HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning And Zoning Board - Minutes - 07/21/2005Council Liaison: Karen
Chairperson: Judy Meyer
Vice Chair: Dave Lingle
Staff Liaison: Cameron Gloss
Phone: (W) 490-2172
Phone: (W) 223-1820
Vice Chair Lingle called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
Roll Call: Meyer, Schmidt, Craig, Torgerson, Carpenter, Stockover and Lingle.
Staff Present: Wray, Eckman, Shepard, Gloss, Buffington and Deines.
Citizen Participation: None.
Director of Current Planning Pete Wray reviewed the Consent and Discussion Agendas:
Consent Agenda:
1.
Minutes of the May 19th and June 16, 2005 Planning and Zoning
Board Hearings. (Continued)
2.
Resolution PZ05-09 — Easement Dedication.
3.
Resolution PZ05-10 — Easement Dedication.
4. #32-981
Poudre Valley Health System — Harmony Medical Campus, 5th
Filing, Healthy Living Center — Project Development Plan.
5.
Choice City Business Park — Out of City Service Request.
6. #18-05B
Kingdom Hall — Overall Development Plan.
7. #36-96N
Mulberry and Lemay Crossings, Filing Two, Centennial Bank —
Major Amendment.
8. #20-00B
State Highway 14 — East Frontage Road — Annexation and Zoning.
Discussion Agenda:
9. #17-04A
Interchange Lands First — Annexation and Zoning. (Continued)
10. #18-04A
Interchange Lands Second — Annexation and Zoning. (Continued)
11. #27-05A
Waterdale First — Annexation and Zoning.
12. #16-05
Airpark Village — Annexation and Zoning and Structure Plan
Amendment.
Items 4, 5 and 8 were pulled for discussion.
Member Lingle moved to approve consent items 2, 3, 6 and 7. Member Schmidt
seconded the motion. The motion was approved 7-0
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 2
Project: Poudre Valley Health System — Harmony Medical
Campus, 5t' Filing, Healthy Living Center, #32-981
Project Description: Request for a Project Development Plan to construct
a 2-story 138,000 s.f. building housing a medical spa,
patient rehabilitation, preventative care, and
community health education facilities, medical offices,
a health -focused cafe and a membership health club.
The project is located near the southwest corner of
Snow Mesa Drive and Harmony Road and zoned HC,
Harmony Corridor.
nearing Testimony, Written Comments and Other Evidence:
Member Craig stated that she would like to see the site plan and have the applicant
address her concern. Her concern was that she remembered when this came before
the Board and they sold the Board on this campus affect with the parking on the
outside, which is completely against what we had been aiming for for quite awhile. Part
of the sale was that the buildings would have a center core of open space that would be
full of pedestrian walkways, gathering places and so forth, and on the site plan that
came before the Board for the Healthy Living Center, she saw none of those items. She
wanted the applicant to talk about and explain why it is not on the site plan and reassure
her that that is what this campus affect is going to have in the end.
Angie Milewski, BHA Design responded to Member Craig's concern. She stated that
they did not have a slide of the Master Plan and that was unfortunate because they do
have a fully developed Master Plan that each building that has come forward is in
compliance with that Plan and this is no exception. The western two-thirds of the entire
PVH Harmony Campus site is designed as a campus; meaning they did not meet the
build to line criteria for the buildings. The first phase is already constructed and the
concept around it is rather than have the buildings up to Harmony Road and up to
Timberline Road, they have an internal loop road system and part of that is a private
loop road, part of it is part of Timberwood Drive that surrounds and circles the entire
campus area from Snow Mesa to Timberline Road. Within that external loop road
system, there is a parking area around the outside edges, inside that there is a ring of
building area where the buildings go and inside that is a pedestrian campus core area.
What has been built to date; Phase 1 Medical Office Building and Ambulatory Care
Center which is in the northwest corner of the Master Plan. This is filling out the
northeast corner of the Master Plan and what is not being shown is all the rest of the
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 3
work to the south. There is a planning bubble that is designated on the Overall
Development Plan that is required to become the pedestrian campus core area. This
particular project does not build the entire campus core; it is being developed overtime
and will come in in a later phase and not with this phase. They have worked very hard
with city staff on an infrastructure plan for the entire campus and how that is phased
over time. This is still part of what is the first phase of that infrastructure plan. Also
included with the first phase is a significant amount of infrastructure that was not part of
the pedestrian open space. They built a significant portion of Snow Mesa Drive, a
signalized intersection at Snow Mesa Drive; there is a second main landscaped entry
now on Harmony Road to help identify that as a second major entryway to the campus.
The hospital has been prioritizing the infrastructure piece of this, one of which is the
pedestrian campus core as the needs arise and it is basically being built right now from
the north to the south with this project included. This plan does not preclude that
pedestrian space from happening, in fact they have worked hard to adjust its site plan to
be sure they are anticipating the future campus area to occur. There are early plans in
place for what that will look like, including a lot of pedestrian connectivity. Initially it will
not be constructed, and the reason it is not being constructed in an early phase is
because there is another ring of buildings that are as yet unknown uses that they also
want to incorporate into that space. The reason it is a later phase of the infrastructure
piece is they don't want to preclude those buildings from occurring as well. They want
that space to be designed to connect all the buildings together.
Member Craig asked if what she was hearing is that phase will not happen until build
out.
Ms. Milewski replied not necessarily at build out, there are phases that go from north
around east and then south; that does not mean it will be the final phase. It is part of
the last phase, which is the whole south west portion of the site.
Member Craig asked what the reason was that we can't start connecting.
Ms. Milewski replied that it is a complicated issue. There are topographic changes, the
storm drainage from a master plan standpoint will have to go through this area and will
have to go through future buildings to the south. We don't want to put something in that
will preclude the way those buildings can be built to that area. It is a key part of the plan
and she wanted to assure the Board that it is not at all something they are skating
around.
Member Craig stated that it was reassuring that we have it on the record that it will
happen. She is somewhat disappointed because there are enough buildings to the
west that there could have been some inter -connection between this building and those
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 4
so that somebody that is parked in the west building will not get in their car and drive all
the way around where they might of walked across the path.
Ms. Milewski replied that they feel they have provided good connections to the places
where people walk. There is a continuous walk between the building entrances of this
walk and the buildings to the west.
Member Craig also had a concern about the sidewalk on Snow Mesa on the private
drive north of the parking lot, there is a sidewalk across the street, but there is not a
sidewalk along the parking lot itself. She wondered why they were making people cross
the street instead of being able to go down Snow Mesa down into this building.
Ms. Milewski replied that they are continuing the design that was done with phase one.
That design has an outer sidewalk and the thought is that they have concentric circles;
"�fa Main arterial roadways, then the loop road, parking and then buildings. Along the
building faces, between the building and the parking, the intent and it is beginning now
with the phases that are in, is there will be a full pedestrian pathway circuit system.
They thought that the outer connection might be used for staff on a lunch break to take
a longer walk not just around the building face. They would go out the pedestrian
connections that go right out the entrances and go across that drive and then take a
continuous path alignment around the outside without having to cross multiple
driveways. In this area, every 60 feet there is a driveway access into the parking lot. If
we put the walk on the inside on this private drive section, you would be crossing
multiple drive accesses.
