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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-08-2024 - Special Study Session Agenda PacketSPECIAL STUDY SESSION AGENDA CITY COUNCIL CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO 7500 W. 29th Ave. Wheat Ridge CO April 8, 2024 6:30 pm This meeting will be conducted as a virtual meeting, and in person, at 7500 West 29th Avenue, Municipal Building. City Council members and City staff members will be physically present at the Municipal building for this meeting. The public may participate in these ways: 1. Attend the meeting in person at City Hall. Use the appropriate roster to sign up to speak upon arrival. 2. Provide comment in advance at www.wheatridgespeaks.org (comment by noon on April 8, 2024) 3. Virtually attend and participate in the meeting through a device or phone: • Click here to pre-register and provide public comment by Zoom (You must preregister before 6:00 p.m. on April 8, 2024) 4. View the meeting live or later at www.wheatridgespeaks.org, Channel 8, or YouTube Live at https://www.ci.wheatridge.co.us/view 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. Public Comment on Agenda Items 1. Lutheran Legacy Campus – Zone Change and Charter Amendment 2. City’s Response to Traffic Issues 3. Staff Report(s) 4. Elected Officials’ Report(s) Item No. 1 Memorandum TO: City Council and Mayor THROUGH: Patrick Goff, City Manager FROM: Lauren Mikulak, Community Development Director DATE: April 8, 2024 SUBJECT: Lutheran Legacy Campus – Zone Change and Charter Amendment PURPOSE The purpose of this memo and the April 8 study session is to discuss the next two steps associated with future redevelopment at the Lutheran Legacy Campus: a zone change and a charter amendment. BACKGROUND On October 25, 2021, City Council approved the Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan. The plan outlines a vision of the future for the 100-acre site that has served as medical campus since 1905. The plan was a collaborative effort: led by the City and a consultant team, funded by the hospital, and created by the public. The document outlines a framework for future development, describing community expectations and goals. (The Master Plan is available online or in hard copy form by request: https://whatsupwheatridge.com/lutheran.) A central goal of the plan was to envision a realistic future—balancing the most likely future land uses, the value of the property, and the values of the community. The plan doesn’t identify specific uses or site plans. Instead, it identifies critical elements of redevelopment that reflect public input while retaining reasonable flexibility for future owners. The master plan describes three key expectations which represent the central tradeoff associated with future redevelopment: 1. The perimeter should serve as a buffer and transition between the campus and existing adjacent neighborhoods, 2. Future development should integrate existing assets to the greatest extent possible (such as the chapel, blue house, and trail along the Rocky Mountain Ditch), and in exchange, 3. The interior will be afforded more flexibility in terms of land use and height. This approach is summarized in the plan’s framework map (shown below) and detailed in Chapters 4 and 5 of the Master Plan. The plan anticipates the site to include a mix of uses and a mix of housing types. Office, civic and cultural uses are appropriate in the interior of the site. If commercial uses are introduced, they should be limited so as not to cannibalize the nearby main street at 38th Avenue and Wadsworth. Open space and multimodal facilities are mandatory. Study Session Memo – Lutheran Legacy Campus April 8, 2024 Page 2 Chapter 6 of the Master Plan outlines the next steps required to bring this vision to reality. These include a zone change for the whole property, an amendment to the City Charter to allow additional height in the interior, and creation of an urban renewal area. Shortly after the Master Plan was adopted, ownership of the campus changed when SCL Health merged with Intermountain Health (IMH). With leadership changes and a focus on the new hospital development at Clear Creek Crossing, there has been little discussion of property sale and zone change over the last couple of years. Meanwhile, the Urban Renewal Authority prepared an Urban Renewal Plan which was recently presented to Council on March 18, 2024. DISCUSSION The purpose of this memo and the April 8 study session is to discuss the other two critical next steps: a zone change and a charter amendment. 