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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Board - MINUTES - 05/21/20255/21/2025– MINUTES Economic Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, May 21, 2025 – 4:00 PM 215 N Mason, EOC, or Microsoft Teams 1. CALL TO ORDER: 4:00 PM 2. ROLL CALL a. Board Members Present – • Braulio Rojas (Chair) (arrived late) • Chris Denton (Vice Chair) • Val Kailburn • Tim Cochran • Phillip Callahan • Brad Kreikemeier • Kim Palmer b. Board Members Absent – • Thierry Dossou c. Staff Members Present – • Tyler Menzales, Staff Liaison • Michael Bussmann, Economic Health Office • Clay Frickey, Planning Manager d. Guest(s) – • Hannah Wahl – Chamber of Commerce Advocacy Specialist 3. AGENDA REVIEW Menzales reviewed the published agenda. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – APRIL 2025 Cochran made a motion, seconded by Kailburn, to approve the minutes of the April 2025 meeting as presented. The motion was adopted unanimously . 5/21/2025– MINUTES 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Land Use Code Update Michael Bussmann, Economic Health Office, noted the phase one Land Use Code updates focused on residential zone districts and this upcoming phase is an update to commercial corridors. Clay Frickey, Planning Manager, stated the purpose behind much of this work is to align the Land Use Code and development outcomes with other big picture policy plans and community priorities. He provided information as to which commercial corridors will be the focus of the work, including the College, Harmony, Mulberry, and Timberline corridors, and noted the policy plans with which alignment is being sought include City Plan, the Economic Health Strategic Plan, Active Modes Plan, and Housing Strategic Plan. Frickey provided the timeline for the Land Use Code updates and provided a summary of community feedback received last fall. He stated there are four primary focus areas for feedback: design standards for commercial buildings and site design, development in the College corridor or transit-oriented development overlay district, development in the Harmony corridor and employment zone districts, and the development review process. Members and Frickey discussed the fact that developers and lenders will be the ultimate dictators of how much parking will be placed in multi-unit developments. Frickey noted limiting auto-oriented uses such as gas stations in the College corridor area has been discussed, though existing uses would be grandfathered. Additionally, he noted parking maximums have been discussed to be retained. Chair Rojas encouraged staff to proceed with caution when limiting parking so as not to ultimately have too little parking and pushing it onto residential streets. Frickey noted Longmont removed minimum parking requirements city-wide a couple of years ago and old minimum requirements turned into maximums. He stated there is a growing movement among cities to attempt to right-size parking. He also discussed possible opportunities and need for structured public parking at key locations accessible to bus rapid transit. In terms of the Harmony corridor employment districts, Frickey noted office environments have changed, and the Code is not aligned with the way office development occurs. He stated currently 25% of land area can be used for employment-supportive uses and there is talk of possibly relaxing that standard to a 50/50 split. Members discussed the importance of multi-story development rather than just parking lots. Bussmann noted changing the land use split to 50/50 would allow some of the remaining buildable land to not become corporate campus while still reserving some space for those uses in the community. A member asked if the plan has been examined to forecast whether it is foreseen that there is enough space for the types of businesses that would provide employment for residents. Frickey noted there is data to show there is 5/21/2025– MINUTES a great deal of land area available for primary employers even with the proposed changes. He also noted there are about 1.3 jobs per person in the Fort Collins area, which is considered to be quite healthy ; however, he acknowledged the jobs/housing balance is a delicate one. Frickey outlined the proposed more specific design standards for commercial buildings, site circulation, and block size. Frickey discussed the proposal to streamline the development review process for things such as small business changes of use. He stated the concept may mean that short term improvements are not made to sites and they may naturally deteriorate to the point that a small business does not want to go into the site, thereby spurring redevelopment. Bussmann stated the goal of these development review changes is to balance the hurdles for small businesses with the community standards. Menzales stated an online question was submitted regarding whether the redevelopment process with King Soopers was positive and what was learned. Frickey replied people wanted to see that site have a more dense, urban style development, and the City did not have the standards to require that; therefore, proposed standards for projects around the MAX line will require denser development. He noted the City is trying to be collaborative in trying to achieve that vision rather than just putting it on private development. Frickey stated staff would like to return in July or August once draft Code language is developed to get a recommendation from the Board to City Council. b. Dinner Break (**Secretary’s Note: The Board took a brief recess at this point in the meeting.) c. Economic Health Council Priority Update Menzales noted Economic Health staff will be going to Council for a work session next week to discuss the Economic Health Council Priority , which includes advancing a 15-minute city by igniting neighborhood centers and pursuing an integrated, intentional approach to economic health. He outlined the five strategic objectives presented to Economic Health staff when it became a Council Priority: expanding business retention to include attraction , understanding barriers to business to support small businesses, developing a high-performing business research department, supporting and accelerating work force training programs, and coordinating and leveraging economic opportunities in innovation. Menzales discussed the Economic Health Strategic Plan’s vision statement and provided an overview of the highlights of Fort Collins’ economic profile noting Fort Collins is a growing, aging community with about 70% of its population actively participating in the work force , which is a good percentage. He stated about 7,000 businesses are in Fort Collins and the average annual wage is about $67,000. He also noted 96% of all businesses in Fort Collins 5/21/2025– MINUTES are small businesses with 50 employees or less. Menzales provided a chart indicating how various components of the job market and economy are interconnected. A Board Member asked if it is concerning that 2/3 of the large employers are government related. Menzales noted Fort Collins is home to many federal labs and employees and stated his team was asked to do a projection of what would happen if 1,000 federal employees were lost. He stated the ripple effect would be astounding and result in a loss of up to $333 million in revenue, or 1- 2% less sales tax revenue. Menzales also noted the community is relatively diverse in employment and could have a much higher number of federal employees. Menzales noted an online question was submitted regarding whether the Board has regular meetings with top five or ten employers to learn what business challenges they face. He stated the Board has not had those types of meetings, though Economic Health staff does have regular meetings with top employers and several hundred other businesses a year. Menzales discussed what an integrated, intentional approach to economic health looks like, including a switch from acting reactively to proactively to have communications with businesses before they are in crisis and economic mobility. He also went on to further detail the Economic Health approaches to the strategic objectives. Menzales discussed issues that are currently being tracked, including softening sales and use tax numbers which have resulted in a $5 million general fund shortfall, general economic uncertainty in terms of actions at the federal level, business owner mental health and burnout, record low restaurant profit margins, and tariffs increasing supply chain costs. Board Members commended the proactive approach and the fact that Economic Health is a Council Priority. They also discussed recent property valuations and their increases, which it was noted impact other aspects of the economy. Chair Rojas asked if someone from the County could speak to the Board regarding the property valuations. Menzales replied he could look into that possibility. 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS New Board Member Kim Palmer introduced herself and discussed her employment history in Fort Collins. 5/21/2025– MINUTES 9. STAFF REPORTS None. 10. OTHER BUSINESS None. 11. ADJOURNMENT a. 6:03 PM Minutes approved by the Chair and a vote of the Board/Commission on 06/18/2025