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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 4/25/2023 - Memorandum From Megan Keith And Sylvia Tatman-Burruss Re: East Mulberry Plan Engagement Update Planning, Development & Transportation 281 N. College Ave PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 www.fcgov.com MEMORANDUM DATE: April 20, 2023 TO: Mayor and City Councilmembers THRU: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager Caryn Champine, Director, Planning, Development & Transportation Paul Sizemore, Director, Community Development & Neighborhood Services Clay Frickey, Interim Planning Manager, Community Development & Neighborhood Services FROM: Megan Keith, Senior Planner Sylvia Tatman-Burruss, Senior Policy & Project Manager RE: East Mulberry Plan Engagement Update Background At the December 13, 2022, City Council Work Session, members of Council directed staff to perform a full update of the existing 2002 East Mulberry Corridor Plan and to explore the annexation thresholds approach (formerly referenced as tipping points). As part of this exploration into annexation thresholds, staff launched a new series of public outreach events to inform and engage residents and businesses on the proposed thresholds approach. Recent Project Activities A series of four sessions were held spanning February and March of 2023. At these virtual and in-person sessions, staff offered a 45 -minute presentation, followed by a 45-minute Q&A session to allow attendees to clarify questions and share concerns with staff members. A report prepared by the Institute for the Built Environment (IBE) documents the community engagement activities that occurred between February and March of 2023. This report is provided as an attachment to this memorandum. As noted in the report, notification methods used to inform and invite residents and community members to these events in February and March 2023 included: • Over 2,200 postcard invitations were mailed to all addresses within the East Mulberry Enclave. • Press Release distributed February 23, 2023. • Over 200 in-person business visits to hand-deliver invitations. • Invitation and event reminders distributed to over 300 East Mulberry email newsletter subscribers. Previous Engagement: The engagement activities that took place in February and March of 2023 are just the most recent events in an extended series of engagement work that has been conducted as part of the East Mulberry Plan update efforts. It is important to note that in addition DocuSign Envelope ID: 9048DFD9-89AC-4653-BDF6-8E7490216FCE to the most recently heard feedback, previous community and business feedback is being utilized to formulate recommendations in the updated East Mulberry Plan. Summary documents of all engagement activities spanning the project history will be included in the upcoming plan update. Beginning in 2020, some of the notable previous engagement activities included the following: • East Mulberry Business Focus Groups, August 2020 • Community Q&A Sessions, April 2021 • Community Visioning Sessions, June 29, July 14, and August 4, 2021 • Online Visioning Survey, Summer 2021 • Community Advisory Group Meetings – five meetings spanning October 2021 through April 2022 • Community Workshops, October 2021 • Community and Business Workshops, January and February 2022 Engagement Reflected in the Plan Update: The attached engagement summary report assembled by the Institute for the Built Environment organizes feedback received from community members into six key issue areas. These key issue areas reflect sentiment related to how potential annexation would impact residents and businesses. The six key issue areas include: 1. Taxes, Costs, and Regulations 2. Stormwater Management 3. Roads and Intersections 4. Policing 5. Local Character 6. Timeline and Process These insights into areas of concern are helping staff to formulate policy recommendations within the updated East Mulberry Plan that can potentially address or alleviate these issues. Additional outreach is planned with individual businesses to better understand the unique needs and concerns based on industry and business type. Staff from the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce is supporting an outreach effort to conduct one-on-one and focus group conversations with City staff to better understand the unique concerns and interests of various groups in the area to test sp ecific policy recommendations in the plan. Next Steps: • Collaboratively hone policy recommendations with businesses within the East Mulberry Plan area. • Share and gather feedback on the draft plan and policies. • Begin to share the plan and policies with local Boards & Commissions, including Larimer County staff and Commissioners. • If desired, staff can compile an additional memo prior to First Reading. • Staff are anticipating bringing a draft of the East Mulberry Plan to City Council for First Reading at the July 18th Regular Session. Attachment: IBE Community Engagement Report DocuSign Envelope ID: 9048DFD9-89AC-4653-BDF6-8E7490216FCE 1 EAST MULBERRY PLAN & ANNEXATION THRESHOLDS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OUTREACH REPORT March 20, 2023 Prepared by DocuSign Envelope ID: 9048DFD9-89AC-4653-BDF6-8E7490216FCE 2 ENAGEMENT OVERVIEW Purpose of this Report The report below summarizes the community engagement activities and results from February and March 2023 focused on the East Mulberry annexation approach. Project Overview As part of the East Mulberry Plan revision and the corresponding approach to annexation of the East Mulberry enclave, City staff worked with Colorado State University’s Institute for the Built Environment to design and deliver a series of community engagement events. The purpose of the events was to introduce community members to the "thresholds” annexation approach, to provide opportunities for public comments and questions, and to address community member’s questions and concerns regarding potential future annexation. Community Engagement Activities Five community engagement activities were held in February and March of 2023. The first was with the community advisory group and the other four were open to public comment. In advance of the public meetings the city sent direct mail invitations as well as conducted a door-to-door campaign to raise awareness for the events. In total, about 140 community members participated