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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStudy Session Agenda Packet 05-10-21 - SPECIALSPECIAL STUDY SESSION AGENDA CITY COUNCIL CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO 7500 W. 29th Ave. Wheat Ridge CO May 10, 2021 To commence at the conclusion of the Regular City Council Meeting This meeting will be conducted as a VIRTUAL MEETING. No members of the Council or City staff will be physically present at the Municipal building for this meeting; the public may not attend in person. The public may participate in these ways: 1.Provide comment in advance at www.wheatridgespeaks.org (comment by noon on May 10, 2021 ) 2.Virtually attend and participate in the meeting through a device or phone: •Click here to join and provide public comment •Or call +1-669-900-6833 with Access Code: 944 4784 8234 andPasscode: 893527 3.View the meeting live or later at www.wheatridgespeaks.org, Channel 8, or YouTubeLive at https://www.ci.wheatridge.co.us/view 4.Individuals who, due to technology limitations, are unable to participate in the meeting virtually (via the Zoom platform) or by calling in on the telephone may contact Danitza Sosa, Assistant to the Mayor and City Council, at 303-235-2977 bynoon on the day of the meeting. Arrangements will be made for those individuals toaccess City Hall during the meeting to view the meeting and provide public commentif desired. These comments will be heard and seen in real time by members ofCouncil and City staff. Individuals accessing City Hall must practice social distancing, wear a mask or other facial covering and be free of COVID-19symptoms. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to participate in all public meetings sponsored by the City of Wheat Ridge. Contact the Public Information Officer at 303-235-2877 or wrpio@ci.wheatridge.co.us with as much notice as possible if you are interested in participating in a meeting and need inclusion assistance. Citizen Comment on Agenda Item 1. Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan Update 2.Strategic Priority – Streamlining Permitting and Licensing 3.Staff Report(s) 4.Elected Officials’ Report(s) ADJOURNMENT Item No. 1 Memorandum TO: City Council and Mayor THROUGH: Ken Johnstone, Community Development Director Patrick Goff, City Manager FROM: Stephanie Stevens, Senior Planner Mark De La Torre, Planning Consultant DATE: April 26, 2021 (for the May 10 Study Session) SUBJECT: Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan Update PURPOSE The purpose of this study session is to provide City Council with an update on the Lutheran Legacy Campus master planning process, discuss the proposed outreach strategy, and brief City Council on preliminary findings from the Existing Conditions Scan completed thus far. BACKGROUND City Council was provided with the background on this project at a study session on November 2, 2020; that memo is attached for reference. On January 25, 2021, City Council awarded a contract to MIG, Inc., a professional planning firm, to lead the community through the master planning process. PROJECT STATUS Public Process The City and SCL Health, with the help from MIG, Inc. (MIG), are committed to partnering with the community to ensure all voices are heard in the planning process. Engagement for the Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan began in April 2021 and will be active through October. Opportunities for community input in this process include a range of stakeholders, events, and activities: • Online engagement activities posted to the What’s Up Wheat Ridge project page, which will include story-telling activities and videos, an interactive site tour with various engagement “stations”, community surveys and more • Four stakeholder steering committee meetings in April, May, August and September • Four community-wide public meetings spread throughout May, June, July and August • Four to six total focus group meetings in May and June • Two study sessions with Planning Commission and City Council in May and August, and adoption hearings in October 2 In mid-March the online project page launched on What’s Up Wheat Ridge with project information and an activity inviting residents to share their stories about Lutheran. Community members are encouraged to register and subscribe to this project page to stay informed of progress and events throughout the next eight months. To kick off the public input portion of this process, the first community-wide public event was held on Saturday, May 1 from 9 a.m. – noon as a self-guided public tour of the SCL Lutheran Medical Center campus. This was a socially-distanced, outdoor, open-house style event with three engagement stations situated around the medical campus perimeter loop where the public could walk, ride, or drive to gain perspective about the various parts of campus, learn more about its history, and provide initial, high-level input. The tour will also be available through the month of May in a virtual, interactive format with handouts for those who were unable to attend in person. Staff will report back on this event at the study session on May 10. The stakeholder steering committee contains 12 diverse community