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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHARMONY & SHIELDS REVISED REZONING - 1-06A - DECISION - MINUTES/NOTESPlanning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 29 Predictability is absolutely what City Plan was hoping to provide for in 1997, but it was never meant to be etched in stone. He does think that things change and again substantially we are not putting a sporting goods store in there, it is a grocery store and it is 500 feet difference. He is hearing some compelling arguments that there is nothing going to be there, at least from this developer, if we don't grant it 500 feet to the south and that is a huge argument for him. The motion was approved 6-1 with Member Stockover voting in the negative. Member Schmidt moved to recommend approval of the Harmony and Shields rezoning, #1-06A based on the Facts and Findings in the staff report on page 11, 4b. Member Fries seconded the motion. The motion was approved 6-1 with Member Stockover voting in the negative. Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 28 of issues there that wouldn't be associated with a national chain. The one thing that weighs heavily is there a need for a grocery store because it would already be mid block. One thing that is holding him back is he does not think there is a need for a grocery store because there are a lot of grocery stores in the area. He does think that a grocery store would work better on the corner than mid block. With all that said, not feeling the need for a grocery store, he would be going with the neighbors on predictability. Member Schmidt commented that looking up the Neighborhood Commercial in the Land Use Code and it says that "the Neighborhood Commercial District is intended to be a mixed use commercial core anchored by a supermarket or a grocery store and a transit stop" so right at the very description of Neighborhood Commercial it talks about supermarkets, not just grocery stores. That option has always been there for this kind of a zoning district and so that is why she knows that although the neighborhood was counting on it being a very small store, there was never any guarantee about that and if somebody wanted to, they could still put a supermarket size store on the mid block, She agree with certain aspects of the predictability issue, he worry is that some of these plan are developed and they don't get changed very often and things do change and are we going to be stuck in a mode where what we approved in 1980 we want to keep that because we want to be predictable. She thinks there are times where we have to make some changes and decide what is the best in a different environment. She is not saying that the corner necessarily is, but she does not think we can hang our hat on that to totally stop things from changing when there is a better option. Member Smith thought the intended uses and intent for the property obviously revolves around the grocery store. He believes that with the best information they have been given is that the conditions have changed for that subject property. He also believes what he has heard about the traffic and the cut throughs on Wakerobin and Troutman being decreased by this proposed change is something good. The cut throughs would be decreased by moving the shopping center to the south. He also thinks that the buffer between the current Neighborhood Commercial and the residential is inadequate and would be enhanced by moving it to the south. He would be supporting the motion. Member Fries added that on the predictability issue, he recalled watching the City Council meeting last time this issue was addressed. If he rembered correctly, predictability was definitely a huge part of their decision making process. What he would add to that is that he would certainly use the predictability argument if we were talking about a substantial change in zoning that now it is not a grocery store, but it is an office building four stories high. The fact that we are talking about moving something 500 feet without a site plan, we don't know what it is going to look like and nobody knew what it was going to look like when they moved in and bought their property, they simply knew that there is a section of ground and it is zoned MMN and it is zoned with NC. Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 27 right at the moment there will be a neighborhood surrounding this which is the MMN and there are going to be more houses there which will add more traffic to the area and she thought there was a need in that area because of that for a grocery store. Whether you want to debate whether it could go on the corner or in the middle, you can only go on what people are telling them at this point in time. As Mr. Waido pointed out we do make quite a few changes to the Structure Plan within a certain amount of predictability, it is not like we are changing the zoning from what is here to highway industrial. That would be a very major unpredictable kind of change. At this point she can't see anything compelling as to why it would not work on the corner any differently than where it is. Her personal feeling is that there is going to be more buffering to the surrounding neighborhoods that currently exist and also better ability to buffer the drainage and open space with commercial than you would with multi -family. She would support the motion. Chairperson Lingle did not understand why the neighborhood that is immediately to the west would not rather be buffered by the MMN land than be directly adjacent to the NC where there could be loading docks and who knows what across their backyard fence. It seems like it would be much more logical to have that kind of mixed use buffer between them and whatever might happen with a neighborhood center. The consistent objection to that being rezoned and moved. On the other hand he can fully understand the Westbury neighborhood why they feel they are being infringed upon by all of a sudden having something that was either MMN or a natural area buffer suddenly being a Commercial Center directly across the street. He thought that the neighborhood has made a much more cohesive and compelling argument for some reason than last March in terms of some of their arguments. He can see where the mid block location makes more sense to him in terms of possible northbound movements on Shields without going through whatever might be developed in the MMN zone and how that might be configured, it is just a more direct route. It also from what Mr. Waido said that it is more supportive of City Plan in terms of having two potential collector connections into the neighborhood as opposed to one. Part of his reservation is that he is impressed by the development team that is being presented tonight, however the rezoning and the Structure Plan amendment are not tied to whatever might be brought forward. He is a little uncomfortable with some of the things that he has heard tonight forwarding a unanimous recommendation to City. Council, he thought that might be a little irresponsible of the Board. He does not know what one vote means, but he thought they should be responsive to what they are hearing from the neighborhood. Member Stockover echoed the very tough decision. He is a very growth oriented person, he was born and raised in Fort Collins and Fort Collins has been very good to him. Growth paved a lot of that way. The thing in the back of his mind is still predictability and he thinks that is very important. He would love to see the housing on that property and drives by it all the time and wonders why no body has developed it. He hates to use Steele's as a mid block that failed because he thought there were a lot Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 26 Mr. Markel replied that they have approached some of the grocers directly. They were introduced to Regency by a local person. There is another major commercial developer, Pace Properties out of the St. Louis area and they have not given him a letter of intent and he wanted to work with Regency. Member Schmidt was wondering about the statement that if it stays in the middle of the block the project won't happen, did he think that he would pursue looking at other people who would interested in developing. Mr. Markel replied that what they have spoken to is that Regency is the largest grocery anchored companies in the nation. He thinks they know their business. Peter Calthorp is one of the most renowned planners and has written seven books. When he has Peter Calthorp and Regency telling him certain information he thought it was too much of a risk for him to lose a high quality partner to move ahead in some kind of darkness thing. Member Fries echoed the comments by Mr. Butzek that this is a tough one. He appreciated all of the effort from the neighborhood and their comments. Where he is at with this at the present time is that several months ago the Board unanimously voted for a recommendation to City Council and he has heard nothing compelling to cause him to change his position. He restates the position in listening to the traffic experts based on some of the concerns in the neighborhood are, are they are legitimate concerns, that the traffic does not substantially change at the major intersection of Shields and Harmony regardless of the position of where the Neighborhood Commercial is. He would like to think that the decisions made by this Board are not economically driven, howeverlooking at it, he thinks the neighborhood is much better off with the grocery store a couple blocks away. He has a tough time understanding why, when the developer says that chances are that we are not going to develop this in the middle of the block that we are not trying to work together to figure out some way to mitigate the concerns with the commercial on the corner. He thinks it is a loss to the city, obviously economically, but most importantly it is a loss to the neighborhood that they are not going to have a grocery store there. Traffic generation in his opinion — homes generate traffic not commercial. They all have to drive through that intersection everyday anyway. Weighing those things when it comes down again to a tough decision, and it was going to be as popular as the first time; he would be supporting the motion to amend the Structure