HomeMy WebLinkAboutPACKET Estes Park Planning Commission 2021-01-19
Prepared January 12, 2021
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PLANNING COMMISSION–TOWN OF ESTES PARK
TO BE HELD VIRTUALLY
Tuesday, January19, 2021
1:30 p.m.
Estes Park, CO 80517
The Estes Park Board Planning Commissionwill participate in the meeting remotely due to the
Declaration of Emergency signed by Town Administrator Machalek on March 19, 2020,related to
COVID-19 and provided for with the adoption of Ordinance 04-20 on March 18, 2020.Procedures for
quasi-judicial virtual public hearings are established through Emergency Rule 06-20 signed by Town
Administrator Machalek on May 8, 2020,and outlined below.
Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://zoom.us/j/93771272278
Or Join by Telephone:
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posted to YouTubeand www.estes.org/videoswithin 48 hours.
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Prepared 01/12/2021
AGENDA
PLANNING COMMISSION – TOWN OF ESTES PARK
Tuesday, January19, 2021
1:30 p.m.
1. AGENDA APPROVAL.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT. (Please state your name and address).
3. CONSENT AGENDA:
1. Planning CommissionMinutes dated November 17, 2020
4. ACTION ITEMS:
1. Election of Officers for 2021
st
2. AMENDED PLAT 1 Amended Plat of Lots 4A and 5A
Mountain View Subdivision Planner II Bergeron
Consolidate two lots into one lot .71 acres in size
.
3. AMENDED PLAT Amended Plat of Portion of lots 3, 4, 5
Little Prospect Mountain Senior Planner Woeber
Reconfigure three existing lots into two lots, proposed to be 0.67 and 0.54 acre in
size.
4. CODE AMENDMENT:Amended Plat/Boundary Line Adjustment Process
Continued to February 16, 2021 Senior Planner Woeber
5. DISCUSSION ITEMS:
1. REPORTS
Downtown Building Height
Comprehensive Plan
Forthcoming Code Amendments
Other updates
6. ADJOURN
NOTE: The Planning Commission reserves the right to consider other appropriate items not available at the time the agenda
was prepared.
Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado,November 17, 2020
Minutes of a Regular meeting of the ESTES PARK PLANNING
COMMISSION of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado.
Meeting held VIRTUALLYin said Town of Estes Park on the 17day of
November2020.
Committee:ChairMatt Comstock, Vice ChairMatthew Heiser,
Commissioners Joe Elkins, Howard Hanson, Steve Murphree.
Attending:ChairComstock,Vice ChairHeiser, Commissioners Elkins,
Hanson, Director Randy Hunt, Senior Planner Jeff Woeber,
Planner II Alex Bergeron, Recording Secretary Karin
Swanlund, Town Attorney Dan Kramer,Town Board Liaison
Barbara MacAlpine
Absent:Commissioner Elkins, Commissioner Murphree
Chair Comstockcalled the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m.
AGENDA APPROVAL
It was moved and seconded (Heiser/Hanson)to approve the agenda and the motion
passed 3-0.
PUBLIC COMMENT.
None
CONSENT AGENDA APPROVAL
It was moved and seconded (Heiser/Hanson) to approve the consent agenda and
the motion passed 3-0.
CODE AMENDMENT, Amended Plat/Boundary Line Adjustment Process
Senior Planner Woeber reviewed the staff report. Currently,the Estes Park Development
Code (EPDC)defines an Amended Plat, Boundary Adjustment, or a Land Consolidation
Plat as a Minor Subdivision, requiring Planning Commission review and Board approval.
As typically there is little or no impact from these "Minor Adjustment"processes, they can
appropriately be reviewed and processed by staff. The Code Amendment would also
allow a more realistic time frame for receipt and recordation of Final Subdivision Plats
from 60 days to 180 days. This Code Amendment was continued by the Estes Park
Planning Commission (EPPC) from September 15 to November 17, 2020. A primary
concern expressed by the EPPC was that there was no public notice or public input
proposed for a Minor Adjustment. Staff now proposes adding a department policy where
any Minor Adjustment application would involve public notice.
Estes Park Planning Commission–NOVEMBER 17, 2020–Page 2
DISCUSSION:
Chair Comstock and Vice-Chair Heiser suggested additional lines be added to Section
2.1in the table to add that minor adjustments to be handled through staff review. Also,
changing Section12.1, referringappeals to the Planning Commission, not the Board of
Adjustment. Director Hunt agreed with these propositions. Attorney Kramer statedthat
there might be a legal requirement written into Code and will look into it. Heiser noted
that currently,when staff is the decision-making bodyfor Development Plan reviews,
appeals do go to the Planning Commission.