Member Lingle asked if staff was confident that we have adequate triggers to require
the development of this inter -core. For instance if the development never proceeds past
this building and then everything to the south would come in as a completely different
plan at some point, do we have the mechanisms in place to build the pedestrian open
space.
Director Gloss replied that as Ms. Milewski indicated that the Overall Development Plan
calls for this grouping of buildings to be in a campus setting. There are 11 buildings
total in the entire development site and there are six of them that compose the area that
she was speaking of that brings in open space. It is conceivable that these future
phases don't come to fruition and we would have to work with the applicant on how that
would develop.
Member Torgerson moved for approval of the Poudre Valley Health Systems
Healthy Living PDP, #32-981.
Member Carpenter seconded the motion. The motion was approved 7-0.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 5
Project: Choice City Business Park Out of City Utility Request
Project Description: Recommendation to the General Manager of Utility
Services for a request to provide City water Service
from existing mains serving the area on the south side
of East Mulberry Street between Lemay Avenue and
Timberline Road.
Hearina Testimony, Written Comments and Other Evidence:
Roger Buffington, City Utility Staff gave the staff presentation. He stated that it became
evident during discussions prior to the meeting that this site is contiguous to city limits
now and there is a section of the utilities code dealing with the out of city utility service
that requires it if eligible for annexation. The site should sign a petition for annexation
so it complicates the issue here. The applicant is not present tonight so he would leave
it up to the Board as to the direction to take on this.
Chairperson Meyer thought that since the applicant was not here tonight, the item
should be continued.
Member Torgerson moved for a continuance of the Choice City Business Park
Out of City Utility Request to a future meeting to be determined by the applicant.
Member Stockover seconded the motion.
The motion was approved 7-0.
Project: State Highway 14 — East Frontage Road Annexation
and Zoning #20-00B
Project Description: Request to annex and zone a 35.86 acre parcel. The
site is located on the east side of the 1-25 East
Frontage Road approximately one -quarter mile south
of State Highway 14 (East Mulberry Street). The
recommended zoning is LMN, Low Density Mixed -
Use Neighborhood which is in conformance with the I-
25 Sub Area Plan.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 6
Recommendation: Approval
Hearing Testimony Written Comments and Other Evidence:
Ted Shepard, Chief Planner gave a staff presentation, recommending approval of the
annexation and the requested zoning of LMN, Low Density Mixed Use Neighborhood.
He stated that this requested annexation did not include the 11.3 acres to the west of
the site and includes most of the Boxelder Ditch.
Member Craig recalled to the applicant when he had came before the Board in 2002
hoping to get the LMN. At that time it was talked about an open space agreement. She
asked if he remembered that and why was he not following through with that now.
Les Kaplan, applicant for the request replied that what was being proposed for
annexation tonight is lot 2 of a subdivision that took place in the County. It took place
August 9, 2004. That is the property that is being proposed for annexation. Lot 1,
which is the front part of the property, is currently not under his ownership. The
property was subdivided in order to protect the property from the consequences of
annexation. One such consequence would be that were this property annexed it would
be zoned LMN in the city. The property has greater value potential for conservation
easement by remaining commercial in the county. That was the reason it was not
included.
Member Craig asked if he was in the process of getting a conservation easement at this
time.
Mr. Kaplan replied that he was not the owner of the property, but the owner of the
property was.
Member Craig asked who the owner of the property was.
Mr. Kaplan stated that the owner of the property is Natural Properties.
Member Craig asked if he was connected in any way to Natural Properties.
Mr. Kaplan replied that he is not Natural Properties.
Mr. Kaplan stated that the history of this annexation was that it was submitted in July of
2000 and it was waiting for the 1-25 Sub Area Plan to be approved. That was supposed
to be a year and a half process that took four years. It was resubmitted again in
November of 2002 in anticipation that the Sub Area Plan would be approved shortly. It
was recommended for approval with the LMN zoning on it to City Council in December
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 7
19, 2002. On February 18, 2003, it went to the City Council and City Council refused to
adopt the Planning and Zoning Board's recommendation for LMN zoning. Therefore he
withdrew the application. His objective all along was to preserve the front area of the
property. The method that he prefers to use right now is not to give the property away.
It is to get some value from the property in terms of selling it as a conservation
easement. The potential for that is higher if the property is kept in the commercial
zoning designation and not down graded to LMN zoning.
Member Craig asked if the owners of the property of the 11 acres that is west of this
decides to develop it instead of doing a conservation easement; was it possible to do it
with its eligibility or because it is contiguous to the city. Would they be able to develop it
under the County in C, with that contiguity going on?
Planner Shepard replied yes they would.
Member Craig asked how they would do that.
Planner Shepard replied that he was told by the Larimer County Planning Staff that they
have a process called a site plan review for permitted uses in the County C,
Commercial zone. That allows a certain number of permitted uses to be developed
administratively through a site plan review. The key is that it does not go to the
Planning Commission or the Board of County Commissioners. Therefore it does not
trigger the IGA annexation.
Member Schmidt understood it as we don't have any guarantee that it would remain
open space and it could be developed as commercial in the County and there would be
nothing they could do about it.
Planner Shepard responded that in a manner of speaking that was correct. The only
caveat he would offer if that the Boxelder floodplain and floodway are regulated by other
parts of the City and County Codes in terms of development potential. It is not a land
use guarantee, it is when the city or the county is approached with a development
proposal, and then the floodplain and floodway regulations would go into effect. That is
not land use that is floodway, floodplain protection. When you say guarantee, he has to
think in terms of permitted uses under zoning. There would be no guarantee under
County zoning.
Member Schmidt asked if the County floodplain regulations were more relaxed than the
city.
Planner Shepard replied he checked with the County and just the opposite is true in this
particular case because the governing floodplain regulations out there are the FEMA
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July 21, 2005
Page 8
maps. The city is in the process of amending those maps based on some master
drainage basin studies that have been done and it will take about a year for those
studies to be forwarded to FEMA and have the federal maps changed. It just so
happens that there is a slight decrease in the floodway/floodplain under the new city
mapping versus the existing federal mapping.
Member Schmidt thought that part of the idea of zoning LMN was a TDU, transferring
some of the density.
Planner Shepard replied that you can only transfer units within an LMN gross acreage
situation. You can't take C, Commercial units and transfer them over to an LMN.
Member Carpenter asked if the 11 acres are not part of this request, can the Board
legally have any jurisdiction there. The Board should be looking at the annexation of
the acreage that Mr. Kaplan has brought in.
Planner Shepard replied that was correct.
Member Carpenter said just because he had 11 acres there before really should not
have any affect on this request. The Board can't base anything on the 11 acres.
Deputy City Attorney Paul Eckman added that this annexation is as you see it and the
Board needs to make a recommendation on whether or not to pass it onto the City
Council with approval. The Board certainly can take in any other factors they think may
be relevant and connected to this.
Member Torgerson moved to recommend approval for the annexation and the
recommended zoning of LMN to City Council for State Highway Annexation and
Zoning, #20-0013.
Member Carpenter seconded the motion.