Plan. Member Schmidt also appreciated all the comments and she tried looking at this starting all over from scratch. She feels like the comments as far as the changing of the zoning warranted by changed conditions within the neighborhood surrounding and including the subject property, she thought that conditions have changed for this subject property. When talking about changed conditions in the neighborhood surrounding and Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 25 welfare. If we are saying at this point that we could not find one that will function at the middle of the block, then in essence it benefits us to move it to the corner to promote that public welfare. It is hard without seeing site plans because she looks at what is out there and she sees that it is nice to have the signalized intersection at Troutman, but just because the commercial is at the other corner does not mean there would not be a road that connects up to Troutman so people can still use that connection. Member Rollins asked once Harmony is widened to four lanes and say this rezone is approved what kind of landscape and buffer would there be for the residential area to the south (Westbury) on the north side of Harmony. Director Gloss replied that there would be the standard for street tree placement along the street. Obviously building placement is going to buffer some of the noise, light and other uses because we have a build to line requirement for some of the buildings that would be there. If you have parking lots with side loaded buildings, the parking lots have to be screened. We do have minimum screen requirements for the perimeter of the parking lot and internal to the parking lot there is extensive landscape requirements to break up the large horizontal plane so you get a tree canopy. In addition, we have some natural habitat that has to be protected along the south side of the property. There will be buffers from those resources which would create a greater green swath. There are drainage requirements and the Mail Creek drainage generally comes through this area, it has modified extensively over the years, but they will have to address the drainage issue. With additional development they are going to have to provide on site detention and water quality improvements and with that there will be additional green space added. Given the topography out there you would put some of that on the south side of the site closer to Harmony Road. All of those things in conjunction help to provide that separation between the roadway and the development. Member Schmidt.asked about the large drainage basin and how much land would be lost use wise based on having to mitigate certain factors in that area. Director Gloss replied it was hard to say. The drainage basin does go from the northwest corner along the frontage to the southeast, and that is the natural drainage flow. To minimize disruption to any type of habitat that are there that would minimize grading and that would have to be addressed, but to say exact square footage it would be difficult to say. If you look at the Community College there are buildings that go through the green swath. Member Schmidt asked Mr. Markel if given the fact that Regency has not developed anything in the Fort Collins area, who were the other major supermarket developers and has he talked to any of them about their interest in working with them on this property. Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 24 Member Fries asked in the NC District a 45,000 s.f. grocery store could be done as a Type 1 Administrative Hearing. Director Gloss replied that'was correct. Member Fries asked if it was correct that a supermarket size which would be over 45,000 s.f. would come before the Planning and Zoning Board as a Type 2 review. Director Gloss replied that was correct. Member Fries asked if that was regardless of whether if was at the corner of mid block. Director Gloss replied yes. Member Rollins asked Director Gloss to define "changed conditions." Director Gloss replied that from 1981 when this property was first Master Planned clearly there is a change in conditions in traffic volumes in the area, information that has been provided to the staff that indicate that from a market standpoint that the visibility and exposure based on the location is important for the economic viability of the center. That goes hand in hand with the notion of changed conditions from 1981 to present. Member Schmidt moved that the Planning and Zoning Board recommend approval of the Structure Plan Amendment based on the Facts and Findings on page 7 and paragraph 4a on page 11 of the staff report. Member Meyer seconded the motion. Member Schmidt asked if Regency ever considers shopping areas with smaller shopping stores. Mr. Leftwich replied yes and they have done developments with smaller stores. Member Schmidt asked where other stores were located from this area besides the Harmony and College store. Director Gloss replied that there was an Albertson's at the corner of College and Horsetooth which is about 2 miles north of the College and Harmony intersection. Member Schmidt explained that if they wanted to talk about promoting the public welfare in being consistent with City Plan, having grocery or commercial supermarkets in the neighborhoods is something that could be considered contributing to the public Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 23 Regency is not interested in a mid block location as they have found that historically that they are not as viable, successful properties as those that are located on the corner. There are exceptions to every rule and to say that a center cannot function in the mid block would be misleading and wrong, but to say that given these circumstances in this neighborhood at this location — he knows that Regency is not interested in a mid block location and he did not think the center would not be as viable at mid block. Mr. Markel added that when he first put the property under contract he brought Peter Calthorp out to be a consultant on this property. When visiting this site Mr. Calthorp asked what the possibility of getting the commercial from mid block to the corner. He thought that was the first thing that should be done with this property. He was involved with the development of City Plan and it was his recommendation that happen for the success of this site. Member Schmidt asked if there was a goal in mind when the improvements at Harmony and Shields are made and what was the expected level of traffic service. Mr. Bracke replied immediately it would go to B and C. In the long term it is expected to maintain a level of service D. Right now it is at level of service F and it is one of the highest accident locations in town. Member Schmidt asked if the accidents happen at the intersection or at mid block. Mr. Bracke replied that almost all accidents happen at intersections with traffic signals. Member Schmidt asked what he felt about the traffic signal at Troutman and the impacts if the shopping stayed in the area it is. Would that intersection be able to handle that type of level of service. Mr. Bracke replied he did not see why it couldn't. It would be a collector arterial intersection signalized and with good recirculation back to it, it should function properly. Member Fries asked what the square footage of the Wal-Mart Superstore, Director Gloss replied right around 200,000 s.f. Member Fries referred to comments made that a Wal-Mart was going in on this corner and that was like football and baseball. Member Schmidt thought they were referring to the one at College and Harmony. Director Gloss did not recall that square footage. Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 22 Chairperson Lingle said it sounds like the placement of this was not necessarily driven by it being a better location to philosophically support City Plan Principles as it was that there was already approved under the Land Development Guidance System in this location and it was just identified in the rezoning process to place it there. Planner Waido replied that it afforded the collector street access both through Troutman and also Wakerobin. Those things combined with the fact that there was an approved plan on the location. Chairperson Lingle asked Planner Waido to speak about predictability. He stated on of the complaints of the LDGS was that it was not predictable for the neighborhood. That was one of the goals of City Plan to provide more predictability. Is there an issue with this particular one in terms of that. Planner Waido replied that he was correct from both a neighborhood perspective and the developer's perspective. One of major criticisms of the old Land Development Guidance System was that it was felt that there was no predictability and what he meant by that is that neighborhood groups when they would come in and ask what can happen on this vacant piece of property staff told them that we could not give them an exact answer, but there were a range of uses that could potentially happen. We would go through the neighborhood review process, the development review process and involve the neighborhoods with required neighborhood meetings. Developer's were also concerned that they did not have the classic zoning where there were a list of permitted uses and they knew they did not have to fight the land use battle when they had a classic zoning thing. Planner Waido reported that the NC district many of the other zoning districts retain mixed uses. They are not totally commercial, they are not totally residential. The MMN has some non residential uses, and some commercial and office uses permitted in it. The NC zone also permits residential uses. There are buffering requirements in the Land Use Code, so when a development plan comes in, that buffering could be addressed through a land use transition from a high intensity to lower intensity uses through a more moderate intensity use, or it could be done through set backs, landscaping, building placement, architectural design and there is different ways to deal with compatibility. Chairperson Lingle asked about the comments made about the location of a Commercial Center on a corner or mid -block and what the issues might be. Mr. Leftwich wanted to clarify that there has not been a formal letter of intent from any grocer. There