Planning and Zoning Commission - Agendas & Minutes (Packets below)

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Buena Vista Planning and Zoning Commission May 18, 2022 CALL TO ORDER A regular meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:00 pm, Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at the Airport Conference Room by Vice-Chair Lynn Schultz-Writsel. Also present were, Commissioners Tony LaGreca, Thomas Doumas, and Craig Brown, Blake Bennetts, and Tom Brown. Staff Present: Planning Director Joseph Teipel and Planning Technician Doug Tart. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Vice-Chair Schultz-Writsel led in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Tart proceeded with the roll call and declared a quorum. AGENDA ADOPTION Commissioner Schultz-Writsel called for approval of the agenda. Commissioner LaGreca motioned to adopt the agenda as presented, Motion #1 seconded by Commissioner Craig Brown. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Craig Brown motioned for approval of the May 4, 2022 minutes as amended. Motion #2 was seconded by Commissioner LaGreca. Motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT Public comments opened at 7:03 pm. With no comments, public comment was closed at 7:03 pm. NEW BUSINESS Teipel presented an update on the Carbonate Street development. This is the second time this conceptual site plan has been presented. Scott Simons with Fading West was also present for the discussion. As far back as 2019, the Board of Trustees identified the parcels for the Carbonate Street development as key pieces of developable land to be looked at for housing and childcare priorities. In 2021, the Chaffee Community Foundation worked with the Town to establish a community engagement process Last October, the Board of Trustees said they would approve the exchange of land in town to reach specific housing goals. The current proposal consists of approximately 65 housing units, childcare facility, commercial space for economic opportunities. Town sent out an RFP for a developer for the project and received two responses from the bid – Fading West and a front range developer. Because of the unknowns in the RFP, Town felt that the process required a partner that had the capability to act both as a “thought partner” as well as a developer. June 28th at 6 pm is a joint sketch plan meeting with the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Board of Trustees. This process will satisfy the sketch plan requirement of the Major Subdivision process for the development. Feedback will be incorporated to create a final sketch plan. The land will be turned over to Fading West to work through the Major Subdivision process Fading West put together three sketch-concept plans for the RFP process, each varying in layout and connectivity with the adjacent Collegiate Commons Apartments property. Due to significant issues with the incompatibility of the layout with the South Main PUD, it required collaboration with South Main to find ways to work around connectivity issues. The goal is for at least 65 residential units, with a mixture of for sale and rental properties. The north side, currently zoned as MU-2, is more appropriate for rental properties mixed with commercial space/childcare facilities. The southern portion, zoned R-2 OT, would be more appropriate as for-sale properties. The affordability spectrum is between 60%-140% AMI. The exact mixture is yet to be determined. As it is currently proposed, the Town gets the land, Fading West develops the land and manages the residential portion before handing it over to the Housing Authority in approximately 10-15 years. The commercial/childcare space would be handed back to Town, free of charge. Town would then find a childcare provider for the space. It needs to be determined if the commercial space should be used to achieve the housing affordability, or is childcare so important that it should be subsidized? Solar compatibility was discussed as significant desire, with the understanding of solar limitations in the valley at the moment. Teipel then presented the discussion of the housing affordability code audit draft report. Staff has been working with a code consultant group - Capelli Consulting, Clarion and Associates, and Williford Consulting, to find ways to make adjustment to the UDC and processes within that could incentivize affordable housing projects. The housing authority is undergoing a housing needs assessment which once completed, should give each jurisdiction in Chaffee County an idea of the number of affordable housing units are needed (in each municipality). The draft report is primarily focused on a “2 column approach.” This created a second column for each zone district that is tied to specific affordability standards (based on the housing needs assessment data) that give a builder or developer increased dimensional, parking, and use (Use-by-Right/Special Use Permit) flexibility in each zone district if affordability is being met. Other recommendations involve the allowance of multiple ADU’s on a property and removal of the R-3 OT zone district. Another component of potential code adjustment recommendations revolves around the processes of the public hearing component of major subdivisions. As it currently stands, a “public hearing” is required for each step of the major subdivision process – this requires public notices to be published within a specific timeframe, adding substantial time to the review process. There is potential to combine some of these processes so that public input is not minimized, but the legally required timeframe for hearings is reduced. Additionally, there is potential for moving some approval processes to administrative approval if affordable criteria are being met. Staff expects final recommendations to be codified by late fall. Draft recommendations will be out by the end of June and will go to the Planning and Zoning Commission as quickly as possible – likely the first meeting in July. It would go to the Board at the end of July, along with a public meeting. Consultants would take the feedback and come back in August with the final recommendations. Staff, Planning and Zoning, and the Board of Trustees will need to approve the report and decide which recommendations to implement, which will require public hearings. STAFF / COMMISSION INTERACTION There are no updates regarding the Planner II vacancy. The first deadline for review is May 31 st. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Commission, Commissioner Bennetts motioned to adjourn the meeting at 8:56 p.m. Commissioner LaGreca seconded. Motion #4 was unanimously approved. Respectfully submitted: Preston Larimer, Chair Doug Tart, Planning Technician