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PUBLIC HEARING
MINUTES
June 16, 2004
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT
Tom Quinn, Chair
Rich Urbanowski
Bill Marino
Bunny Malm
Charles Choi
Andrea Hollen
STAFF PRESENT
City Councilman Ed Peterson Dru Siley, Planner III
Roger Noonan, City Attorney Roger Wadnal, Manager of Develop. Review Anne Heine,
Lead Develop. Review Engineer Susan Piercy, Senior Planner
Ben Mehmen, Civil Engineer I Chad Minor, Senior Planner
Allen Albers, Principal Traffic Engineer Kara Mueller, Planner II
Olga Mikhailova, Planner III Vicki Kaufman, Planning Commission Sect'y.
___________________________________________________________________________________
The following are the minutes of the June 16, 2004 Lakewood Planning Commission
Public hearing. A permanent set of these minutes is retained in the office of
the City Clerk and a tape recording is located in the department of Community
Planning and Development, City of Lakewood.
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INDEX
RZ-03-007 Continuation of this case, a major modification to the existing Trailerland Planned Development, 5991 West Colfax Avenue
RZ-03-006 Rezoning to allow a Walgreen's to be built with a drive-thru facility
at
10020 West Colfax Avenue
OA-04-004 Recommend adoption of proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendments pertaining
to landscaping
The roll having been called, a quorum was declared and the following business was conducted:
CHAIRMAN QUINN explained guidelines to be adhered to.
CASE NO. RZ-03-007, Continuation from June 2, 2004 Planning Commission Public Hearing to modify the Trailerland Planned Development to allow for Mini-storage
BERNIE LASH, PRIVATE LAND PLANNING CONSULTANT, with an office at 26 West Dry Creek Circle, Suite 600, Littleton, CO 80120, is representing Hank Saipe on his application. Bernie showed the revised building location. The mini-storage office building has now been turned 90 degrees so the front elevation along Colfax allows for the full width of the Apex Auto Body building to be visible. The applicant lowered the fence to a 50% open wrought iron fence around the detention pond and a short wall, making sure safety issues were covered.
HARVEY (HANK) SAIPE, THE APPLICANT, who lives at 250 Jersey St., Denver, CO 80220, wanted to explain that they have given Apex another parking spot the way the building has been reconfigured. That means Apex now has four parking spots plus one spot for handicap parking. He said he has met with Randy Clay, co-owner of Apex Auto Body Shop, three times in the two weeks since the last meeting on June 2nd.
KARA MUELLER, PLANNER II, gave the Staff Report from June 2nd as well as the Staff Report for the continuation. Entering the Lakewood Comprehensive Plan, Lakewood Zoning Code, West Colfax Revitalization Plan, Edgewood Neighborhood Plan, and the Molhom Area Plan into the record for case RZ-03-007. Kara stated that both parties agreed to the placement of the office and manager's unit as it shows. There was some concern by the owners of Apex that the fence would still block their building and that parking was not sufficient. Staff recommends the commission recommend approval of the rezoning.
RANDY CLAY, of 172 S. Ammons St., Lakewood, CO 80226, owner of Apex Auto Body Shop, thanked the Planning Commission for their deep consideration of his issues. He said he and Hank did meet and he is satisfied with the new building site opening up the view of his shop from Colfax. He is not quite satisfied with the fence, mentioning the detention area in front of Casa Bonita as an example of whether or not a fence needs to be required. Parking is still a concern of his and a concern of Checkers Auto Part Store.
MARIA GASPER, of 5525 Reed Ct., Arvada, CO 80002, is the store manager for Checkers Auto Parts Store. She stated her concern was the parking, saying that sometimes now, even with the good relationship they have with Apex Auto Body, they get people parking in their parking area from Apex.
JIM SMITTKAMP, ATTORNEY for Apex Auto Body Shop, Randy Clay and his partner, whose office is at 75 Manhattan Dr., Boulder, CO 80301, wanted to let Planning Commission know how much they appreciated the concern of the commission at the last meeting. He said it really was a big help. However, they still have a great concern about the fence around the detention pond. He said he understands the fence may be necessary because of volume but it still is a solid wall as you drive by there.
