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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCROSSROADS SAFEHOUSE - FDP - 18-09/A - CORRESPONDENCE - (3)Page 3 of 3 Please be aware that the traffic and parking on surrounding streets is a sensitive issue for some residents. Every effort should be made to take full advantage of the off-street parking spaces for both residents and staff and that anyone associated with Crossroads Safehouse should not be discouraged from using the off-street parking lot. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact either me or Peter Barnes, Zoning Administrator. Sincerely: Ted Shepard 221-6343 cc: Peter Barnes 416-2355 No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1410 / Virus Database: 1520/3920 - Release Date: 09/26/11 9/27/2011 a Page 2 of 3 We will average a few volunteers at the Safehouse at any time; and, unlike Columbine, we still do not allow visitors to come to see our residents. We do not anticipate ambulances and sirens at all hours or daily delivery vehicles. As a matter of fact, we do not even receive mail at the facility; we use a post office box. Ted, our staff have tried very hard to be sensitive, patient, and responsive. We will continue to do so. Please keep us abreast of any issues and we will deal with them as they come. In truth, I think the neighborhood had gotten used to an empty building and they (and we) are adjusting to the change. We intend to be good neighbors, to keep our zeriscaped landscaping is good condition, to keep the building in good repair, and to respect others nearby as I hope they will respect us. Best regards, Vicki Victoria L. Lutz Executive Director Crossroads Safehouse, Inc. P.O. Box 993 Fort Collins, Colorado 80522 970.530.2353 vlutz@crossroadssafehouse.org From: Ted Shepard [mailto:TSHEPARD@fcgov.com] Sent: Monday, September 26, 2011 3:14 PM To: 'vlutz@crossroadssafehouse.org' Subject: Parking Complaint Hello Vicki: The purpose of this e-mail is to inform you that the City of Fort Collins Zoning Department received a complaint from a citizen about the number of Crossroads Safehouse employees parking on the public streets versus in the Crossroads parking lot. This citizen informs us that a contact was made with a Crossroads employee about this situation and that the Crossroads employee responded that only Crossroads residents could park in the parking lot but Staff was directed to park on the street. You may recall that adequate off-street parking was an issue that was raised at the neighborhood information meeting. The response at the time was that there will be far fewer staff associated with Crossroads as compared to Columbine Care Nursing Home so there will be less traffic on surrounding streets. I have reviewed the neighborhood meeting summary. From the meeting of June 2, 2008, the following exchange is summarized: "Is there adequate parking for staff and clients? Response: Yes, we will have parking for approximately 25 cars in the parking lot. This exceeds the number of staff. Roughly one-third of our residents will have a car. We anticipate that the on -site parking will be adequate to handle the number of cars brought to the site by residents." There is nothing in our records or the minutes from the Planning and Zoning Board hearing to indicate that staff cannot park in the parking lot. 9/27/2011 01 Page 1 of 3 Ted Shepard From: Vicki Lutz [vlutz@crossroadssafehouse.org] Sent: Monday, September 26, 2011 4:27 PM To: Ted Shepard Cc: 'Mary Anne Paul'; P Parker; 'Meghann Shaffer' Subject: RE: Parking Complaint Hi Ted. We have tried to be very sensitive to the neighbors and parking. Weeks ago, we asked staff and visitors not to park on Peterson and, pursuant to the request of a neighbor, we recently asked all staff to only park on the Safehouse side of Parker. (One resident, who lives across the street on Parker, has invited one of our staff members, Al Schorre, however, to park in front of her home every day.) For the last four weeks we have had volunteer training (a 32-hour, quarterly program), which has occasioned quite a bit of the on -the -street parking. We asked volunteers also to be careful to park in the same fashion as above noted. That training is over now. We also had two major open houses last week to which we hand - delivered invitations to every resident whose property touched ours. Only three visitors identified themselves as neighbors. There were probably 200 visitors, including state representatives, a senator, the mayor, the sheriff, city council members, police and service group representatives, the media, etc. In short, the last month's vehicular traffic to the new facility has been unique. We immediately have gone to visit or chatted with any neighbor who has expressed concern (and there have been three to my knowledge, one of whom is an owner who doesn't even live here). Our nearest neighbors have welcomed us to the community and praised our care in the renovation process and the opening of the facility. The staff and I have been parking in the lot by and large until just a week ago. Our residents are moving in today. Only today (-the first day that ALL staff were on site-) did we all meet to analyze night-time parking and staff parking options in the lot. (We will try to reconnect with the neighbor you mentioned with this update.) Many of us will be returning to parking in the lot as soon as the parking lot is fully ready for its occupation. We still have work that is being done in the parking lot (e.g., the fences are unfinished and will be worked on (at least though the end of this week); a sewer pipe broke this morning and a section of the parking lot will have to be dug up in the next day or two perhaps with a bulldozer (sigh) according to the plumbing company that just left; the entrances to the parking lot sally port are still being tinkered with because the keypads cannot be seen after dark or in bright sunlight). While we anticipate there will be adequate spaces for residents and many staff to park in the lot once the fence, broken sewer pipe, and security matters are resolved, at this time we are keeping the parking lot relatively open for residents (who are still moving in) and asking day staff to park on the street to facilitate a rather complicated moving process and to allow residents to "learn" the parking lot and sally port keypad entrance and exit rules and maneuvers without too many vehicular obstructions. It should also be noted that the renovation project has left about 15-16 parking spots in the lot, not the 25 that we had hoped for. Nonetheless, only about one in three of our residents have cars; some of our staff rides bicycles to work; and we will do our best to use the lot first and the streets as back-up parking. Columbine had a rotating staff of 100 as I recall. We have a rotating staff of 23 full-time and 12 part-time people. 9/27/2011