has been an expression of interest to the extent that they have said Safeway. There could be other viable options for this site as well. He knows that Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 21 rezoning is just the classic requirement and that is why this particular rezoning request is in conjunction with a recommended change to the Structure Plan. What is the most important thing is to have a Neighborhood Center with an access through a collective street to the neighborhood. In both options there is that option with Wakerobin being a good example even though it may not be the classic definition of collector street in terms of volumes, it is a collector street into the neighborhood and offers a very good access. Long standing is that staff recognizes that an arterial location is important for marketing, capturing of traffic but neighborhood access through a collector street is also very important for Neighborhood Centers. Member Schmidt asked given all the things Mr. Waido just said, why on the Structure Plan Map was this Neighborhood Commercial put in the middle of the block. Planner Waido replied that if followed the plan that was done in the early 1980's that was done under a completely different system when we were looking at locating Neighborhood Centers. There had already been a project through that go approval and staff just utilized that particular location to put the "red dot" on the Structure Plan Map in 1997. Member Schmidt asked how often do we as a city amend the Structure Plan Map. Planner Waido replied that staff is committed to reviewing the policies in City Plan that at a minimum of every 5 years we will do a comprehensive review of the Comprehensive Plan. The Structure Plan being a component of that does not necessarily mean that we are going to change the Structure Plan every 5 years, but staff will evaluate the various policies and components of City Plan and where "tweaking" or new sections are needed those will be addressed in the update process. Member Schmidt asked about recent changes that had to do with the Fossil Creek area and amending the Structure Plan and that changes do happen and are not uncommon. Planner Waido replied that changing the Structure Plan is not uncommon and the example she gave was due to a Sub Area Plan. We have a number of Sub Area Plans that have been done in the past, there are some in their work program to be done, in the next year or two and as a result of sub area planning processes those could amend the Structure Plan. Member Schmidt asked if this area was in any Sub Area Plan. Planner Waido replied no. Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 20 grocery store based bound traffic because they are going through this intersection anyway to get to the other grocery stores. If anything it will cut them off and reduce the VMT's to the other grocery stores. Chairperson Lingle asked Director Gloss to address the comments concerning the Comprehensive Plan and staffs evaluation of that. Director Gloss replied that he would like Ken Waido from the Advanced Planning Department to come up and talk about the history the Structure Plan designations on the Structure Plan Map. Ken Waido, Chief Planner responded that when City Plan was adopted, we were making somewhat of a philosophical shift in the way the community was being planned. One of the consistent policies in City Plan really existed since the late 1970's when we did the Land Use Policies Plan in 1979. That was to really encourage creation of Neighborhood Shopping Centers and now they have different names being Neighborhood Commercial Centers. The idea was to get grocery based shopping centers that served the daily goods and services of residential areas out into residential neighborhoods. City Plan began to support those with higher density multi -family housing. In one case, the residential component was looked at as a buffer, but we also recognized that through the design criteria in our Land Use Code, which carried over from the previous Land Development Guidance System, that this community had accepted a long time ago that we did not need the classic low density to medium density to office building to commercial to be that type of buffering. That buffering could be done through design. There are many cases in the city where we have uses that typically would not locate next to each other. We have single family housing next to industrial uses in the city and the reason they work is because of the design of the industrial uses, Woodward Governor and Hewlett Packard being the industrial examples. In City Plan Neighborhood Centers are in the Medium Density Mixed Use Neighborhood section of City Plan. When staff started to look at zoning, it was discussed whether we actually rezone, or do we have areas designated Commercial or Neighborhood Commercial. They are such an important component of the structure that staff said that we need to have Neighborhood Centers designated on our plan and general location was initially done with circles. Unfortunately, the City Attorney did not like the idea of circular zoning districts on our map, so we had to use property boundaries or other geographic features to designate and rezone properties. Its so very important that again, in the Structure Plan and the idea of our commercial hierarchies of getting people out of their vehicles, or if they are in a vehicle, to minimize the utilization of that vehicle so they have immediate access to a Neighborhood Center is why we have put these things our into the neighborhoods. Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan for Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 19 , Fort Collins, positive for the developer and he does not mind the developer making money just not at the expense of the neighborhood. PUBLIC INPUT CLOSED Chairperson Lingle asked Mr. Delich to come up and address the current zoning configuration and that it would allow potentially a greater movement at Troutman Parkway extension that might be signalized or not on Shields, where moving it away from Troutman eliminates that possibility. Mr. Delich replied that it would allow movement in from Shields from the north bound direction that would be the only signal north of the Harmony and Shields signal. There would potentially be a limited turn access at this location that Mr. Bracke referred to as a three quarter access. A definition of that would be a right -in right -out, left in. This signal at this location would give the opportunity for someone to get out and go to the north with a signalized intersection. Assuming there will be a signal at this intersection, there will be a collector street that would still allow you to get to the signalized intersection and afford the opportunity to go north at a signalized intersection. What he talked about earlier is that the location at the corner would cause less neighborhood impact essentially at the schools because people would approach the site from the west on Harmony rather than cut through the neighborhood, where as with the location mid block it would be shorter and more direct to cut through the neighborhood on Silvergate or Seneca. Chairperson Lingle asked about the comments made about Wakerobin not continuing through. Mr. Delich replied that has not been decided. They would need a plan to determine that and right now Wakerobin exists and if a plan were developed that would terminate within the center that would be evaluated in a transportation impact study and come before the Board and would have to get through city staff. He thought that it was premature to even think that. Chairperson Lingle asked from the two options would there be any difference in the actual traffic count at the intersection of Harmony and Shields. Mr. Delich replied again he was shooting from the hip because there has not been a traffic study because there is no plan to evaluate. According to the Land Use Code a traffic study is not required at this level, it is just a rezoning. He did not think the actual traffic at the intersection itself will change very- much. What will happen is that all the people who live in this area and points south probably travel through this intersection to get to other grocery stores, so we won't be introducing per se a lot of new traffic that are Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 18 to provide that kind of predictability for them because it is very valuable. Obviously they are very concerned about this change. He wanted to speak to the.position that this supermarket needs to be located on the corner. Do you shop at a supermarket because it is on the corner? There is nothing magic about a corner. If you look at the research that speaks to grocery store and supermarket patronage it is not surprising what it says. You go to a grocery store because of the quality of the goods, the variety of the goods, they shopping ambience, the service quality, the comparative prices of goods and services and finally the accessibility of the store relative to competitive outlets. Those are the main predictors. He is a Professor of Marketing at CSU and he looked up the research. Think about the accessibility to this store if the zoning is changes. He thinks the accessibility is going to be hurt by the rezoning and that is the real irony of the request. He encouraged the Board to deny the request. Shane Miller, 4325 Mill Creek Court stated that he did not think that his property value will be affected by the rezoning. He went to the initial neighborhood meeting with Markel Builders and he does like it the way it is now, but he does not own it. He likes the drawings of the plan and he listened to the issues and gave it a lot of thought and these were his conclusions. Rezoning arbitrarily reallocates value from one group of homeowners and awards it to another ignoring the principle of predictability. He wanted to point out the current owners and seller of the parcel in question has exactly the zoning he purchased. Now to rezone it he may be enriched, but this would allocate value from people who bought with a Commercial Center behind them and take it from people who bought with a Commercial Center 500 feet away buffered by housing. It encourages greater use of residential streets to the west as alternate routes for car traffic right by the schools, parks and ball fields