DAVID IMES, CO-OWNER OF APEX AUTO BODY, 6765 Newland St., Arvada, CO 80003, speaking on behalf of the company, said he thought it is easy to see the parking issue. He said the new development would have a 120,000 sq. ft. site and on his site he only has three parking spaces, creating roughly 600 sq. ft. of parking. The Apex site is more retail oriented but they do have a 60,000 sq. ft. building with about 4,000 sq. ft. of parking. He was concerned that Staff said the parking - even if it comes to towing cars - would not be the city's issue. He also said they would like to eliminate the fence and then they would be very happy with this project.
COMMISSIONER QUINN asked Staff to address the issue of the fence.
ANNE HEINE, CITY ENGINEER, said the proposed water quality pond which is on the east side of the manager's unit has small retaining walls that are adjacent to the sidewalk that serves the Apex Auto Body Store. With that drop off near the sidewalk, you need to install a fence to protect people from falling off the sidewalk and into the pond.
COMMISSIONER QUINN asked if this would be a requirement at any site where you had a drop off.
ANNE said it is a requirement where there is a drop off into the detention pond, or any drop off from the sidewalk, as is the case with this project. It's not necessarily a requirement for any detention pond. Using Mr. Clay's example of a detention pond at the Burger King in the JCRS Shopping Center (by Casa Bonita), that pond is slightly deeper but it has a graded slope around the pond so there is not an adjacent drop off. This is a different slope and so a fence would not be required at that site.
CHAIRMAN CHOI asked Anne why this is called a "water-quality" facility vs. a detention pond.
ANNE said the storm water management for this site is split up into two different systems. Water quality is required and it's a much smaller volume than what we would normally have for the detention to attenuate the hundred year storm flows. We require that the water quality capture-volume be placed on the surface on a grass-lined pond. It enhances the water quality effect of the pond. Since this site is somewhat constrained, the detention volume is being provided in underground pipes that run east and west under the two buildings. So, at this site there is a dual system, although it works together there is an above ground pond for water quality and a below ground holding tank essentially for the detention volume.
COMMISSIONER URBANOWSKI asked how tall are the retaining walls?
ANNE answered saying the maximum height of the walls is proposed to be three feet.
COMMISSIONER URBANOWSKI then asked if they are relatively close to the sidewalk.
ANNE said she thought they were three feet from the sidewalk.
COMMISSIONER MALM asked if they are addressing the issue of two fences? Is there a solid fence and an open fence?
ANNE said she understood it to be an issue of just one 42" open wrought iron fence in this location, although there may be more than one fence around the site that is a different style.
COMMISSIONER QUINN asked if the fence sits right on top of the retaining walls or immediately adjacent to it?
ANNE said it would sit directly behind the block so it will be between the face of the wall and the sidewalk.
COMMISSIONER HOLLEN stated that she did review the tapes, study the staff reports, and visit the site so that she would be prepared to hear the case tonight although she was absent from the last meeting.
COMMISSIONER HOLLEN wanted to focus on the parking issue. How many parking spaces would be shared? How many parking spaces are designated for Apex and how many are designated for the new facility?
KARA MUELLER said each site has their own parking. The only shared agreement is the shared access agreement.
COMMISSIONER HOLLEN then asked for a summary of the analysis that lead to the decision that the designated parking was adequate for the two types of businesses.
KARA said the parking ratio, as stated in Article 9, is 3.5 spaces per 1,000 sq. ft. of gross leasable area. Staff worked closely with West Metro Fire Dept. on the issue of the width of the drive isles. The parking at a mini storage is not for the office use; most of it is considered a loading zone. Staff worked with West Metro to show a map of the actual site with fire truck turnarounds and parking spaces to get the correct ratio requirement. West Metro did send a letter of approval. As far as the number of actual spaces, the City has several storage businesses already in place and the area of parking is proportionate given the size.
COMMISSIONER HOLLEN asked Staff about Apex Auto Body parking and if Staff considered the amount of business they might bring in.
KARA responded saying Apex did go through an Article 15 site plan when their project came in to the City and did have to fit the ratio requirement for parking at that time. They also knew that, with the new curb cut in the position it was granted, and the closing of the other curb cut that was shared before, they would have to do a cross access agreement in order to not make this parcel landlocked. Therefore, with the movement of the easement, Apex is actually saving one parking space with this proposal. Staff does take into consideration what exists out there but Apex does have enough parking for the ratio requirement for their site. A lot of their parking happens to be to the rear of the building given the constraints of the site.
COMMISSIONER HOLLEN asked staff to clarify what recourse any of these business owners have if they run into parking problems with neighboring businesses.