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. While the existing hospital is estimated to be over 100 feet in height, and is a legal nonconforming use, the City Charter limits new development to 35 feet for residential uses and 50 feet for non-residential uses. Both the zoning and the charter would need to change to realize the community vision outlined in the Master Plan. This development framework diagram from the Master Plan (page 51) illustrates in yellow the expectation of lower density and lower intensity uses on the perimeter. By contrast, the purple shading represents a flexible mix of uses that could be taller and more dense in the interior of the site. The asterisks identify some of the existing buildings and potential reuse opportunities. Study Session Memo – Lutheran Legacy Campus April 8, 2024 Page 3 The Master Plan was adopted for the express purpose of informing a future zone change. At the recent March 25th City Council meeting during public comment, Intermountain Health announced that they are prepared to seek a developer partner who can bring to reality the City’s vision for the campus. This means a zone change and a charter change are coming into focus, and it raises questions of timing and sequence. The specific question that warrants discussion is whether or not it makes sense for the City to legislatively rezone the campus in alignment with the Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan. Such action would align with past practice and best practice when a jurisdiction wants to ensure that development regulations align with the community’s vision. While not frequent in Wheat Ridge, the City has a history of legislative or City-initiated rezonings. In 2012, for example, the City legislatively rezoned a portion of W. 38th Avenue after the 38th Avenue Corridor Plan was adopted; that action ensured the zoning helped to further the community’s vision and goals and it has catalyzed private investment. For the Lutheran Legacy Campus, there are likely three paths forward related to a potential zone change and charter amendment: Option 1 – Private Zone Change then Charter Amendment This is essentially a “do nothing” option. Intermountain Health intends to gauge developer interest beginning this spring. Eventually, an interested future buyer would approach the City for a zone change. The application would be quasi-judicial in nature, and the review process would be dictated by the zoning code requiring a neighborhood meeting and public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council. In the likely event that a proposed zone change contemplates taller heights in the interior of the site, then approval of the zone change would likely be contingent upon a subsequent approval of a ballot question that exempts the interior portion of the site from the City’s Charter cap. It is difficult to say how long this process could take, but it would likely be at least a year or more. The timing of a ballot question usually depends on the election cycle. Option 2 – Proactive Charter Amendment It’s quite possible that potential developer partners will hesitate to invest the time and money in a zone change process without knowing whether the community will support a ballot question to exempt the interior of the site from the Charter’s height limits. City Council could decide to proactively submit a ballot question that exempts the interior portion of the site from the Charter cap. This height study from the master plan (page 90) illustrates a hypothetical east/west view if the perimeter of the site remained subject to Charter’s height limitations but the interior of the site (between the Lutheran Parkways) was allowed to exceed that limit. Study Session Memo – Lutheran Legacy Campus April 8, 2024 Page 4 This option would still require a subsequent zone change to establish height limits and other standards related to permitted uses and development. This is the sequence that occurred 15 years ago when voters in 2009 exempted portions of the City from the Charter height and density caps including portions of Wadsworth, Kipling, the transit area, and Clear Creek Crossing. Subsequently, the City legislatively rezoned Wadsworth in 2012 and has approved a series of private zone change requests in other exempted areas. (Of note, there is no intent to exempt the campus from the Charter’s density cap because an aggregate density approach for the campus would allow the overall site to be limited to 21 dwelling units per acre.) The challenge with this approach for the Lutheran Legacy Campus may be that that the Charter height exemption hinges on a give/get approach—the interior of the site may be allowed more height and flexibility if the other community benefits are provided such as open space, trails, appropriate transitions to the neighborhood, and reuse of historical assets. While the Master Plan formally documents these expectations and will inform future zoning, the community may desire more assurance before supporting a ballot question. Option 3 – Legislative Rezoning and Concurrent Charter Amendment With a plan already adopted, the City can legislatively rezone the property to ensure that the future zoning aligns with the plan and with the community’s expectations. This approach would follow the same goal as the Master