which already experience periodic congestion with lots playing kids. That is Seneca and Regency which will not be widened and when you come out of the rezoned area and you cannot turn left onto Shields, you are going to make two rights. Would you turn left onto Harmony so you can turn left onto Shields so you can wait for the lights on Shields or would you go up to Seneca and Regency. It is obvious. It replaces a natural drainage area with non permeable parking and structures. Normal flow can be diverted but that is not what happened in 1997 and remembering the check from the city when your basement was full of water. You are not supposed to be building, according to City Plan on natural storm drainage areas non permeable parking structures. The grades, aesthetics and character of the neighborhood, which are better served by a Neighborhood Center mid block maintains a current view corridor from Harmony Library and Front Range Community College all the way back to the foothills and Horsetooth rock. A cities natural characterand beauty might be preserved by careful planning, ugly has nine lives and it is hard to take down. Conflicts with existing uses, the city staffs position that a commercial use is a buffer for the adjacent wetlands overlooks the fact that there will be residences against it either way. It is negative for Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 17 Karen Miller, 4325 Mill Creek Court stated that mandatory requirements for quasi- judicial rezoning require that the proposal is consistent with the city's Comprehensive Plan and warranted by changed conditions within the neighborhood surrounding and including the subject property. This proposal was declined in April because it clearly did not meet those conditions. The current proposal is identical except it involves a store that is prohibitory large at 60,000 s.f. for the NC zoning in either location. Section 4.19(B)(2)(c)(4) states "permitted commercial usage to include a grocery store up to 45,000 s.f." anything larger requires a Planning and Zoning Board approval after the fact but certainly should not be presumed and most definitely in keeping with the existing neighborhood that was developed with the intent and infrastructure to accommodate a Neighborhood Center with an anchor up to 45,000 s.f. as originally designed. There are two very disturbing aspects to the city staff report. First is the ascertain that commercial uses are more efficiently accessed at the corner of two arterials as opposed to in the middle of the property. While this may be true for a true commercial zone, the City Plan clearly states that "land use boundaries and density changes in the Neighborhood Commercial zone district shall occur at mid block locations to the maximum extent feasible rather than at streets." In this case it is clearly preferable as the entire area has been well established upon that design. Secondly there must be changed conditions within the neighborhood itself to warrant such a change. Nothing in this neighborhood has changed what so ever in many years. The four issues mentioned in the staff report relate only to the lack of availability of other properties in Fort Collins and the lack of availability of other supermarkets to purchase this property; and most disturbingly states that Safeway is the only potential supermarket for this location and they won't locate here unless it is at the corner. These are not changes to the neighborhood itself and clearly do not meet the requirement of changes conditions. We cannot allow this type of spot rezoning to occur solely to benefit commercial interest and blatant disregard of our own policies and vision for our city. Terming this smart growth is absurd aside from the traffic and safety nightmares it would create the issue of predictability for property owners in the surrounding are cannot be ignored. Smart growth would be to infill that utilizes the existing infrastructure and the new Troutman extension that can carry the bulk of new traffic to an area more appropriate in its current location. Please consider the community goals in City Plan that state that existing residential neighborhoods will be protected against development that is incompatible with community goals and needs.. Ken Manning, 1219 Mariposa Court stated that he sees many neighbors in his area that are not coming up to the podium and he wanted a chance for them to express themselves. He asked that all those who are not in favor of this rezoning to stand. He sated that he moved into his neighborhood 8 years ago and thought that Fort Collins was growing at a very rapid rate and that is the smart thing to do. You want to know what is going to happen next to you and he appreciated that there is a City Plan in place Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 16 Dragons Lair wetlands. All their concerns will be mitigated by rejecting this rezoning request and by strongly recommending that the developer place a responsibly sized less than Wal-Mart size development at the originally zoned location. Jane Romero, 1420 Nunn Creek Court stated that everyone here speaking tonight really appreciated the Board listening to them tonight on the second time going. She asked the Board to please consider the following before voting. Two schools are just west of this proposed site. One an elementary school and one a Jr. High School and literally dozens and dozens of children cross over Shields Street to go to these schools. She lives by both of these schools and she sees them daily. Traffic is horrendous as they know if you have been through the intersection of Harmony ad Shields. She wanted to note that the number of students at Front Range Community College is 3,384 and they have a 31 % projected growth rate over the next five years and that is at that intersection as well. Many accidents occur at this intersection. Even with the expansion of Harmony, this city cannot afford to allow the traffic flow to increase especially where children walk to and from school. Most tax paying residents who live in this neighborhood are against the rezoning. She asked again to consider four things. The traffic issue at hand, the enormous center would change their neighborhood tremendously, as well as changing the character and title of Fort Collins being the best place to live. Three, when they purchased their homes they new of the existing zoning and they did not want the land zoning changed because their property values will go down. Four, please do not forget the children and the importance of their safety. James Butzek, 302 Peyton Drive stated he is not a resident of the area being questioned, but he works across the corner of where this is. He is not here representing Front Range Community College because he would not choose to do that. The last speaker, he would hate to correct, but there are not 3, 300 students at Front Range, there is 5,200 students not counting the 400 High School students that are there daily. Add that with the employees, they push about 6,000 students that are there weekly. He has no idea how many people are at the Harmony Library. He does not know what to do and is not here to make a stand one way or the other. He is not an anti growth person and he is not a pro growth person. He understands the benefits of any type of business for our community. His concern is simply one thing and that is traffic. They have been waiting at Front Range for the Harmony and Shields to be fixed for years. He would be happy if he would have heard tonight that it was going to be six lanes, three lanes in each direction because that might fix the traffic they currently have. One resident talked about the traffic backing up to her home. He can't tell the Board how far the traffic is backed up on Harmony trying to get into the campus. He cannot exit on Shields when he leaves work taking a left. It is impossible. Yes they would like to get a stop light there. The concern is that we are going to be going through a construction on Harmony and should we not wait to see if the Harmony widening takes care of the current problem with traffic before we begin to perhaps increase that traffic problem. Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 15 community or increase reliance on automobiles and asked the Board to vote no on the rezoning. Ed Kirchoff, 1403 Nunn Creek Court wanted to make comments on the staff report in particular the warranted changed conditions within the neighborhood surrounding and including the subject property. He views this whole section as fiction. "The availability of properties to locate a supermarket in the area has changed." The area of Fort Collins has not changed and nothing else has changed. It was six months ago that the Planning and Zoning Board heard that amendment to the zoning map and should be recommended for approval only if the proposed amendment is warranted by changed conditions within the neighborhood. The things we are talking about in here are business things having to do with how Safeway has changed and the other grocery stores have changed. In has nothing to do with what has changed in and around the neighborhood. He admits that this is something to read and then discard because it has no bearing on the situation. Mr. Kirchoff hoped that the Board does not take that seriously. He would also. like to point out a little fiction in grocery stores only making it on corners. We have Whole Foods, Sunshine Market, Wild Oats, and Safeway on Harmony; we have a new one coming in on Prospect and Shields all in the middle of the block. Five stores and four of them are already making it very well. In closing he would like to say that they bought their house knowing that they would have NC in the center. The city of Fort Collins needs to stand up and honor its commitments to the citizens in Westbrooke, Westbury and leave this NC where it is. Rezoning will turn it into a Regional Center with the addition of a Wal-Mart type lifestyle center. Fort Collins did not rate number one in Money because of big box stores but because of the hometown business atmosphere. The corporation is not going to be looking very favorably upon hometown businesses, they are going to be looking at Taco Bell, McDonald's and stuff like that. That is what we are going to get and that is not what they want. They don't want this center