Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning And Zoning Board - Minutes - 04/16/1998• 0 CITY OF FORT COLLINS PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD Meeting Minutes April 16,1998 6:30 p.m. Gwen Bell, Chair Glen Colton, Vice Chair Staff Liaison: Georgiana Deines City Council Liaison: Scott Mason Members present: Gwen Bell, Glen Colton, Sally Craig, Bob Davidson, Jerry Gavaldon, and Karen Weitkunat. Agenda Review: Ted Shepard, Chief Planner reviewed the consent and discussion agendas: 1. Minutes of the May 12, June 19, and June 30, 1997 Planning and Zoning Board Hearings. (Continued) 2. Resolution PZ98-3 Easement Vacation (Continued from 4/2) 3. Modifications of Conditions of Final Approval 4. #21-83K Partial Abandonment of Brittany Knolls Overall Development Plan. S. #55-95P Recommendation to City Council Regarding the Fort Collins Library Capital Improvements Plan 6. #55-95N Northstar Mobile Home Community Rezoning Discussion: 7. #13-98 Lincoln Jr High School, First - Annexation and Zoning 8. #13-98A Lincoln Jr High School, Second - Annexation and Zoning 9. #55-95J Worthington Farm Rezoning (Tabled 2nd Meeting July) Ms. Bell reminded the audience that any actions for which the board has the final authority, there is an appeal period of 14 days. The appeal packet is available if needed. Al Brien asked the board to pull Agenda No. 6 from the consent agenda. Mr. Colton asked the board to pull Agenda Items 4 and 5. Moved by Mr. Gavaldon, seconded by Ms. Weitkunat: To approve agenda Items 2 and 3. Motion passed unanimously. Planning and Zoning Board Meeting of April 16, 1998 Page 2 Moved by Mr. Gavaldon, seconded by Mr. Davidson: To move Item No. 9, #55-95J, Worthington Farm Rezoning, to the 3rd Thursday in July. Motion passed unanimously. Lincoln Jr High School First -Annexation and Zoning, #13-98 Lincoln Jr High School Second - Annexation and Zoning, #13-98A Mr. Waido informed the chair that the staff presentation would cover both Items 7 and 8, Lincoln Junior High School, First and Second Annexation and Zoning. These items dealt with the annexation of Lincoln Junior High School into the City limits by using the flagpole technique. The use of a flagpole technique is legal under state legislation. The only limitation on this technique is it can't extend three miles. Ken Waido told the board that this was a request by the Poudre School District to bring Lincoln Junior High into the City limits. He explained that the School District wants to bring this property into the City mainly because they were needing increased police protection on the site. The Larimer Sheriffs Department could not provide the particular level of service that the school desired. He felt from a policy perspective that annexation was one of the clearer policies that exist within the City Plan and also with the intergovernmental agreement with Larimer County. He also noted that the property would be zoned Urban Estate and it would be consistent with the City Plan. Mr. Colton asked Mr. Waido to elaborate on the flagpole technique. Mr. Waido explained on the map that essentially Vine Drive to Shields to the western boundary of Lancer Drive would be inside the City limits. Part of a small road off of Lancer Drive and then the bulk of Lincoln Junior High would also be inside the City limits. Mr. Waido informed the board that this was the same technique used to bring Anheuser Busch and Hewlett-Packard into the City limits. Ron Daggett, the property manager for the school district, informed the board the reason for the request was primarily for police protection. Mr. C. Schultz addressed his concerns to the board. He asked these questions: The property being annexed, does it then create the same continuity for all the properties touching the property line being annexed? Does it also apply to Vine Drive? Will this increase the taxes? Was there another annexation plan? He Planning and Zoning Board Meeting of April 16, 1998 Page 3 did not want to see this item pass due to possible further annexation of surrounding properties. George Schultz stated he was not in favor of these two items. Ms. M. Lane, who lives on West Vine, informed the board that nothing was relayed to the neighborhood that there was an issue of crime or a situation where the area needed to change the security issues that were there. She wanted to know if the neighborhood needed to be made aware of crimes that were occurring there. She was also concerned about a possible increase in taxes. Also, how would this affect the farm property in this area if this area does turn into City property? She was opposed to the annexation plan. Craig Miller, owner of the fruit farm on West Vine, was also opposed to the annexation. He and his wife were concerned with the change in use that might come along with the City annexation. He also wondered why annexation was the only alternative to police protection. He felt that the school should work more closely with the Sheriff's Department. Don Malen and Greg Bernam also opposed annexation and agreed with all reasons stated. Mr. Waido informed the residents of this area that the annexation would change the political boundary for the area shaded on the map. This was not a development proposal. None of the properties outside of this area were included in the annexation. There would be no changes in the taxes since the residents were in the County now. Ken Waido did mention if the annexation was approved by