HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 10/20/2020 - Memorandum From Paul Sizemore Re: Update On Hybrid Board And Commission Meetings
Community Development & Neighborhood Services
281 North College Avenue
P.O. Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522.0580
970.416.2740
970.224.6134- fax
fcgov.com
Planning, Development & Transportation Services
MEMORANDUM
Date: October 14, 2020
To: Mayor Troxell and Councilmembers
Thru: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Kelly DiMartino, Deputy City Manager
Caryn Champine, Planning Development and Transportation Director
From: Paul Sizemore, Interim CDNS Director
Re: Update on hybrid board and commission meetings
The purpose of this memo is to summarize the hybrid meetings and opportunities for in-person
public comment conducted by the Planning and Zoning Board (P&Z), Building Review Board
(BRB), and Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) as directed by City Council at their July
21, 2020 Regular Meeting.
Bottom-Line
Several hybrid meetings have been successfully held by P&Z with both in-person and
remote public participation. Staff recommends that this format be continued for future
exempted items heard by this board.
No individuals have attended the in-person public participation offered at BRB and LPC
meetings. Staff recommends that exempted items for these boards be heard remotely.
Background
Ordinance No. 079 authorizes P&Z, BRB, and LPC to hear quasi-judicial items using remote
technology but specifically excludes from that authorization decisions related to
zoning/rezoning, appeals, and additions of permitted use (APUs). The Ordinance does,
however, allow Council, by motion adopted by at least five Councilmembers, to authorize
exceptions to that exclusion. In order to authorize remote hearings for the listed items, Council
must find that such hearings are pressing and require prompt action and that virtual technology
will provide for sufficient public participation and input.
At the July 21, 2020 Regular City Council Meeting, Council approved a list of these items for
remote hearing by these boards with stipulations. Council indicated that the P&Z meetings
should be conducted in hybrid format with at least a quorum physically present for the meeting,
and that opportunity for in-person public comment be provided at the BRB and LPC meetings.
This memorandum summarizes the participation and outcome of these meetings.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 16671723-0994-43FA-A66B-8EE446761634
P&Z:
The P&Z Board meetings take place in Council Chambers. Council has required a
quorum (4 members) of the board to be physically present for meetings to hear items
exempted from Ordinance no. 079. Options for public comment include in-person,
telephone, or participation via the Zoom platform. The majority of public comment
continues to come via Zoom or telephone; however, some members of the public have
chosen to take advantage of the opportunity for in-person comment. We have found that
between 5 and 7 staff members are required to support these meetings. Generally, the
technology has worked well for these meetings, and staff continues to develop
processes and contingency plans to deal with technical issues as they arise. Agendas
continue to be full and there is a steady flow of items requiring Board action. Staff and
the Board are working together to manage meeting length and to provide for additional
hearing dates when needed to manage the project load.
o August 20
This agenda included 4 discussion items.
It went very smoothly, with no technical issues and full participation by all
board members (4 in person, 2 remote).
There was no public participation in person or remotely.
This meeting lasted approximately 4.5 hours.
o September 3
This was a special meeting with only one item on the agenda.
There were 4 board members in person and 2 were remote. There were
no technical issues.
1 member of the public participated in person, and 7 people participated
remotely.
This meeting lasted approximately 4.5 hours.
o September 17
This agenda included 3 discussion items.
With a newly appointed board member and full board, there were 4 board
members in person and 3 were remote.
There was a technical issue that resulted in the Zoom meeting being
dropped at one point in the meeting, but any participants had the
opportunity to immediately re-join the meeting once it was restarted.
4 members of the public participated in person, 13 participated remotely.
This meeting lasted approximately 8 hours.
BRB:
o The Building Review Board had 3 appeals at the July meeting, 0 appeals at the
August meeting and 2 appeals at the September meeting.
Staff provided the opportunity for in person comment at the July and
September meetings at 281 N College (via Zoom in a City Conference
Room, rather than City Hall).
No members of the public contacted us in advance, and no one attended
to provide comments.
o Staff is bringing a request to Council at the October 20th Regular Meeting to
authorize appeal hearings using remote technology for all appeals to the BRB
arising from City Code Section 2-119(4).
DocuSign Envelope ID: 16671723-0994-43FA-A66B-8EE446761634
Like appeals brought before the ZBA, appeals to the BRB pursuant to
Section 2-119(4) are permitted so that the BRB may allow variances to
the Code requirements in specific cases
While termed an “appeal” what the applicant is requesting in these
situations is beyond of the Building Official’s authority to permit; only the
BRB can permit these “variances.,”
These “variance” requests often involve the livelihood of the contractors
seeking licensure within the City and are pressing and require prompt
attention. They generally have minimal community interest or public
impact.
LPC:
o There were no appeals in August, so in-person public comment was neither
offered nor requested by any members of the public.
o The September meeting had 1 appeal and followed a similar approach to the
BRB meetings.
No one attended in person to provide comments.
Summary
The success of and participation in P&Z meetings using the hybrid format shows that this is a
viable approach for exempted items authorized by Council. Staff recommends that future
exempted items going to P&Z continue to follow this format. The lack of participation at BRB
and LPC indicates that there is not a demand for in-person opportunities for these items at this
time. Because of the extra staff time and accommodations required to provide an in-person
option and the lack of citizens exercising it, staff recommends that future exempted items heard
by these two boards be entirely remote. No additional action is required to implement this
approach because the agenda items are structured for remote hearing by default. Additionally,
staff plans to approach Council with a “blanket” request to allow certain appeals heard by the
BRB to be considered without additional exemptions due to the nature of these items.
Next Steps
October 20th Council consideration of request to allow BRB items to proceed without
additional exemption
P&Z will continue to consider exempted items in a hybrid format
As required by Ordinance No. 079, staff will continue to bring exemption requests for
items to Council for consideration on an individual basis
DocuSign Envelope ID: 16671723-0994-43FA-A66B-8EE446761634