City Council

City of Littleton Littleton Center 2255 West Berry Avenue Littleton, CO 80120 Meeting Agenda - Final City Council Tuesday, February 25, 2025 6:30 PM Council Chamber Study Session 1. Study Session Topics a) ID# 25-037 Joint Study Session with Historical Preservation Commission Title: Joint Study Session with Historical Preservation Commission Body: From:James L. Becklenberg, City Manager Prepared by: Sara Dusenberry, Senior Planner Presentations:Sara Dusenberry, Senior Planner Historical Preservation Commission Members PURPOSE: To provide an overview of the City of Littleton historic preservation program and updates related to the historical preservation commission’s (HPC) 2025 Work Program LONG-TERM OUTCOME(S) SERVED: Vibrant Community with a Rich Culture DISCUSSION: The overview of the city’s historic preservation program will seek to provide an understanding of the purpose of the program and functions related to designated properties and districts. Discussion will also focus on the Commission’s priorities for 2025, which were derived from strategic planning efforts in 2024. BACKGROUND: HPC is focused on protecting and enhancing historic buildings, sites, and neighborhoods in the city. This is primarily accomplished through the designation of local landmarks and historic districts. Properties locally designated are required to go through a review process to ensure exterior modifications are sensitive and in keeping with a property’s historic significance. Currently, the city has two locally designated historic districts and thirty individually landmarked properties. This process is how many residents, property owners, and business owners interact with the HPC. In 2024, the HPC reviewed and/or approved six certificates of appropriateness (COA), City of Littleton Page 1 Printed on 7/31/2026 City Council Meeting Agenda - Final February 25, 2025 two tax credit applications, two grant applications, and one local landmark designation. However, the HPC serves other vital functions related to historic preservation, which were largely captured in the strategic goals and objectives developed by the commission. The HPC developed a five-year strategic plan with one-year work program in 2024. The plan utilizes three broad goals to guide the program: preservation, connectedness and outreach, and internal development. From the goals and objectives noted in the plan the commission developed a one-year work program to guide both members and staff in supporting and growing historic preservation in Littleton. Three major items that the HPC is seeking to accomplish this year is participation in the Littleton Boulevard Subarea Plan, ordinance updates, and a citywide historic survey plan. These three items focus greatly on long range planning, community engagement, and ensuring processes related to COAs, designations, etc. are effective but not onerous for applicants. FISCAL IMPACTS: N/A STAFF RECOMMENDATION: N/A ALTERNATIVES: N/A Scheduled time: 30 minutes b) ID# 25-046 Safer Streets Littleton Update Title: Safer Streets Littleton Update Body: From:James L. Becklenberg, City Manager Prepared by: Aaron Heumann, Transportation Engineering Manager Presentations:Brent Soderlin, Director of Public Works & Utilities Doug Stephens, Chief of Police David Gilbert, Senior Media Strategist Public Works Transportation Group PURPOSE: This presentation will provide an overview of the efforts over the first year of the Safer Streets Littleton program and discuss the strategies and plans moving forward to ensure Safer Streets Littleton is an on-going and sustainable program. City of Littleton Page 2 Printed on 7/31/2026 City Council Meeting Agenda - Final February 25, 2025 LONG-TERM OUTCOME(S) SERVED: Safe Community DISCUSSION: Safer Streets Littleton is an initiative by which the City of Littleton is improving pedestrian and bicyclist safety through testing and implementing people-first street infrastructure, changing the culture of the community surrounding safety, making data-driven decisions, and collaborating with partners agencies. The purpose of this agenda item is to provide an update on work authorized and completed to date and to discuss the program moving forward. BACKGROUND: In November 2023, City Council articulated a new and bold vision for a higher standard of bicycle and pedestrian safety on Littleton's streets. Council reaffirmed this commitment in February 2024, giving approval to a plan by Littleton's traffic and safety engineers to accelerate implementation of numerous safety measures and traffic calming methods. Now one year into Safer Streets Littleton, city staff is taking this opportunity to review what has been accomplished through the program over the first year and discuss proposed initiatives and strategies for the coming year and beyond. The city has a strong tradition of bicycle and pedestrian safety infrastructure projects, as represented by the numerous ongoing planning, design, and construction projects dedicated to improving multimodal facilities throughout the community. More than 20 grants have been secured in support of and to leverage city funds into completing the $65M worth of projects programmed in 2025. These projects will include a variety of new and improved infrastructure for bicyclists and pedestrians, with new and innovative concepts such as cycle tracks and protected intersections. In addition to this ongoing project work, with $1M in new dedicated funding for the Safer Streets Littleton program in 2025, combined with $867,000 in funds carried over from 2024, staff has planned 15 pilot and quick-build projects, and more than 10 events focused on continuing the education of the public on Littleton’s vision of a culture of safety. City staff is developing a strategic plan for promoting and advancing Safer Streets Littleton as a sustainable program. The strategic plan is being developed to build upon the base program established in 2024, including direction from City