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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStudy Session Notes 03/05/2012 STUDY SESSION NOTES CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO March 5, 2012 Mayor DiTullio called the Study Session to order at 6:30 p.m. Council Members present: Davis Reinhart, William "Bud" Starker, Joyce Jay, Kristi Davis, Mike Stites, George Pond, Tracy Langworthy, and Joseph DeMott. Also present: City Clerk, Janelle Shaver; City Treasurer, Larry Schulz; City Manager, Patrick Goff; Police Chief, Daniel Brennan; Community Development Director, Kenneth Johnstone; Planner II, Sarah Showalter and Sr. Planner, Sally Payne; staff and interested citizens. ~ Elected Officials' Report(s) Feed the Future Backpack Program Mayor DiTullio presented a letter of request from Loretta DiTirro for donations to Feed the Future. This program provides food for Title 1 children who have no food on weekends. Currently 300 students from Pennington, Kullerstrand, and Stevens receive food on Fridays. Service groups and community leaders raise the funds, package the food and deliver the boxes. Ms. DiTirro is requesting $5,000 from the Mayor's budget and donations from other elected officials as well. She also asks that this be a regular donation, and that she have space in the next Mayor's Matters newsletter. The Mayor proposed to make a single donation of $5,000 from the same sign budget that was used for 38th Avef\NR2020. Council members were supportive of the issue coming forth to the March 26th regular business meeting for a budget amendment and approval. Mr. Reinhart went to a meeting of the Boys/Girls Clubs for Jeffco. About 20 people attended and we had good representation from Wheat Ridge. Two sub-committees have been formed -one to raise money and one to look at sites. Patrick Goff is chairing the site committee. Before a site can be chosen they need to have $850,000 in the bank for 3 years of operation. It is a daunting goal. It would cost $250,000 a year in perpetuity. Mrs. Jay reported from the 381h Avenue Leadership Committee. The 15 planters that the City owns were discussed. The plan is for WR High School students to paint two boards for placement on the sides of each planter. They're heavy and this way they won't have to be transported for decoration. Mrs. Jay said she also noticed that we have a number of public utilities and signs along 381h Avenue that need sprucing up (paint, etc.). Ms. Davis attended an Urban Renewal meeting. A majority of the senior apartments are already rented; most are Wheat Ridge residents who will be selling their homes. It will remain an income restricted facility. The Wazee group is looking at a second parcel on this site for another similar development. Wazee thinks this second parcel is tucked behind 1 stBank and won't lend itself well to retail on the 151 floor, but they will take a look at it. The third parcel fronts 441h Avenue and would be good for retail. Ms. Davis thinks it's important to draw in residential tenants who can support the retail businesses we want to see grow there. 2. Staff Report(s) Ward TOO Metropolitan District formation by Mr. Johnstone. To support the dense, compact development and desire for very high quality pedestrian environment in the Northwest Subarea, the initial infrastructure investment requirements will be significant. Besides the typical underground utilities there needs to be a tight grid of streets, regional storm sewers and a parking garage. Frontloading the funding for this much infrastructure is a challenge. The formation of a Metropolitan District (metro district) would help with funding via the City's EPA Smart Growth grant. Last week IBC Holdings, owner of the former Jolly Rancher site at 50th and Ward Road, submitted an application for a rezoning of their property from I and PID to MU-C-TOD (mixed use, commercial). They would like a metro district to be formed and that requires review and approval of the City Council. IBC Holdings has about 15 acres. Including other properties would bring this up to about 45 acres in the future. A metro district would create additional revenue streams (property tax mill levy, public improvement fees and other one-time development impact fees) to finance above and below grade public infrastructure, including a large parking garage that would be shared by private development and the Regional Transportation District (RTD). The City already has an IGA with RTD about a shared parking garage. IBC submitted a proposed service plan and staff has begun to review it. A preliminary meeting with the property owner and counsel is scheduled for later this week. IBC has requested a very tight review schedule. The reason for the rush is that IBC wants to reach an agreement with RTD about the parking garage. RTD will soon be starting to acquire property for the Gold Line stations and associated parking. Those acquisitions will be directly impacted by whether there's a parking garage vs. the currently proposed surface parking lot. Per state law, elections to form metro districts can only occur in May or November. IBC believes they need to utilize the May 2012 election window, so they'll need Council's review/approve by March 26 or April 9. Because staff has just begun review of the service plan it's too early to guarantee a presentation to Council by March 26. However, since the proposed development pattern and infrastructure plan align very well with the Council's strategic plan, staff are willing to make a concerted effort and wanted to make City Council aware that such a review was underway. Council's discussion turned to issues such as: If we don't do this right now, will we be missing some funding source? How will this benefit the whole city? The Gold Line owns NO land in this area at this time! If we don't proceed now will we end up with a giant slab of asphalt? Would delay cause us to lose prime retail opportunities? Mr. Johnstone added that there are two possible locations for the parking garage. A service plan would spell out exactly what the plan would look like and serve almost as a legal document. It would set up a fee structure for various aspects of the service plan and lay out going to the bond market for revenue. This would definitely involve some serious land planning, but bottom line-RTD will want to negotiate with a metro district -not a private property owner. Consensus by Council for staff to