Commissioner Hanson commented thatadding the public notice alleviates concerns but
possiblyinforming thePlanning Commission of negative public input. Attorney Kramer
discussed a call-out procedure, but that could delay things more than having an actual
hearing, noting that this Amendment's purposeis to simplify things. Trustee MacAlpine
expressed her satisfaction with the inclusion of public notice.
It was moved and seconded (Hanson/Heiser)to recommend that the Estes Park
Town Board of Trustees APPROVE the text amendment,adding a line to table 2.1,
to the Estes Park Development Code as presented in Exhibit A as recommended
by staff, as well as the Community Development Department policy regarding
public notice for Minor adjustments, with findings as recommended by staff. The
motion passed 3-0.
DOWNTOWN BUILDING HEIGHT DISCUSSION:
Director Hunt reviewed the study produced by consultants Ayres Associates. Noting
that it is still a work in progress, he touchedon three arguments for increasedheight:
1) economics per square foot of the built area goes down 2) mixed-use development
and 3) cost factors related to the floodplain and public subsidies.
This studyalso touches on workforce housing issues, using background information on
land economics.
Heiser asked for a floodplain evaluationdue to it being so closely tied to downtown
development. Town Engineer Jennifer Waters agreed to a January Study Session date
for this review.
Hanson raised the issue of downtown parking if the building height is increased for
workforce housing.
In answer to Heiser'squestion regarding misaligned boundaries in figure 4.6 of the
downtown plan map, Hunt stated that a parcel by parcel alignment would be needed to
make the map make sense.
It was strongly recommended to find a way to make downtown upgrades economically
feasible.
Additional opportunity for public outreach and comment in 2021 was suggested.
Estes Park Planning Commission–NOVEMBER 17, 2020–Page 3
CHANGE OF MEETING TIMES:
Due to Commissioner Elkins being unavailable for meetings for the next few months, a
change of meeting time was discussed. Staff recommended keeping the meeting time
at 1:30for continuitypurposes.The commissioners agreed.
OTHER:
Floodplain, Loop, Transit andDowntownParking reviews at the January study session.
No meeting in December
Planning Tech starting Monday, November 23
There being no further business, ChairComstockadjourned the meeting at 3:10p.m.
Matt Comstock, Chair
Karin Swanlund, Recording Secretary
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Memo
To: Chair Matt Comstock
Estes Park Planning Commission (EPPC)
Through: Community Development Director Randy Hunt
From: Alex Bergeron, Planner II
Date: January 19, 2021
st
RE: 1Amended Plat of Lots 4A and 5A of the Amended Plat of Mountain
Meadow Subdivision
Objective:
Conduct a public hearing to consider and make a recommendation ona preliminary
Amended Plat.
Location:
2754 and 2758 Ypsilon Circle, legally described as: LOT 4A (5A), AMENDED MOUNTAIN
MEADOW SUB, EPK. Parcel ID Numbers 3516415005 and 3516415004, respectively;
hereinafter referred to collectively as the “Property.”
Present Situation:
The Property consists of two vacant, adjacent lots. Both lots are zoned A-1
(Accommodations/Low-Intensity) and are wholly located in the Mountain Meadow
Subdivision, as amended in 2017 and first platted in 2016. The lots are both owned by
the same party.
Proposal:
It is requested by the owner of the Property to have the lots consolidated into one lot of
0.71 acres in size for private residential development.
Review Criteria:
Depending upon the complexity of the project, this section may be a brief summary of
the standards of review or may involve a more detailed analysis of the standards based
upon issues relevant to any particular project.
1. Buildings and Lots.The lots conform to the minimum lot size of the A-1 zone
district. Single-family residential use is a use permitted by right in the A-1 zone
district. Sidewalk with curb and gutter exists on Ypsilon Circle as part of the
original Subdivision.
2. Utilities.No extension of utilities is necessary for this Amended Plat as the
Property is currently served, or will soon be served, by all major utilities in
accordance with the approval of the recently-created and since-amended
Mountain Meadow Subdivision. The utility providers were included in the routing
of this application to affected agencies.
3. Comprehensive Plan. Despite the disadvantages listed below, staff finds that the
application is consistent with many elements of the Comprehensive Plan,
particularly these Community-wide Policies:
5.2. Encourage housing for permanent residents of all sectors of the community
that is integrated into and dispersed throughout existing neighborhoods.
6.6. Ensure that new development minimizes the impacts to visual and
environmental quality within the Valley.
4. Hazard areas. The extreme southwest corner of the Property is located within a
mapped Wildfire Hazard Area in an area of steeper topography. The entirety of
the Property is located in a Debris Fan mapped Geologic Hazard Area. The
Property is not located within a mapped Flood Hazard Area.