and they don't need Safeway, send them packing please. Marilyn Kirchoff, 1403' Nunn Creek Court stated that Mr. Gloss told the Board at the worksession that their neighborhood has behaving in an uncivil manor toward those who are in favor of this issue. He failed to in the Board that at the August 14th neighborhood meeting, the Safeway representative, Mr. Garlick behaved in a very uncivil fashion toward their neighborhood. She did not get the impression that Safeway is trying to be a good neighbor. Their emotions are high in regard to this issue because they live in this area. Therefore they understand how this rezoning will lower their quality of life. They purchased their homes knowing how the area would be developed and suddenly they are being told that they must accept a larger anchor store in a different location that will bring them traffic and safety problems, lower property values and compatibility with an already existing neighborhood and infringement on the Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 14 their neighborhood past two schools and elementary and Jr. High until they find a signal light to help them make their left turn. By placing the Neighborhood Center at the corner, you move it further away from the people who might walk to it. Don't expect people from Westbury or across Shields to walk to this, they would be risking their lives. These are busy arterial streets and they are dangerous even with sidewalks. By moving it to the corner it becomes more of a Regional Center rather than a Neighborhood Center. It becomes distanced from the neighborhood and is obviously intended to attract and deter shoppers from other areas. So much for cutting down on the goal of driving distances and urged the Board to vote against the rezoning. Glen Colton, 625 Hinsdale Drive stated that he was a member of the Planning and Zoning Board from 1996 to 2003 so he was around when some of the changes were made from the old system to the new system. He wanted to remind the Board that they are only to recommend approval of the zoning change if the proposed amendment is consistent with the city's Comprehensive Plan and/or warranted by changed conditions of the neighborhood surrounding and including the subject property. He would contend that it does not meet either one of these criteria. Prior to 1997 we had a system known as the LDGS which basically allowed anything to go anywhere with appropriate buffering. Many of our grocery stores at arterials were done at that point in time. In 1997 we changed to a much more prescriptive but predictable system to give both predictability to the neighbors who were buying properties so they would know what was coming into that area next to them as well as the developers who when they bought the property would know if they met the rules for that zoning that they would be able to get their property approved. This is something that both sides wanted. At the same time we changed our Structure Plan and the zoning it was recognized that having neighborhood commercial on major arterials was not the right model. That was the old model. In fact the one here was supposed to be a guide for new development within Fort Collins because there are many parts of the Comprehensive Plan that talk about getting away from having them on arterials. The vision is getting away from dependence on the automobile and be integrated into neighborhoods, not segregated from them. The zoning in the middle integrates it more into the entire block to the west and it would give easier access in off of Troutman and instead is now be segregated. That is against Policies MMN3, MMN3.2 and is against the vision of City Plan and he believed that this is against more elements of the Comprehensive Plan than being consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Again, this is not consistent with many elements, it destroys trust between the city and the neighbors that have relied on the Structure Plan and zoning in deciding where to live and the bottom line is is the city really committed to having Neighborhood Shopping Centers serving neighborhoods, decrease VMT's or are they going to turn Neighborhood Shopping Centers into Community Shopping Centers to meet the demands of developers who want to build increasingly larger supermarkets. Will we walk the talk of having a walkable bikable Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 13 light at Shields. These are people that are heading east on Harmony. Even with expanding the roadway, even with turn lanes she did not see that additional traffic, noise, light pollution, delivery trucks coming to a supermarket and every other store that might be in this area would be advantageous to this area. This is a quiet family neighborhood and they expect other like areas to be there. The MMN designation that is in that area now allows for some commercial development that would be appropriate for this area. It would be more in .fitting with the type of neighborhood that is there. A commercial development of this size is not appropriate in this area and she encouraged the Board to vote against this. Jeni Makinen, 4306 Westbrook Court stated that she has been in the neighborhood _ since 1992. They purchased their house before the road was even developed and they were aware of the zoning at the future Troutman intersection. They will have a .view of that from their backyard. She is concerned about the rezoning because of the traffic. Even though there are plans to expand Harmony and Shields she thinks that will just increase the volume and that moving and thinking that people are going to stop on their way to Loveland to shop and increase out tax revenue in our city is unrealistic. They are not going to let one car in on a red light turning right from Wakerobin. People are moving along and once you are on Shields and have a space it will not be given up. She is also concerned that there will not be a light and the closing of Wakerobin not having any access to her neighborhood and people turning left into the Neighborhood Center off of Harmony without a light. She thinks that the volume on Harmony will give limited opportunities to "dart" into the shopping area without a light. She thought we would be better off leaving it at the intersection that will have a light at sometime. Desiree Williams, 4331 Mill Creek Court visually showed a map which showed the Neighborhood Center at its currently zoned location. Next she showed a slide of the Troutman extension shown with a light at Shields and stated that this was a generous half mile from Harmony and Shields intersection. With a signal light, shoppers have no trouble entering or exiting this center. People from the neighborhood can comfortably and safely walk along Troutman and Wakerobin to enter the center since it is supposed to be pedestrian friendly and people in vehicles have no need to head back through the neighborhood to find a way out. Next slide shows the proposed zoning and Ms. Williams explains the "chaos" that occurs when the center moves to the corner of one of the most dangerous and crowded intersections in Fort Collins. Why do this when the traffic situation at mid block is a marvel of simplicity. At the corner we already have excessive congestion and frequent accidents. Not so at mid block. At the comer we also have a dream left situation. In other words there is no easy way to get out of the center and back onto Shields going north or on Harmony going east. Both Wakerobin and Westbury roads are closer than '/< mile to the intersection. Placing traffic lights at these roads is insane and Front Range Community College is not allowed a signal at the same distance away. In order to head back north people will head back through Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 12 Westbury neighborhood residents will have to contend with unforeseen development with regional access directly to the north. Arterial streets never serve as a sufficient buffer between commercial and low density residential development, especially if the anchor operates 24/7 given light, noise, pollution and a gas station. Given the proximity of the access roads to the intersection of Shields and Harmony, whoever reviewed and approved the plans for Westbury did not anticipate development on the corner with regional access. The city cannot provide traffic signals at the intersection of Westbury and Harmony, nor Westbury and Shields leading to the loss of direct access to travel north on Shields and west on Harmony. Residents will find having to drive south on Shields to Trilby to access the city unacceptable. He urged the Board to vote for this rezoning if you wish to ignore the City Plan, Land Use Code and voices of affected residents by succumbing to the outlandish desires of developers who have no interest in contributing positively to anything but their profits. Lisa Rhodes, 1238 Westbury Drive stated that the last thing we need in this town is another supermarket. Any direction from Shields and Harmony, one mile either direction is a supermarket or a Commercial Center. In every direction there is also vacant retail space within a mile in any direction. She bought her property purposely to be away from commercial business. Mr. Markel stated that Safeway won't build if they don't get the corner lot. If they build this Super Safeway the other two or three Safeway's in her guess will be closed eventually which will lead to more vacant space in our town. She believes the City Plan is outdated and she believes that in this city we have an overbuilding commercial crisis. The citizens and homeowners do not want a commercial super store there. Their neighborhood will be blocked they can barely get out now with the streets the way they are. Right now the voters voted and they are the next on the list for Shields and Harmony to be built. It is paid for and voted on and the money is there and to say that the supermarket will make it better or pay for it is an invalid reason. It ruins their property values, quality of life and impacts the safety of their children and families. She respectfully asked that the Board vote no on this issue. Dr. Sharon Butler, 1309 W. Harmony Road stated that she will have a front yard view of this new super center if it is built. When she bought her property six months ago she did not know this was on the