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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Commission - Minutes - 09/18/2019Economic Advisory Commission Regular Meeting September 18, 2019, 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. Colorado River Room, 1st Floor, 222 Laporte Avenue 9/18/2019 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER Time Started 11:02 a.m. 2. ROLL CALL List of Board Members Present • Denny Otsuga • Linda Stanley • George Grossman • Renee Walkup • Braulio Rojas • John Parks • Ted Settle • Connor Barry List of Board Members Absent • Aric Light List of Staff Members Present • Josh Birks, Economic Health Manager • Erin Zimmermann, Economic Health Admin/Board Support • Cameron Gloss, City Planning Manager List of Guests • Jason Licon, Northern Colorado Regional Airport Director • Aaron Ehle, Northern Colorado Regional Airport Planning & Business Development Specialist • Wally Van Sickle • Jeff Randa • Virginia McAuliffe, Locks and Mayne • Aaron Schneider, Nature’s Own • Janelle Williams, Walnut Creek • Susie Wilmer, Old Firehouse Books • Marta Acree, The Right Card 3. AGENDA REVIEW No changes. 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 9/18/2019 – MINUTES Page 2 Virginia McAuliffe, business owner of Locks of Mane, shared concern regarding the Linden Street revitalization project. I have been down there for 10 years and am concerned this project will be detrimental to business. My customers have concerns about parking. I know there is the new garage, but I think the loss of on street parking will be a big problem. Wally Van Sickle, landlord at 201 Linden. Nature’s Own has been a great tenant. We want to keep Linden street thriving. Ease of access to these businesses is critical. We are in favor of Alternative B. In general, crowds are not shoppers. On all other days, non-event days we believe diagonal parking should be maintained. Susie Wilmer, owner of Old Firehouse Books, been there for 10 years. Not an expert in parking, but an expert in complaints of parking. I’m for Linden Street. I want to see the fabric of Old Own improved. People who just want to park, get a book and go will just go to Amazon. On festival days, (New West Fest) I personally close my door that day. We typically take inventory on that Saturday and have the day off on Sunday. People aren’t coming in to looking at books and carrying them around during festivals. Aaron Schneider representing Nature’s Own here to encourage the EAC to consider supporting Plan B. Feel loss of parking will negatively impact sales. I joke all the time everything we have in there is heavy and big. I need ability for customers to pull up and load things. I have a shop in Boulder on Pearl street too and it’s amazing how many open storefront properties there are. From the sales aspect, events don’t do anything for my business. It’s people coming in to ask to use the restroom, intoxicated people coming in. There is a lot of parking already allocated to construction. I had to argue with the City about dumpsters taking up spaces. I think Plan B is where we need to be. Marta Acree with the Right Card shared she is in favor of Plan B. A lot of my customers are elderly, so it needs to be accessible. I have no alley access, so I need loading zone access. Other item that concerns me about the plan in general is that even though I’m in a desirable location, events when vendor are right outside my door impact business. Walnut street construction was done really well. Yes, it impacted business. The garage was a fail. Related to this, still have bigger issue of where do our employees park. Not all businesses can afford to buy them spaces in the garage. These are all tied together. I love the architectural design of Plan B. It has to be done well. Janelle Williams co-owner of Walnut Creek. Although not on Linden, I agree with my neighbors. We have a lot of older customers. They don’t want to get on their cell phone and use the apps. They will go somewhere else. Denny— Thank you all for your participation. We appreciate hearing from you. Procedurally, we tabled this event and moved this to a member update, so should we decide to bring it up we can. You are welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting. ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 9/18/2019 – MINUTES Page 3 Linda—What is Council’s agenda for this? Josh—My understanding is that there is no further action needed from Council. Really, the process is about finalizing the design. There were a number of questions brought up about parking last night. George— There will be an open house Sept. 30th. First two weeks of October, there needs to be a decision. Linda— So we would not make recommendation to Council because they are not going to be taking action, rather it is about sharing feedback? 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The August 21st, 2019 meeting minutes were approved as presented. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Board and Commission Evaluation (Experiment) Update—Ted Settle (Listen/ Clarify) Ted reported Oct 14th will be the next meeting. It will be on Climate. I’m not sure which boards will be included. We did encourage staff to broaden the pool. I don’t know if boards and commissions have been informed. I’m big on process. I believe in going slow to go fast. Ted stated that he would also follow up with Jackie regarding the project. John Parks indicated that he had not received the invitation. Action item: Erin to check with Victoria on John Park’s email. b. Development Review Fee Study Advisory Committee Update— Braulio Rojas (Listen/ Clarify) Linda shared that they had their last meeting and came to agreement on a brief memo to Council stating we agree with the methodology. It was positive toward what staff has done. b. Revolving Loan Fund— Aric Light (Listen/ Clarify) Josh gave a quick update. A vendor has been selected. We are still in the process of notifying both applicants and will announce at the business appreciation breakfast. If you would like to attend the breakfast and haven’t registered, please do so. Erin will send out the reminder for this. ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 9/18/2019 – MINUTES Page 4 We will like you to help share the invite with your networks. As volunteer ambassadors, we ask that you engage with attendees and serve as a resource. Fundamentally, the purpose of this event is to say thank you. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Harmony Gateway Plan— Cameron Gloss (Listen/Clarify/Discuss) Cameron Gloss gave an overview on the Harmony Gateway Plan. When this area was primarily farming, we decided it would have retail focused in centers. Mainly basic industrial and non-retail activity area. Boundary is .5 south of Harmony and a mile north. We spent a lot of time looking at I- 25, natural areas, community separators. When we look at the vision, it is very incomplete. (Landuse, natural resource, appearance and design, transportation). Community separator study in 2003. What can be built in the Gateway area today? We have had 3 community workshops. Community gateway— What is that? What we heard: • Don’t make it like Loveland, Longmont Berthoud. • Not the typical I-25 gateway • Development blends with natural qualities • Meet stormwater requirements Came up with 10 design elements that we think are critical within this gateway. Met with Council. They said they liked all the ideas we came up with, but want to see less intensity of development. Harmony Gateway scenarios • Scenario A: Base-case –reflects a continuation of the current Harmony Corridor Plan BINREAC (Basic Industrial and Non-Residential Activity Center) land use designation. This scenario provides the opportunity for suburban-style employment campuses limited primarily to industrial and/or office uses and limited commercial/retail and residential uses. • Scenario B: Increased Commercial and Housing with Big Box option – reflects adjustments to the current Harmony Corridor Plan. Generally, allows a greater amount of commercial/retail and residential uses than found in other Harmony Corridor employment areas by providing a greater mix of uses. Large retail establishments aka ‘Big Box’ retailers are permitted as are drive-through facilities if located in secondary locations. • Scenario C: Increased Commercial and Housing without Big Box opti on – ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 9/18/2019 – MINUTES Page 5 represents a similar overall mix of commercial/retail, residential and employment uses as Scenario B, but building footprints are smaller. • Scenario D: Clustered (Reduced Site Coverage (buildings/parking) and Increased Undeveloped Green Space) – reflects a more ‘town-like’ pattern of development within developed areas by including smaller building footprints parking lots, and also with more land area retained in an undeveloped state. Metrics to evaluate scenarios are being developed. For example: • Traffic (trip generation, trip distribution, mode choice, traffic impact at key intersections, thresholds for public streets improvements triggered by gateway development) • Open space (ratio of open space to developed area within entire gateway, ratio of open space to developed area within cluster of building and parking lots, degree of landscape screening of buildings and parking from adjacent roadways) • Placemaking (mixed use, number of third places, quantity of active public space, degree that site and building design reflects a human scale) Comments: Denny— Is there opportunity to leverage opportunities here, such as working with parks and recreation to have a park there? Cameron— Great question. Does it rise to the occasion of needing a park? We don’t have enough information yet. Connor— In my mind, Costco and Walmart already moved to the other side. Is there actual demand for big box retail there? Cameron— It has been hinted at. Conner— Signage, if limiting signage, does it limit clustering density for the area? Cameron— We would want windows in. When there are too many signs, you can’t differentiate. In this case, it may be like Centerra, where it’s a free-standing sign, not listing every single tenant. We have an excellent sign code and want to continue down those lines. Ted— What’s the interplay between this project and other gateways? Cameron— At the open house we will be discussing the characteristics of all the gateways. With all of these, we will be asking the public, are we on the right track? 6-8 pm Oct. 2nd at the Lincoln Center. Hope to have 120 people attend. Linda— From a visual point of view, scenario d is very attractive. I’m wondering how much commercial space we might be losing. What do you guys think Josh? Josh— During the City Plan process, interesting points came up. Basically, we have ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 9/18/2019 – MINUTES Page 6 preserved excess of employment land than what we anticipate needing. We are also observing changes in the market on kinds of space people want to work in. The conclusion we made is that we need to evaluate how much we need. May favor more mixed use. I think we do have some opportunity to release some of that employment land for other uses. Next steps: if you have questions, email to Josh and Erin and they will get those to Cameron. He will return in November and the commission will have opportunity to take action at that point. b. Northern Colorado Regional Airport— Jason Licon (Listen/Clarify/ Discuss) Jason and Aaron presented an update on the airport. Jointly owned by Fort Collins and Loveland. Governed by 7-member airport commission. Serve a diverse mix of air traffic. Shared the strategic plan that was developed last year and available on the website. Economic impact: Multiplier Effect— $129.4 million output each year; 826 jobs; Payroll: $24.8 million Remote Tower Project— Uses technology to provide alternative to traditional air traffic control tower. Pioneering project that will set the stage for these types of systems across the country. Project funded by CDOT Aeronautics Division. Enhances safety and efficiency. Commercial Airline Service— Return of Allegiant Airlines on Nov. 21st . The remote tower was a major factor in their decision to return. Education— • Aims Community College- offers general aviation pilot, professional pilot, and air traffic control programs, flight training programs move to FNL in August. • Northern Colorado Law Enforcement Training Center— jointly owned by Fort Collins and Loveland. 