proceed with the meeting with IBC on Thursday and hopefully have the service plan plan ready for the March 261h meeting. ~ Multi-family Rental Property Inspection/Registration Program Mr. Johnstone gave a brief power point presentation about multi-family property maintenance. The major question is "Do we want to do more to maintain our rental housing stock?" Staff would like some direction from Council as how to proceed on this. The City did a MF housing inspection pilot program in 2008/2009 along the Kipling corridor. It was very labor intensive, but it was successful and we learned a lot. Nearly half of WR housing stock (46%) is rental which is higher than the metro area and national averages. This is puzzling because we have a relatively older population and they tend to have much higher home ownership rates. Many rental owners live outside of WR (absentee landlords). Impacts of property maintenance: • Community image • Ability to re-invest (decisions based on other properties in the immediate area) • Property values • Life/safety issues for renters • Rental rates -impacts whether new new investments will be attracted to the community Discussion and consideration for policy direction focused on the following five topics: 1. Property Maintenance Codes • International Property Maintenance Codes • 2003 IPMC currently adopted • 2006/2009 available for adoption • Ability to amend to meet local needs (How nit-picky do we want to be?) Staff recommendation: Adopt amended 2012 IPMC Council concensus: Adopt amended version of 2012 I PM C. Staff to bring back a list of local amendments for Council review. 2. Types of rental properties to include • 1 0+ units: Less than 1/3 of total rentals. Quite a small group. Does it get at the real problem? • Single family (SF), duplexes and townhomes: More than Y. of our rentals • Balance in the 3-9 units project range • Lack of maintenance can be an issue in all types. • 1-70 corridor (north of Clear Creek, Ward eastward to Clear Creek) and SE part of town have highest (about 50%) concentration of rental properties and the highest concentration of crime. Staff recommendation: Include all rental properties Council consensus: Only include 10+ units for regular inspection by the City. 3. Interior vs.Exterior Exterior issues impact community image and property values. Interior issues impact life/safety, rental rates, ability to attract new investment. Staff recommendation: Focus on both, but at an appropriate level of detail. Council consensus: Proceed with staff recommendation. 4. Registration Program Mandatory Program vs. Complaint Based? • Data currently only available for 1 0+ units -1/3 of the rental stock • Limited data to access for balance of rental properties Staff recommendation: Mandatory registration for all rental properties with some level of cost recovery Council concensus: Register only 1 0+ units at th is time. 5. Implementation To soften the impact, staff recommends a variety of measures to incentivize landlords to participate in the program and take corrective action. Council concensus: Proceed with staffs recommendation 6.Hotel/motel Program Currently we have a cooperative program with PO and Comm Dev involvement. It is mandated by the voters and funded by a Lodgers' Tax. Every room is inspected. It improves community image to the traveling public and reduces crime. Staff recommendation: Continuing the hotel/motel inspection program in its current format. Council concensus: Proceed with staffs recommendation. Mr. Johnstone said costs will be calculated and they will also determine what department will handle all this. 4. Ordinance amending Article Ill of Chapter 26 of the Code of Laws concerning Planned Development Zoning Districts Postponed to another time due to probable length of the discussion ~ 38th Avenue Roadway Improvements Scope of the Project Besides restriping the street and adding signage, the project will also include on-street parking on the south side of the street, on-street bike lanes between Upham and Pierce Streets, large planters placed in the street at the beginning of each block to signal the beginning of a parking lane and to add landscaping to improve the image of the corridor. Cost of Restriping & Amenities (Total budget $250,000) • Approximately $70,000 for restriping and signage • Approximately $130,000 for construction of amenities: planters, temporary amenity zones and access enhancements (including all plant material for these items) • Approximately $50,000 for two years of maintenance of landscaping Amenities • Planters: 8 large planters 4x6; reuse 9 existing planters 3x3 • Temporary amenity zones (3): 16 x 20; only where businesses want them and agreed to maintain them (Dragonfly, Right Coast Pizza, and Cebiche) • Access enhancements (3): Narrowing wide curb cuts (with approval of the business) to improve vehicular circulation and add more opportunities for on-street parking Design goals • Flexible • Incorporate permanent seating • Buffer from street Design Option 1: Modular .... • Attract your attention • Durable material • Use of tall plants for interest and shade • Easy to add on • Two companies in US w/modular systems specifically for "pop-up cafes" • Bison is based in Denver: fits project budget and design • Rebar in San Fran: more expensive and design doesn't fit our plan Design Option 2: Stick-Build • Several companies who do composite or wood decking • Approx. $9,100 each • American Dream Deck (local)-quote using PVC composite (Timbertech) • Custom build large planters for access and night visibility • Less flexible (reduced ability to modify amenity zones and planters) • More affordable; 10 year warranty (Samples of both design options (materials) were available for Council's inspection.) There will be a separate contractor to water the planters. Summary of Intent The intent is for the improvements to be made in a way that can be easily modified or removed, if needed, since the road diet will be assessed after a period of approximately two years based on a variety of metrics including: ./traffic counts ./pedestrian and bicycle counts ./building permit activity activity ./sales revenue data ./input from businesses ./owners and residents Project Schedule 1. Bid for restriping approval by Council April gth 2. Bid for amenities to be approved by Council on April 23'd 3. Option to preorder modular design saves cost and time The study session was adjourned at 9:31 PM.