Member Lingle asked for any public participation.
Donna Sprague who lives in the Sunflower neighborhood next to this proposed
annexation asked if the Board was annexing 25 acres or less rather that 30 something.
Planner Shepard replied yes.
Ms. Sprague asked when you annex, does there have to be public access to that
property.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 9
Deputy City Attorney Eckman replied no, not for annexation, there would have to be
public access for development.
Ms. Sprague asked that if they can't cross Boxelder Creek with road access where that
land sits and if he only has access through a private neighborhood, which is Clydesdale
community, would that road be large enough to be an arterial street, or a collector street
to access the property. She did not see any other access for this property. Would that
be up to the developer when a project is submitted?
Chairperson Meyer responded yes.
Deputy City Attorney Eckman added that the project may come before this Board
depending on the nature of the proposal.
Ms. Sprague also was concerned with Boxelder Creek.
Public input closed
Member Craig stated that she would not be voting for this, she felt that when Mr. Kaplan
came before the Board in 2002, the Board appreciated the fact that he was going to
dedicate 10 acres to open space to follow through with the 1-25 Sub Area Plan as we so
wanted. That was part of why the Board said that LMN was appropriate there because
of the trade off. She felt that she understands why he wants the most value for his land
but if she heard him correctly, he has had a year since he subdivided and yet he has not
gone about doing anything about this conservation easement. There is the potential
concern that he may develop in the County with C, Commercial, which goes completely
against the 1-25 Sub Area Plan that he told the Board in 2002 that he bought into.
The motion was approved 5-2, with Members Craig and Schmidt voting in the
negative.
Project: Waterdale First Annexation and Zoning, #27-05
Project Description: Request to annex and zone a 38.69 acre parcel. The
site is also known as Sunflower Manufactured Home
Subdivision and located south of East Mulberry Street
approximately one-half mile east of Interstate 25. The
recommended zoning is LMN. Low Density Mixed -
Use Neighborhood which is in conformance with the I-
25 Sub Area Plan.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 10
Hearino Testimonv. Written Comments and Other Evidence:
Ted Shepard, Chief Planner gave the staff presentation recommending approval. This
is a voluntary annexation and to clarify that, this annexation has been voluntarily
brought forward per the annexation agreement that was entered into by the developer
several years ago, which designates the power of attorney to annex the parcel to the
City Clerk.
Paul Gallenstein, applicant and also the developer of Sunflower Subdivision spoke to
the Board. He stated that Sunflower is a 55 plus, fixed income senior community.
When he proposed this development, it was required of him to be able to move through
the process to sign the document that Ted mentioned to the Board; otherwise they
would not have been allowed to move forward. This project and the fact that it is here
and very successful speaks to the need in the market place for such a community. As
the developer of this property, he has worked very hard to control his expenses, he runs
with very lean crews. The purpose of that is to control expenses because they are
trying to build as affordable type project as they possibly can.
If they annex at this time, the potential for their building permit fees will increase
dramatically and it will hurt the people that they were intending to serve. He has to pass
those expenses on, he cannot absorb those. He is more than willing to annex in the
future, he would just like to build out the project so that everyone is given a fair sporting
chance at cost effective housing.
He believed that they were in negotiations with the city of Fort Collins to achieve a 3-
year delay in the annexation. He has received a letter from the Deputy City Attorney
with a durable Power of Attorney that would delay things and cancel the existing
agreement. He stated that was currently on his attorney's desk and he is pushing to get
it reviewed as hard as he can.
Mr. Gallenstein asked the Board to deny this request, but on the other hand he knows
that the city is in need of revenue for its tax base. He asked for Planner Shepard to let
the audience know the increase in actual taxes on a typical home in Sunflower for the
resident it would be very helpful. He stated that Cameron Gloss, Current Planning
Director had reported to him that it would be a fairly low impact once they are built out.
He would like to petition this Board to have understanding and patience. His property is
not in any form in the way of annexing other properties in the surrounding area.
Member Schmidt asked the applicant if all his obligations, as far as road improvements
have been met with Larimer County or is it still by a building permit basis.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 11
Mr. Gallenstein replied that the slide did not show Carriage Parkway coming up and
intersecting to State Highway 14. There is a proposed traffic light there, of which when
he was going through the planning process, he was one of the first developers to stand
up and say he would participate voluntarily because he believes in that light. That
money has been paid by him for his share of that light. The light has not been built
because after four projects were approved, the State of Colorado on Highways changed
the standard for traffic lights. A traffic light went from $150,000 to $300,000 to in excess
of $500,000 per light due to wind standards and things like that. He thought that was
the delay because now the State will have to participate in putting in that light. The
other thing is in each of his building permits, there is a contribution to a fund that will
continue the monies that have been approved for the reconfiguration of Highway 14 and
1-25.
Member Schmidt asked how many building permits were left before they were built out.
Mr. Gallenstein replied that their predicted build out is 191 homes and they have 111
permits issued to date. The build out is two to three years.
Member Lingle asked if the annexation agreement was disclosed to the residents who
have purchased lots in the subdivision.
Mr. Gallenstein replied that the document is of public record and is recorded at the
courthouse. He stated that as people asked if this property would be annexed, we
explained to them that it depended on whether or not they become contiguous with the
city boundaries and once that happened they could.
Chairperson Meyer asked what brought this annexation forward at this time.
Deputy City Attorney Eckman replied that this annexation gains its contiguity from the
State Highway 14 Annexation; in addition, the annexation agreement that the County
required Mr. Gallenstein to execute is a 20-year power of attorney to the City Clerk.
There is a provision in it that says that if for any reason that 20-year power of attorney is
shortened because of the statute that exists that says that these powers of attorney can
only last for five years, then it is good for five years. He would like to not have that
headache worrying whether it is a 20 year or a 5 year. If it is a 5 year, it expired on
June 29, 2005. So, the City Clerk took action before June 29`" to petition for annexation
before it expired, so it would be a valid petition for annexation under her power of
attorney. But, as Mr. Gallenstein explained, he has been authorized by staff to draft a
new power of attorney and forget about the old agreement and use the new 5-year
power of attorney but would be un-exercisable for the first three years in order to
accommodate the concerns he has expressed regarding the building permits and how
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 12
he has a process with the County that is working well for him now. At this time, staff is
asking that the Board take favorable action on this in case the other does not work out.
Member Schmidt asked if Mr. Gallenstein was correct in stating that if his parcel is not
annexed, the other parcel that is northwest of him would still be annexable, in which
case, his parcel surrounded and the city could take him in three years anyway.
Planner Shepard replied yes it would be possible to annex the Interchange Business
Park without the contiguity by Waterdale, but no there is very strong likelihood that
Waterdale would not become an enclave.
PUBLIC INPUT
Al Corbett, Sunflower resident stated that they have all the amenities in Sunflower and
what could the city offer them other than them paying more taxes. Seventy percent of
the residents are on a fixed income. He called and got a tax estimate based on today's
mill levy and it was over $100 per household. He stated that the city cannot bring
anything more to the plate than they already have.
Member Carpenter asked staff about the taxes to these homeowners.