44-acre state-of-the-art training facility with shooting range, driving track, and classrooms on the west side of the Airport. Working through Master Plan Update— Updating 2007 Master Plan. Decision- making tool to guide orderly development of future airport facilities. FAA tool for planning and programming purposes. Airport Influence Area provide guidance for compatible and complementary development near airport. Future terminal project, construction could begin as early as 2022. Existing terminal is 4,500 sq. ft and was built in 1990 (pre-TSA) to accommodate 19 passenger ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 9/18/2019 – MINUTES Page 7 aircraft. Comments: Denny— Anything you need from this group? Jason— This was more of an information update, but encourage ongoing support. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Linden Update— George Grossman George— Shared he met with Councilmember Susan Gutowsky and that she has met with a lot of other business owners. He also gave an update on discussions at the Downtown Business Association. DBA has own advocacy policy. He reported that the DBA decided to act as a clearing house of information for the community, but not make any formal recommendation for a particular design. Several of the community members who spoke during public comment also spoke at the Council meeting last night. At Council and all meetings, I’ve tried to find compromise. I believe in compromise. George suggested using green lighted stripes instead of painting so if there are no events that day can be business as usual. If there is an event occurring, they could then do parallel parking. It would be innovative. Fort Collins is an innovator. If we are going to have flex space, why can’t that flex space also be applied to parking. George also suggested that parking for the downtown community is such an issue and needs to be examined overall, including Linden street. In the meantime, we don’t have data from all this yet. He suggested the City install Plan B and a year or two when City can then really have the paradigm shift they want. We aren’t there yet. They are building the street for 20 years out. So, why are we building this project on the backs of main street businesses. He stated that this has gotten to Council level. Part of this commission is to also look at threats. If we are only looking at threats that are presented to us, we are missing some big pieces. Even though there has been no call to action, I believe we should make a recommendation to Council, if we feel like we should. Council may or may not do anything on it. We are here to identify issues for Council. Ted— I wasn’t at last meeting, but what is the other side? Surprised DBA is not taking a position. George— They felt like it is a divisive issue in the community and among members. They look at how to market and this decision to be a clearing house is in line with other decisions. ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 9/18/2019 – MINUTES Page 8 There are 29 businesses on Linden and 15 did not sign the position. Brulio— It is OK to question. In my opinion, seeing the presentation, I don’t have enough elements to take a stance. What is clear for me is that there is a disagreement about the parking. Even if the outcome is the same, it is good to ask questions and point out what is going on. I think right now there is an issue with parking, and it is not clear on the data supporting the decision. Connor— I think there is a lack of data. What we heard today was one sided and that is true. Other thing we aren’t getting is the data of the benefits that the City projects seeing. Seeing the other impacts around climate action, accessibility to the River District and broadening it would be helpful. Not having that data makes it hard for me to make a recommendation one way or another. If there are already outreach events, I think those are better venues for those discussions to continue. Renee— We are talking about these issues and normally if we go to Council to make a decision, this discussion goes where. Renee asked about the green light technology and if it is a system available and George stated that no it was an innovative idea he came up with. Denny— Motioned to untable the topic to allow for commissioners to make a motion. Majority passed. George— Motioned that based on the presentation we heard this Commission recommends to Council that Alternative B is the best alternative to achieve the six stated goals of the Linden Street project. Renee seconded the motion. Discussion: Linda— Not sure it is best option. Connor— I agree. Is there other ability to comment on this, without saying one is the definitive best option? Braulio— I agree. we don’t have enough elements to say this is the right option. Defeated 4-2-1 (Ted left around 1:15 p.m.) John— Motioned to submit a recommendation to Council to listen to concerns including those related to parking, investigate more options, and review metrics to make a more informed decision on the Linden Street project. Connor seconded the motion. Passed 6-0-1, Denny abstained. Erin will type up memo draft and send to John to revise and send out to EAC for review and approval. Deadline is middle next week. 9. OTHER BUSINESS ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 9/18/2019 – MINUTES Page 9 10. ADJOURNMENT Adjourns 1:43 p.m. UPCOMING TOPICS October:  Industry Cluster Re-boot Update (Bring earlier as the Input Item) November:  Harmony Gateway Plan Update– Cameron Gloss Unscheduled:  Update on Industry Cluster Approach – TBD (Listen/Clarify) 2019 Priorities:  Talent Development, Economic Dashboard, Business Engagement, & Cluster