Natural hazards were consideredalong with the 2016 processing of the original
Mountain Meadow Subdivision. Staff concludes that further attention to these
hazards is best considered during future residential development of the Property.
Reviewing Agency Comments:
This request has been routed to relevant reviewing agency staff for review and
comment. Comments received support approval of this Amended Plat.
Public Notice:
A legal notice was published in Estes Park Trail-Gazette on December 30, 2020. Letters
to adjoining or nearby property owners were mailed at the same time.
All comments received in writing will be posted on our website:
https://estespark.colorado.gov/currentapplications
Advantages:
Approval of the Amended Plat will allow the adjacent lots of same ownership to be
consolidated into one for the enjoyment of the owner.
Disadvantages:
Amending the existing plat to consolidate two lots into one for single-family residential
use removes from existence a lot which could otherwise be developed for the same
type of use, effectively reducing the total number of lots suitable for residential
development in Estes Park. It is broadly understood that the cost of living is high in
Estes Park, and affordable housing remains relatively scant. Reducing the number of
existing buildable lots in Estes Park by any amount may work to further increase costs
in the context of “supply and demand” economic principles. In addition, consolidating
the lots, which are zoned A-1 for Accommodations use, may diminish the tax-revenue-
producing capability of the Fall River Road (US-34) corridor, which is located just
outside of an entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, the third most-visited US
1
National Park in 2019 according to the National Park Service.
Action Recommended:
Staff recommends Approval of the Amended Plat.
Finance/Resource Impact:
Little or none.
Level of Public Interest:
Low. No public comments or inquiries have been in received regarding this application.
Sample Motions:
st
I move to recommend that the Town Board APPROVE the 1Amended Plat of Lots 4A
and 5A of the Amended Plat of Mountain Meadow Subdivision, in accordance with the
findings as presented.
st
I move to deny the 1 Amended Plat of Lots 4A and 5A of the Amended Plat of
Mountain Meadow Subdivision, finding that \[state findings for approval\].
st
I move to continue the 1 Amended Plat of Lots 4A and 5A of the Amended Plat of
Mountain Meadow Subdivision to the next regularly scheduled meeting \[state reasons
for continuing\].
Attachments:
1. Vicinity Map
2. Statement of Intent
3. Application Form
4. Preliminary Amended Plat
1
https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/visitation-numbers.htm
Map
Vicinity
1:
Attachment
Attachment2:StatementofIntent
Attachment3:ApplicationForm
Amended Plat of a Portion of Lots 3, 4 and 5 of Little Prospect
Mountain Addition to the Town of Estes Park
Estes Park Community Development Department, Planning Division
Room 210, Town Hall, 170 MacGregor Avenue
PO Box 1200, Estes Park, CO 80517
Phone: 970-577-3721 Fax: 970-586-0249 www.estes.org
E STES P ARK P LANNING C OMMISSION
MEETING DATE & LOCATION:
January 19, 2021, 1:30 p.m., virtual (online) meeting, no physical location.
Note: The public hearing will be conducted electronically. Advance registration for testifying at the
public hearing is preferred to ensure an orderly hearing. Information for participation in the public
hearing will be provided in the published agenda, which will be available at
https://estespark.colorado.gov/boardsandmeetings.
APPLICANT REQUEST:
This application for an Amended Plat to rearrange and combine three lots into two lots by adjusting
internal lot lines. The proposal involves lots within a platted subdivision.
STAFF OBJECTIVE:
1. Review for compliance with the Estes Park Development Code (EPDC); and
2. Provide a recommendation to the Planning Commission
LOCATION:
The property is located approximately 1000 feet west of the intersection of Stanley Circle and Stanley
Avenue, addressed as 153 Weston Lane.
OWNER/APPLICANT:
Marguerite West
CONSULTANT/SURVEYOR:
Trail Ridge Consulting, David Bangs, PE
STAFF CONTACT:
Jeffrey Woeber, AICP, Senior Planner
PROJECT DESCRIPTION & REVIEW PROCESS:
Applicant requests approval of an amended plat to reconfigure three existing lots into two lots,
proposed to be 0.67 and 0.54 acre in size. The property is zoned E (Estate).
The lots were originally platted as the Little Prospect Mountain Addition to the Town of Estes Park in
July 1937. Over the years these were reconfigured slightly, resulting in the subject properties,
comprised of portions of Lot 3, Lot 4, and Lot 5. Lots immediately to the west of the subject properties
were reconfigured through approval and recordation of the D. West Minor Subdivision in 2018
(Recorded in the records of the Larimer County Clerk and Recorder on 8/10/2018 at Reception No.
