HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 11/18/2020
NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD
TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR
November 18, 2020 6:00 – 8:00 pm - Via Zoom
11/18/20 – MINUTES Page 1
1. CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL
6:00 p.m.
List of Board Members Present
Danielle Buttke - chair
Bob Mann
Elizabeth Hudetz
Hillary Mizia
Drew Derderian
Kevin Krause
Samantha Williams
John Skogman
Term completion:
December 31, 2020 - Robert Mann, Kevin Krause, John Skogman*, Samantha Williams*, and
Hillary Mizia*
December 31, 2021 - Elizabeth Hudetz and Barry Noon
December 31, 2023 - Drew Derderian and Danielle Buttke
List of Board Members Absent – Excused or Unexcused; if no contact with Chair
has been made
Barry Noon
List of Staff Members Present
Michelle Finchum, Staff Liaison
Kelly Smith, Senior City Planner
Arlo Schumann, Sr. Inspector, Zoning
Cameron Gloss, City Planning Manager
List of Guests
none
2. AGENDA REVIEW
No changes
3. COMMUNITY MEMBER PARTICIPATION
None
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TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR
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4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Some minor corrections were made regarding time, spelling, and board member
absence. Elizabeth moved to approve the minutes as amended. Bob Mann
seconded. Motion approved unanimously 7 - 0 - 0
5. NEW BUSINESS
a. Night Skies Update - Kelly Smith, Senior City Planner & Arlo Schumann, Sr.
Inspector, Zoning
The City is updating the Exterior Lighting Code regulations for outdoor lighting and a
draft is now available for review. These regulations cover new developments that
consist of multi-family, commercial and institutional uses. The goals are nighttime
safety and security, protection of neighborhoods from too much lighting, minimizing
glare, promoting energy conservation and protecting natural ecosystems from
artificial night lighting. Adoption is planned for early 2021.
The existing code:
There are currently several codes in place to regulate lighting: Residential
Code; Energy Code; Land Use Code; Sign Code; and Larimer County Urban
Area Street Standards (LCUASS). Tonight's discussion will be about the
City's Land Use Code that covers multi-family and commercial development
Current regulations require warm white of 3000K so as not to affect wildlife
and also downward facing lighting in all new development sites. There are
also light trespass regulations to prevent exceedance beyond the
development boundary.
Developers are asked to submit a photometrics plan of foot candles in their
exterior lighting that must conform to the code.
Gaps in existing code
Some issues that need to be addressed in the revised code are: backlight,
uplight, glare, pole heights, overlighting, and LED technology.
Goals of proposed code
The new code will be modeled after a lighting code developed by a joint task
force of the Illuminating Engineers Society and The International Dark Sky
Association. It will set budgets for lumens, backlight, uplight, and glare in
development projects for per parking space (up to 10 stalls) or hardscape
area. This also includes a lighting context (zone) over the City that has a
range of lumens a project can use in each area according to nighttime activity.
Lighting levels will be coded to match the use and context of the City's zoned
districts:
#0 - No ambient lighting - for natural and wilderness areas and
undeveloped rural areas
NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD
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#1 - Low ambient lighting - for rural areas, single-family residential,
agricultural areas, business parks and open space in developed areas
#2 - Moderate ambient lighting - for light commercial business, high-
density mixed-use districts, schools, neighborhood recreational facilities
and light industrial.
#3 - Moderately high ambient lighting - for business zone districts,
commercial mixed-use, heavy industrial/manufacturing, including the
downtown area.
The planning group toured and surveyed several current projects to see if they
would comply with the current code and new code and projected how much it
would cost to bring them up to the proposed new code.
Next steps are more public engagement, a technical advisory committee
meeting, presentations to boards and commissions, Chamber of Commerce
and other organizations, staff training, and City Council adoption in winter of
2021. Various other codes will be aligned to reduce any conflicts.
Discussion
Danielle - Q - What is the enforcement process and does it only apply to new
construction? A - The proposed lighting code would apply to new
development. There would also be an inspection at the end of construction to
enforce the code. Retrofits to current developments would have to go through
a minor amendment process to determine if retrofit fixtures adhere to code
requirements. There will be no retroactive requirements at this time.