Planner Shepard replied that the standard generic answer without looking at individual
tax bills and mill levies is that if you are in the County right now, you pay a separate mill
levy line item to the PFA, upon annexation, that goes away. It gets replaced by a city of
Fort Collins mill levy and he is told they are very close.
Deputy City Attorney added that there will be a difference in Sales Tax.
Member Lingle said he was not familiar with the infrastructure improvements that are
there, is there anything that they would be adopting that would be considered
substandard to current city standards in terms of streets and sidewalks.
Planner Shepard replied that the sidewalks in Sunflower are attached instead of
detached and there is curb and gutter.
Sheri Wamhoff, Engineering Department added that the roadway systems are all private
drives and they are not publicly dedicated to her knowledge so they would continue to
be maintained by the HOA.
Marilyn Corbett, Sunflower resident stated that they all realize that annexation will
happen eventually no matter where they go. They chose this community because of the
lower cost of a permanent place where they could stay and afford. The problem is if this
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 13
development is not finished, the base price of these homes will have to go up and that
will mean the completion of this development will take forever. The people who were
intended to be in this development will not be able to afford to be there and people who
are already there will be forced to leave.
Member Schmidt asked when doing building permits in an area that it is presumed that
all the roads are going to stay private drives, do they still pay into the Street Oversizing
Fund.
Planner Shepard replied that was correct.
Member Schmidt asked if they would be paying for road improvements right in front of
the house because they would be maintaining those themselves.
Planner Shepard replied that the Street Oversizing Fee is a building permit fee that
goes into a city wide fund. That is very different than the developer doing the local
street improvements within the internal streets of a subdivision.
Jim Mokler, who lives on the north side of Mulberry just west of their main entry in the
old Boxberger place suggested to the Board that they delay their annexation for three
years, work through the agreement with Mr. Gallenstein because it is a nice answer to
this problem. Ultimately, he will be the developer of Interchange Business Park which is
being continued tonight and while they signed the same annexation agreement that Mr.
Gallenstein did, they knew this day was coming and their preference would be to not
annex into the city because every building permit that they pull gets a lot more
expensive and taxes from commercial properties go up a lot more than residential.
They are heavily impacted by that and ultimately there really is not many dollars that
come from this community and there are a lot of dollars that come from Interchange
Business Park, which is about to be annexed next. He was there to say that they are
willing participants in that process and they would like to work cooperatively with the city
on some longer term things that they have already met with the city about. It would
involve almost two miles of 1-25 frontage and so they would like to get into a cooperative
spirit with the city to try to encourage the development of retail tax dollars and
employment districts.
Marshal Van Thor, owner of land in the Interchange Business Park and owner of a
business there had a question regarding city of Fort Collins utilities when annexed and
that the city would have to pay a percentage of the bill back to REA for a period of ten
years for existing customers and five years for new customers. He stated that it was to
be charged back to the owner of the property and he wondered if that was the case.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 14
Planner Shepard replied that it is called the REA Service Rights Fee and is negotiated
by REA and successfully passed by the State Legislature, kind of a buyout provision. It
is true that it is a ten year period. The converse to that is that our rates are lower, by
the time you take our lower rate combined with the REA Service Rights charge, it is
almost comparable to what you are paying already.
Les Kaplan, applicant of the previous annexation stated that without complicating things
he wanted to give the Board a bigger picture. He feels that no one would be here this
evening if it were not for the fact that he initiated his annexation for a number of
strategic reasons. One is that it sets the stage for the city to be able to annex the
Interchange Business Park, which is a revenue producing property for the city. This is
also something stated when he submitted this annexation petition previously. Related
to that is the fact that once that annexation takes place of the Interchange Business
Park, it creates the contiguity for the city to annex property north of that, which is at the
northeast Interchange of 1-25 and Mulberry, which happens to be shown on the 1-25 Sub
Area Plan as a major activity center. That property would be an enormous asset to the
city if it were developed in the city. His annexation sets in motion those two
annexations.
The second reason he initiated his annexation was in order to put pressure on
Waterdale, on Sunflower and he would try and be as frank as he could. When the
Waterdale property was approved in the County there were comments that were made
by the Fort Collins Planning Department indicating that they believe that there was not
proper connectivity between that development as a gated community and properties to
the south, which is now his property. When the Waterdale property was recently
amended to increase the number of pads by 17, Cameron Gloss attended the County
Commissioners Meeting and appealed to them to make as a condition for approving
that amendment the introduction of an emergency access connection to his property.
The Planning Commission, although acknowledging the fact that that would be good
planning, did not include that as a condition in their recommendation to the County
Commissioners because they did not know if they had the legal right to do so.
What he is hoping with his annexation is to be able to accomplish the emergency
access connection through Waterdale because for him to annex these 37 acres at this
time without having an emergency access connection makes his property
undevelopable. The Waterdale property really represents the only really economically
feasible means for him to get an emergency access connection. Unless he waits for the
property to the south of him to develop, the Galatia Annexation, which will have a lot of
difficulty developing because of the need to improve the Prospect and 1-25 interchange.
If he waits for that to happen, he could be waiting an indefinite time period.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 15
The only other way he can get an emergency access connection is to go through a
natural area, which he did not think was advisable. He could potentially go to the west,
which means he would have to go through a floodway area, an area that has been
designated by the County as having unique natural characteristics and the cost to do
that would be exorbitant and is not something he wants to do to that environment.
He has offered to the developer of Waterdale that he would withdraw his annexation if
he could get an emergency access connection. He would give him those three years
for his build out period. If the city and Mr. Gallenstein unilaterally negotiate an
extension to his annexation agreement, where the city gives him three years, he does
not have any leverage and if he does not have any leverage he will withdraw his
annexation because he does not have a piece of property that is developable. If he
withdraws his annexation, they the Interchange Business Park does not annex and that
means that the northeast corner of 1-25 and Mulberry will develop in the County. He is
supporting the three year delay for the annexation of Waterdale and he asked that the
city allow himself and Mr. Gallenstein to negotiate the emergency access and not to
jump into an automatic extension because the city is concerned that if they lose this
opportunity for five years that they might have to go to court if they annex this.
Member Schmidt asked Mr. Kaplan if he already had access through the diagonal road
shown on the map in Clydesdale.
Mr. Kaplan replied that was primary access and the PFA requires that you have a
secondary access and there is really no other way for him to accomplish secondary
access.
Sue Green, resident of Sunflower stated that she bought there for two reasons, one she
could afford it, and it was single family dwelling. The access he wants goes right
through the community for emergency vehicles. Once that road is there won't other
vehicles be allowed to use it, not just emergency, and then we are no longer a
community that is gated and secured. She asked for the three year build out and gives
the 90 some people more of a chance to have affordable housing for seniors. They are
a community that all of Colorado is looking at because of what they have. She did not
feel that the Board would want to put an emergency vehicle or road right through the
middle of the community.
Donna Sprague, resident of Sunflower asked that emergency access be explained.
Planner Shepard replied that typically throughout the city, situations where the second
point of required emergency access for PFA and ambulance is controlled in such a way
that only the emergency provider can gain access. This access is only needed if the
primary access is blocked.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 16
Ms. Sprague asked if it would be something of the size of an alley.