members, ranging from longstanding residents and valued volunteers to members of the business and development community, each with a heavy stake in the project. Members were nominated by City Council and SCL Health based on their ability to dedicate time and expertise above and beyond what is being asked of the general public. So far, there has been one stakeholder steering committee meeting which was held on April 19; a summary board from that meeting is attached for reference. The stakeholder group will convene four times throughout the process. In addition to the numerous touchpoints with the larger community and technical specialties, this group is charged with providing more strategic direction throughout the process that will be used to inform the process. Focus groups will be finalized by the end of April and the first rounds of meetings will take place in mid-May. There will be two to three focus groups reserved for adjacent neighbors, community members at large, and business owners. Each of the focus groups will convene twice throughout the process, and the intent of these meetings is to facilitate detailed discussions with community representatives to get a deeper understanding of their knowledge, vision, and goals throughout the course of the project. These groups will meet once early in the Master Plan process to inform vision and goals, and then later in the process to test the major recommendations of the Master Plan. Each focus group will be comprised of similar stakeholders and receive questions geared towards their understanding of the site. Focus group interest has been solicited through the project page and by word of mouth; no application was required. Public meetings will continue to occur monthly until we report back at the next study session with Planning Commission and City Council in August. The intent of the public meetings will be to 1) inform the larger community of the process and input to date, 2) share consultant recommendations and suggestions based on that input and existing conditions/market/traffic data, and 3) allow stakeholders to interact directly with the project team, share concerns, and ask questions. Each meeting will be designed specifically to complement the phase of the planning process that is occurring: vision, preliminary recommendations, and implementation. Online community engagement will continue to be active on the What’s Up Wheat Ridge project page, with numerous activities planned throughout the process to complement the public meetings. 3 Project updates and engagement opportunities are announced regularly on the City’s social media platforms and mainstream media, in the monthly Mayor’s Matters enewsletter, on the City website at https://www.ci.wheatridge.co.us/lutheran, and on the interactive project site on What's Up Wheat Ridge at https://whatsupwheatridge.com/lutheran where you can subscribe for updates. Each method of input is equally valued and involvement from the community is pivotal to the process. Current Project Phase: Existing Conditions Scan Beyond public engagement, MIG is currently focusing their work on establishing the foundation for the Master Plan including the gathering of necessary background and context information. This information will be detailed in an Existing Conditions Scan. Rather than create an overly prescriptive Master Plan with a detailed program and specific siting and architectural direction, the MIG Team realizes that the real need is for a flexible and nimble development framework to inform re-entitlement, marketing of the property, community benefits, and a higher level development vision with clearly articulated guidance and parameters. The Existing Conditions Scan is intended to be high-level review of the existing conditions, based on the available information, to determine the critical, contextual assets, challenges, and opportunities for the project area. It is critical that this baseline information be accessible and clearly communicated to the public, particularly because the MIG Team will ultimately use the existing conditions scan as a foundational element in the Visioning and Preliminary Development Framework. Additionally, the scan will include preliminary inputs from the technical analyses, including Market Analysis, Traffic Analysis, Utility and Drainage Analysis, and the Facilities Assessment. The Existing Conditions Scan will include findings for the following key background elements: • Existing and Projected Area Demographics • Economic Conditions and Opportunities • Existing Facilities and Assets • Zoning, Land Use, and Built Form • Transportation and Connectivity • Utilities and Infrastructure MIG is well underway with the Existing Conditions Scan and plans to report on some of the preliminary findings at the study session on May 10. NEXT STEPS Building upon the Existing Conditions Scan, as well as the initial input received during the first round of engagement with focus groups, the steering committee, and the public, MIG will synthesize the common themes into a draft vision for the campus. Establishing a clearly articulated vision that is supported by the community and grounded by a viable framework is an important foundational step in the process and may require