Council and input and feedback provided by the Littleton community. As a result, a vision, mission, and goals have been developed based on key philosophies: Strategic Plan Philosophy: a change in safety begins with the city establishing a sustainable program; public engagement and education is critical to the program messaging; and future changes must put safety first. Vision: Reimagining Littleton’s streets as safe, connected, people-first places. City of Littleton Page 3 Printed on 7/31/2026 City Council Meeting Agenda - Final February 25, 2025 Mission: The City of Littleton is dedicated to fostering a culture of safety through community-wide education, collaboration, and forward-thinking transportation solutions that continuously prioritize our commitment to the community’s safety. Goals: Four goals will guide future program efforts: 1. People-first Streets Infrastructure: testing, adapting, and building out projects that are focused on all users. 2. Culture Change: utilizing education, programming, and events to achieve community support of a culture of safety. 3. Data-driven Decision Making: guidance of the program should be based on data and public input. 4. Collaboration and Resources: focused efforts working with internal and external partnerships, as well as creating a sustainable program. Led by Public Works, Safer Streets Littleton continues to be a program dependent on cooperative efforts with the City Manager’s Office, the Littleton Police Department, the Communications Department, and valued partners, such as Littleton Public Schools and South Suburban Parks & Recreation District. The success of this program moving forward will require continued community investment in the planning, educating, and implementation of safety measures, as well as supporting the necessary resources and maintenance of pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Prior Actions or Discussions Council adopted the Transportation Master Plan in 2019 and Public Works updated Council on Pedestrian and Bicycle plans November 28, 2023. Staff provided a presentation regarding Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning Update and Timeline Alternative Considerations on February 6, 2024. As a result of the February 6, 2024, study session, staff was directed to move forward with the recommended accelerated alternatives to include several bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements. Ordinance 05-2024 was approved on March 19, 2024, amending the 2024 Annual Budget to appropriate $2,300,000 from the 3A Sales Tax Capital Fund to fund the accelerated projects for 2024. A joint Council meeting with the Transportation Mobility Board was held on August 13, 2024, focused on vision zero mobility policies. On September 17, 2023, staff shared the draft school zone recommendations. The Transportation Group presented an update on the overall progress related to Safer Streets Littleton to City Council on October 15, 2024. FISCAL IMPACTS: N/A City of Littleton Page 4 Printed on 7/31/2026 City Council Meeting Agenda - Final February 25, 2025 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the continuation of the Safer Streets Littleton campaign that includes the implementation of people-first street infrastructure, efforts to infuse a culture change around safety, continuing to make data-driven decisions, and relying on collaboration with partner agencies and providing the necessary resources for a sustainable program. ALTERNATIVES: N/A Scheduled time: 60 minutes c) ID# 25-009 Contractor Licensing Code Amendments Title: Contractor Licensing Code Amendments Body: From:James L. Becklenberg, City Manager Prepared by: Tim Steinwinder, Chief Building Official Matt Knight, Community Development Director Presentations:Tim Steinwinder, Chief Building Official Matt Knight, Community Development Director PURPOSE: Staff is proposing minor Contractor Licensing Code Amendments to align with recent fee schedule updates, bring license holder qualifications in house, and complete the migration of all contractor licensing into the Permit Center One-Stop-Shop from other departments. LONG-TERM OUTCOME(S) SERVED: High-Quality Governance DISCUSSION: The Contractor License Code Amendments proposed primarily deal with the following: Created a Table of Contents to help navigation within the Code A Table of Contents has been created so that navigating Title 3 within the City Building Code is simplified. This will allow contractors to quickly find the section they need when researching obtaining or renewing a contractors license with the City. A Definitions section has been added A Definitions section was added to clarify language used within the code, to mitigate any confusion on licensing requirements. City of Littleton Page 5 Printed on 7/31/2026 City Council Meeting Agenda - Final February 25, 2025 Arborist Licensing has been added to Community Development As part of the Design The Future Process, and the development of the One-Stop-Shop within the Permit Center, Arborist licensing has been migrated from Public Works to Community Development. This will help standardize the contractor licensing process for all types of licensing. A new Class M license type has been created In addition to Building Contractor license classes A, B, C, and D, we have added a Class M (Municipal) contractors license for Right of Way work. Previously administered through Public Works, these types of licenses and permits have been migrated to Community Development. Again, this creates consistency across all departments for licensing requirements. The fee schedule has been updated The contractor licensing fee schedule has been updated to match the findings in the fee study conducted in 2024. Class A $100 Class B $100 Class C $100 Class D $100 Class M $400 Arborist $150 Electrical $0 (state regulated) Plumber $50 Definitions have been added for each Contractor class To make sure that contractors were applying for the correct license