Planner Shepard replied that the PFA likes 20 feet of width of unobstructed access and
an alley would not do that.
PUBLIC INPUT CLOSED
Member Carpenter asked that staff comment on Mr. Kaplan's testimony.
Deputy City Attorney Eckman responded that during the development review process
many of the residents will be here to make sure that the Board makes certain that it
stays a guarded situation so that the public does not just ignore the situation and flood
through their community.
He thought that what Mr. Kaplan has said is that as amongst Mr. Gallenstein's property
here — he thinks he leases these pad sites to the owners and then the owners buy their
homes — he did not know how all the taxes work but the taxes must be paid on the pad
sites by Mr. Gallenstein.
Mr. Gallenstein responded that the property was a cutting edge property, which he
worked very closely with Freddie Mac, which is one of the largest mortgage lenders in
the US. They pioneered a 35 year lease hold property where through very restrictive
covenants and controls they developed a community for seniors and these are both
manufactured and modular units that are owned by the individual homeowners. They
enter into a 35 year lease agreement, which is five years beyond the 30 year mortgage,
which is what Freddie Mac stipulated. It is deemed real property, both the house and
the underlying land and that was a requirement by Freddie Mac. He has negotiated
with Larimer County to make sure that indeed did happen. That improves the
marketability of the home. In Larimer County, the tax rate for personal property as well
as residential is the same tax rate, it just depends on the assigned value.
Deputy City Attorney Eckman stated that in terms of Mr. Kaplan's remarks. In a nut
shell what he is saying as it relates to his property, the Waterdale property and their
annexation into the city and the city's cooperation with that is that if we don't work
together, none of this happens because he will withdraw his annexation and then this
won't annex because of the lack of contiguity and then the Interstate Business Park and
1-25 and Mulberry won't annex and so forth. That is why we have worked together to
draft a new Power of Attorney that gives Mr. Gallenstein his three years of development
in the County which would be to his benefit as well as people who already have
invested in that community. If he and Mr. Kaplan can work their arrangement out so
that Mr. Kaplan won't withdraw his annexation, then all the pieces of this puzzle will
come together all right, if not we will just have to wait and see how it will come out.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 17
Member Craig asked if we do annex this piece in and we do get the three years, at the
end of three years, Mr. Kaplan decides to develop, because this site is in the city are
they required to offer him the emergency access.
Deputy City Attorney Eckman replied that it would be off site and we could not require
Waterdale to grant Mr. Kaplan's property anything.
Member Carpenter asked if there were not connectivity standards within the city that
there be connections through Waterdale.
Planner Shepard replied that we can only require the project that is in front of us at the
time and hypothetically it would be Mr. Kaplan's parcel. The way we would require
connectivity is we would require him to stub streets to his property line.
Member Carpenter asked if actuality it would not have to connect.
Planner Shepard replied not if we cannot successfully negotiate on the other side of the
property line a connection.
Member Torgerson stated that this clearly meets the requirements for annexation
and he moved for approval of Waterdale, First Annexation and Zoning, #27-05A
and the associated zoning as a recommendation to Council.
Member Stockover asked for a friendly amendment stating because it is a
recommendation to Council that he would like City Council to know that the
Board does want them to pursue extending the agreement.
Member Torgerson had a problem with that — the impact fees that the developer wishes
to avoid paying and obviously will have to be passed on to the homes, fund Police
Stations, Libraries, Parks and fund all the things that those that live out there utilize but
don't pay for and he would not accept that friendly amendment.
There was not a second so the motion died.
Member Stockover moved to recommend the Waterdale, First Annexation and
Zoning, #27-05A for approval with the understanding that city staff and Council
are still going to try and negotiate an extension to the Power of Attorney that is in
place but in risk of expiring. He also wanted to reference the Findings of Fact and
Conclusion on Page 5 in support of the motion.
Member Schmidt seconded the motion.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 18
Member Lingle commented for the record that the findings are very clear on what we
evaluate an annexation on and it does not include whether bringing a property in is
beneficial to the city in terms of tax generation on a drain on tax services. He thought
that was clearly an area that should be left for City Council to discuss and he thought it
was irrelevant at the Planning and Zoning Board level for this annexation and all the
ones that may be coming forth in the future.
Member Craig commented that with all the issues that are going to come up with the
Southeast enclave, we are going to end up taking them piece by piece because they
are going to come to the Board. What bothers her about this piece of property and she
sees it also down in the southeast is yes, they pay impact fees, but it is proven when it
is residential, for every dollar they pay to the city, it costs the city a dollar and a quarter
to maintain them. What we are going to run into in the southeast as well what she really
feels this little piece sitting out here is to maintain services out there is going to be more
than the dollar and quarter. She wondered when we start taking in these little pieces of
residential what the benefit of our doing it, so she is not going to support this.
Member Carpenter would be supporting the motion. She appreciates all the residents
coming out and encouraged them to talk to Council as well. When and if we end up
with a development plan, come back and talk to them, they do want to here from them.
She would just like the residents to understand that they certain criteria to go by and in
this case it does meet all the criteria.
The motion was approved 6-1 with Member Craig voting in the negative.
Project: Recommendation to City Council for an Amendment
to the East Mulberry Corridor Plan.
Project Description: On May 19, 2005, The Planning and Zoning Board
voted to approve the annexation of the Airpark Village
but with a recommendation of Industrial zoning versus
the applicant's preference for Employment zoning.
The applicant has re -submitted a request for
Employment zoning which requires an amendment to
the East Mulberry Corridor Plan Overlay Framework
Plan.
Planning and
July 21, 2005
Page 19
Zoning Board Minutes
Hearing Testimony, Written Comments and Other Evidence:
Member Torgerson excused himself due to a conflict of interest.
Ted Shepard, Chief Planner gave a staff presentation. He stated that this was a
reconsideration of the Structure Plan Amendment request and subsequent
recommendation to City Council for the zoning. It is not a continuation of the
annexation and that is not an issue. That was recommended by the Planning and
Zoning Board to indeed be annexed. No one is contesting the annexation, what is up
for consideration is the Structure Plan Amendment which would lead to the applicant's
request that the entire site be placed into the Employment Zone versus the Industrial
zone, which is what was recommended back in May.
Chairperson Lingle asked if the annexation is proceeding, it has to have a zoning
attached to it, so would it be I, Industrial.
Deputy City Attorney Eckman replied that
annexation. Unless the Structure Plan is
accordance with the Structure Plan.
it has to be zoned 90 days following the
amended, it would have to be zoned in
Troy Jones, MTA Architects gave the applicant's presentation. He stated that they were
here tonight to present an amendment to the East Mulberry Corridor Plan. Last time
they were in front of the Board they did not dive into a lot of detail because they had the
annexation and zoning on the table at the time, as well as the Plan amendment. They
tried not to show too much design that would be down the line in the development type
of detail at the time of annexation and zoning. They thought that it would be important
to clarify some things that they did not present last time the Board heard this project that
is very relevant to why they feel it should be re -designated employment rather than
industrial.