multiple touchpoints to get right. It is through the visioning process that the project team will first engage the public in their thoughts regarding community character and design and neighborhood connections as these elements can contribute to the overall vision. The “vision” will be comprised of narrative text and will likely be supported by bullet points and precedent images. The visioning phase will last through May. 4 The MIG Team will then create a Development Framework with conceptual elements to address existing structures, the major circulation network, the height, massing, and high-level character of new development, key open spaces of open space concepts, drainage, and utilities. The framework approach will establish long-term goals for the site while not creating a Master Plan that is overly prescriptive. Instead, the Development Framework and Preliminary Recommendations will articulate priority concepts and connections, while setting the acceptable and desirable range of alternatives for physical form, land use, absorbency potential, circulation, linkages, and more. The Development Framework and Preliminary Recommendations will provide guidance and certainty to aid the City with processing future entitlements, as well as identify public infrastructure investments that may be necessary to support the future of the Campus. They will also provide SCL Health with the tools they need to market the property to a desirable partner(s) for all involved. And finally, they will provide the community with a level of comfort and certainty regarding the future potential of the Campus and how it will (and will not) relate to the surrounding neighborhoods. This eight-month process will culminate in a written document that supplements and amends the City’s Comprehensive Plan. MIG will prepare a Master Plan document which will include development of an implementation and action strategy, documentation of the Master Plan in an iterative series of drafts, and a final report. A draft will be brought to City Council for preliminary review at the next study session anticipated to take place in August. ATTACHMENTS: 1. November 2, 2020 City Council Study Session Memo 2. Stakeholder Steering Committee Presentation and Summary Board from April 19th Meeting 3. Project Schedule ATTACHMENT 1 Memorandum TO: City Council and Mayor THROUGH: Patrick Goff, City Manager FROM: Lauren Mikulak, Planning Manager Ken Johnstone, Community Development Director DATE: October 22, 2020 (for the November 2 Study Session) SUBJECT: Lutheran Campus Master Plan PURPOSE The purpose of this study session is to provide Council with an update on SCL Health’s plans for the existing Lutheran Medical Center campus and to seek consensus on a master planning effort for the campus. BACKGROUND Existing Conditions SCL Health currently owns and operates the Lutheran Medical Center (LMC) at 8300 W. 38th Avenue. The campus is 100 acres in size extending between W. 32nd Avenue and W. 38th Avenue, and between Allison and Dudley. While there are no public rights-of-way within the property, this area is roughly equivalent to the size of 12 city blocks. Medical uses on the property significantly pre-date the City. The site began as the Evangelical Lutheran Sanitarium in 1905 with numerous tents erected for the treatment of tuberculosis patients. In 1961, Lutheran Hospital opened as a non-profit general medical facility. In the 1970s, the site became known as the Lutheran Medical Center, and services continued to expand with construction of new buildings, including the six-story tower in 1973. In 1998, LMC became part of Exempla Healthcare; and in 2010, Exempla joined Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth (SCL). The Lutheran campus is centrally located in Wheat Ridge and is one of the City’s largest employer with 2,000 associates, 900 physicians, and 600 volunteers. The site is currently zoned Planned Hospital District (PHD), and permitted uses include only hospitals, hospice care, and accessory uses customarily associated with a medical campus. The City’s comprehensive plan, Envision Wheat Ridge, designates the campus as a public land use noting that public uses, including the hospital, will “remain as community and neighborhood anchors.” The plan also designates the site for primary employment. These designations reflect the well-established hospital use, and the comprehensive plan does not consider other potential land uses for the site. SCL Health Plans for the Future In 2018, SCL Health (SCLH) purchased a 26-acre parcel to anchor the Clear Creek Crossing development west of I-70 at 40th Avenue. Currently called the “West Campus,” the site will include a 6-story hospital and separate medical office buildings. Services will be similar to those provided currently on the Lutheran campus. The West Campus will replace the existing, aging Lutheran Medical Center. SCLH is actively exploring how to repurpose the “Lutheran Legacy Campus,” and they plan to largely divest themselves of the property after the West Campus is complete. There are some services which may remain at the Lutheran campus, such as the hospice care. Additionally, some of the medical office buildings are operated by third parties who may