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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning and Zoning Commission - MINUTES - 07/18/2024Julie Stackhouse, Chair Virtual Hearing Adam Sass, Vice Chair City Council Chambers Russell Connelly 300 Laporte Avenue David Katz Fort Collins, Colorado Shirley Peel Ted Shepard Cablecast on FCTV, Channel 14 on Connexion & York Channels 14 & 881 on Comcast The City of Fort Collins will make reasonable accommodations for access to City services, programs, and activities and will make special communication arrangements for persons with disabilities. Please call 221-6515 (TDD 224- 6001) for assistance. Regular Hearing July 18, 2024 Chair Stackhouse called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Roll Call: Katz, Sass, Stackhouse, Connelly, Peel, York, Shepard Absent: None Staff Present: Frickey, Yatabe, Myler, Mounce, Keith, Guidarelli, Manno, and Matsunaka Chair Stackhouse provided background on the Commission’s role and what the audience could expect as to the order of business. She described the role of the Commission and noted that members are volunteers appointed by City Council. The Commission members review the analysis by staff, the applicants’ presentations, and input from the public and make a determination regarding whether each proposal meets the Land Use Code. She noted that this is a legal hearing, and that she will moderate for civility and fairness. Agenda Review Planning Manager Clay Frickey reviewed the items on the Consent and Discussion agendas, stating that all items will be heard as originally advertised. Public Input on Items Not on the Hearing Agenda None. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes Consent Agenda: 1. Draft Minutes for the P&Z May Regular Hearing The purpose of this item is to approve the draft minutes of the May 16, 2024, Planning and Zoning Commission hearing. Commissioner York made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda for the July 18, 2024, hearing as originally advertised. Commissioner Peel seconded the motion. Yeas: Shepard, Katz, Connelly, York, Sass, Peel, and Stackhouse. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED. Discussion Agenda: 2. East Mulberry Structure Plan Map Change Project Description: This is a request for the Planning and Zoning Commission to provide a recommendation to City Council regarding proposed changes to the Structure Plan Map following the recommended Place Type changes outlined in the East Mulberry Plan. The proposed changes encompass approximately 500 acres and reflect the changes previously presented and discussed with the Planning and Zoning Commission leading up to the adoption of the East Mulberry Plan in December 2023. Proposed changes are summarized in the staff report and do not deviate from what was included with the adopted version of the 2023 East Mulberry Plan. Recommendation: Approval Staff Presentation Megan Keith, Senior Planner, stated this item pertains to updating the Structure Plan Map in City Plan with the changes to Place Type as recommended and adopted in the East Mulberry Plan. Keith noted the proposed changes are the same as those discussed during the development of the East Mulberry Plan. Keith noted the Structure Plan Map uses Place Type designations to help create the framework for the ultimate build out of Fort Collins, and they are broader categories that provide guidance about land use and development intensity. Additionally, Place Types allow more flexibility when assigning zoning because there are often multiple zone districts that could be associated with a Place Type. Keith stated the proposed changes can primarily be categorized as updates that help better match the current land use condition or help provide additional flexibility as the East Mulberry corridor continues to evolve in the future. Janelle Guidarelli, Associate Planner, discussed each of the proposed Structure Plan Map changes, noting the largest potential change is for the area northeast of the Air Park, which is being proposed to be changed from Industrial and Mixed Neighborhood to the R and D Flex Place Type, which better reflects how the properties exist today, but also focuses on the future of any potential development. Guidarelli noted the changes add up to just over 500 acres and all align with goals and strategies found in the East Mulberry Plan. Commission Questions Commissioner Shepard asked if R and D Flex is part of the Light Industrial definition, or if the definition needs to be expanded to include R and D Flex. Keith replied that could be considered during the phase two Land Use Code updates. Commissioner Shepard commented on the Oak Street Townhomes project that was considered at the Commission’s May meeting, noting it benefitted from a Land Use Code provided opportunity to allow a zoning district to cross a line by no more than fifty feet. He asked if the same concept would apply between Place Types to provide similar flexibility. Clay Frickey, Planning Manager, replied that Land Use Code still contains that standard. Commissioner Shepard asked about staff’s interpretation for schools that may be in a Place Type; however, schools are not mentioned. Guidarelli replied the Heritage Cristian Academy is located in the East Mulberry corridor and it will be moved to the R and D Flex Place Type to allow it to be given an employment or institutional use zoning. Chair Stackhouse commended the presentation and asked about the reassigning of Pleasant Acres and Boxelder from the Suburban Neighborhood Place Type to the Rural Neighborhood Place Type. Keith replied there are no disadvantages to the shift and staff felt like the Rural Neighborhood Place Type more accurately reflected the character and quality of the area. Additionally, there was a great deal of engagement from residents within the area indicating a desire to keep a more rural character and quality for the neighborhoods. Chair Stackhouse asked if this Place Type change would make redevelopment of the neighborhoods more difficult. Keith replied the corresponding zoning for the Place Type is more characteristically less dense zone districts; however, there is some flexibility within those zone districts that some redevelopment could occur. Keith stated that issue could be further discussed. Commissioner Shepard noted there is a gap in density between Urban Estate and Low-Density Mixed-Use Neighborhood and stated this appears to be an opportunity to support filling in that gap as those lots are not half acre minimums, and it is not prototypical Urban Estate or LMN. He suggested this would provide an opportunity