Mr. Jones showed on a map the portion of their property that they would like to zone
Employment rather than Industrial. He stated that in 2002 the East Mulberry Corridor
Plan was adopted and in that Plan a Framework Plan was adopted. There were two
scenarios; the first being the Framework Plan that assumed that the airport would stay
in operation. The second plan acknowledged that if the airport were to stop operation,
that the area should be treated as employment and not industrial. Mr. Jones showed
the Framework Overlay Plan which showed in the event that the airpark would close
and redevelop the area that would be appropriate for employment. He stated that their
request was to piggyback onto that; the East Mulberry Corridor Plan already established
that down by the intersection of Mulberry and Timberline that it would be appropriate for
employment. What they wanted to do is include the 80 acres on the north part of their
property that they would like to be employment rather than industrial.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 20
If the 80 acres were to be designated employment and not industrial, the ability to do
some uses will be lost as a result of this change; heavy industrial, recycling facilities,
recreational vehicle, boat and truck storage, outdoor storage, resource extraction
processes and sales, junkyards, airport and airstrips, transport terminals and farm
implement and heavy equipment sales. By making the change there are new uses that
were not permitted in the industrial zone. Out of those he made a list that they would
intend to do; private and public schools, convention and conference centers, lodging
establishments and personal and business service shops as part of the ultimate
development that you could not do in industrial. He also noted that there were more
residential uses allowed in employment zone than in the industrial zone. They were
only intending on doing mixed use dwellings units.
There were several uses that are overlapped in what they intend to do that you could do
in either one of the zones; mixed use residential units are allowed in both industrial and
in employment. That is the only residential type that they are planning to use. He
would be getting into the difference of how you can use them in each zone and that is
part of the main reason why they want employment rather than industrial. It is also
worth mentioning the last item on the list and that is heliports and helipads that are
available in both zones. A lot of conversation previously was about whether it was
appropriate to put employment to helipads and the impact that would have on the
development. It was lost site of that you could put a new helipad in employment that is
permitted and it was not really a zoning issue so much as a site planning issue of how
do you buffer against that.
Why do they want employment versus industrial? It boils down to two basic reasons.
The first is that as part of the development, they would like to include a hotel and
convention center and that is not allowed in industrial and it is allowed in employment.
The second is that the mixed use dwellings are treated differently between the two
zones. Mixed Use dwelling units in industrial; you can do them but you have to have
fifty percent of your building or more be the non-residential use. The mixed -use
dwelling unit has to be above the non-residential use on the ground floor. Basically you
have a two-story building that has the first story non-residential, the second story
residential. In employment it works differently and it works a lot better for what they
intend to do. Residential is a secondary use in the employment zone. However, mixed
use residential depends on how it is done to determine whether it is a primary or
secondary use. If the mixed -use residential unit is above a primary use such as an
office, that residential above it is counted as a primary use. If the residential use is
above a secondary use, such as a restaurant or retail store or a convenience shopping
center, then that residential counts as a secondary use. It is an equation that needs to
be closely followed as the development goes through as to how much of that has
qualified as primary and how much is secondary. The way that the intend to do it is
quite a bit of their residential will be over primary uses, they were basically limited to all
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 21
of the secondary uses that qualify as such can be no more than 25% of the
development plan.
Mr. Jones explained that the Board received a copy of all their meeting minutes and all
the stuff that the public sent in, the sign in sheets and everything of the multi -meeting
process that they had. They rented a public room at the Ramada Inn and hosted
meetings that they really tried to engage the public. They sent out mailings to 250
business owners in the vicinity and had a web site they encouraged people to go to and
had a topic every month that they tried to engage the neighbors in to try and help shape
the input of what was wanted next to them as they moved forward with this
development.
The East Mulberry Corridor Plan was an excellent effort as well, but it was more of a
broad brush for a larger area. In their plan they are only talking about 150 acres out of
the plan so they dived into a finer level of public participation, specific to a lot smaller
area and that is why they feel they are not disregarding the East Mulberry Corridor Plan
and there if much more information now because they have engaged the neighbors to
the degree they have. They would like to call it a refinement of the East Mulberry
Corridor Plan rather than saying that it was wrong in the first place.
Mr. Jones talked about the amount of industrial land in the GMA and it totaled 1,901
acres. There is the airpark area, the New Belgium area; there is some off of North
College, Riverside and quite a bit out by 1-25, some of which is Anheuser Busch
property. Out of the 1900 acres, they are asking that 80 acres be taken out of Industrial
and that represents about 4.2% of the Industrial designated land. Advanced Planning
provided the information that 928 acres out of the 1900 acres are vacant right now, and
their 80 acres represents about 8.7% of what is vacant.
Mr. Jones spoke about the intensity of jobs. Industrial type jobs seem to be less
concentrated than what you can do in employment. Their intent is to have mixed use
buildings with some of them having residential on the upper floors and some of them
having employment type uses on the ground floor. By going to employment allows
them more efficient use of the land, more urban type of environment. The other thing is
housing and jobs balance; ultimately with their development they want to have a
research and development park as the primary anchor for this development, but at the
same time they want to have a lot of mixed use residential units. Within the project they
want to have this housing and job balance; having housing close to jobs is doing their
part in reducing vehicle miles traveled.
Mr. Jones stated that the last time they were before the Board there was quite a bit of
discussion about helicopters and it ended up being a surprise what the issues related to
helicopters were. Prior to that meeting, they had gone and talked to some of the
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 22
helicopter neighbors and started to figure out what are their needs and what are our
needs. It did not occur to them that it was going to be as big of an issue with regards to
changing to employment from industrial. They were not prepared to talk about
helicopter issues last time and that is one of the main reasons they wanted to come
back before the Board to follow up on what they have done since then to try and figure
out how they can co -exist with the helicopter operators and what is the best solution for
that. Obviously they are not going to make them 100% happy because they are used to
being next to an airport, which is ideal if you are a helicopter operator. If there is any
sort of development next to it, there is going to be some growing pains. They are gong
to try and minimize that.
Mr. Jones discussed the plan and stated that they were looking at right along the edge
that is adjacent to the existing business and industrial park. They have analyzed where
the three heliports currently out there are, two to the south and one to the north. They
interviewed all three operators and tried to figure out what would make it easier for them
to operate and co -exist with them. They came up with the idea of a safety zone where
they don't put any buildings in and they don't put any big canopy trees in and they
minimize the things that would conflict with helicopters taking off and landing. They do
that along the areas where the helicopter pads would have access to. They want to
work out a win win and they think that there is a workable solution, but because
employment zone and industrial zone both allow heliports and helipads, they think it is
more of a project development plan issue, or even an Overall Development Plan issue
of how do you mitigate between the two. They feel that it is not a zoning issue at all
since it is allowed in both zones and they wanted to represent that they are making all
the efforts they can to come up with a win win.
Alan Krcmarik, for the applicant testified that the proposed use could be a very viable
economic generator for the community. The economy is going through a rough patch
and for the past several years the city has been studying the ideas of economic vitality
and sustainability. They took a look at the report put out by the EVSAG and this project
as proposed ties right into that. They are looking at a research and development use
relatively high density, a lot of jobs fit into this site. It could also fit into the concept of
being a business cluster as outlined in the EVSAG report. The idea is to be a hub of
transportation oriented research. He was also asked to develop financing tools, but that
would be further down the road, they did include in the packet an appendix that
summarizes potential economic activity. Mr. Krcmarik reviewed the appendix for the
Board.