KARA said this issue was brought up in the June 10, 2004 meeting with Staff, Mr. Saipe, Mr. Clay, and Mr. Imes. It was suggested that each business might want to post signs at their sites. Mr. Saipe said he prefers not to post signs at this time because he doesn't see this being an issue with his tenants. If it did become an issue between the two property owners, their only recourse would be to have the vehicles towed or deal with the problem amongst themselves. But once the project has been approved it does become a civil matter between property owners and not an issue for the City to deal with. The City does not have the authority to tell one property owner that he must provide parking for a neighboring business.
COMMISSIONER CHOI expressed a sense of gratification to both the applicant and the respondent in this case, having met three times in order to work out their differences, and respect the "zipper line". At the Planning Commission meeting of June 2, 2004, Commissioner Malm said that one of the underlying principles of the Comprehensive Plan had to do with the concept of respect, and with that issue of respect comes a need to understand. Commissioner Choi said he was speaking for the entire commission when he said they really appreciated each of these business owners working together to respect the others wishes.
At this time, he wanted to help Mr. Clay understand what the fence description really is, given the description by Anne Heine. The fence is not a "fence" but a "guardrail" which puts a different complexion on it altogether. As a guardrail, it is intended to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the general public.
Also, Commissioner Choi wanted to give accolades to the Staff for keying in very successfully on what the commissioners intended in the Comprehensive Plan with regard to the "zipper line" and with the concept of respect. He said we are beginning to see how the Comprehensive Plan can really work for everyone. Thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER MALM agreed with Commissioner Choi and expressed her appreciation to Mr. Saipe and Mr. Clay and Mr. Imes. It does follow the concept of what the commission has worked very hard for in the Comprehensive Plan. "We appreciate the approach you have taken", she said. She also wanted to add her thanks and appreciation to Staff because she knows Staff worked closely with the business owners to accomplish a great deal with this application and have worked at moving toward the total concept of the Comprehensive Plan.
COMMISSIONER URBANOWSKI recalled from the last meeting a discussion about three parking spaces for the self-storage plus a handicap parking space and then a covered space for the manager. He questioned the likelihood of those three spaces plus the handicap space being full during peak business hours.
HANK SAIPE said they had a traffic study done for this project and the traffic study says that there could be forty-nine cars entering the property during the hours of 6 A.M. to 9 P.M. Office hours are 8:30 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. His other facilities that are 20-30% larger both have three parking spots including the handicapped space and it's worked fine for years. Self-storage has very minimal traffic.
Therefore, COMMISSIONER MALM found that this proposed application has met the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance and the Comprehensive Plan. And that the applicant and the adjacent business owners have resolved, to the extent that it is possible to resolve, their differences regarding the site plan layout. Also taking into consideration the testimony of the applicant and the summary and testimony of Staff, she moved to recommend City Council approve Case RZ-03-007 subject to the applicant providing a signed and correction free mylar of the ODP before hearing at City Council.
COMMISSIONER CHOI seconded the motion.
The vote carried by a vote of 6-0.
BERNIE LASH stepped forward to thank Staff for all their efforts.
Case RZ-03-006 Rezoning request to build a Walgreen's store with a drive-thru facility
JOHN KOHLER, an architect with Semper Development located at 329 Detroit St, Denver, Colorado 80206, is the applicant in this case. In addition, Carter Farley and Michael Ruel, engineers on this project came tonight to answer questions. There was a neighborhood meeting in early November where three concerns were raised. The first had to do with traffic going through their neighborhood. Especially from 14th & Kipling Streets. To respect that concern, the engineers worked with Staff to revise access issues and eliminated eleven of the thirteen curb cuts. There will also be a turn lane extending the full length of Kipling Street from Colfax to 14th Ave. There will be a right in; right out only on the northwest corner of Colfax Ave., the full movement intersection will be on the southwest corner of the site. Those are both existing cuts today, as well as the curb cut to the west, which serves multiple restaurants now.
The second concern that the neighbors brought up was visibility. There are residential properties to the south. The original plan called for a great deal of parking with a much larger building. They reduced the size of the building in half and cut down on the number of parking stalls. That allowed for an increase of nearly forty feet of green space on the south. There also is a six foot grade differential along 14th St. where the parking lot is located. The slope itself already screens the cars, headlights, etc. and then when you add landscaping of shrubs and pines they have a strong buffer.