choose to remain. A significant portion of the site is undeveloped, and there will be a significant opportunity to repurpose the site. Proposed Master Plan The zoning on the Lutheran campus exclusively allows medical uses, and the City’s comprehensive plan shows the campus only as a public or hospital use. In order for any development to occur or any repurposing of existing buildings, a zone change will be necessary. In order for a zone change to be supported by staff and decision makers, it needs to be supported by the comprehensive plan. Staff is recommending the completion of a master planning process to establish a long-range vision and guiding principles specifically for the Lutheran campus and to guide future development decisions. A master plan document provides the neighbors and the development community with shared expectations, and provides decision-makers with a clear basis for making development approvals in the future. The completion of a master plan or vision document has become increasingly common practice in the metro area as communities deal with change and growth through infill development. These small area plans are seen most frequently in the prevalence of station area plans around RTD rail stations, but also for infill situations, such as Denver’s Stadium District. Staff has discussed the importance of a master planning effort with SCLH, and the importance of completing a plan before SCLH moves too far forward in engaging the development community. To that end, staff is proposing the following arrangement for completion of a master plan: • City staff will serve as the project manager. • SCLH will fund the planning effort (estimated to be $120,000-$150,000). • Staff and SCLH will jointly select a planning consultant to lead the effort using the City’s procurement process. • A planning consultant will lead an 8-month process including robust public and stakeholder engagement and plan development. • A master plan will need to be rooted in reality; responsive to stakeholder feedback; and supported by analysis of traffic, utilities, and the market. • The master plan will need to be reviewed and adopted by the Planning Commission and City Council as an amendment to the comprehensive plan to provide the basis for future development approvals. The resulting master plan is intended to be community-backed and vision-based to further goals rooted around the following elements: • zoning and land use • transportation and connectivity • utilities and infrastructure • economic conditions It would also identify opportunities and challenges, and set forth a clear basis for implementation. Next Steps SCL’s desire to market the Lutheran campus among the development community is occurring sooner than City staff had expected. This means that a master planning effort for the property is now a high priority. Staff is seeking Council consensus to move forward with a master plan. If such direction is given, the procurement effort will begin promptly, and a kick off for the process could occur as early as the first quarter of 2021. Based on staff resources, this would mean the 44th Avenue subarea plan would be not begin until the third or fourth quarters of 2021 at the earliest. That project was not included in the 2021 budget and would also be dependent on 2021 revenues. Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan STAKEHOLDER STEERING COMMITTEE | 04/16/2021 In association with: EPS | Fehr and Peers | The Abo Group ATTACHMENT 2 The rest of the team! Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan ANDREW CARLY RON MATTNATHANIELKYRA CHARLIE CHADELLY TIM KATHY Meeting Agenda 12:55 –1:20 Project Orientation Presentation •Approach •Process •Outreach 1:20 –1:35 Outreach and Engagement Discussion 1:35 –1:55 Campus Role Discussion 1:55 –2:00 Summary and Next Steps •Immediate Action Items Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan orientation Structure Plan Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy 1.Key Findings as a baseline: •Community Contentment •A Strengthening Market •Primary Corridors •Neighborhoods 2.Building off themes •Investment in 38th Avenue •Include allowance for neighborhood serving amenities •Solutions uniquely tailored to individual neighborhoods Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan Approach for this Project 1.Comprehensivefoundation from which to make decisions 2.The right level of detail commensurate with the needs of the projects 3.Creating parameters and sideboards to establish a realistic vision •Without saying these building are going to be this size, this material, and this footprint 4.Planning with and for the community •Employing the appropriate level of detail in analysis and visualization to ensure that trade-offs are understood Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan Visioning and Development Framework 1.Setting expectations for developers and the community: •Establish trust and transparency •Clearly communicate potential implications and trade-offs without overpromising on specific details •Prioritize articulation and decision making around key parameters and framing elements 2.Threading the needle: •The process will need to balance value (of the land) and values (of the City and