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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 10/14/1998MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD SPECIAL MEETING STREETS FACILITY 625 NINTH STREET OCTOBER 14,1998 For Reference: Eric Levine, Chair 229-5225 Scott Mason, Council Liaison 226-4824 Tom Shoemaker, Staff Liaison - 221-6263 Board Members Present Eric Levine, Jim Dennison, Harry Edwards, Raymond Sons, John Schroeer (until 7:45 p.m.), David Gallup, Mandar Sunthankar and Steve Perich (arrived at 6:40 p.m.) Board Members Absent John Scanlon Staff Present Natural Resources Department: Tom Shoemaker, Aaron Fodge, Sally Maggart, and Lucinda Smith Transportation Department: John Daggett Advance Planning Department: Pete Wray Guests Ten citizens from the Buckingham neighborhood. The meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m. Tom Shoemaker, Natural Resources Department Director, clarified for the citizens in the audience that this is a special meeting of the Air Quality Advisory Board in order to receive staff presentations on the Mountain Vista Subarea Plan and the Northeast Truck Route. Approval of Minutes The minutes of the August 26, 1998 meeting were approved as written. Review and Update Action List Council Liaison, Scott Mason, will be at the October 28 meeting. Multimodal Corridor Committee Raymond Sons volunteered to represent the AQAB on the Multimodal Corridor Plan Committee, an 18-month commitment beginning in December. Air Quality Advisory Bo, October 14, 1998 Page 2 Mountain Vista Subarea Plan, Pete Wrav Pete Wray, City Planner, explained that there is an opportunity in northeast Fort Collins to work with new development in achieving the goals of City Plan. He presented the latest draft of the framework plan and the proposed transportation system for the study area. Wray explained the Land Use Summary Table included in the Board's packet, noting that there are 26 landowners in the area, with Anheuser-Busch owning 40 percent of the area. He added that A-B is updating their master plan to ensure buffering between the industrial and residential land use. Wray noted that Poudre School District has purchased 100 acres for a future high school, and there is a proposed 80-100 acre community park in the area. He explained that the community commercial mixed use district is unique, with pedestrian street design and transit connections. Wray said that there is not a lot of population in the area, just a scattering of farms. Mandar Sunthankar asked what is more attractive about this development rather than an area to the south or southeast of I-25. Wray said that right now it is not more attractive; it has been pretty quiet for some time due to lack of street and stormwater improvements. Eric Levine asked what the future population of the area will be. Wray responded that the plan would accommodate between 12,000 and 15,000. Levine asked what the projections were on VMT (vehicle miles traveled). Wray responded that modeling is being done and John Daggett, City Transportation Planner, has the traffic count numbers. Levine said that he is interested in knowing the ultimate VMT generated and the amount lessened through following City Plan policies. Wray noted that the long term goal is to get people out of cars. David Gallup said that he is interested in the behavioral model of people going into the area and their willingness to embrace public transportation. He asked what kind of plan there is for the inclusion of affordable housing. Wray said that the plan provides for mixed density and allows for varying lot sizes. John Daggett, Transportation Planner, said that the key to ultimately reducing VMT is in terms of infrastructure and behavior. He noted that in April 1999 there will be a vote to dedicate a tax to transit; it will provide about $6 million a year in operating funds to double the size and increase the frequency and service hours of the transit system. Daggett added that the concept is to connect activity centers to make it as convenient as possible for people. He said that he is skeptical about the ability, as a culture, to get people out of cars. Daggett noted that there is a good transit foundation in Fort Collins, with a higher per -capita ridership compared to cities around the country of the same size. Air Quality Advisof oard October 14, 1998 Page 3 North East Truck Route Project, John Daggett John Daggett, City Transportation Planner, explained that this is a $3 million capital improvement project. He said that two committees were formed to examine the issue: a Citizen's Advisory Committee (CAC), representing areas along Mulberry, Riverside, North College and County Road 52, along with Transportation Board representatives; and a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) composed of CDOT, Colorado Department of Revenue, City staff, and County staff representatives. Daggett noted that seven public hearings have been held targeting several neighborhoods. Daggett explained the three tiers of the evaluation. The first tier addressed a "fatal flaw segment analysis" which evaluates past alternatives and new alternatives. The second tier looked at the Mountain Vista Plan and the issues of costs, circuitous routes and incentives and disincentives for the trucking industry. Daggett explained that it is 69 miles shorter going through Fort Collins to Laramie than on I-25 through Cheyenne. He added that the financial impact is great on repeat trips because truckers get paid by the shorter distance and lose $50 each trip by going through Cheyenne. He noted that thirty-five to forty percent of truckers going through Fort Collins do have the City as a destination. Daggett said that Council reduced the alternatives to the Vine and Mulberry Corridors, and as many alternatives as possible were created within the two corridors. The Tier 3 analysis refined the number to 13 alternatives for the truck route. Many issues were considered: cost, weight, pedestrian and bikes connections, congestion relief, impact on wetlands, natural areas, floodplains, homes taken, businesses displaced, neighborhoods bisected and economic impacts on business. Daggett noted that the TAC scored higher on performance issues and the CAC higher on impact issues, with the top four alternatives prioritized the same in both committees. Alternative 41: Interchange at I-25 and Vine, across to Conifer and out about Jax on North College Ave. This was the choice of both committees. Alternative 42: Enters at I-25 and Mulberry, north on Lemay, behind Andersonville, out to Jax on North College Ave. Alternative #3: I-25 on Highway 14 to Timberline, to Vine and angled to North College. This might be a phasing rather than a true alternative. Alternative #4: Enters at I-25 and Vine, straight across to College Avenue and then north. Daggett said that there will be three more opportunities for public input: November 2 at the Lincoln Center from 7:00-9:00 p.m.; November 18 at the Transportation Board; and, Air Quality Advisory Bo. October 14, 1998 Page 4 December 15 at Council. He emphasized that the main issue at these meetings will be location, not design or mitigation measures. Eric Levine said that the source of air quality impact is not addressed in any of the proposals. He noted that 2/3 of the trucks have no business in the City, yet they generate 20-30 percent of the pollution. Harry Edwards said that data and projections on the impact to air quality are needed. He suggested that the plan be analyzed by City staffinembers skilled in air quality modeling. Jim Dennison asked if air quality levels had been determined for the different scenarios. Daggett responded that they had not. Dennison asked how could Council make a choice without the information. Daggett noted that because there are many variables, it would be difficult to determine what to model. An interested citizen asked if a turnpike could be put in through the farm land to the north of Vine, and truckers be charged to use it. He said that a turnpike would help get the diesel trucks out of Fort Collins, while putting the pollution on Vine Street is not gaining anything. Daggett noted that it would be very expensive to go through the lake area to connect to north College. Edwards agreed that the users should pay. Gallup suggested setting up a toll collection at each end of the truck route and charging $100, with a rebate if the trucker has business in Fort Collins. Levine asked if the traffic model is run from Mobile Model 5a. Daggett said that the baseline for traffic information is City Plan; it assumes all things, e.g., activity centers, etc. He added that assumptions under the old LDGS would be difficult to create because a traffic model is needed to compare it to City Plan. Daggett noted that this is an issue for staff to discuss. Raymond Sons asked if the design phase will come back to the Board after the December 15 Council meeting. Daggett replied that it would. Items for Next Meeting Agenda • October 28: Air Quality Action Plan Adiournment: The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.