for a zoning that lies between two and four units per acre. Public Input None. Commission Questions / Deliberation Commissioner Katz reiterated the residential density zoning gap brought up by Commissioner Shepard. Additionally, he asked why Industrial zoning was excluded from the Suburban Mixed-Use Place Type. Guidarelli replied the table that was included with the Place Type and corresponding Zone Districts was originally developed in City Plan and replicated for the East Mulberry Plan with a few minor adjustments. Guidarelli stated there are a number of businesses that exist around the edges of the Mulberry corridor that look or feel industrial, and staff feels the flexibility of the Place Type of Suburban Mixed-Use can mostly accommodate most of those lighter industrial uses versus some more heavy industrial uses that exist in other areas of the corridor. Frickey stated General Commercial can accommodate many of those uses, as is similar to the Mason corridor between Horsetooth and Harmony. Additionally, he noted the I-25 Subarea Plan calls for the Mulberry corridor being more commercial and less industrial. Commissioner Katz commented on the need to be sensitive to existing business owners to ensure compliance with future zoning. Keith stated staff does not anticipate any functionality or land use to be non-conforming upon annexation aside from the more industrial agricultural businesses around the interchange, from a land use perspective. Keith also stated that one of the goals of the Plan is to preserve those uses and allow industrial uses to continue, it is seeking to build in additional flexibility to help some of those uses come into compliance either over time or with additional flexibility being provided. Commissioner Sass encouraged staff to ensure adequate due diligence has occurred to make sure the non- conforming uses that are going to have the Structure Plan dropped on top of them understand the ramifications moving forward. He supported the development of a Place Type that will assist those property owners. Chair Stackhouse requested staff comment on the outreach done to the particular businesses in question and the extent to which they understand future ramifications. Keith noted all of these Place Type definitions have existed for this area since City Plan was updated in 2019 and noted there was a robust outreach for this project dating back many years prior to the adoption of the Subarea Plan that included neighborhood meetings and a great deal of engagement from businesses, particularly in the Air Park area. Keith also noted the majority of the land use Place Types were previously in existence and have provided guidance for the area for some time. Commissioner Sass noted the area is not being voluntarily annexed. Commissioner Peel asked how many businesses this annexation will affect. Keith replied staff has not done that exact calculation, but the City has very good data about all the businesses within the corridor. Commissioner Peel commented on the importance of ensuring the businesses are considered as some businesses on South College are still having issues after being annexed thirteen years ago. Commissioner Connelly asked how recently the business outreach occurred. Keith replied the most recent outreach process that was part of the East Mulberry Plan update effort was in the fall of 2023 with the Plan adoption occurring in December of 2023. Chair Stackhouse commented on the extensive outreach done through personal visits with businesses. Commissioner Shepard suggested looking at definitions that are applicable to the area, or even city-wide, during the next Land Use Code update process to ensure today’s economy is being captured in terms of flexibility, multi- tenant, and other more broad terms. Commissioner Katz asked about the zoning along the Mulberry frontage prior to the proposed changes. Keith replied it was also a commercial designation and even the 2002 East Mulberry Plan had a similar recommendation. Commissioner Katz questioned whether the Commission could add wording to its recommendation that would add the flexibility discussed given there will be issues with non-conforming uses. Commissioner Peel asked if this will be a situation wherein the City’s Business Liaison, Michael Bussman, would assist a business which applies for a non-conforming use. Frickey replied utilizing some staff resources from Economic Health could certainly be appropriate. Ryan Mounce, City Planner, noted the current commercial designation along the Mulberry frontage has existed since the original East Mulberry Corridor Plan from 2002 and it does allow for many of the existing uses. Mounce stated staff does not anticipate having a great deal of non-conforming uses as the General Commercial zone district does allow light industrial uses and some uses with outdoor storage such as retail and supply yards. Mounce also noted the Code does have some flexibility in dealing with non-conforming uses in that they are allowed to expand their operations up to 25%. Additionally, there have been some conversations about making the non-conforming use process more flexible as part of the phase two Land Use Code updates. Commissioner Katz expressed support for making a recommendation as is. Chair Stackhouse also expressed support for moving forward with a favorable recommendation to Council. Commissioner Shepard thanked staff for their work to make the Structure Plan conform to the newly adopted East Mulberry Plan. Commissioner Katz made a motion that the Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Commission recommend that City Council approve the proposed Structure Plan Map amendments finding that the Structure Plan Map is in need of the proposed amendments, and the proposed amendments will promote the public welfare and will be consistent with the vision, goals, principles, and policies of City Plan and its elements. This recommendation is based upon the agenda materials, the information and materials provided at the work session and this hearing, and the Commission’s discussion. Commissioner Peel seconded. Yeas: Shepard, Katz, Connelly, York, Sass, Peel, and Stackhouse. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED. For more complete details on this hearing, please view our video recording located here: https://www.fcgov.com/fctv/video-archive.php?search=PLANNING%20ZONING Other Business None. Adjournment Chair Stackhouse moved to adjourn the P&Z Commission hearing. The meeting was adjourned at 6:53 pm. Minutes respectfully submitted by Melissa Matsunaka. Minutes approved by a vote of the Commission on: September 19, 2024.