Sammy - appreciate the City is doing a lighting plan where light isn't lost.
Robert - Q - Can an existing business ask your group for an evaluation of their
lighting? A - No. That would be something to ask the City's Utilities Efficiency
Works group to do.
Danielle - Q - Does the police department have concerns about safety with
reduced lighting? A - Representatives from the Police Department went on
the evaluation tours mentioned above and agreed that in some cases there
was too much light and in lower light cases there could be some safety issues.
The planning group is expecting some recommendations from the Police
Department regarding safety issues.
Kelly - Q - asked the board to take a look at the proposed lighting code before
final approval, if they want to see any proposed changes, and if the NRAB
supports it, to write a memo of recommendation to Council. A - Danielle
would like to see if there are any significant changes. Kelly agreed to keep the
board apprised of any significant changes to the proposed plan.
b. Metro Districts Update - Cameron Gloss, City Planning Manager
Review of an evaluation system for Residential Metro District Service Plans that
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provides both minimum requirements and a performance points system, including a
menu of options, applied to Energy and Water Efficiency, Housing Attainability and
Community Livability attributes. Website: www.fcgov.com/business/metro-districts
Metro Districts are a quasi-governmental entity authorized under Colorado's
special District Act, with tax-exempt bonding and taxing authority used to finance
public infrastructure and services such as streets, water sewer systems, utilities,
parks and recreation facilities, parking structures, and operations and
maintenance.
The City of Fort Collins previously disallowed metro districts, but City Council is
now considering having the City form a metro district to deliver extraordinary
public benefits that align with the goals and objectives of the City
There are currently 621 active metro districts in northern Colorado counties. The
City is examining the positive and negative things they are doing with the goal of
developing a metro district plan for Fort Collins with minimum financial burden on
the property owner.
Also being considered is if a residential metro district can help accomplish the
goals of the various city policies like: City Plan, Climate Action Plan, Housing
Plan, Water Efficiency Plan, Energy Policy, and others. They want to strike a
balance between complying with basic codes and giving extra points for
aspirational plans in the categories of energy, water, housing, livability and public
infrastructure needs.
The planning group is also looking at ways to provide metrics around
creating affordable housing in Fort Collins.
Community livability is hard to define
Next steps are to confirm the direction on Residential Metro District
methodology, have focus group evaluation, produce refined metrics, review and
have evaluations with boards and commissions, and establish policy in April,
2021.
Discussion:
Elizabeth - Q - Read a Denver Post article about negative aspects of Metro
Districts, specifically current residents being charged for future development
and developers sitting on the boards of the metro districts to benefit
themselves and asked if the Fort Collins Metro District be different? A -
Agreed that there have been bad actors in some Colorado Metro Districts,
that some state laws have been passed to create greater transparency in
them. It is difficult to control the developers being on boards of directors
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because they generally initiate the project. The Fort Collins planners are
focusing on a Metro District to be an exclusive tool for future residential
development focused on energy, water, housing, and livability. No other
city in the State has done this
Elizabeth - Q - Is there a guaranteed limit to the amount of taxes that will be
levied? She is also not confident affordable housing and metro districts can
coexist. A - There are some limits to indebtedness and rules prohibiting
eminent domain but it is unknown at this time how much and when taxes
would increase. Disclosure would need to happen at sale. The trend
seems to be that less infrastructure is being developed by cities and more is
being required of developers as costs of materials is increasing and
financing for these types of projects is becoming more difficult to find.
Danielle - Is concerned Metro Districts cause dramatic increases in housing
prices and higher taxes and this project isn't addressing some of those
problems. And from a natural resources perspective, she does not feel the
code is strict enough or acknowledges the climate crisis. However, this is
not just about the impact of a single metro district, it's about the broader
impact of bringing new technology and standards to an area and
introducing it to local trades people to help us all along. She would like to
see this supported.