class, definitions have been added. This primarily applies to the Class D specialty contractor license. This type of license is issued to contractors engaging in a single trade such as roofing, or mechanical. Class A contractors can work on any project from the largest commercial projects to small residential projects. Class B contractors can work on medium commercial projects and multi-family projects up to 3 stories tall, as well as residential projects. Class C contractors can work on residential buildings not exceeding two stories in height. Arborist contractors are limited to tree work, often performed within the public right of way. Class M contractors perform municipal work within the city such as sewer, or utility work, usually within the public right of way. Electricians and Plumbers are licensed by the state. We are prohibited from charging to license electricians by the state, but we charge a nominal fee for processing Plumbing licenses into our system. Reciprocal licensing with other jurisdictions has been removed City of Littleton Page 6 Printed on 7/31/2026 City Council Meeting Agenda - Final February 25, 2025 In the past we have issued contractors licenses to applicants who qualified for a license in outside jurisdictions. However, we have no control or input on the test contents or criteria in those jurisdictions. Contractors currently licensed with the City of Littleton under a reciprocal license may continue to renew their license, but if it expires, they will need to reapply using the new testing requirements set forth within these code amendments. The one exception is Arborist licensing. There is a field test administered by only 3 other jurisdictions that they are required to pass. We do not have the resources to conduct this type of test at this time. Standardized testing has been added The International Code Council has developed standardized exams for Class A, Class B, Class C, and Class D Roofing and Mechanical contractors. These exams are updated for each code cycle, ensuring that our applicants are testing on the most current criteria. The exam result is good for 3 years once passed and can be renewed with the International Code Council utilizing continuing education credits available through many varied sources. An applicant’s International Code Council exam must be current to apply or renew for a license with the City of Littleton. Clarification on state licensing requirements has been added The City of Littleton is now recognized by the state as a Manufactured Home inspection agency. In addition to the existing requirements for Electricians and Plumbers to be state licensed, we have added Manufactured Home installers as contractors requiring a state license. This is administered through The Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA). Changed contractor license expiration process Contractors licenses will now expire at the end of each calendar year. Previously they were issued for 12 months from application date, but tracking expiration became complicated. Required Insurance amounts have been updated After consulting with the city’s legal staff insurance thresholds have been adjusted to match industry standard. The new thresholds are $1,000,000 per occurrence, and $2,000,000 aggregate. Clarification of license suspension criteria added In addition to the previous criteria set forth, and based upon some isolated cases in the last year, we have added bounced checks and rescinded credit card transactions to the list of possible license suspension criteria. BACKGROUND: Through the Design The Future Process, and the implementation of the One-Stop-Shop in the permit center migrating all contractor licensing to a single entity City of Littleton Page 7 Printed on 7/31/2026 City Council Meeting Agenda - Final February 25, 2025 was identified as the most efficient process. All department’s licensing now processes through the permit center in Community Development within the Building Division. To standardize the process for all license types, these code amendments have been developed by Community Development staff. We are also taking this opportunity to clarify vague code sections, bring contractor testing within our control, and adjust our fee schedule per the fee study conducted in 2024. Prior Actions or Discussions Code originally adopted in 1985, updated in 1992, 2010, and some sections again on 6/13/2024. FISCAL IMPACTS: These amendments will have no fiscal impact on the city but will reduce costs for contractors. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that Council support moving forward with these Contractors License code amendments in 2025 through the appropriate ordinance process. ALTERNATIVES: 1. Provide alternative direction regarding the contractor licensing framework that can be incorporated into an ordinance for future City Council consideration. 2. Decline to approve the recommended code changes and continue the current process. This option would stall the implementation of the One-Stop-Shop process, leave licensing housed within two different departments utilizing 3 different systems, leave the city exposed to financial burden from insufficient insurance thresholds, and leave contractor qualifications in doubt without a testing standard. Scheduled time: 30 minutes 2. Updates a) Council Members b) Mayor c) City Manager d) City Attorney City of Littleton Page 8 Printed on 7/31/2026 City Council Meeting Agenda - Final February 25, 2025 3. Adjournment The public is invited to attend all regular meetings or study sessions of the city council or any city board, commission, or committee. Please call 303-795-3780 at least 48 hours prior to the meeting if you believe you will need special assistance or any reasonable accommodation in order to attend, or participate in, any such meeting. For any additional information concerning city meetings, please call the city clerk’s office at the above referenced number. City of Littleton Page 9 Printed on 7/31/2026