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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES CompPAC 2022-01-13 Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, January 13, 2022 Minutes of a Regular meeting of the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held via ZOOM in said Town of Estes Park on January 13, 2022. Committee: Chair Matthew Heiser, Vice-Chair Bob Leavitt, Members David Bangs, Charles Cooper, Eric Blackhurst, Kirby Nelson- Hazelton, John Schnipkoweit, Frank Theis, Karen Thompson, Rose Truman, David Wolf, David Shirk, Matt Comstock Also Attending: Community Development Director Jessica Garner, Larimer County Community Development Director Lesli Ellis, Trustee Barbara MacAlpine, Planning Technician LauraJane Baur, Recording Secretary Karin Swanlund, Absent: none Vice-Chair Leavitt called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Chair Heiser noted that he would be leaving the meeting early. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: The motion passed with a visual thumbs-up vote. PUBLIC COMMENT. None CONSENT AGENDA: Approval of Minutes from December 16, 2021 The motion passed with a visual thumbs-up vote. VISIONING (for full comments, view the meeting recording). Notes attached. Director Garner presented questions being considered to ask the public. These topics include: Growth and Planning Area (3-mile radius), Design Guidelines (residential and commercial), Commercial and Employment Areas, Economic Development, Year-Round Employment, Education and Childcare, Seasonal Traffic Issues, Bikability/Walkability, Short-Term Rentals, Housing Needs, Climate Change, Hazards and Natural Resources. The Committee agreed that all of these topics are important to the Comprehensive Plan, keeping in mind that it is an Advisory document and not the Development Code. Care should be taken with open-ended terminology. What else should we be thinking about/focusing on? OTHER In 2022, meetings will be on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. The Spanish-speaking community engagement event will be on January 27 at the Community Center. There being no further business, Vice-Chair Leavitt adjourned the meeting at 11:00 a.m. Karin Swanlund, Recording Secretary COMPAC meeting, Thursday, 01.13.2022 1. Should the Comp Plan consider a Growth Management Area to help prioritize and plan for future annexation areas, or future service areas? How should the Estes Valley Planning Area be used in the future? - Important topic to include – can’t expand into federal lands - Imperative for future of the valley, aligns w/state law - Need strong communication with Fed partners - Benefits of utilities & growth boundaries; good utility plan necessary - Protect the Valley, good & bad with density - Like looking outside, important for conversations with partners - Agree with Utility comments - Density – fire mitigation (issues to contend with…) - Good for communication, includes Pole Hill area - Desire for discussion to happen. 2. Design Guidelines were a controversial topic during stakeholder interviews (i.e. some people want consistency and a common feel, while others think that the eclectic mix of architectural styles creates character). How should the Comp Plan direct decision-makers in future design decisions? How far should the Comp Plan go versus leaving it up to Code updates or separate design standards? - Consistency with surrounding development is important - Support design – HOAs often do it. Commercial yes, especially downtown. Benefit to similar style. - Slippery slope – tie to practical issues like fire mitigation. - In Comp Plan now, but advisory - Inappropriate use of Comp Plan time, should use it for other items. - Agreed – 20-year plan and styles and bldg. materials will change and evolve - Some areas need it more than others and developers will want to improve design - Don’t feel strongly about it, but want to avoid bad design 3. What intensities and types of commercial and employment uses should be located outside of Downtown Estes? Would some non-residential uses be appropriate in unincorporated areas of the Valley? If yes, what and where? - Much debate about Town Hall and if it should stay in its current location - There should be commercial uses outside of Town, including industrial, as the backbone of the community and help to support the commercial base here. - It’s necessary, things are changing and we need to include it, but it’s hard to answer - Small pockets of zoning around the perimeter were removed, but there should be a possibility for commercial services outside of the main area of Town in limited quantities - No, they should be in Town except accommodations and commercial uses - Maybe limited industrial uses - Residents outside this area look at this from a different perspective- invasive 4. How aggressively should the Comp Plan exert a hand in economic development and attracting new industries (“if you market them they will come”)? Or is the Town’s role more in creating an attractive and desirable community w/ reliable infrastructure, services, housing options, and