Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Estes Park Planning Commission 2020-06-16RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Estes Valley Planning Commission June 16, 2020 Board Room, Estes Park Town Hall 1 Commission: Acting Chair Matt Comstock, Commissioners Steve Murphree, Joe Elkins, Matthew Heiser, Howard Hanson Attending: Acting Chair Comstock, Commissioners Murphree, Elkins, Heiser, Hanson Also Attending: Director Randy Hunt, Senior Planner Jeff Woeber, Planner II Alex Bergeron, Recording Secretary Karin Swanlund, Town Board Liaison Barbara MacAlpine, Town Attorney Dan Kramer Absent: None OPEN MEETING Acting Chair Comstock called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. The meeting was held virtually via Google Meet and live-streamed on YouTube and Viebit. APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was moved and seconded (Heiser/Hanson) to approve the agenda and the motion passed 5-0. PUBLIC COMMENT: None CONSENT AGENDA 1. Study Session Minutes dated May 19, 2020 It was moved and seconded (Heiser/Elkins) to approve the consent agenda as presented and the motion passed 5-0 ELECTION OF OFFICERS Acting Chair Comstock agreed to continue as Chair. Commissioner Heiser accepted the position of Vice Chair. It was moved and seconded (Hanson/Heiser) to approve Matt Comstock as Chair for the remainder of the year. The motion passed 4-0. (Murphree unavailable) It was moved and seconded (Comstock/Elkins) to approve Matthew Heiser as Vice Chair for the remainder of the year. The motion passed 4-0. (Murphree unavailable) RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Estes Valley Planning Commission June 16, 2020 Board Room, Estes Park Town Hall 2 ACTION ITEMS 1. LOCATION AND EXTENT, TOWN OF ESTES PARK WATER DIVISION PHASE 1, 1360 BROOK DRIVE Director Hunt explained to the Commission what a Location and Extent review is. He then reviewed the staff report, which was prepared by Ayres Associates. The property is 5.6 acres of land, zoned I-1-Restricted Industrial, and is developed with a two-story building and accessory buildings. Phase I will entail several interior improvements to the main building, including the installation of a new automatic fire sprinkler and alarm system along with an interior remodel. This phase will also include grading for the access drive and 16 parking spaces. Drainage and wildlife reports were submitted. Staff recommended approval of the Location and Extent Review, with the possibility of some additional landscaping along the Brook Drive boundary. Commission Comments/Questions with Responses from Town Water Superintendent Chris Eshleman and Engineer David Bangs, and Director Hunt: the following is a summary of the Location and Extent discussion. • Chapter 3 states that development plans should be submitted: Chapter 7 is the yard-stick measure. The Planning Commission does not have to be the body to review the development plan. • Primary access is off of Acacia, not Brook Drive: Plans were routed to the Fire Department and LETA, but LETA rarely reviews Location and Extent. The primary access will be most likely be on the lower portion of the lot. • Gravel drives have been considered to not be impervious in the past. Will this make the 80% coverage: Gravel is regarded to be an impervious surface per chapter 13 definition. (recommended that this should be revisited with a code amendment) • Sidewalk requirements: Kearney & Sons Excavating installed a sidewalk between Brook and Acacia. A water main will cross Brook Drive and the sidewalk will be completed when that is finished. • Geologic hazards and riparian mark: The line of plants along the right-hand sign of Fish Creek shows delineated limits of the flood plain. The fence along this line is a visual block. • Increased Water run-off to Brook Drive due to the 16 vehicle parking lot: The design of asphalt makes the run-off an improvement over gravel. The grade of the site has the run-off draining into Fish Creek. • Privacy Fence: Planned installation before Phase II along Fish Creek Road. Currently, the County is using the site for storage until their rebuild on Elm Road is completed. This being an industrial site, there will be piles of dirt, pipes and vehicles, but the applicant plans on being a good neighbor. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Estes Valley Planning Commission June 16, 2020 Board Room, Estes Park Town Hall 3 • Landscaping Plan along the residential side of Brook and Acacia? There are lilac bushes above Brook Court and existing trees along Fish Creek. Applicant is open to other landscaping ideas but contends this is an industrial site with industrial uses. A minimal landscape model with more attention to keeping the site well maintained and groomed would be appropriate. • Extent of traffic increase: The traffic memo included a modest increase. The site has had large equipment and the 50 peak trips per hour were not exceeded. There will be very little public coming and most of the employees will enter and exit from the lower Acacia entrance. • What will the lot look like: There will be dirt piles that ebb and flow. Efforts will be made to keep things neat and tidy. • What will happen to the other two structures on the property: They were not part of the plan, but they provide needed dry storage. The decision hasn't been made yet. • Retaining wall: This is part of Phase I • How much more grading will be needed: The driveway and around the backside is Phase I, the lower grading will be part of Phase II. • Off-street parking, specifically the northwest parking space is within 15 feet of the lot line: The limits of the paving will encroach slightly up the hill requiring some excavation. This space was placed there due to existing utilities and easements already in place. It is an increase and there are potential options for this particular space. • Moving of the water dispenser from 4th street: This is a consideration for Phase II, but may depend on a future traffic study. Commission comments: From a neighbor's perspective, this project will improve the site. The plan addresses aesthetics, surface conditions, and provides improvements for the residential areas. The extraneous uses will go away. Public Comments: An online comment was received from Karin Edwards asking what will be done to maintain/improve the vegetation on the site and in the riparian corridor, and what will be done to sustain Fish Creek? Coyote Willow is native and riparian and would be a good choice. A two-minute break was taken to allow for additional public comment. None was received. It was moved and seconded (Hanson/Comstock) to approve the Water Division application for a location and extent review with staff findings as presented. The motion passed 5-0. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Estes Valley Planning Commission June 16, 2020 Board Room, Estes Park Town Hall 4 2. LOCATION AND EXTENT, TOWN OF ESTES PARK TRAILBLAZER BROADBAND, 1180 WOODSTOCK DRIVE Director Hunt reviewed the staff report, which was prepared by Ayres Associates. The property, which is zoned CO-Commercial Outlying, is developed with a 3,100 square foot office building. The applicant seeks to demolish the interior space and refinish it with code- compliant fixtures, equipment and materials. The only modification to the site will be the removal of existing entry paving to accommodate the addition of a 65 square foot Entry Foyer, which will be Phase II of the project. The principal concept behind this Location and Extent review is to authorize the site for legitimate occupancy by a government agency. There were no public comments received. Staff recommended approval. Commissioner Comments/Questions Vice Chair Heiser asked about the landscaping intent. Linda Swoboda, Project Manager, stated that there would be minor landscaping along the perimeter. Ginny McFarland, Project Designer, noted that the project would comply with code requirements in anticipation of future development. Directed Hunt stated that landscaping is not required as part of this review since the changes are so minimal. This review is for Phase I and II. The design plans will be an administrative review by staff. It will not come back before the Planning Commission if approved today. A two-minute break was taken to allow for public comment. None was received. It was moved and seconded (Murphree/Comstock) to approve the Town of Estes Park Power and Communication Division's application for a Location and Extent Review with staff findings as presented. The motion passed 5-0. 3. AMENDED PLAT, PARK SUITES, 215 PARK LANE Senior Planner Woeber reviewed the staff report. The applicant requested approval of an amended plat to reconfigure the existing lots. Plans are to keep one lot with a commercial office building and to redevelop one lot for multi-family residential use. Staff recommends approval of this Preliminary Amended Plat with the condition of labeling the lot lines more clearly. Commissioner Comments/Questions and Responses from Thomas Beck, owner/applicant and Adam Kelly, engineer Vice-Chair Heiser asked Attorney Kramer to explain the process involved if the Commission does not agree with staff findings. Kramer answered that in general, it is the Commissions' role to apply the review criteria to the application presented, and the responsibility for interpreting the code lies with the Community Development Department. Woeber clarified that tax parcels are assigned by the County Assessor and have nothing RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Estes Valley Planning Commission June 16, 2020 Board Room, Estes Park Town Hall 5 to do with subdivision of lots and that this predates any Town requirements. Adam Kelly, surveyor for the applicant, stated that even though you may have built a house over a commonly owned property line in the past, it doesn't mean your right to a buildable parcel goes away. There was talk of right-of-way and emergency access when fronting a building to an alley. Heiser suggested the possibility of naming and addressing the building that fronts the alley. Director Hunt clarified that the condition added was to clearly label what was previously platted and what is being proposed. The dedication of easements will have an acceptance signature block on the final plat approved by the Town Board of Trustees. Thomas Beck, owner, stated that he intends to dedicate the easements for emergency, sewer and access for all future tenants and owners. If the lot size can't meet code for residential living, a variance may have to be applied for at the development plan stage. Attorney Kramer stated that this is subdivision plat hearing and the Commission cannot deny the application based on use. Mr. Kelly clarified that the L-shaped line on Lot 6A is the existing asphalt area and can be removed for the final plat. Director Hunt explained that Estes Park doesn't have a unified development code that uses appropriate language to "blend" subdivisions and zoning provisions. Heiser noted that the Development Code won't change if we keep finding ways to make things fit; we need to work to make things better from a code perspective. It was agreed that code amendments need to be done sooner rather than later. A study session on this topic is the appropriate place for this discussion and will be planned for July. It was moved and seconded (Hanson/Elkins) to recommend approval to the Town Board of Trustees for the Park Suites Preliminary Amended Plat, being a Portion of Lot 6, 7 and 8, Block 1, Second Amended Plat of the Town of Estes Park, as described in the staff report, with the findings and condition recommended by staff. The motion passed 4-0. (Murphree unavailable) REPORTS Study Session in July to discuss Code Amendments Future meetings will be held on the Zoom platform. Training will be provided prior to July 21. ADJOURN There being no further business Chair Comstock adjourned the meeting at 4:15 p.m. _________________________________ Matt Comstock, Chair _________________________________ Karin Swanlund, Recording Secretary