Comment that the City does not seem comfortable elevating code in
general, but is in favor that a Metro District could help on this.
Bob - Q - Currently cost is limiting growth. Metro Districts support growth,
but he feels that the aspirational goal of the Metro District should also
reward providing more affordable housing. Also, is the minimum code the
standard code for the Metro District? A – No. The Metro District would
have a higher standard code.
Michelle - Q - Have you worked with Larimer County to make sure they
don't have a metro district just outside the City boundaries? A - No sure
what the county is planning, but they seem to adopt similar things as Fort
Collins.
Danielle - Q - What are the next steps in defining the goals and metrics of
the project? A - Previous focus groups that included the development
community, financial/legal, advisory experts, and lay people will be
expanded to include more subject matter experts in early December.
Cameron invited the board to contact him directly with any input they may
have.
Elizabeth - Q - What is the moratorium? A - It is a moratorium on the
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Residential Metro District service plan which is the guiding document for the
Metro District that allows you to issue the bonds. This evaluation would be
used to examine and recommend that plan for Council to approve or not
approve it.
Drew - Q - Will the proposed evaluation system apply to commercial. A -
No, only to residential.
c. NRAB Work Plan
Danielle presented the 2021 work plan that is similar to the 2020 work plan
because the board's interests and goals have not changed. Council will have
some new members in 2021, and since several meetings were cancelled
because of COVID, some work by the board was not completed. The group fine-
tuned the document.
Discussion
Michelle - suggested that water issues such as NISP should also be noted
in the NRAB's Key Outcome areas under Safe Community.
Major areas of interest are: Waste Reduction and Recycling, Water
Resources, Energy and Climate Action, and Transportation Planning
Danielle stated she also added an item regarding the board's interest in
new/additional opportunities to promote sustainability in the face of COVID.
Bob - suggested adding response to the impact of the Cameron Peak Fire.
Elizabeth moved and John seconded a motion to approve the 2021
NRAB work plan for submission to City Council. Motion passed
unanimously 7-0-0. Danielle will send the work plan to Council.
6. OTHER BUSINESS / BOARD UPDATES
Elizabeth reported that a group she is in focuses on health impacts of oil and gas
and will have a free symposium on December 5. If any NRAB board member
would like to attend, they can sign up on-line at psrcolorado.org.
Congratulations to Robert Mann, who has served on the NRAB from 2013-2016
and 2016-2020. He will be leaving the board at the end of 2020.
Bob - attended the Superboard meeting in November focused on housing. He
was impressed with the attention the City is giving to this subject.
Bob - Honore Depew emailed him the Parks and Rec master plan and
encouraged the NRAB to be supportive of it. Council will be voting on it
December, 15, 2020. He reminded the board that it previously and informally
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responded to Honore that there should be more assertive language in the policy
to require using native and xeric plants. Bob pointed out that, if the NRAB would
like to formally make that suggestion to Council before they adopt the plan, it
would need to send a memo to Council after this meeting.
Kevin moved and Elizabeth seconded a motion that Bob will update a
previously, not-sent memo to Council, recommending that the Parks
and Recreation Master plan include language to implement
requirements of using native and xeric plants in softscape areas.
Motion approved unanimously 7-0-0 As chair, Danielle will submit
the memo to Council.
At the December NRAB meeting, Kevin will bring before the board whether the
board wants to send a memo to Council to support the Exterior Lighting Code
update.
Danielle/Kevin will revisit action items from previous meetings
Discussion of agenda items for December meeting.
Elizabeth suggested an oil and gas presenter regarding air and water
quality impacts.
Bob would like an update on the regional wasteshed and how the NRAB
can weigh in on it. Also, maybe have a Larimer County Commissioner talk
about this.
ADJOURN
8:05 pm