Community) Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan Plan Elements: Land Use Planning and the Built Form 1.Baseline understanding for Land Use, Current Zoning and general character of the built form 2.Frame within the adopted Structure Plan and recent community dialogue 3.Visioning for future land use and development grounded in technical analyses 4.Development framework and preliminary recommendations for conceptual elements and supporting systems Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan Plan Elements: Market Analysis Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan •Conditions and Trends Summary •Developer/stakeholder outreach •Site Capacity and Competitive Positioning Analysis •Development Demand Estimates Plan Elements: Traffic Analysis 1.Understand impact of future background growth + build out 2.Consider multimodal opportunities, land use, and density 3. Provide mitigating strategies (infrastructure and programs) to manage transportation demand Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan Plan Elements: Facility Assessment 1.Establish a strong understanding of facility capabilities 2.Catalog and qualify inputs to provide guidance on structural, or architectural assets 3.Additional Considerations: •Re-Use vs. Adaptative Re-Use Potential •Current code and health standard conditions vs. cost efficiency •Value proposition around the facility assets vs. placemaking Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan process Schedule Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan outreach Public Engagement Approach 1.Diverse strategies and traditional methods 2.Key inputs from: •Focus groups and stakeholders •Public meetings and survey •Steering committee 3.Allowing for flexibility and in-person opportunities •Interactive online facilitation •Self-guiding walking tour 4.Leveraging City assets •Let’s Talk Resident Engagement Program •New Community Engagement Specialist Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan Considering COVID 1.Nine months of practice and refinement 1.Years of addressing the digital divide before that 2.Deploying in-person strategies in an online format 3.Shifting facilitation and recording methods based on the needs of the conversation 4.Ever expanding tool sets 1.Virtual: meeting rooms, tours, etc. Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan Building in Flexibility Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT BA C K T O N O R M A L BA C K T O 2 0 2 0 WALKING TOUR VIRTUAL TOUR VIRTUAL FOCUS GROUPS FOCUS GROUP WORKSHOP VIRTUAL MEETING ROOM ONLINE PUBLIC MEETINGS + WHATSUP WHEATRIDGE ON-SITE COMMUNITY EVENT STAKEHOLDER COMMITTEE + AUGMENTED REALITY STAKEHOLDER COMMITTEE CHARRETTE + Self-Guided Campus Tour (May 1st, 9:00AM –12:00PM) Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan •0.85 miles •Three main stations with activities and topic-specific information •Informational signage throughout •Drone and videographer documentation Outreach and Engagement Discussion Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan Schedule Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan ATTACHMENT 3 Item No. 2 Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council THROUGH: Patrick Goff, City Manager FROM: Allison Scheck, Administrative Services Director DATE: April 30, 2021 (for May 10 special study session) SUBJECT: Strategic Priority – Streamlining Permitting and Licensing ISSUE: At the strategic planning retreat on February 20, 2021, City Council identified customer service, education and process improvement of the City’s licensing and permitting processes as a priority for the next two years. Staff is requesting feedback on a proposed workplan to realize this priority. UNDERSTANDING THE PRIORITY: Prior to the retreat, councilmembers took a survey to identify priorities for discussion. Between the survey and the discussion, staff recorded the following notes associated with this priority: • Streamline the process for permits, inspections and business licensing • Building and economic development areas • Permit concierge • Small businesses do not understand the process • Need tax education • Wrap around services for businesses Based on these notes, staff’s understanding of the priority is to improve the permitting and licensing processes for businesses, with an emphasis on small businesses. This includes providing helpful educational materials to make processes clear and transparent (no surprises) with good handoffs internally. WORK CURRENTLY UNDERWAY: A summary of current programs, practices and initiatives follows. 1. The 2019 Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy (NRS) identified “Facilitating Investment through Customer Service” as one of several priorities. The focus of this recommendation is related to identifying tools and resources that can assist both businesses and homeowners in making investments in existing (oftentimes older) buildings. Staff is in the early stages of implementing this program which will give businesses, property owners and homeowners a clear path forward for the reuse, modification and expansion of existing buildings. 