Suzanne Durkin, representing the applicant stated that what they were talking about
tonight is the first steps in the process and the questions before the board whether or
not to amend the Framework Overlay Plan and City Structure Plan; is the amendment
necessary and will it promote the public welfare, consistency with the Visions and
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 23
Goals, Principles and Policies of City Plan. Is it necessary, and they have gone through
the list of changes that would happen. There is an airport that is not longer going to be
feasible after 40 years of operation. Heavy industrial is very unlikely on this site
because of proximity to neighborhoods. This would allow a residential use that we see
in other areas. Why do we need additional residential; look at Rigden Farms, they
needed that residential in order to gain the momentum and the dollars it needed to put
in the rest of it, it is no different here. We are talking impact to Airpark Village, what is it
going to do for us if these amendments go through. We will be able to expand uses to
include more residential, compatibility with the neighborhoods and uses that are
essential to this new economic generator that we really need. It also permits uses that
support the expansion of the city's central core, the downtown.
This is a mixed use revitalization and economic growth project in a transitional area. It
promotes public welfare by creating jobs and housing in balance with each other. It
integrates with existing residential and it places new residential in proximity to shopping,
recreation and employment. Does it meet the needs of the community; when they did
the East Mulberry Corridor Plan, these are the things people talked about, better overall
appearance in the area, more employers, and avoidance of big box developments,
storage yards and industrial uses. New development that looks good based on sound
design, principles and lots of landscaping. This is not a development that is looking to
the city for handouts, they are going to be refining the site design and continue outreach
to primary stake holders and they have a track record of going above and beyond that.
The development will also include a financing plan in working in concert with other
business owners along Mulberry to come up with ways to create that Mulberry Corridor
that we have all dreamed about for so many years.
PUBLIC INPUT
Robert Dean, owns Front Range Helicopters spoke to the Board. He stated that there
were many points about this and the first is the East Mulberry Corridor Plan assumed
with the airport leaving that there would be no air traffic. That is not true and there will
be a considerable amount of air traffic remaining. The employment zone allows
schools, lodging and a considerable amount of residential with the plan that they are
promoting. The other aspect is the intent is not the issue here; it is the zoning of the
parcel. What they say may not come to pass, but it will be zoned employment with all
these uses available. The consideration is how this air traffic is going to relate to the
residential and other public intensive uses. They mentioned residential stacked so that
would mean several floors up. If the Board saw the pictures of the industrial park they
are one story buildings, maybe two. If start stacking building up it becomes more of an
obstruction issue and certainly a noise issue. That will be an enhanced annoyance to
anyone who lives there.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 24
Fie believes that someone on the Board made the comment that residential units cost
more than they contribute through fees. If that is true then these residential units may
not pay their own way. The reason they are down there at the airpark is because it was
for aviation use. They are also down there because it is relatively inexpensive land and
that is why many of the businesses are down there. The fact that it is industrial is not
negative, it is positive in terms of attracting many businesses that serve the community.
It is very difficult to get a new heliport. It may allow it, but if you try and run a heliport
through the planning process, you will find out how many people want one next to them
and it is not very many. The fact that they have heliports in existence means that they
will continue to operate from them because the cost of relocating and the difficulty is
considerable. He believes the city is charged with protecting their rights to operate their
businesses. He thought they can continue to operate no matter how it is zoned, it is a
matter of obstructions, egress and ingress, whether it is industrial or employment they
can address those issues at the time of planning. He thought the issue with
employment is protecting their rights to operate in terms of complaints that they are
going to receive and protecting people who will move in there from the noise effect.
Larry Hansen, founder and CEO of Century Helicopters stated that he came here in
1970 and brought the helicopter industry. They located at that time at the airport
because it was an airport. All along he has never had many concerns about if the
runway would go away that they would still have the ability to operate helicopters. With
what they see now with the decisions that may be made by what is going to be placed
next to them, it could create some problems and could put them out of business. They
currently operate a multi -million dollar business and they employ 30 or more people at
their facility. What is being proposed is "we think we can do this and we think we can
do that'. We know what we can do, we are there and we are doing it. There are others
there that are the same way. All they are asking that what ever decision that is going to
be made, that they be accounted for and that some provision be made that will allow
them to continue to operate without being hassled by their neighbors and forced out of
business. In the last two weeks they have received multiple calls from the low income
housing on the north side of the airport complaining about the helicopters. They have
received calls over the years from a hotel located on Highway 14 owned by one of the
principles of the airport for the helicopters making noise and bothering the people
staying there. If you are going to try and put a hotel next to them, it probably will not
work.
Loren Maxey, Vice President of Community Airpark Corporation and the owner of the
airpark. This is a privately owned facility and it was started in 1966 by a group of local
aviators and has fortunately has been able to stay around for 40 years. For the last
several years it has been declining and now has a negative cash flow and now has an
opportunity to sell the airport to a developer. There are many factors for the negative
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 25
cash flow. The opportunity with the developer has arisen and the stock holders have
chosen to accept their offer for the facility.
Michael Hansen, General Manager of Century Helicopters and Avian Technologies,
which is the manufacturer of aircraft accessories located at the airport as well. He
stated that this was discussed at a previous meeting that the noise is a big complaint of
theirs and that will continue as they build and expand their business. They have
expanded the employment of their companies by 20% in the last month. Two years ago
they doubled the size of their building and they hope to double the size of their building
again. That will continue to add more helicopter traffic. The aviation industry is stronger
than ever particularly since the terrorist attacks on 9/11. People no longer want to go to
the airport and stand in line and go through security searches. Those people who can
afford it start buying helicopters and airplanes.
Avian Technologies is the number one leading supplies for infra red surveillance
integration equipment with an aircraft. Their supplies include the FBI, Boarder Patrol
and those types of entities. They fly their helicopters in from all over the United States
to be worked on again increasing the amount of air traffic that they will have coming in
and out of their facility as well as increasing the noise. As they expand their business
he hoped the Board would recognize the fact that they are there and they are continuing
to grow and this is not something that is just going to go away and they want to mitigate
the noise complaints that they have already seen over the years.
AJ Glaser, property owner at 200 Rome Court which is to the northeast of the airport.
He was there to talk about process, he did not ultimately care that much about what was
being proposed here, but he also really did not care that much about helicopters. What
he did care about is his property. Over the 10 years he has been an owner out there,
he has gotten a lot of post cards in the mail from the city saying that stuff is going on.
He has gone to almost everyone of those meetings and some of the worst have been
the East Mulberry Corridor Plan and also Dry Creek. What happened at those meetings
is that you show up and they show you a plan and they say `oh this is the deal and if
you want to complain we will listen to a couple of things" and the rest is a done deal.
What was unique about this process what that he got his card and he thought "oh great
here we go again", showed up and basically it was a blank piece of paper. There were
forty or fifty people in the room and the developer says "what would you like us to do?"