Plan—the City takes the lead to ensure the end result balances the values of the community with a realistic outcome for a future owner. Under this option, the rezoning is legislative in nature (not quasi-judicial) allowing a more robust community conversation and allowing decision makers (Planning Commissioners, Councilmembers, and the Mayor) to be more involved in the process and dialogue. The zone change and ballot question can advance together as early as this year. Unlike the legislative zone changes for 38th and Wadsworth, there is no existing zone district that aligns perfectly with the Master Plan. Planning Division staff would lead the effort to customize a zone district (either through a planned development, overlay, or new zone district) to ensure the proposed zoning implements the Master Plan with fidelity. The zoning would establish permitted and prohibited uses, maximum heights, minimum setbacks, maximum densities, open space requirements, and architectural requirements. As with redevelopment anywhere in the City, a future owner would then be responsible for all technical aspects of development—subdivision, drainage reports, traffic studies, and site and architectural plans. RECOMMENDATION AND NEXT STEPS Staff is seeking Council direction on whether or not to proactively advance a zone change and/or charter amendment as described by the three options above. If such direction is given, a more specific scope of work, public engagement plan, and timeline will be developed. If a legislative rezoning advances, City staff is well-equipped to lead such process; there may be some costs associated with support from the City Attorney’s office or limited consultation with zoning experts in crafting custom Master Plan-aligned regulations. If a City-initiated rezoning advances, Section 26-113 of the City Code requires that Council adopt a formal resolution to initiate the process. Item No. 2 Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council THROUGH: Patrick Goff, City Manager FROM: Chris Murtha, Chief of Police Eric Kellogg, Division Chief of Police Maria D’Andrea, Director of Public Works DATE: April 8, 2024 SUBJECT: City’s Response to Traffic Issues ISSUE: Traffic issues, primarily excessive speeds, are a continual complaint from the public. Citizens contact various departments, primarily the police department, to request speed enforcement on their streets. While the police department responds to these requests as time and resources allow, often, it is determined that there is not a speeding problem that is enforceable. In other words, the number of speeding vehicles does not warrant committing resources to enforce a minor number of the overall vehicles on the street. This results in frustration from citizens who often expect that all speeding vehicles should be ticketed to effect change. The city is attempting to address traffic issues throughout the community in a variety of ways that focus on not only enforcement but also education, and engineering. Education can assist in advising drivers, as well as pedestrians and bicyclists, of their responsibilities on the road and the rules of the road. Engineering attempts to modify the built environment either through temporary or permanent measures, to effect changes in driver behavior. An example of this is speed humps. Staff will present current efforts underway as well as some additional options for consideration by the City Council for implementation. DISCUSSION: Speed limits are posted primarily to regulate motorists of the speed considered reasonable and safe by most drivers on a particular roadway. Prima facie speed limits are those which “at first appearance” are reasonable and prudent under normal conditions. In Colorado, prima facie speed limits are: • 20 mph on narrow, winding mountain roads • 25 mph in any business district • 30 mph in any residential district • 40 mph on open mountain highways, and Traffic Issues April 8, 2024 Page 2 • 55 mph on non-interstate open highways • 65 mph on interstate highways, freeways, or expressways Colorado traffic laws related to speed limits (C.R.S. 42-4-1101 – Speed limits (2023) ) apply to all state highways, county roads, and city streets and requires that speed limits shall not be higher or lower than the prima facie speed limits unless a thorough traffic investigation or survey, also known as a speed study, has justified the change. Speed limits are typically set by following requirements within the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and traffic engineering standards. Factors which may be considered include: • Roadway environment such as roadside development, number and frequency of driveways & access points, pedestrian & bicycle facilities, etc. • Roadway characteristics such as lane widths, grade, alignment, etc. • Geographic context (such as urban district) and multi-modal trip generation. • Reported crash experience. • Speed distribution of free-flowing vehicles including the pace, median (50th percentile) and 85th percentile speeds (the speed at or below which 85% of drivers are traveling); and • Past studies to identify trends in operating speeds. When traffic flows at a uniform speed, drivers are less impatient, pass less often, and tailgate less, which reduces both head-on and rear-end collisions. Posting the appropriate speed limit results in improved roadway operation and safety. 