2. The City has long offered courtesy inspections for businesses looking to relocate to Wheat Ridge along with preapplication meetings where a business owner spends time with planning, engineering and building staff to learn about the regulations, permits and timelines that apply to their specific project. Staff also assists in identifying critical path issues when a major change in use to an existing building is being proposed. 3. Educational materials including a business resource guide is posted on the City’s website and shared as a resource by the City’s economic development manager. PLANNED UPCOMING ACTIVITIES: Below is a summary of planned and budgeted upcoming activities to support this priority. 1. Onboard New Licensing Technician Following Council’s approval, the City’s finance team is working to onboard a new licensing technician. This position will implement the new licensing programs including massage, short-term rentals, tobacco retailing and future programs including hotel licensing. This position is customer service focused and will support the general business licensing program. Timeline: Anticipated start date: June 1, 2021. 2. Update Municipal Code Chapter 22 (Tax) and Join State Sales and Use Tax System Simplifying Colorado’s complex sales and use tax laws has long been a priority for the Colorado legislature and the Department of Revenue. A committee comprised of legislators, Colorado Municipal League staff and local government finance professionals developed a framework and program to provide an optional one stop shop for businesses to remit state and local government taxes. Seventy percent of Colorado’s home rule municipalities have now joined the state’s Sales and Use Tax System (SUTS) and staff recommends the City do the same. This activity requires updating Chapter 22 of the City’s Municipal Code to align with the State’s model code and joining the SUTS program. Timeline: Staff will present more information and a draft ordinance at a Study Session in the third quarter. 3. Conduct an Analysis of the City’s Enterprise Resource Planning Program An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is an integrated suite of business applications including financial software, sales and use tax remittance system, procurement program and personnel management programs that are used to power an organization. In Wheat Ridge, the building permitting and court management programs are also part of the ERP. The City currently uses the American Data Group (ADG) solution which is a legacy system that has served the City well for a number of years. ADG’s clients are typically very small organizations and the product is not considered a mainstream offering in the ERP field. While functional, the system is not considered user friendly by customers nor staff and it is likely that Wheat Ridge has outgrown this solution. An analysis was planned and budgeted in 2020 but was put on hold due to the pandemic. The analysis is designed to first look at internal workflows to create process efficiencies for both customers and staff. Next, the analysis will consider the type of ERP system the City needs to best support customers given the size of the organization and types of programs offered. Finally, the consultant will assist the City in procuring the best system for its needs and implement the new ERP program. Staff recommends resuming the solicitation process to secure a consultant in the fall of 2021 so that the analysis can proceed in 2022. Funding is not currently appropriated for the analysis which is expected to cost $75,000 - $100,000. Timeline: Resume RFP process – fourth quarter, 2021. Conduct analysis 2022. Begin new ERP implementation in 2023. IDEAS FOR NEW ACTIVITIES: To further support this priority, staff presents the following ideas to Council for consideration. 1. Comprehensive Educational Campaign for Small Businesses Create a series of educational materials to help small businesses navigate the City’s licensing and permitting processes including: • Introductory video (similar to the “Demystifying Government” series presented with the Community Education and Engagement priority) • “How to Open a Business in Wheat Ridge” guide that includes clear instructions and flow charts detailing the process. This will include information about how to enter the process at various stages as in practice, businesses are often at different points in the process when they first reach out to the City • Quarterly meetings for businesses to learn about the City’s licensing, permitting and tax collecting and reporting requirements • Toolkit for local business associations to use to promote the City’s processes to businesses Proposed Timeline: Launch in 2022 Resources Needed: To be determined. May require contractor support to develop materials. 2. Targeted Outreach to Property Owners Develop an outreach strategy specifically for property owners in an effort to educate them about requirements for reusing and renovating existing buildings, new buildings and the licensing requirements for tenants interested in their properties. Proposed Timeline: 2022 Resources Needed: Small budget for mailing list purchases RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff requests direction from Council to move forward with activities to support this priority. ATTACHMENTS: None.