20180049103). A small portion of Lot 5 remained at that time; a 0.13 acre piece labeled “Lot 5B,”
which is now proposed to be combined with the existing Portion of Lot 4, to create Lot 4A. The
common internal lot line between the Portion of Lot 3 and Portion of Lot 4 is adjusted to the south, in
order to bring a setback encroachment into compliance with the required minimum 10-foot side yard
setback in the E (Estate) Zone District. The end result is that Lot 5B is eliminated, and Lot 3A and Lot
4A are reconfigured to both be in compliance with the minimum required standards for the E (Estate)
Zone District.
Lot 3A is currently developed with a single-family residence and accessory structure, Lot 4A is
undeveloped, vacant ground.
REVIEW CRITERIA:
Per the EVDC, Section 3.9 Subdivisions, Subsection 3.9.1.b., a “Boundary Adjustment” involving lots in
a platted subdivision is to be titled “Amended Plat.” An Amended Plat is considered, under Section 3.9,
a type of “Minor Subdivision.” Minor Subdivision requires a recommendation by the EPPC and action
by the Town Board.
SITE DATA TABLE:
Applicant’s Representative: Trail Ridge Consulting Engineers, David Bangs PE
Parcel Number: 2530213047 Lot Size:Lot 3A: 0.67 Acre, Lot 4A: 0.54 Acre.
Zoning:E (Estate)
Adjacent Zoning:
East: E (Estate) North: CO (Commercial Outlying)
West: E (Estate)South: E (Estate)
Adjacent Land Uses:
East: Single-Family Residence North: North Saint Vrain Avenue, Parking
Garage, Golf Course
West: Undeveloped, Vacant GroundSouth: Single-Family Residence
Services:
Water: Existing, Town of Estes Park Sewer: Existing, Estes Park Sanitation
REVIEWING AGENCY COMMENTS:
This request has been submitted to reviewing agency staff for consideration and comment. No issues
or concerns were expressed by reviewing agencies.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Notice was published, and sent to adjacent property owners in accordance with the notice requirements
in the EPDC Section 3.15 General Notice Provisions.
At the writing, no written comments have been received for this application. Written comments will be
posted to www.estes.org/currentapplications .
STAFF REVIEW, FINDINGS:
1. This proposal complies with applicable sections of the EPDC.
2. This request has been submitted to all applicable reviewing agency staff for consideration and
comment. No significant issues or concerns were expressed by reviewing staff relative to code
compliance or the provision of public services.
3. The Estes Valley Comprehensive Plan’s Community Wide Policies and Future Land Use Code
category recommend the subject property be developed as E (Estate). Staff finds the existing
E STES P ARK P LANNING C OMMISSION, J ANUARY 19,2021 P AGE 2 OF 3
A MENDED P LAT, P ORTION OF L OTS 3, 4,5 L ITTLE P ROSPECT M OUNTAIN A DDITION
residential zoning and use, and the proposed new lot configurationis not inconsistent with the
recommendations of the Comprehensive Plan.
4. Within sixty (60) days of the Board’s approval of the Final Plat application, the developer shall
submit the plat for recording. If the plat is not submitted for recording within this sixty-day time
period, the approval shall automatically lapse and be null and void.
5. This is a Planning Commission recommendation to the Town Board.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the Estes Park Planning Commission forward a recommendation of approval of the
Amended Plat to the Town of Estes Park Board of Trustees, with staff findings.
SAMPLE MOTION:
1. I move to recommend that the Town Board of Trustees approve the Amended Plat of a Portion
of Lots 3, 4 and 5 of Little Prospect Mountain Addition to the Town of Estes Park, as described
in the staff report, with the findings recommended by staff.
2. I move to continue the Amended Plat of a Portion of Lots 3, 4 and 5 of Little Prospect Mountain
Addition to the Town of Estes Park, to a date certain, in order to... \[state reasons for
continuance\].
3. I move to recommend that the Town Board of Trustees deny the Amended Plat of a Portion of
Lots 3, 4 and 5 of Little Prospect Mountain Addition to the Town of Estes Park, finding that...
\[state reasons for denial\].
Attachments:
1. Vicinity Map
2. Statement of Intent
3. Application
4. Amended Plat
E STES P ARK P LANNING C OMMISSION, J ANUARY 19,2021 P AGE 3 OF 3
A MENDED P LAT, P ORTION OF L OTS 3, 4,5 L ITTLE P ROSPECT M OUNTAIN A DDITION
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Memo
To: Estes Park Planning Commission
From: Jeffrey Woeber, Senior Planner
Date: January 19, 2021
RE: Request for Continuance: Amendment to the Estes Park Development Code (EPDC),
by adopting new Wireless Communication Facilities (WCFs) Regulations.
Staff Request:
Staff has determined further revisions are needed to the proposed new regulations. With that, staff
requests the Estes Park Planning Commission continuethe code amendment to their February 16, 2021
meeting.