City Council, then any of the surrounding properties that have continuous boundaries to the shaded area would allow those properties at some point in the future to be annexed into the City. There was no requirement to do this. He stated that it was his understanding that that County does not want to be involved with providing urban services. Ken informed the board that any improvements on Lancer Drive would be the school's responsibility. Mr. Daggett clarified for the board some of the security issues. He explained that there were a few off -site issues of vandalism on the grounds, playgrounds, and damage to the fields from cars. Planning and Zoning Board Meeting of April 16, 1998 Page 4 Moved by Ms. Weitkunat, seconded by Mr. Gavaldon: To approve Agenda Item 7, Lincoln Junior High School first annexation and zoning of the UE, urban estate, Zone. Ms. Weikunat did not agree with the flagpole annexation. Since it was allowable by state law, she would approve the annexation. Mr. Colton wanted to know if there was a compelling reason the City wanted to annex this property. Mr. Waido explained that the agreement with Larimer County was that properties within the urban growth area eventually should be within the City limits. Mr. Colton did not like the idea of the flagpole technique. He did not feel there was a compelling reason, other than the safety issue, for this property to be annexed. He wanted the property owners to know that if their property touched the annexed properties, the outlining properties could be affected. Mr. Gavaldon was concerned about why the safety issues weren't addressed earlier. He also did not like the flagpole technique, but felt since it was allowable then the property could be annexed. Mr. Davidson stated that the flagpole annexation was a questionable policy Motion passed 4-2. Moved by Ms. Weitkunat, seconded by Mr. Gavaldon: To approve Lincoln Junior High second annexation and zoning of the UE, urban estate, Zone. Mr. Colton clarified the reason he voted no. He stated he had a real concern with the flagpole annexation. He fell it was a bigger policy that the board should discuss. Ms. Weitkunat informed the board that she shared similar concerns with Mr. Colton on the flagpole annexation, but she felt that safety issues were extremely important. Ms. Bell stated she would continue to vote no on this issue. She did not agree with flagpole annexation and felt there could be some community things done to address the security issues. 0 Planning and Zoning Board Meeting of April 16, 1998 Page 5 Mr. Gavaldon was concerned about the district's approach to security without involving the neighborhood. Motion did not pass, 3-3. Ms. Bell informed the audience that the Council would have to make a decision without a recommendation of the board. They would also receive notices and would need to go to the City Council meeting and discuss the annexation again. Northstar Mobile Home Community Rezoning. #55-95N Ken Waido stated that the request was for property, located at 1700 Laporte, approximately 2.79 acres, to be rezoned from the T Zone to the LMN Zone. The property was currently in both a commercial and a residential zone. The mobile home park has been in that area for a long time, and most of the units were the older, narrower -type mobile homes. Staff did recognize that eventually this site will need to redevelop in the near future. Mr. Waido told the board that last fall, the planning and zoning board recommended a change of that property for the LMN Zone for low-income housing. He stated the property owners would prefer the medium mixed -use neighborhood zone which would allow a maximum density of 12 units per acre. The LMN Zone would represent about a 33 percent reduction in density if it were to redevelop in this particular zoning district. Staff was supporting the recommendation because of Section 3.5 in the land use Code. Bill Eckert, owner of the property to the west and directly across to the south, wondered if the commercial property along Laporte Avenue was slated for replacement in the near future. Mike Bond stated there was not any immediate plans for redevelopment. He wanted the property to somewhat reflect the use that was already present on the property and felt that the LMN Zone was the best solution. Moved by Mr. Gavaldon, seconded by Mr. Davidson: To approve Agenda Item No. 6, the North Star Mobile Home Community Rezoning. Motion passed unanimously. Planning and Zoning Board Meeting of April 16, 1998 Page 6 Partial Abandonment of Brittany Knolls Overall Development Plan. #21-83K Mr. Cotton stated he was frustrated with this item. He wondered why a neighborhood center did not survive. Tom Vosburg explained that this specific site was identified as an attractive site for a future neighborhood service center, but it was acknowledged that it had already been purchased as property for the Heart of the Rockies Church. This had not been articulated clearly to the board in the City Plan process. Lucia Liley spoke on behalf of Heart of the Rockies Christian Church. She stated to the board that the church bought this property "in good faith" from the City of Fort Collins. She stated that the church was in the active development process. Moved by Ms. Weltkunat, seconded by Mr. Gavaldon: To approve Agenda No. 4, Partial Abandonment of Brittany Knolls Overall Development Plan, 21-83K. Ms. Weitkunat felt this request for partial abandonment complies with the criteria set