How much lighting will spill off the site into the neighborhood area was the third neighborhood concern. Here again, the buffer and the grade differential will help a great deal. The applicant will be using a sharp cut off shoebox style lighting fixture which will allow neighbors to only see the back of the box with the light directed to the parking lot in front. The drive-thru for the Walgreen's will be facing south. They purposely put the drive-thru to the far west side so that they don't need to add more lighting but will use the lighting for the multi tenant building for the drive-thru. This was a conscious effort to keep from having to add more lighting.
There will be two buildings to this project. Walgreen's and a multi tenant retail building. Both buildings front onto Colfax Ave. with the primary parking in-between the two buildings and toward Colfax, away from the residential side. This will also keep the pedestrian activity away from the residential side. The entries into the multi tenant site as well as the Walgreen's will be along the front of the building.
They are also planning a multi-tenant building with two to three tenants and a patio area in front. There is an interest already from several smaller restaurants.
The applicant has pledged $10,000 towards the construction and installation of a piece of art on the site. Olga was very instrumental in working with the applicant. She helped them with the process of how to dedicate artwork on the site and suggested a contest perhaps of local artisans.
OLGA MIKHAILOVA, PLANNER III, gave the staff report and entered into the record the Zoning Ordinance, the Subdivision Ordinance, the Comprehensive Plan, West Colfax Revitalization Plan, West Colfax Design Guidelines, North Kipling Strategic Plan, and the Eiber Neighborhood Plan which were all taken into consideration because this site is a very high profile site. This site is also close to the newly constructed Willow Glenn Senior Housing development and they are very happy about the prospect of this project. Staff's recommendation is for Planning Commission to recommend adoption of this case.
COMMISSIONER MARINO mentioned the Colfax Advisory Committee and the fact that they would be excited about this project. With regard to the 10 x 10 parcel of land dedicated for the artwork, the applicant attached a caveat that says they request the city to indemnify them for any liability. Is this a common practice?
ROGER NOONAN, CITY ATTORNEY, responded saying that an example is the statue of an eagle here in the plaza that was donated by the Stanton's. There was an easement conveyed to the city by the then landowner and part of the agreement at the time was that the city would hold harmless the property owner. So the city takes on that kind of responsibility to get the result of public art.
COMMISSIONER MARINO said he certainly applauds the applicant. Public art is in keeping with a section of the Comprehensive Plan.
COMMISSIONER MALM wanted to add to the public art accolade.
COMMISSIONER HOLLEN asked if the task tonight is to not only to consider the merits of this project but also to deal with all the potential uses under zoning 3-C. Does staff see other 3-C uses having a future impact on the surrounding neighborhood?
OLGA answered saying 3-C does allow for more intense commercial use. However, both the Colfax Plan and the North Kipling Plan recognize this intersection as one of the busiest for such uses. We have to be careful future proposals respect the residential character of the area. The buffer area and the size of the building will not encourage larger commercial or retail to move in to this site.
COMMISSIONER HOLLEN said she thought the commission would feel more comfortable
with this type of rezoning because they have the tools to look at potential
conflicts in the future given the framework of the new Comprehensive Plan and
the theme of respect and looking at the perimeter of the interface, or "zipper-line".
COMMISSIONER HOLLEN also asked if this combination of a Walgreen's and a multi
retail pad is a standard configuration or is this unique?
JOHN KOHLER answered saying this is not standard but this site is larger and requires more than just a stand alone Walgreen's store.
COMMISSIONER HOLLEN was intrigued with the idea of this site becoming an outreach for senior citizens in particular. She thought of a kiosk being located somewhere to bring people in, an idea she has seen in other cities.
JOHN KOHLER said yes. That sounded like a very real possibility, anything that would bring people on to the site.
COMMISSIONER QUINN said he thought a great deal of planning went in to the site design for this project and the landscaping was exceptional.
COMMISSIONER CHOI wanted to emphasize his gratitude for the level of presentation by Mr. Kohler, Olga Mikhailova, and Staff. It was good information that the commissioners need in a very well developed and very well designed presentation.
OLGA MIKHAILOVA wanted to compliment the developer and thank him for his hard work on the design of the buildings.
COMMISSIONER MARINO moved that the Planning Commission recommend that City Council approve case RZ-03-006.
COMMISSIONER HOLLEN seconded the motion.
The motion passed 6-0.