in the advisory group and public meetings. The February and March 2023 public engagement efforts focused primarily on the approach to annexation vs. the broader East Mulberry Plan update, which had been the focus of the 2021 community engagement efforts. The report summarizing the Summer 2021 East Mulberry Community Engagement effort can be viewed at the following link: https://www.fcgov.com/planning/files/ibe-synthesis-east-mulberry-engagement-summer- 2021.pdf?1629409952 Advisory Group Meeting The East Mulberry Advisory Group was formed in 2022 and met several times. The group includes residents and business owners who meet with city staff periodically to discuss their vision for the area. On February 2, 2023, the group convened online to learn about the thresholds approach toward annexation in the enclave and share their initial impressions. Facilitators from the Institute for the Built Environment helped to guide the conversation. Advisory group members asked questions about the annexation timeline, implications for their properties and communities, and how the thresholds approach would work to prompt annexation. Public Community Engagement Meetings The City of Fort Collins hosted a series of public meetings to connect community members with staff to answer their questions about the East Mulberry Plan and annexation. City staff from Community Development & Neighborhood Services, City Manager’s Office, Economic Health, Civil Engineering, Transportation, Sales Tax & Revenue, and Code Compliance departments were present to answer DocuSign Envelope ID: 9048DFD9-89AC-4653-BDF6-8E7490216FCE 3 questions. Each session included a 45-minute presentation followed by a 45-minute Q&A session and was facilitated by staff from the Institute for the Built Environment. Meetings were scheduled to accommodate community member’s needs, preferences, and schedules including online and in-person meetings, daytime and evening events, and live Spanish interpretation. The list below details when and how each meeting was held. Online meetings with live Spanish interpretation: • Monday February 28, 5:30 to 7:00pm, 32 community members • Tuesday February 29, 10:00-11:30am, 35 community members In person meetings at The Genesis Project on Link Lane: • Tuesday March 7, 10:00-11:30am, 40 community members • Thursday March 9, 6:30-8:00pm, 28 community members Participants included East Mulberry residents, business owners, and property owners primarily from the plan area. Community members who attended the sessions learned about the city’s planned approach to annexation and received access to additional information and resources regarding annexation impacts for individual properties. The community sessions helped city staff to further understand the community’s questions and concerns about the annexation process. During the in-person community sessions, participants were encouraged to fill out comment cards with specific questions to be addressed during the meetings. Residents and business owners were invited to request one-on-one meetings with city staff to respond to individual questions and concerns. Staff received eight paper comment cards after the in-person meetings on March 7th and 9th and 13 follow-up inquiries submitted through the online form on the project website. Meeting participants were also invited to email staff directly, so some additional follow-up occurred in that form. KEY THEMES & DISCUSSION TOPICS The comments, questions, and concerns from community members regarding annexation focused primarily on how annexation would impact them in six key issue areas: taxes, costs, and regulations; stormwater management; roads and intersections; policing; local character; and timeline and process. Perspectives varied among community members regarding the favorability of annexation, with some who are supportive of annexation, some who are opposed to annexation, and others who hold a mixed or neutral position. One group of residents shared about their experience with voluntarily annexation and spoke about this change in a positive light, commenting that it had reduced their taxes and utility costs overall. The table below highlights the thematic areas of the questions and concerns that were expressed during the community engagement efforts. The sentiments expressed reflect the range of perspectives and opinions shared by community members. While fully capturing the diversity and nuance of the DocuSign Envelope ID: 9048DFD9-89AC-4653-BDF6-8E7490216FCE 4 community perspectives is not possible, the synopsis below provides an overview of the perspectives that were expressed during the meetings. DocuSign Envelope ID: 9048DFD9-89AC-4653-BDF6-8E7490216FCE 5 Topic Resident Community Business Community City Response & Resources Taxes & Costs & Regulations • Concerned that property taxes for family homes and land will rise following annexation. • Varied opinions regarding the desirability of municipal vs. current utility service providers (i.e., electricity, internet). • Confusion about how time-of-day electric rates will be assessed by the city, compared to county providers. • Those who already pay HOA or local improvement district fees don’t want to pay fees to the city as well. • Questions about how city taxes differ from county taxes (e.g., sales tax, use tax, property tax, and stormwater fees). • Concern that adding city sales tax will make businesses less competitive in the region, especially for small businesses. • Concern for new taxes and fees being unfair to large businesses, which will be expected to pay more according to size. • Concerned about additional city regulations in addition to existing county regulations for businesses. • Staff are anticipating conducting additional engagement with the business community in the form of individual follow-up meetings as well as the opportunity to help craft and review policy related to business success and preservation within the area. • Staff from the City’s Sales Tax and Revenue department were available at every meeting for questions. • Handouts pertaining to sales and use tax information were prepared and available as physical handouts at in-person events, and as links located on the project webpage. DocuSign Envelope ID: 9048DFD9-89AC-4653-BDF6-8E7490216FCE 6 Topic Resident Community Business Community City Response & Resources Stormwater Management • Want to see improvements to ongoing flooding issues in the area. • Think