That started the process and from there the process developed for six months and over
the course of time there seemed to be no agenda other than you as the neighbors
saying what they would like to see this be. It was, in his opinion, a phenomenal process
and is something that should be the rule for everyone to do. It bothered him to see this
tonight which is almost negating everything that he thought they did. He went to
everyone of those meetings because he thought what they were doing as the neighbors
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 26
giving input and participating meant something. He was not sure what is going on here.
He did not see many people here tonight, but there were a whole bunch of people who
showed up at those meetings. He thought what was presented here was the
culmination of what they as a group said what they wanted as neighbors. He thought
that the Board's job would be to say that the people spoke.
PUBLIC INPUT
Member Lingle asked the Helicopter owners that based on the applicants presentation
of some ideas on how to allow for continued helicopter access with the safety zone and
are they uncomfortable with that process.
Mr. Hansen replied that they were still uncomfortable with the ideas. They show up at
their doorstep at 3:30 this afternoon with this proposal and this is what we think we are
going to do. That was three hours before this meeting. He found that to be a knee jerk
reaction. Also, in the East Mulberry Corridor Plan there was a lot of foresight and a lot
of effort and a lot of study put into the fact that this should be zoned industrial. The city
of Fort Collins spent a lot of money doing this. They spent a lot of time and blood,
sweat and tears trying to make this plan work. We need industrial, there was a plan put
forth and there was a lot of effort put into it and we should stick to that plan. With
industrial they feel they can operate within what the city has already put down what they
would like to see this developed as.
Member Carpenter asked if it was at all possible to have an employment district here
and the kind of development we are talking about and still allow a way for them to
operate, or to him, the two are completely incompatible.
Mr. Hansen replied without being an expert at the employment zoning, he thought that
the thing that concerns them about the employment zoning is the residential capacity
that is being proposed, 1600 units. That is 1600 telephone calls he could get everyday
and that is 1600 phone calls the city is going to get everyday. Their issue is the
residential portion of the employment zoning. That is why the industrial zoning was put
there because it is the most compatible with the neighboring land uses that already
exist. The city foresaw that and that is why it is part of the East Mulberry Corridor Plan.
Member Schmidt commented that she thought the plan has some innovative ideas and
she thought that the concept is creative and part of that is good — if the helicopters and
the other industrial were not there, if there were just employment adjacent to it
something might work out very well, it just makes her nervous about where it is right
now.
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 27
Member Schmidt asked if their R and D plan that they have described mostly fit into the
employment that is already there in the overlay plan. It looks like the R and D was
going to be the first portion and the residential was going to be in the back. It sounds
like the R and D is going to be the main economic driver.
Mr. Jones replied that the R and D are intended to be on that end where it shows
employment. R and D could go into Industrial to some degree but you could not put the
hotel and convention center which needs to be a big component of that in Industrial. It
is different but the same concept as Rigden Farm. You could not build the King
Soopers first and expect the residential to come in. You need the critical mass of the
other part of the development to get your anchor later. They need the employment all
the way because they need the north end of their development to create the momenturr
to bring along the south end of their development. It can't happen in Industrial on the
north end to get that momentum going.
Member Craig asked Mr. Jones that without the residential rooftops, the R and D Center
will never come to fruition.
Mr. Jones replied no, he thought they needed momentum. The momentum will happen
in both the north end and the south end. To some degree yes, but to some degree he
thought that was over simplification to say without the north end it will not happen.
Ms. Durkin added that the market study that was done for this project indicates that right
now there is no market. In order for them to get at least started to at least create this
new R and D Center, is to start with some type of residential on the end that they are
asking to be rezoned. From there they can build up the momentum and they are hoping
that the majority will be the type of research and development that provides new jobs,
the additional employment and the economic generator that we so desperately need
right now in this community.
Member Craig said so the market needs residential, so we fill the area with residential
so people are already are there and then we create jobs for people who aren't there that
need residential. To her this is backwards; to her you create the jobs first and then the
area around that develops with houses, so the people can then have a place to live.
Ms. Durkin replied that it is a balancing act right now. What they are looking to do is
create the vision and the opportunity for people to understand that this is the type of
development where you can work and live at the same time. It is hard to describe until
we get down to the ODP as to where they are going to put that kind of emphasis.
Mr. Jones added that they need this momentum early because they have all this
infrastructure to pay for. They intend to establish a metro district or some sort of way to
Planning and Zoning Board Minutes
July 21, 2005
Page 28
pay for this parkway, but they need to start to sell property in order for that equation to
keep rolling along. The north end of the property is the thing that is going to help that
infrastructure take off and be able to be put in so when the national marking they are
doing for the R and D park; they can come out and kick the tires and say they have the
infrastructure in place. The north end of the development is proceeding nicely and it
needs to happen in the chronology according to their calculations in order to make it
work.
Member Craig stated that there is a lot of vacant land around there that they could be
involved in getting residential without them having to rezone this particular area. Have
they looked at that at all?
Mr. Jones replied they don't own any land there. They need to get this critical
momentum going to pay for the infrastructure to get to draw their R and D park and they
need the development itself to be diverse and have the initial sales of the north part of
the development to pay for the infrastructure to put in the south part.
Member Craig asked about the overlay employment and why could they not start putting
residential in that to pay for the infrastructure.
Mr. Jones replied that they asked the neighbors a lot of questions and one of the
questions was residential appropriate. They got mixed answers and they got a lot of
some residential was appropriate. They asked the neighbors what percentage of
residential would be appropriate. They got some answers that some residential would
be fine and some answers that said not residential. The majority said about 40%
residential.
Member Carpenter asked Mr. Jones to point out where the heliports were located.
Mr. Jones responded by showing a slide of the heliport locations.
Member Carpenter commented that there are some exciting things here but when you
start marketing residential with the kind of helicopter traffic, she believed there would be
a problem there.
Member Lingle stated that with the intent to maximize the number of residential units
that you can get on the site because they become primary uses instead of secondary
uses smacks against the whole compatibility issue to the point where it does become a
zoning issue not necessarily an ODP issue. He stated that it would be in the best
interest of the city to have a mixed of residential and commercial uses would be ideal if
this was not adjacent to county industrial development that already has the kind of uses
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July 21, 2005
Page 29
it already has there and that is where the compatibility issue becomes much more
important.
Member Schmidt to not recommend approval of the annexation with the
amendment to the East Mulberry Corridor Plan. They recommend that the
annexation should stay with the present zoning.
Planner Shepard added that the Board needed to define that they were referring to the
Overlay Framework Plan which presumes the scenario that the airpark is closing which
allows the southern 1/3 to go E and the northern 2/3 to remain in the I, Industrial.
Member Craig seconded the motion.
Member Craig clarified the motion to be an amendment to the East Mulberry Corridor
Plan to the proposed amendment under the quotes of the Overlay Framework Plan. We
are allowing the employment there at the intersection of Highway 14 and Timberline and
the other section being left as Industrial.
Member Schmidt clarified that they were amending the East Mulberry Corridor
Plan and the Structure Plan to what is in the Overlay Plan.
Member Craig seconded the motion.
The motion was approved 6-0.
There was no other business.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 p.m.
These meeting minutes were approved by the Planning and Zoning Board on
January 19, 2006.