Case OA-04-004 Recommended adoption of proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendments pertaining to landscaping
DRU SILEY, PLANNER III, gave the staff report. He said there are proposed Zoning
Ordinance
Amendments adding to and making modifications to Section 17; 15-3 of Article
15, pertaining
specifically to landscaping. Staff recommends approval of these changes
COMMISSIONER URBANOWSKI had two questions to address: 1) on page 59 there is a proposed sentence that reads, "All landscape proposals should make every effort to create a water-efficient water scheme." He feels the wording is too strong and is concerned about not leaving enough room for Staff and the City to create exceptions where it is appropriate. He thought maybe it could read "every reasonable effort".
COMMISSIONER CHOI said the way he reads it, the sentence does leave room for exceptions in that it is a qualitative statement that requires "every effort". He thinks every effort is asking the best of an applicant but does not categorically quantify what it is.
COMMISSIONER URBANOWSKI said he would accept that explanation.
COMMISSIONER QUINN concurred with Commissioner Choi, saying he thinks it is a forceful enough statement to allow for exceptions.
COMMISSIONER URBANOWSKI said his second question is with page 15-15, Section K, under Irrigation. He thought the phrase "all planting beds" in the sentence "A drip irrigation should be used when appropriate for trees, shrubs and all planting beds in an effort to increase sufficient irrigation" was too specific. He did say maybe he is reading that too literally.
COMMISSIONER CHOI said the word "should" is a qualitative statement of strong opinion. He feels this is a good sentence that leaves room for exceptions.
COMMISSIONER MALM said the wording "when appropriate" in the sentence leaves room for exceptions.
COMMISSIONER URBANOWSKI accepted these explanations. He said many times he has been in meetings where wording was taken very literally and he just wanted to be very careful how the regulations read.
COMMISSIONER HOLLEN thought that the point of the word "all" is to cover any category of planting beds such as is mentioned in Page 15-9 where it talks about shrub planting beds and ground cover planting beds.
DRU SILEY said Commissioner Hollen is right in her thinking; the word "all" in this situation is a catchall word covering all planting beds.
COMMISSIONER URBANOWSKI said that, after this discussion, he is perfectly happy that anyone can dig into the records and find that this wasn't meant to be taken literally.
COMMISSIONER QUINN acknowledged Mr. Ed Peterson from City Council who had come in and was sitting in the audience.
COMMISSIONER QUINN then said he thinks it is always good to see something from the Comprehensive Plan implemented in the form of an Ordinance like we are seeing here. The commissioners specifically addressed the issue of implementing water smart landscaping and it's good to see it take effect in the form of an ordinance.
COMMISSIONER MALM in the matter of the proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendments included in OA-04-004, she recommends adoption and approval by City Council.
COMMISSIONER URBANOWSKI seconded the motion.
Motion carried by a vote of 6-0.
COMMISSIONER QUINN thanked Dru and Staff for all their efforts on this case.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JUNE 2, 2004 MEETING
COMMISSIONER MALM moved to approve the minutes as they read.
There was a vote of 5-0 to approve the minutes with COMMISSIONER HOLLEN abstaining because she wasn't at the meeting.
4. GENERAL BUSINESS
ROGER WADNAL reminded the commissioners that on Monday, June 21, 2004, there would be a City Council Study Session regarding two ordinances, one for fences and one for animal day care facilities that have been heard at Planning Commission Public Hearing. Commissioners are welcome to attend.
COMMISSIONER QUINN asked Roger Wadnal to confirm if commission is still meeting for a Study Session on Performance Based Standards next Wednesday, June 24, 2004. ROGER said yes.
COMMISSIONER MALM wondered if Staff appreciates the fact that they have sailed through two cases now using Performance Based Standards and have done a beautiful job. She said she is very excited about the way these two cases have gone and the much enhanced final products. The work that has been well done and the way Staff has approached each case is to be commended.
ROGER WADNAL said yes, they do appreciate it. The intent is to include an in-depth analysis of the Comprehensive Plan in the staff reports. Hopefully communicating that to the applicant.
COMMISSIONER QUINN agreed saying the quality of the staff reports has just been phenomenal.
ROGER also wanted the commission to know that applications have been received and Council has reviewed applicants for the Planning Commission position. So we could have a new commissioner relatively soon.
COMMISSIONER HOLLEN wanted to thank the Planning Commission Secretary for her help in setting up the tapes from the meeting of June 2, 2004 so she could listen to them before being a part of this meeting tonight.
There being no further business to conduct the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT
Vicki Kaufman, Secretary to the Lakewood Planning Commission
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