that flooding control should be a priority for city planners if the area is annexed. • Doubts about development in the area, as the area is largely in the floodplain. • Worried about flooding from local creeks that overflow near business centers in the area. • Concern over stormwater fees, which many business owners perceive as too high. • Think that stormwater fees should go directly toward infrastructural projects in the area with clear impact. • Staff are very aware of existing flooding issues within the area and heard this sentiment expressed again clearly during each of our recent sessions. • Staff attempted to convey that although residents and businesses would begin paying a stormwater fee upon annexation, fees collected would ultimately contribute towards infrastructure improvements that could help improve the flooding issues within this area. • The East Mulberry project website as well as handouts distributed at in-person events included links where estimated residential or commercial stormwater fees may be calculated. Staff are working to include additional information related to stormwater fees on the project website due to a high level of interest in this topic. DocuSign Envelope ID: 9048DFD9-89AC-4653-BDF6-8E7490216FCE 7 Topic Resident Community Business Community City Response & Resources Roads & Intersections • Residents who rely on frontage roads know that they are unsafe but worry the city will get rid of them entirely. • Some would like to see neighborhood access for cars prioritized over pedestrian and bike access routes. • Specific questions about problematic intersections (Timberline & Mulberry and Prospect & Summit View). • Want to preserve access to key business and manufacturing corridors, like Lincoln Avenue. • Interested in improved connectivity along East Mulberry between I-25 and downtown Fort Collins. • Concerned that costs for new infrastructure, like sidewalks, will be passed along to business owners. • Staff heard and documented locations where residents expressed safety concerns. • Staff conveyed that East Mulberry Street will remain a Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) facility, but that the frontage roads would come under the City’s purview upon annexation. The update to the East Mulberry Plan will further explore how to preserve existing access while also improving connectivity for all modes. • Through the update to the East Mulberry Plan, staff are exploring ways to apply development standards appropriately, especially for minor site/building modifications. DocuSign Envelope ID: 9048DFD9-89AC-4653-BDF6-8E7490216FCE 8 Topic Resident Community Business Community City Response & Resources Policing • Concerned about crime in the area, specifically related to drugs and human trafficking. • Residents have noticed an uptick in the homeless population sleeping in their neighborhoods. • Some residents expressed satisfaction with the County Sherriff’s department and worry that Fort Collins Police Services are understaffed. • Like residents, business owners have noticed an uptick in crime and wish their area could be safer. • Noted several instances of vandalism that hurt businesses and are costly to clean up. • Want to make sure the East Mulberry Corridor is considered safe for customers to travel through. • Staff received feedback both about satisfaction with the County Sheriff’s department as well as the desire for more oversight in certain parts of the area. Staff shared that upon annexation, any area coming into City Limits would be serviced by City of Fort Collins Police Services (FCPS). As the East Mulberry Corridor has grown over time, urban policing issues have become more prevalent with greater call volume and incident complexity. DocuSign Envelope ID: 9048DFD9-89AC-4653-BDF6-8E7490216FCE 9 Local Character • Want to preserve rural character, especially for residents with large plots of land and animals. • Concern that city regulations might dampen the rural-ness of East Mulberry neighborhoods. • Some residents chose to move to this area because they wanted to live in Larimer County, not within the city. • Doubtful that city re-zoning policies will accurately reflect the industrial functions that the area serves. • Interest in maintaining distance between industrial areas and Fort Collins city proper. • Sense of pride in the area’s industrial/rural feel, which some worry could change under annexation. • Large plots of land including those with farm animals would be allowed to remain upon future potential annexation activity. Some other characteristics that contribute to the rural feel of East Mulberry neighborhoods would remain. • Although some may have located here to be within Larimer County as opposed to the City of Fort Collins, the East Mulberry Enclave is within the City’s Growth Management Area (GMA) which was created in 1980. The GMA supports urban development and services within the boundary and more rural development and community separators outside of this boundary. • The East Mulberry area serves an important industrial and commercial service function for the greater Fort Collins community. It is a priority to preserve these functions into the future. • Through the update to the East Mulberry Plan document, staff are aiming to preserve and promote DocuSign Envelope ID: 9048DFD9-89AC-4653-BDF6-8E7490216FCE 10 Topic Resident Community Business Community City Response & Resources the industrial functions that exist within the East Mulberry area. This can be accomplished by providing land use and zoning guidance that closely matches current zoning designations under Larimer County. Timeline and Process • Desire for more clarity about when annexation will happen for specific areas / properties. • Desire for clarity about timing for improvements upon annexation (e.g., stormwater infrastructure, intersection improvements, etc.). • The update to the East Mulberry Plan will further document the Annexation Thresholds approach, including how to monitor and track thresholds as well as how to proceed once a threshold has been met. Staff will bring thresholds forward for City Council consideration. When decision makers determine that official annexation action is warranted, property owners and business owners will be informed about the potential annexation and will have the opportunity to offer feedback throughout the process. DocuSign Envelope ID: 9048DFD9-89AC-4653-BDF6-8E7490216FCE