amenities (“if you build it they will come”)? - No, it shouldn’t be used for ED, EDC should do this - Commercial property is very limited here - Don’t target specific industries, but should look at the economic base and what should be included or not - Can outline percentages or square footage to allocate - Broomfield has a good section on ED focused on what’s needed to sustain facilities - What are we intentionally excluding from the Plan, own our decisions and accept the outcome 5. What opportunities for year-round, living-wage employment do you wish were available in Estes? - We should have more, helps with sense of community and place and a more stable economy - This is significant, helps to be strategic and talk about limitations for businesses, and should be broader - Living wages and affordability are critical - Employment, economy, living wages are linked and affordability is crucial - What do we want that the market can’t provide? - Workforce is shrinking and blue-collar jobs out of season are hard to find- we need to balance the economy and include this in housing and ED considerations. 6. This normally is left to the educational system, but there may be important ways the Town/County can support K-12 and higher education through land use, social services, and infrastructure. What should the Town’s role or Comp Plan’s role be in education? Similarly, what is the appropriate role in providing childcare? - We should take an active role, hope is not a strategy - This is linked; we should discuss the implications for how people can stay in the community without it - Housing is needed- land donations or leases? - Need infrastructure to get students to school- sidewalks and regulatory barriers need to be reduced. - Need more resources in the community- the community center was supposed to have a center, and still doesn’t… 7. Are there thoughts on ways to address summer traffic? Ideas to consider could be exploring additional parking solutions, adding more parking, educational campaign for visitors/signage, invest in alternative transportation facilities, etc. - Plan should offer guidance and not be political- keep expanding the trolley schedule to keep traffic out of Town - Helps to secure grants and funding if included - Health benefits for expanding service - Coordinate with RMNP, west-side parking areas should be considered if more shuttles are provided in the park - Environmental effects should be taken into account 8. Where is it difficult to walk or bike in the Estes Valley? - Highway 7, infrastructure needed near Graves and schools generally, and downtown - Address where trails end and how to connect them, create loops and expand the trail system - Commuting is dangerous, especially on the west side of town 9. Are there thoughts on how to best address short-term rentals to balance economic benefit with the negative effects of short-term rentals (STRs)? - Should be part of the conversation, need to better understand the guidelines - Here to stay, concern over corporate ventures that buy houses, are they going to take more homes? - STRs in residential areas should be more dispersed and limited in scope - History of these in town, limiting is short-sighted, maybe they should be recognized as businesses and managed consistently 10. Does the current housing in Estes Valley meet your needs? How could housing better meet the needs of the local workforce? What are some opportunities or strategies to consider? How aggressive should the solutions be? - Unsustainable community model, people have nowhere to live. Untenable and blue-collar people are leaving - Need to subsidize with funding, land code changes for height variances, etc. - Major issue for the Plan - Private enterprise has done a lot, especially with the density bonus. They need incentives and we need more public/private and creative solutions (real estate transfer tax, deed restrictions, cash, market solutions needed) 11. There is growing awareness, acceptance, and advocacy regarding climate change, and we have heard support that the plan address climate change head on. We can respond to climate change in two fundamental ways: By changing our lifestyle to reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon sinks (so that the climate doesn’t change as much), and bracing for and mitigating the potential impacts that will continue (because the climate has unavoidably changed already and may change more). How far should we go in both directions? What solutions would not be supported? - Address it head on, our impacts are minimal overall - Mitigation for what’s coming is needed - Equal emphasis on both questions, we can have an effect - Recent fires are a reminder of this, we need to embrace mitigation and encourage sustainable practices and lifestyles and be leaders as a community 12. Would you support stronger development regulations and/or ordinances that protect natural resources and improve preparedness for environmental threats such as wildfires and flooding? - Hazard identification could also complement where the growth boundaries may need to be - Be clear with terminology