25 MPH speed limit on City streets The Wheat Ridge Municipal Code, Section 13-2 (Model Traffic Code), adopts the 2010 edition of the Model Traffic Code for Colorado, by reference. It also amends (amongst other things) that Traffic Code to: 1) Establish twenty-five (25) miles per hour on all streets within the City of Wheat Ridge boundaries unless otherwise posted; and 2) Declare that the prima facie speed limits (listed above) shall be considered maximum lawful speed limits. Regulatory signs (black lettering on white background) are posted at conspicuous locations on major roadways entering the city to inform drivers of the 25-mph speed limit, unless otherwise posted. The 25-mph speed limit does not need to be posted to be enforced. The following initiatives are already in place to address speeding and traffic requests in the city: Police Department Staffing The Police Department’s Crash and Traffic Team (CATT) consists of one police sergeant and four police officers. There are currently two vacant police officer positions in CATT, one of which will be filled by the end of April. The primary responsibilities of CATT are to: • Reduce accidents and increase traffic safety through directed enforcement, problem- oriented analysis and community partnerships Traffic Issues April 8, 2024 Page 3 • Analyze accident data and implement appropriate methods to reduce accidents • Participate in CDOT impaired driving, seat belt, and overweight tractor/trailer enforcement programs • Work with the Colorado State Patrol conducting commercial vehicle safety inspections • Conduct both day to day accident investigations and respond to major accidents to conduct reconstructions Mobile Speed Measurement Unit Deployment The mobile speed measurement unit is deployed regularly to locations where citizens have offered complaints regarding vehicles speeding and proactively to various locations around the city to monitor and ensure police awareness of possible speeding issues. That data is used to educate and inform the community as well as assisting the police department with resource management. In the last six months 21 speed studies have been conducted throughout the city. The following data includes 20 of the 21 speed studies completed: • 12 of the speed studies were conducted at various cross streets on the City’s most highly trafficked Avenues (29th, 32nd, 38th and 44th) • Posted limits ranged between 25 MPH and 35 MPH • The threshold for violation was set at 10 MPH over • 440,084 cars measured • Average speed was 29.1 MPH • Total enforceable violations were 14,091 or 3.2% of the cars measured were in violation. The one measurement not included in the above data was at Frontage Rd S/Parfet St. It presents as an outlier: • 5640 measured • 1646 enforceable violations or 29% Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program This program is a formal process to address speeding concerns on local and collector roadways. Through this process, the city evaluates roadways for speeding issues, and where warranted, recommends and installs speed humps as a mitigation effort. This Program could be modified to address both speeding and cut-through traffic on residential streets by expanding on the potential strategies implemented to include educational efforts as well as known traffic calming tools such as automated speed radar signs, curb extensions/neckdowns, traffic circles, etc. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) have developed an ePrimer on Traffic Calming, (Traffic Calming ePrimer | FHWA (dot.gov)) which could be used to assist in this effort. Monthly Traffic Issues Coordination Beginning in 2024, city staff have resurrected a previous effort to discuss and provide a coordinated response to traffic issues within the city. The group consists of staff from public works, Traffic Issues April 8, 2024 Page 4 community development-engineering, police and communications. The group is currently populating a shared electronic filing system for traffic counts. Also, a request form has been developed and is being utilized to better track requests for new or modified signs or pavement markings, and signal timing. The following initiatives are currently in process or under evaluation: SS4A Planning Study & SS4A Grant Request The Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) federal grant program provides financial support for planning, infrastructure, behavioral, and operational initiatives to prevent death and serious injury on roads and streets