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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Commission - Minutes - 06/15/20111 Minutes City of Fort Collins Economic Advisory Commission Regular Meeting 300 LaPorte Ave City Hall June 15, 2011 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. For Reference: Bill Timpson, Chair 493-3673 Pending, Council Liaison Wade Troxell Mike Freeman, Staff Liaison 416-2259 Wendy Bricher, Minutes 221-6506 Commission members present: Commission members absent: Stu MacMillan Rick Price Michael Kulisheck Channing Arndt Jim Clark Bill Timpson Blue Hovatter Christophe Febvre Kevin Shaw Guests: David Everitt, SFCBA Les Kaplan, SFCBA Ray Martinez, SFCBA Jim Palmer, SFCBA Staff Present: Josh Birks, Economic Advisor Wendy Bricher, Minutes Christina Vincent, Redevelopment Program Administrator Ann Turnquist, Policy and Project Manager Steve Dush, Community Development and Neighborhood Services Director Agenda Item 1: Meeting called to order Meeting called to order at 11:12 a.m. Agenda Item 2: Approval of Minutes Unanimous approval of minutes dated 05/11/11 Agenda Item 3: Public Comment None Financial Services 300 LaPorte Ave PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6505 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com 2 Agenda Item 4: Follow-up discussion regarding previous meetings Midtown URA – Discussion and motion for review In February 2011, the City Council initiated an Existing Conditions Survey for Midtown where seven blight factors were found. In May 2011, they accepted the Survey results and moved forward to review the proposed Urban Renewal Plan. Christina Vincent provided information regarding the proposed Urban Renewal Plan for Midtown including Plan objectives, authorized activities, tax increment districts, project financing, and conformance with City Plan. Kevin Shaw asked if the blight factors were found in concentrated areas within the plan area, or if they were throughout. Christina Vincent replied that all areas had a minimum of four blight factors, but were consistent in conditions throughout. Jim Clark questioned whether now was the right time to do this given the current economy. Christina explained that Tax Increment Districts will be “turned on” as projects come forward to take advantage of the 25-year timeline. Four member of the South Fort Collins Business Association (SFCBA) attended and did not have any major concerns with the project at this time. They would like to see a Citizen Advisory Group associated with this plan and will be back in July to discuss this further. Christina Vincent explained that a memo would be presented to Council offering four options for a Citizen Advisory Group; the four options will be provided to EAC prior to our next meeting in July. The next steps include a P&Z hearing on June 16 to assure the URP conforms with City Plan, and a Council hearing to approve the Midtown Urban Renewal Plan is scheduled on July 19, 2011. After thorough review and discussion, the EAC unanimously approved the following motion for Council: The Economic Advisory Commission recommends to City Council approval of the Midtown Urban Renewal Plan to create a new urban renewal plan area within the City of Fort Collins. FCRP – Motion for Review Postponed until July Economic Health Action Plan Josh Birks commented that the Plan consultants will be in town next week continuing to do interviews and focus groups and will be back in town for the July 12 Worksession with City Council to present their completion and findings of the Discovery Phase. A SWOT Analysis and graphic will be presented at that time. This information will be presented to EAC at our July 13 meeting. Agenda Item 5: Member Updates/Future Agenda Items Discussion The following items will be included on the July agenda: 1) discussion and recommendation regarding the form of the Citizen’s Advisory Group for the Midtown URA, 2) briefing and discussion with the Economic Health Strategic Plan consultants, and 3) FCRP – Motion for Review. Agenda items to be included in August include the Development Review Fees and Building Permit fees update as well as the Downtown General Improvement District Capital Improvement Plan. Agenda Item 6: Periodic Review EAC members completed the Periodic Review Questionnaire. Blue Hovatter and Mike Freeman will be our meeting representatives for the EAC Periodic Review scheduled at the Council Worksession on Tuesday, July 28. Agenda Item 7: Development Review Fees and Building Permit Fees Update Ann Turnquist, Policy and Project Manager, and Steve Dush, Community Development and Neighborhood Services Director, presented information regarding the development review fees and building permit fees update. Proposed to Council is a change of philosophy that would move from a goal of collecting 80% of the cost of the Development Review Center through fees, toward recovering 100% of the cost of fee-related services. This approach would result in an increase of 0.5% to 6.5% 3 in Building Permit and Plan Check fees, and yield an additional $714,098 in fee revenue to support the Development Review Center. Phase 1 will look at building permit and plan check fees, and Phase 2 will look at capital expansion and impact fees; Phase 1 is being considered at this time. The Fee Study included information on changes to Single Family, Commercial Office, Warehouse, Retail, and Mixed Use fees. Kevin Shaw has always heard that our fee structure was not competitive with surrounding areas. However, the actual data shows otherwise, and Stu MacMillan stated that this rumor is misleading and has not gone away. Jim Clark asked if the funding gap was created due to the decline in building activity with a planning department that was now too big? Steve Dush explained that in 2010 a consolidation of four departments into one occurred, with the elimination of 7.2 FTE’s to address this. This created a single counter approach (vs. multiple counters) and efficiencies to allow a “one-stop” shop when developing a project. Current turn around time is very competitive with an average of three weeks turn around on the initial review and two weeks on subsequent reviews. It was noted, however, that planning actually increases when building is low, and vice versa. Given the recent passage of Keep Fort Collins Great (KFCG), Jim Clark also asked if now is the time to be increasing fees? Ann Turnquist explained that the majority of the funds were “earmarked” for very specific things, and not every service in the City benefited from that tax increase. Michael Kulisheck commented that it would be a good time for the City to “tell its story” as to what is going actually going on in Fort Collins. The graphic that shows the proposal going from the bottom of the fee structure to the middle is very useful; this information could be used to promote the efficiencies that have been put in place and to change the public’s perception regarding the fee increase proposal. Meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled on July 13, 2011 from 8:00 -10:30 a.m. City Clerks Conference Room, City Hall