forth in Section 2.1.3E3AB, the land use Code. The City Planner stated that the church was going to develop the 11 acres. The church did not intend to develop the project in nonchurch related activities. Mr. Colton stated he would not support this issue because he felt the City structure plan was compromised when it shouldn't have been. Ms. Craig also stated she would not be voting for this amendment. She felt that when the church bought this particular piece of property, they knew they were in noncompliance. She also felt the church knew that they were going to have to amend the ODP because the property was supposed to be a neighborhood commercial center and yet they decided they wanted to put a church on the property. She felt the property should still be a commercial neighborhood center. Ms. Weitkunat felt that the previous points were moot. She felt that what didn't happen in the past, the board could not correct in the hour that they were sitting there. Mr. Davidson agreed with Ms. Craig in principle, but with Ms. Weitkunat in reality Mr. Gavaldon and Ms. Bell stated that they were in support of the motion. 0 0 Planning and Zoning Board Meeting of April 16, 1998 Page 7 Mr. Colton wondered if there was any other course of action other than approving Agenda 4. Mr. Shepard stated there were only three zones that a church was not allowed, PO Zone, public open land, RC Zone, river corridor, and the Downtown Canyon Avenue. Mr. Colton restated that the board should vote against this agenda. He again felt that the board should take a better look at whether or not the property would be better served in its original purpose and amend the structure plan. Ms. Weitkunat felt that Mr. Colton was discussing issues that were totally different than the specific proposal under a specific plan. She felt that the mistake that the City made should not penalize the people and the project because of what happened previous in the City Plan. Ms. Weitkunat called for a vote. Motion passed 4-2. Recommendation to City Council Regarding the Fort Collins Public Library Capital Improvements Plan, #55-95P Mr. Colton preferred to have multi -library sites rather than a single library site downtown. Marty Heffernan, assistant to the director of cultural library recreation services, spoke on behalf of Agenda 5. The primary reason for one site in the downtown area is to keep within the City Plan principles. He felt that people did enjoy the main library and felt that this plan would be good for the community and was a good way to serve the customer. He stated that there was a lot of staff duplication in the movement of the books and a great deal of inefficiencies that occur in multi -library sites. Ms. Craig asked if anything was taken into consideration in weighing multi -sites versus one site. Marty Hefernan said that they had taken that issue into consideration, but the library board thought a one -site was more affordable. Ms. Weitkunat was in support of the library plan. She was concerned that the content of the actual plan didn't seem to provide a visionary or technological future for the library. She thought the plan needed to look more at services that Planning and Zoning Board Meeting of April 16, 1998 Page 8 are integrated between university and other County libraries. She felt that the needs of the library board needed to be cost effective. Mr. Gavaldon asked why the library board was not building the library on North Lemay and Lincoln Avenue. Mr. Hefernan informed the board that that area was not a recommended site of the board. At the open house, the library board was asking for public input on two different sites. The library board has since taken the public input and is making a recommendation that they prefer the downtown site. Mr. Gavaldon expressed his disappointment because of the absence of linkage to other facilities. Mr. Hefernan said that the library board was very committed to becoming the internet caterer and internet provider for people who can't provide those services for themselves. Mr. Colton was not convinced that the best thing to do for the City was to have one site for a library. He felt there was not good customer focus in this plan. Mr. Hefernan thought that the library board had done a customer survey, and he believed there was strong support for the downtown location. Eventually, they would like to have a smaller branch in the southeast quadrant of town in the overall plan. He felt at this stage, the community wasn't recognizing the library in South Fort Collins. It was not getting a lot of use by nonstudent or parents of student related people. Mr. Colton recognized the need to have a strong downtown, but felt that it would be more beneficial to have services closer to where other people live. Ms. Bell was interested in the partnership with Front Range Community College. Mr. Hefeman stated that this partnership has worked well. He thought the Harmony Library building was a great location, but they needed to add more books. He explained to the board that by Council passing this agenda, they would be able to access 3 million dollars in these impact fees. Ms. Bell asked Mr. Hefernan if there were funds to possibly work with Fort Collins High School to get a southeast area library. n �J Planning and Zoning Board Meeting of April 16, 1996 Page 9 Mr. Heferan did not know what the plans were in that regard. He stated that he could take that back to the library board for consideration. He