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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 08/17/20161 MINUTES of the CITY OF FORT COLLINS TRANSPORTATION BOARD August 17, 2016 6:00 p.m. Community Room 215 North Mason Street Fort Collins, CO FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Eric Shenk Vice Chair: Annabelle Berklund Staff Liaison: Paul Sizemore 970.224-6140 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT: Eric Shenk, Chair Gary Thomas York Cari Brown Pat Jordan ABSENT: Annabelle Berklund, Vice Chair Tim Sutton Olga Duvall Councilmember Ross Cunniff Aaron Buckley, North Front Range MPO Dean Klingner, Engineering Matt Baker, Engineering PUBLIC PRESENT: None 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Shenk called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. 2. AGENDA REVIEW Sizemore stated there were no changes to the published agenda. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT None. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Thomas made a motion, seconded by Brown, to adopt the July 2016 minutes as presented. The minutes were adopted unanimously (5-0). 5. COUNCIL LIAISON Councilmember Cunniff was unable to attend. 2 6. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE REPORT - York York reported on the recent Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting during which a presentation on the CSU on-line education program regarding transportation safety and on Bicycle Safety Town were given. The Work Plan and BFO presentations will be discussed at the next meeting. 7. DISCUSSION/INFORMATIONAL ITEMS • NFRMPO 2016 Non-Motorized Plan – Buckley Aaron Buckley, North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Planner, stated the NFRMPO deals with transportation and air quality issues in the Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley area. This new plan will update a number of components found in the 2013 bicycle plan and will add in the pedestrian component. Buckley detailed the public outreach program. Buckley asked what would encourage Boardmembers to bicycle and walk more frequently. Responses ranged from simply needing more time to being somewhat nervous bicycling with young children. Jordan stated she would like to have transportation to the Budweiser Events Center. Berklund discussed her desire for safe routes to grocery stores. Buckley stated this plan will go before the MPO Council in December for adoption. He discussed the new program for electronic monitoring of bicycles and pedestrians. • Transportation Board Work Plan – Shenk Boardmembers discussed specific items on the Work Plan and Chair Shenk stated adoption will be planned for next month. • BFO Letter Preparation – Board Boardmembers discussed the desire in the community for Sunday Transfort service and other budget offers. Brown specifically discussed ADA sidewalk enhancement and others and suggested coordination with other Boards and Commissions around BFO offers. (**Secretary’s Note: The Board took a brief recess at this point in the meeting.) 8. ACTION ITEMS • Transportation Capital Expansion Fee – Klingner/Baker Klingner discussed the purpose of capital expansion fees stating they are collected as development occurs. The fees cannot cover maintenance or operations. Baker stated street oversizing fees are part of the overall transportation package and includes development’s portion of expanding the street network to mitigate the impacts of development. Baker stated input has been received from the Finance Committee, the Planning and Zoning Board, Chamber of Commerce and the Legislative Affairs Committee. One Council worksession has occurred and another is scheduled for late 2016. Baker discussed proposed changes which include changing the name from Street Oversizing to Transportation Capital Expansion Fee, using vehicle miles travelled rather than trips generated as the basis for determining impacts, simplifying the transportation impact fee schedule from the current 43 categories to only a handful, and increasing the 3 fee to include additional improvements. Brown asked if a smaller single family house would pay less than a larger single family house. Baker replied in the affirmative. Brown asked how vehicle miles travelled would be determined for some type of large retail operation such as a Wal-Mart. Baker replied averages are considered for the area from which a certain retail operation draws. York asked if the type of vehicle used is being considered in terms of road impacts. Baker replied that is addressed by street standards; this item deals with capital expansion of capacity. In terms of changing calculations from trips generated to vehicle miles travelled, the burden is shifted from commercial to residential. York asked if a disproportionate price is paid for transit-oriented developments. Baker replied those details are still being examined. Klingner noted transit-oriented development has been identified as an emerging issue with new development. York suggested that transit-oriented developments should be incentivized or this will run counter to work with enhanced travel corridors. Baker replied there is currently a waiver in place for transit-oriented development. Brown asked if a project such as Uncommon on the old downtown Perkins site will pay these fees as appropriate. Baker replied the project would get a credit for the restaurant street oversizing fee which paid a street oversizing fee when it developed. Baker stated this change would shift residential development from paying about 36% of fees to paying about 58%. Thomas asked if staff believes the new percentages more accurately represent the vehicle miles travelled. Klingner replied in the affirmative. Baker discussed the simplification of the fee schedule which would collapse the commercial categories into a single rate, offices and other services into a single rate, and industrial to a single rate. Thomas asked how the Chamber of Commerce responded to that change. Klingner replied the office category has a lower rate than commercial or industrial and is proportionate to square footage. The Chamber is mostly concerned about the additional costs for residential development. Boardmembers and staff discussed housing being market based and how fees are passed on to home buyers. Baker discussed the success of the street oversizing program as a whole and stated these changes are the start of a transition toward more focus on capacity improvements which are attributable to development being funded by development. Brown asked how large retail developments on the outskirts of town are charged 4 proportionally more due to the extra driving people have to do to get to such a development. Klingner replied the Land Use Code has components built in to prevent sprawl; therefore, there is no possible area in Fort Collins where a mall can be placed four miles from housing. Thomas asked about the total amount of fees for a single-family house. Baker replied it is about $20,000. Klingner noted the amount is very dependent on water expenses. Brown asked how Fort Collins’ fees compare to other communities. Klingner replied this new fee will put it into a high bracket. Baker provided examples of fee changes between the old fee structure, the new fee structure with the methodology change, and the new structure with the methodology change plus the 20% for additional improvements. Thomas supported the changes as being indicative of growth paying its way; however, he expressed concern there is no objective proof that the fee increases are the correct amount. Klingner replied the consultant’s study does include the math relating to the cost of adding capacity to the system. Baker stated he would like Board input on whether or not it supports the methodology change and the fee increase. Thomas made a motion, seconded by York, that the Transportation Board express support for the change in methodology and support the move to the high range TCEF as presented. Brown stated she would like to see more information regarding discounts for transit- oriented development. The motion was approved unanimously. 9. REPORTS • Boardmember Reports Thomas reported on a Larimer County study of senior transportation in rural areas of the county. York reported on the Fort Collins Pride Event and Bike Fort Collins’ participation in the event. He also reported on the Let’s Talk Transit ad hoc group meeting, the Beer, Bacon and Bicycle event at William Oliver’s, and the Streets Department ice cream social regarding changes to the Tres Colonias neighborhoods. • Staff Report Sizemore reported the September meeting will likely have a full agenda. He announced the volunteer picnic at City Park tomorrow and stated the adoption hearing for the West Elizabeth Enhanced Travel Corridor Plan has been postponed to October. 10. OTHER BUSINESS None. 5 11. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m. by unanimous consent.