involving all roadway users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation users and operators, personal conveyance, micromobility users, motorists, and commercial vehicle operators. The SS4A program supports the development of comprehensive safety action plans that identify the most significant roadway safety concerns in a community and the implementation of projects and strategies to address roadway safety issues. Jefferson County applied for and received an SS4A grant for FY2022 in the amount of $545,000 to complete a comprehensive safety action plan for the county. As a part of that effort, an appendix for each participating city within Jefferson County will receive an individualized action plan specific to their community. This plan is required prior to applying for or receiving any grant funds for implementation projects. Wheat Ridge is participating in that effort. There is no local match required to be included in that effort. The Denver Regional Council of Governments is developing an SS4A Implementation Grant application that aims to include roadway safety improvement projects prioritized by local communities across the region, as well as support supplemental planning efforts and demonstration activities. They recently solicited letters of interest from communities who wish to participate. Wheat Ridge submitted a letter of interest and has met with DRCOG staff to discuss potential projects. DRCOG is interested in using SS4A grant funds to deploy a suite of proven safety countermeasures at crosswalks, intersections, and corridor segments along the Regional High-Injury Network and Critical Corridors. The grant application is due on May 16, 2024. Vision Zero Strategy In 2020, DRCOG adopted a Regional Vision Zero (Regional Vision Zero | DRCOG) commitment to zero traffic-related fatalities and severe injuries on regional roadways and make safety a priority for all users of the transportation system. Taking Action on Regional Vision Zero outlines an ambitious set of actionable strategies for DRCOG and its various partner agencies for addressing roadway safety and implementing Regional Vision Zero. The pending SS4A funding request ties directly to Objectives 2, 3, and 4 of Taking Action on Regional Vision Zero, specifically: • Amplifying awareness and adoption of Vision Zero as a goal. • Retrofitting roadways to prioritize safety. • Refining data collection and analysis. Taking Action on Regional Vision Zero, includes a toolkit for local governments to use when planning a Vision Zero strategy in their own communities. Staff are currently reviewing the toolkit Traffic Issues April 8, 2024 Page 5 and are planning to engage the Wheat Ridge ATATs and Bike Jeffco before bringing a Vision Zero goal to the City Council for adoption. Unmanned Mobile Traffic Enforcement and Ticketing The police department is exploring an automated mobile traffic enforcement and ticketing product offered by Altrumint. The product has demonstrated success in reducing speeding, red-light, and other common traffic violations in locations throughout the country. These successes have enhanced community safety and proved to be a police resource multiplier. Update Municipal Code to current version of Colorado Traffic Code As stated previously, the city’s municipal code references the 2010 Model Traffic Code of Colorado. The current version of the Code was modified in 2020, (Microsoft Word - 2020 Model Traffic Code for Colorado Rev 2 - bza.docx (codot.gov). Therefore, staff would recommend reviewing the current code and modifying the code language to adopt the current version of the Model Traffic Code as well as ensuring the various amendments are still pertinent. Traffic-Related FAQs on City Website As a part of the educational component of this effort, staff are developing a Frequently Asked Questions section for the city website. NACTO Speed Limit Guidelines (City Limits | National Association of City Transportation Officials (nacto.org)) In 2018, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) developed guidance for setting speed limits on urban streets. The resulting guidance, City Limits, provides cities with technical and policy guidance on setting safe speed limits on city streets. Unlike existing national guidance, City Limits focuses on urban streets, which pose the most challenging scenarios for determining speed limits and are where the majority of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities occur. The guidelines address speed limit setting policy which, when paired with street design, is the best tool for reducing the health and safety risks posed by vehicular speeds. Staff are currently reviewing the document and will determine its applicability to future speed limit analyses. NEXT STEPS: Staff will provide an overview of the current and planned efforts related to speeding. Input from the City Council is requested on whether to pursue any of all of these initiatives.