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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFORT COLLINS HOUSING AUTHORITY PUD EXPANSION - PRELIMINARY - 28-89C - MINUTES/NOTES - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGh Commurs Planning and Environmental Aces Planning Department SUMMARY The following are QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, and RESPONSES expressed at a Neighborhood Information Meeting for The Housing Authority Expansion PUD. The applicant proposes a 2,660 sf addition to an existing building located at 1715 W. Mountain Avenue. The purpose of the expansion is for additional storage and office space and secured parking in a garage. The proposal is to be reviewed as a Planned Unit Development, and must meet criteria of the Land Development Guidance System. MEETING PLACE: Parks Shop MEETING DATE: July 7, 1994 MEETING TIME: 7:00 p.m. CITY PLANNER: Kirsten Whetstone COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, CONCERNS 1. What are you proposing exactly, could you describe it and show us the location on the site. (Applicant described proposal and showed drawings of the expansion and the proposed location on the site.) 2. Will there be an increase in the staff? No. 3. What about increases in traffic? No. The same equipment, trucks, staff will be coming and going from the site. 4. Show us the location of the existing fencing. Is that where the building will be? (Applicant showed the existing fenced -off area, the building will fit behind that). The fence will be moved slightly to the west because it is not on the property line now. 5. Why do you need five indoor parking spaces? For security of our trucks which contain supplies, tools, etc. and have been targeted for vandalism in the past. 281 North College Avenue • P.O. Box 580 • Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 • (303) 221-6750 • 6. Will you be adding any driveways off of Mountain? Yes, on the west side of the building, where there is currently an informal dirt drive. 7. Will the garage doors on Mountain Avenue be removed? No, the new garage will be built in front of the old one and the new overhead garage doors will also face Mountain Avenue. 8. Will there be a change in the staffing or amount of maintenance truck traffic? 9. When do most people come to the building, when are most people in the office? Staff is there week days from 8 to 5, no weekends. Most of the visitors, 1-5 per day are there to pay their rent. 10. Who is funding the addition? Federal funds and CDBG grants. 11. When was the housing authority building constructed? About 17 years ago. 12. What are hours of operation? Weekdays 8-5. No nights, no weekends, no holidays. 13. Will the Housing Authority manage the construction project? Yes. 14. What alternatives have you explored? Have you looked into other options, such as locating the maintenance facility somewhere else? We have looked at many alternatives, but the dollars do not make sense for us to look at anything else at this time. We can't sell the building, which we own, without the land, which the City owns. The lease is unbeatable and economics is the key to us staying here. We have a fiscal responsibility to use the dollars coming into the Housing Authority program for justifiable uses. Moving to a large commercial building and paying market rate for a non-profit operation doesn't make sense. 15. What will the addition cost? Approximately $100,000. We did look into the New Beginnings building when it was on the market, but the going price was $1.6 million. 16. Could you park the trucks elsewhere? We did look into separating the maintenance and service divisions into two buildings, but at this time the Housing Authority Board doesn't feel it is economical to run the operation out of two sites. They also don't want to separate the two operations at this time. Perhaps when the Housing Authority is larger, as the City of Fort Collins grows, it will be possible to separate them and maintain this building for administration/office uses. We aren't big enough yet for it to be economical to split up. 17. Did you look into leasing other spaces? Yes. It is not economical for a non-profit organization to lease the amount of space that we need, especially when we own this building. 18. What about future additions? Do you think that you will keep adding on and adding on? That is what I'm concerned about. We don't anticipate adding on after this. There is a limit to the amount of a lot that can be built on. 19. Can you put notes on the plat or PUD about limits of additional construction? Yes, we can do that. The site is only so large and it isn't physically possible to add on forever. 20. I have questions about the Housing Authority's operation and think it would be economical and efficient for the two divisions to be split up. I think it would work. It is not the Housing Authority staff that makes that decision. Those decisions are made by the Housing Authority Board and they have studied the idea in depth and have determined that it is not efficient or economical for the operations to be split. 21. As the City expands this park area becomes more valuable. As the main city park it is priceless and I don't think that we should be approving development on parkland. What if they kept building on Central Park? We need to preserve our parkland. We aren't proposing to encroach onto parkland. There is a platted lot for the Housing Authority and we would not be expanding outside of that boundary. For the most part, the area we are thinking about expanding onto is within the fenced area which is already used for outdoor storage with storage sheds, parking, etc. As you can see from the drawing, the addition will wrap around the existing building. 22. When does your lease with the City expire? Will the City end up with the building after the lease expires? • 0 Not sure exactly, believe it expires in ? years. The City would end up with the building, if they decide not to renew the lease and tell us to go elsewhere. 23. I see this park becoming industrialized. There is so much development here, the trolley building, the pile of tires. The problem is that it was a mistake to put the Housing Authority here in the first place. 24. Why don't you go somewhere else, like to south Fort Collins? 25. I live right across the street from the Housing Authority and probably I am impacted greater than the many of the people in the neighborhood. I think the Housing Authority's mission is a good one. They keep the property well maintained. They are a good neighbor. I like the fact that there are no night or weekend activities. The activity, trucks, people, traffic, etc. already exists. The neighborhood is already impacted by the building, the question is whether the new addition is compatible. I like what you have done with comments from the previous Planning and Zoning Board hearings to make the building residential in character, with the low roof line. It is basically hidden behind the fence and in fact looks like it will be more attractive than, and an upgrade from, the existing building. 26. I also don't believe that the new design is intrusive. My question is what happens when you move out, who will move in and how will they maintain the place, what will they do. A new neighbor could be worse, especially if it is a bigger place. A new user would have to apply for a PUD or administrative review depending on the proposed new use. It would have to go through the same review. our main goal is to eventually get the maintenance division out and to keep the Housing Authority administration division at this location. We plan to stay here indefinitely, in one form or another. 27. What is in the stock room now? Paint, maintenance stuff, lawn materials, etc. We have many units all over town that we provide maintenance for, or the owners come by to pick up supplies to do their own maintenance. 28. Is there a potential for traffic to increase with this expansion? If there is an increase in use of our services, yes there could be an increase in traffic over time, with people picking up lawn mowers, weed killers, supplies to maintain their own homes if they are in our program. Also more units will mean more people will come in to pay rent, if they don't mail it in. 29. There should be one-way signs on Mountain Avenue. Traffic circulation is awkward in this area. 30. Could there be a sidewalk along Mountain Avenue, or is there not enough room given the location of the large trees and fence? We will look into this. 31. I am concerned with what happens when you move to a bigger building somewhere else and someone else moves in. 32. My main concern is expansion into the Park, I don't think it's appropriate. We need to fight to maintain the Park. 33. Will you move the fence? Yes, we will probably move the fence so it is on our property line. 34. I am concerned because the previous director of the Housing Authority stated at a public hearing that regardless of what happened at the Planning and Zoning Board hearing, this would be the last of it, he would not be proposing any additions again. The previous project did not get approval and that director left. The Housing Authority Board believes that the addition is the only way to go at this point. If the previous director said something, it doesn't bind the current director or Board to not propose something that they feel is necessary to continue to provide the service that the Housing Authority provides to this community. 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