said that when they were working on the new high school, one of the first ideas that came up in the planning process was a joint library. It was carefully analyzed by the school district. They felt there were security issues with the high school and elected at that time not to participate. Mr. Heferan informed the board that this was a comprehensive plan that deals with the capital side of the library. Mr. Colton was willing to approve the plan to get the monies flowing, but he felt there needed to be more discussion on one -site location versus multiple sites. Moved by Mr. Gavaldon, seconded by Mr. Colton with a provision that the specifics of one building versus other alternatives be addressed before any decisions are made on a downtown site: To approve Agenda 5, Fort Collins Public Library Capital Improvements Plan. Ms. Bell asked Mr. Heferan to prepare a synopsis of one site versus multi -sites. • Motion passed unanimously. Other Business: Staff requested the board to reconsider their recommendations to the City Council regarding the Spring 1998 Land Use Code Revisions, Section 2-3534 of the Municipal Code. A memo was provided to the board earlier that outlined the recommendation. Staff wanted the board to add the Municipal Code Portion to their prior recommendation. Moved by Ms. Weitkunat, seconded by Ms. Craig: To revise the Municipal Code Section 2-3534 of the Municipal Code regarding issues of appeal and administrative decisions. Motion passed unanimously. Moved by Ms. Weitkunat, seconded by Mr. Colton: To request the board to reconsider the board's recommendation to Council regarding the convenience retail stores with fuel sales. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Vosburg asked the board reconsider their recommendation to Council . because staff felt that they may not have given the board complete information Planning and Zoning Board Meeting of April 16, 1996 Page 10 on this recommendation. Staff wanted to provide additional information and then give the board an opportunity to change the recommendation if they felt the need. The board had asked staff back at the April 2n, meeting if there was any significant implication of delaying or deferring action on the particular issues until the next Code change ordinance. He felt at that time there were no implications. Mr. Vosburg later realized through staff that there were potential implications that the board might perhaps be concerned about. He stated the Code now contains a separation requirement for convenience stores with fuel sales from other similar uses. That separation requirement expressed by one of the property owners had prompted a review on this entire issue. Staff felt that the first intent of the separation requirement was for separation of fuel sales, gas stations. He stated that the way the separation requirement that is worded in the Code now, says that convenience stores are the emphasis, not the fuel sales. One recommended change was to clearly articulate the separation requirement is related to the fuel sales. Mr. Vosburg felt the implication of deferring action on this item is that the existing Code would not control gas stations from going in close proximity to each other. A free-standing gas station without the convenience store element would not be regulated by the separation requirement. The memo also outlined the options available to the property owners if the proposed Code changes were adopted. The first option was that the property owners could continue to have all of the remaining permitted uses available in the MMN Zone. The second option is that any property owner can request to rezone their property; however, rezoning must be consistent with the structure plan and City Plan. Rex Miller spoke to the board concerning his property. He proposed that two properties be allowed to proceed under the current guidelines. Pat O'Donnell agreed with Rex Miller's thoughts on the issue. Mr. Davidson expressed concern with this issue. He felt that this could potentially lead to too many gas stations within the three-quarter mile ruling. Ms. Weitkunat thought the proposal was a reasonable solution. She stated her concern has always been with the fairness to the citizen. I* Planning and Zoning Board Meeting of April 16, 1998 Page 11 Mr. Miller, the owner of the 7Eleven store stated that they didn't have any intention of building on Overland Trail until the 7Eleven store was closed. He said there would not be a duplication of services on that corner from a land use standpoint. Mr. Waido said he was not aware of any convenience store proposals at Overland and Elizabeth, or Overland and Drake. Ms. Craig was concerned that the fast food with fuel sales needed to be covered as well in this proposal. Mr. Waido informed the board that clearly the intent to change the Code was to make sure that there's a three-quarter mile space in between fuel sales. Mr. Davidson felt since the property was recently annexed, this property should not be allowed to have fuel sales. Mr. Gavaldon didn't want to grant an unfair advantage to Mr. Miller over the owner of the U-Pump Station. Moved by Ms. Weitkunat, seconded by Mr. Colton: To recommend that the MMN Zone not allow fuel sales, and that the recently rezoned projects that the staff recommended to Council, the staff initiate rezoning for the two properties so that owners would not be required to do the submittal fee for the rezoning. Motion passed 4-2. Meeting adjourned.