plan, she wishes she had because she probably would not have bought the property. Currently she finds it hard to understand the logic of moving this zoning. In one breath they cite the convenience of having a Neighborhood Center where everyone can walk or bicycle to a store and have conveniences for everyone in this area. That is great, but in the next breath they say it is going to be a very large store with a large grocery store and they are going to try and draw traffic from around the area. Drawing traffic from around the area is not what this comer needs. As cited by many people before her, the intersection of Harmony and Shields, which we already know is terrible and currently traffic backs up in front of her driveway for an hour and a half every morning and at least two hours every evening. That is because of the traffic Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 11 moved closer to their homes and lower their property values and quality of life through increased safety, traffic and noise problems. People were not expecting a Wal-Mart type competition at regional scale, 65,000 s.f. is close to Wal-Mart size. They were expecting a small Neighborhood Center at the mid block location and that is what they should get. Neal Kravetz, 4736 Westbury Drive stated he was very concerned about the rezoning. According to the definition of the NC zone, there is supposed to be a buffer zone around it. This is one of the largest NC zones in the city. Mr. Kravetz explained with slides other NC zoned property within the city and their buffer zones. Mr. Kravetz explained that there was two ways they can get to this NC, they can make a left turn onto Shields and the problem is that if you try and do that today, it is very difficult to get across the intersection and with the expansion of Harmony and Shields it will be virtually impossible during rush hours to make it across. Instead they have to go out the north exit over up and double back down for a total distance of around a mile an a half. To put things in perspective King Soopers is a straight shot to the east at the corner of Harmony and College which is about a mile and a half away. That is more convenient than rezoning this for them. He asked the Board to deny the rezoning. Matt Kassawara, 1156 Belleview Drive wanted to preface this with the fact that he is not a land owner so he has nothing to do with self interest in property values affected by a potential rezoning. He was there to talk about predictability. Zoning provides predictability for purchasers and lenders of home sites or business properties and encourages the most appropriate use of land. The current zoning system, the residents of Wakerobin, Regency and Westbrook neighborhood bought their homes knowing that the area would eventually become some kind of Neighborhood Center with a maximum size of 45,000 s.f. not 60,000 or above. Residents of Regency and Wakerobin bought their homes knowing that someone would build apartments or condos. Residents also know that they have direct access to Shields without having to go out to the south and add more traffic heading eastbound on Harmony which is already a problem. In the Westbury neighborhood residents have anticipated development of apartments or condos. They also have direct access, with a traffic problem, to the north on Shields and to go eastbound. The proposed rezoning for the Wakerobin, Regency and Westbrooke neighborhood will have to contend with an unforeseen commercial development with regional access. Given the. size of the store proposed, it seems like the developers are trying to bring in people from all over the place instead of just the neighborhood area. He sees this as a problem especially given the traffic issue. The proposed extension of Westbury Drive and the existence of the Dragon's Lair wetlands eliminates the possibility of having at least a quarter mile of medium density mixed -use zoning serving as a buffer between the neighborhood commercial zoning and the residential zoning. Residents will also not have access to Shields via Wakerobin. In the Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 10 He offered a couple of observations. With all due respect, he thought that it was a myth that Safeway cannot succeed as zoned. Just look at the Safeway on Harmony and it is not next to another arterial and they are doing very nicely. They are smart people and they know how to succeed in the middle of a block in Fort Collins and in all kinds of other places he has been. It is simply not true that they can't succeed by not being on the corner. Mr. Carson felt that this is not a business unfriendly position to take. The rezoning does not add business in the form of additional revenues it is revenue neutral and does not add business to Fort Collins in the form of additional jobs. He asked for denial of the rezoning. Kathy Gargan, 4366 Westbrook Court asked for some clarifying answers and how would she get out if Wakerobin is closed off. She also asked what a three quarter movement is. She asked for clarification as far as the buffer zone between their house and the ditch and any building that is to be done back there. She also asked if there was any possibility if a yellow school light that could be put in at Wakerobin and Shields for children to cross at a 20mph crossing. John Williams, 4331 Mill Creek Court stated that there was interest from a regional grocer for a neighborhood commercial to be located at the corner and not at the center of the site. Here in lies the crux of the grocer's rezoning request and it should be thrown out as no place in a rezoning because it deals with monetary gain. The grocer says that the Neighborhood Commercial Center is not economically viable in its current center location. This is not a reason to amend the plan. Pure economic greed is not a justifiable reason to change a neighborhood plan. This is a blatant spot zoning being done for a developer. The grocer has stated that the mid block location is not economically viable. Consider a grocery store that is going in along Shields mid block near Prospect. This store must be economically viable or they would not do it. Safeway's request to build a 60,000 s.f. super center could only indicate a move toward developing a Regional Center as opposed to what they would consider a friendly Neighborhood Center especially in a neighborhood that is already developed. City staff and Director Gloss has handed the Board an agenda package that is packed with developer view points. No view points from the neighborhood are included that are accurate. Good planning is sometimes about waiting for the right development to come in. One does not rezone to make a development happen, especially if it is wrong and especially in a city that has been voted number one in the country. We can wait and we can do better. He respectfully asked that the Planning and Zoning Board request proof that the proposed zoning changes promote the public welfare by moving it and enlarging it. Please ask Director Gloss about the compatibility with the existing neighborhood and the perspective of the homeowners. He also wanted the Board to consider predictability. People purchased these homes knowing that a small Neighborhood Center was going to be built mid -block, people did not expect it to be Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 9 Chairperson Lingle asked about the size of the proposed supermarket. Mr. Markel replied they did not have an exact size but it would be between 45,000 and 60,000 s.f. and he did not know if that had been decided. Member Schmidt asked if Mr. Markel could give her an idea of what kinds of things he would have planned for the MMN and would that differ if the commercial was in the middle or at the intersection. Mr. Markel replied that if they cannot partner up with some one on the corner commercial, he did not believe they could move forward on the project, but if they can partner up with someone on this location what they would like to do is present a variety of different housing types; lofts with two to three story buildings, some single type living for empty nesters, elevator accessible buildings, some with parking under, some with detached parking, row housing, townhouses, various types of cottages and some small single family housing. There is a minimum density of 12 units to the acre so it is difficult to do single family in the MMN zone. They are looking into co -housing and they are talking to institutional people that could possibly do some senior housing. Member Schmidt presumed that the supermarket would go on the southern most piece and asked what might happen on the land that is north of Wakerobin. Mr. Leftwich replied that grocery stores today are changing as fast as he can put land under contract and try to get it entitled and there is a new size store. It a challenge for them and he would say that his inclination would be that if it were to be Safeway it would be 58,000 to 65,000 s.f. grocery format. The place it would be on this site would be is where this site has the appropriate depth to allow for their building. Member Schmidt asked what would be in the other buildings on the site. Mr. Leftwich envisioned retail, service for the neighborhood and restaurants. PUBLIC INPUT Bill Carson, 4442 Craig Drive stated that he appreciated the opportunity to speak and he did not think that anyone in his neighborhood is opposed at all to the Commercial Center being in their neighborhood. They all bought their properties with full knowledge that there was a city plan that had this development in it. They are opposed to the rezoning and what the impacts that it represents to them. They are not opposed to the developer and they have checked up on him and they do a very good job. As and when this area gets developed he would hope that they would be a part of it, but he did not want to see it done in the form of a rezoning. Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 8 Mr. Bracke replied they have started the preliminary engineering and the analysis and construction should begin in 2007 and should last through 2009 or 2010. Member Schmidt asked if this commercial site was moved to the corner was there enough room property wise to have an intersection that would be signalized on Harmony to the west. Mr. Bracke replied that it would be unlikely that we would signalize an intersection to the west. The potential signalized intersection would be at Regency and that would not generate the traffic to warrant signalization. Anything in between there like at Westbury would be limited movement and he would need to see a site plan, but staff would like to try and maintain a full movement at Westbury at least from the south. He knew there were a lot of detailed questions that were going to be asked tonight, and that was difficult to answer without a site plan or analysis. Member Schmidt asked what the options would be if it were in the center of the block and would you be able to turn left off of Shields into the site. Mr. Bracke replied more than likely. There is going to be a signal at Troutman some day, which is half mile to the north. There is a potential for another full movement potentially signalized intersection at the half mile, but if it is not signalized it would be at least a three quarter movement allowing a left turn in. Chairperson Lingle asked Mr. Markel if this configuration was identical to what was proposed last spring or has it been modified in any way. Mr. Markel replied that it is almost identical, it was 17.8 and now it is 18.5. Chairperson Lingle asked Mr. Markel if this project were to proceed, would he partner with Regency Center for the Neighborhood Center and would he retain the MMN land to develop himself. Mr. Markel replied they would work as a team for the development and they would work concurrently on the engineering and planning and Regency would be the owners of the commercial area and they would be the owners of the MMN and would develop. concurrently. Chairperson Lingle asked about the agreement with Safeway and did they have a letter of intent. Mr. Markel replied they have a letter of interest for this particular location. Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 7 Matt Delich, Traffic Consultant for the applicant stated that he performed a preliminary traffic and transportation analysis regarding the Structure Plan and Rezoning request for this site. Based on city criteria, a detailed traffic study is not needed for a rezoning, but they were asked to just comment on it. A detailed traffic study would be required when an actual development plan would be submitted regardless of where the site was. located, whether it would be the mid -block location or on the corner. If the development is mid -block if has been found that impacts to the neighborhood to the west would be higher. At the corner location, the traffic coming from the west would remain on Harmony Road because they would not have the shortcuts available and there would be no point in taking them because it would be shorter and more direct to stay on Harmony Road and turn in. It is concluded that with the location at the corner as shown would impact the neighborhood to the west less. Mr. Leftwich, 5233 S. Ironton Way, Englewood Colorado and Senior Vice President with Regency Centers stated that he has been in discussions on this site for about a year. Their first discussions were with Safeway from a standpoint of the mid -block situation just to see if they could generate that interest and that interest would not be his foremost interest for Regency, just to see if the grocery interest could be there. The roadblock they ran into was about store success and retail center success. He first got into this business in 1982 and the first thing he learned was that good retail is at the comer of two streets that go a long way. He did notthink that has changed since 1982. Regency is a publicly traded company and they own in excess of 400 shopping centers and 95% or greater are anchored by Safeway, King Soopers, Kroeger or Whole Foods. They are primarily a neighborhood grocery store developer, one of the largest in the country with over 7 billion in assets. He stated that they bought the ShopKo in Fort Collins and they are redeveloping it as JC Penny so there will not be a vacant building on College Avenue. Member Schmidt asked Eric Bracke from Traffic Operations to talk about what improvements are going to be made to Harmony and Shields. Mr. Bracke replied that Harmony Road would be a four lane arterial with auxiliary turn lanes from College Avenue all the way to Seneca, which is about a mile and half project. The intersection of Harmony and Shields will be improved so it has two thru lanes in each direction; double left turns southbound and also double left turns west bound and north bound. Shields Street improvements will be part of it and it will go at least as far as Wakerobin to the north and a little bit south of Harmony Road also. Improvements will include Wakerobin being a right -in and right -out, not with the rezoning or the shopping center but with the Harmony Road project because it is so close and so problematic right now. Member Schmidt asked when it would start. Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 6 Mr. Markel stated that with the current configuration it would be impossible for a center to be successful. Mr. Markel stated that there are about 18.5 acres of Neighborhood Commercial and almost 40 acres of MMN, Medium Density Mixed Use Neighborhood that is in and around the proposed zoning to buffer the commercial area from the residential to the west. They want to take advantage of the new improvements that are going to be done at the Harmony and Shields corridor and they would like to be part of the process: They want to bring their site plan forward after the rezoning to be able to participate in the improvements to the intersection. The current perception is that if there were any development at this location that it would get much more congested than it is currently. He is sympathetic to that situation and he thinks that the perception is difficult to overcome, but with the major improvements at the intersection he thought the congestion being experienced currently would be a vast improvement. Mr. Markel proposed the possibility that they could mitigate traffic on Wakerobin and there may be several ways of doing that, so that the neighborhoods to the west would not have to have a through street that continues on into their neighborhood like it would with the current zoning. They are promoting safety by having improved intersections, pathways and walkways that will go through the commercial area to direct the pedestrians to the appropriate locations and make the crossing for children where there are signals. It is difficult when you are doing a rezoning and not able to show a site plan and show how everything would work, but he is representing safety and the routing of traffic and consideration of the children and the neighborhood and mitigating traffic. They would like to take advantage of the arterial roads that are going to be improved, the environment in the grocery industry is very competitive and he thought the Board would hear from Mr. Leftwich from the Regency Centers that has successful centers in Fort Collins, throughout Colorado and also across the nation. One of their specialties is grocery store anchored neighborhood centers. He thought the Board would hear that a mid -block location, he would not participate in this location in this particular development and it would be difficult for him to move ahead without a commercial partner. Mr. Markel thought that this particular location with the improvements on the major arterials is more environmentally friendly for the area and the amount of trips that people are taking to go shopping in other locations would be less. He thought that people coming from the north down to the south, to Loveland — he thought they could capture some of that traffic and direct into this particular location and that is why the comer location would work the best and would result in fewer car trips. He thought that they could demonstrate through their site planning that they are good developers and they would love for the Board to visit their website, www.markelhomes.com. Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 5 be lessened to the neighborhood to the west if this rezoning were to go forward and the NC district moved to the south. In one of the earlier slides when the Master Plan came through there was a corner of the property that had some drainage coming through it and that property as well as some additional land to the west was acquired as a wetland area also know as the Dragon's Lair Wetlands. Director Gloss showed slides of that area. There are also other wetlands on the site near the corner of Harmony and Shields and other natural features on the site. There are buffer standards that would require any development on this site on the NC zoned area to be buffered from the ditch and the resources of the . ditch. There have been a lot of discussion about environmental impacts. The Natural Areas program has looked at this site because some citizens have asked if the city would wish to acquire it as a natural area and the conclusion has been that the Natural Areas program is not interested in purchasing the property because there is not enough habitat here of adequate quality to justify such a purchase. Any development that would happen on this site regardless of the rezoning, there is an exhaustive process of design that any future applicant would have to go through and we would be mitigating environmental impacts based on our natural habitat and buffer standards. In summary staff has evaluated this request and are recommending that the Planning and Zoning Board recommend that City Council take an action of approving this rezoning request. From the staffs perspective, the buffer provided by the change in zoning creates a larger area of MMN zoned ground between the neighborhoods to the north and west as a positive attribute of the change. Also information provided to staff through the traffic memorandum indicated that the impacts to the area to the west where the greatest concern has been raised would actually be lessened as far as traffic. This is a private sector initiative and staff is not initiating this request. Michael Markel, 5723 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, President and Owner of Markel Homes gave the applicant's presentation. He wanted to address transportation and traffic issues, pedestrian safety issues, marketing issues with the current and proposed zoning and mitigating impacts on the adjacent neighborhoods. .. Mr. Markel stated that the mid -block design is an outdated concept in the present environment. In this particular location, there is Troutman on the north and Wakerobin on the south that they feel are "collection" points for this particular location and would contribute to additional cut -through traffic through the neighborhoods. They do not feel that the present zoning allows for the proper mitigation for these particular roadways to prohibit traffic from moving from the neighborhood to the west moving east and the commercial moving from the east to the west. Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 4 There has been a lot of discussion in neighborhood meetings and he has seen some citations in the press about grocery stores versus supermarkets and what is permitted in the zoning district. Grocery stores and supermarkets are both permitted in the NC zone. A grocery store is a use permitted under an administrative review and a supermarket is permitted under a Planning and Zoning Board review. The threshold between the two is a grocery store is between 5,000 s.f. of floor area and 45,000 s.f. and anything above 45,000 s.f. is a supermarket. If we go through an inventory of what has been approved in Fort Collins you will see that we have 7 approved, 6 that are built and 1 that is approved and not built. The Albertson's at Lemay and Riverside is about 44,000 s.f.; the King Soopers at Taft Hill and Elizabeth is about 32,000 s.f. and those both are grocery stores by definition. The balance of them are supermarkets and they are all located at arterial/arterial intersections. The King Sooper's at Rigden Farm is about 67,000 s.f.; the Longview Market King Sooper's which was approved, but not built is 65,500 s.f.; the Safeway at Drake and Taft Hill is just over 52,000 s.f.; the Sunflower Market is 45,000 s.f. and the Steele's Market which is not an arterial/arterial store is about 62,000 s.f. and as most know the store is closed. In looking at the zone districts, which 2 are being proposed as part of this application. The MMN district versus the NC district. There are a wide variety of uses permitted in the MMN and it is the most intensive residential district except for a small area of high density residential just south of the campus. It does allow attached and detached residential and some secondary uses; places of worship and group homes. These uses are intended to have the intensity and population to support the Neighborhood Center. The Neighborhood Center uses are grocery store, potentially the supermarket, print shops and gas stations with a separation requirement of % mile if a gas station includes a convenience store. During the neighborhood meeting as well as the past review of this application, we heard a lot about transportation impacts. The city is going through the design of a capital project to improve the Harmony and Shields intersection as well as from Seneca all the way to College Avenue. That is a significant project and the city is going through a conceptual design right now and in very short order the city will be working with area residents to look at the design of that intersection and the approaches to that intersection. There is nothing carved in stone at this point and we are still working through the design. The finding of the staff as well as the consulting engineer that looked at this is that the traffic generated from this development if it gets moved to the south will be predominately from the east and that traffic coming from the west, which seems to be one of the biggest issues heard repeatedly because of the schools to the north and to the west and the direct connection of Wakerobin from Shields into the neighborhood that there is potential for negative impacts. Staffs sense is that the impacts will actually Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 3 Director Gloss reported that this is the northwest corner of Harmony Road and Shields Street, Westfield Park, Johnson Elementary and Webber Junior High is to the west. Front Range Community College is diagonally across the intersection to the south and east and residential development surrounding the balance of the area. In 1997 when the city adopted City Plan, we created designations for Neighborhood Centers which are commercial areas that are intended to serve the daily needs of citizens within a couple of miles and is a 15 to 20 acre targeted size for the Neighborhood Commercial Centers. The original plan in 1997 showed red circles or dots to depict Neighborhood Centers. The image goes from Wakerobin on the south to where Troutman Parkway will be extended in the future on the north. The requested rezoning area (shown in red on the map) shifted to the south approximately 500 feet. That would bring the south border of the Neighborhood Commercial designation to Harmony Road. There has been a lot of misunderstanding about what has been approved historically on this site. He thought it would be helpful to go back through the public record and examine what exactly has transpired over the last 25 years. In 1981 there was a Master Plan for the Pineview PUD and that Master Plan called for the area in red as a Neighborhood Center which is shown as 16.5 acres. There is an area that is notched out between Wakerobin and the Neighborhood Center that is 5.5 acres and was shown for apartments. In 1983 a more detailed plan came in for development on that tract which included a slightly different acreage; 17.9 gross acres for the commercial center and was approved at 157,500 s.f. of gross floor area with a 45,000 s.f. grocery store with the servicing area closest to the neighboring properties to the west. There is single family housing immediately to the west and also the northwest. That was the development that was approved and has since expired. The 2005 change squared off that parcel and showed it designating the area between Wakerobin and Troutman entirely as Neighborhood Commercial. The Structure Plan designates Neighborhood Centers strategically throughout the city to support the neighborhood planning concept to have mixed use neighborhoods where there are convenience goods available so you don't have to commute distances of 2, 3 or more miles for basic daily needs. A grocery store or supermarket is typically the anchor and other types of service uses like restaurants and other neighborhood support. Director Gloss reviewed and showed examples of the hierarchy of neighborhood centers with the lowest to the highest intensity uses. He showed a graphic of an arterial roadway with a Commercial Center with a supermarket. That is what is intended for the Neighborhood Centers. They are bigger than the "mom and pop" corner store. Planning and Zoning Board Minutes September 21, 2006 Page 2 Discussion Items: 13. #5-94L Front Range Village Amended Overall Development Plan and Front Range Village Regional Shopping Center — Major Amendment. 1441-06A Harmony and Shields Revised Structure Plan Amendment and Rezoning. 15.#58-86J Water's Edge at Richard's Lake — Project Development Plan. 16.#20-06 Front Range Second Rezoning and Structure Plan Amendment. Project: Harmony and Shields Revised Structure Plan Amendment and Rezoning, #1-06A .Project Description: Request to amend the Structure Plan map and rezone a 58 acre parcel located on the west side of S. Shields Street north of Harmony Road. The rezone would essentially reconfigure the pattern of existing zone districts by moving the 17.9 acre area zoned NC, Neighborhood Commercial, presently located in between the proposed Troutman Parkway extension and Wake Robin Lane, approximately 500 feet to the south. The resulting zone districts would include an NC, zoned parcel at the northwest comer of Harmony and Shields with the balance of the site zoned MMN, Medium Density Mixed Use Neighborhood. Recommendation: Approval Hearing Testimony, Written Comments and Other Evidence: Cameron Gloss, Director of Current Planning gave the staff presentation. He stated that the Planning and Zoning Board heard an application for a Structure Plan Amendment and Rezoning on the subject property back in March of 2006, the recommendation from the Board went on to City Council who denied the applicant's request for rezoning. This evening we have a new application for the same property with essentially the configuration of the proposed rezoning as the same that was reviewed back in March. There is some additional information that has been provided by the applicant regarding transportation impacts and other aspects of the rezoning application. For all intensive purposes, this application matches the one that was reviewed previously. Council Liaison: Karen Weitkunat Chairperson: Dave Lingle Vice Chair: Brigitte Schmidt Staff Liaison: Cameron Gloss Phone: (W) 223-1820 Phone: (W) 491-2579 Chairperson Lingle called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. Roll Call: Smith, Stockover, Schmidt, Rollins, Meyer, Fries and Lingle. Staff Present: Gloss, Eckman, Olt, Sommer, Maizland, Virata, Bracke, Langenberger, Jackson, Moore and Deines. Citizen Participation: None Director of Current Planning Cameron Gloss reviewed the Consent Agenda: Consent Agenda: 1. Minutes of the April, 20, May, 18, June 15 and August 17, 2006 Planning and Zoning Board Hearings ( Continued). 2. Resolution PZ06-10 - Easement Dedication. 3. Resolution PZ06-11 — Easement Dedication. 4. #16-06 Fox Pointe Plaza — Project Development Plan. 5. #21-06 412 E. Pitkin Change of Use — Project Development Plan. 6. 3955 S. Taft Hill Road Out of City Utility Request (Tabled). 7. #19-04A Recommendation to City Council for Minor Wording Amendments to the Larimer County and City of Fort Collins Intergovernmental Agreement to the Fort Collins Growth Management Area. 8. #23-06 North Weld County (NWCWD) and East Larimer County (ELCO) Water Districts Water Transmission (NEWT) — Site Plan Advisory Review. 9. #56-98AL New Dawn Fort Collins (Rigden Farm) Rezoning and Structure Plan Amendment. 10.#38-OOA Arbor South Second Annexation and Zoning. 11.#24-06 Recommendation to City Council for a Text Amendment to the Land Use Code. 12. Recommendation to City Council for Amendments to the Land Use Code and City Code Implementing Mitigation Measures of the Southwest Enclave Annexation.