150,000,000 in private sector investment, meeting the City’s goals of using 2E funds to catalyze private sector investment. RECOMMENDATION: Staff requests concurrence from City Council supporting the current list of recommended 2E project funding allocations, including support for participation in a public/private development agreement of $1,200,000 for the TRAX multi-family project.