District 4 Advisory Board

District IV Advisory Board Minutes July 1, 2019 www.wichita.gov The District IV Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at the Alford Library at 3447 S. Meridian, Wichita, KS 67217. There were nine (9) District Advisory Board members in attendance. Vice Mayor Jeff Blubaugh officiated. There were seven (7) City Staff, and seventeen (17) members of the public present. DAB Members Present Guests Kit Corby Rep. Nick Hoheisel Dalton Glasscock Chris Parisho & Son Michael Gomm Nicholas Smarsh Ray Hall Vincent Hancock Matt Lashley Darlene Morrow Alex Martinez Carolyn Lindsey Don McManamey Mary Cole Jonathan McRoy Lois & Russel Harrold Rebecca Robertson Michael Loop Rosetta Beachmore Council Member David Babich Vice Mayor Jeff Blubaugh Nancy Wilhite Sarah Smarsh DAB Members Absent Andy Spackman Stephanie Hartman 1 other not signed in David Kapaun Staff Present Rebecca Fields – Community Services Dist. 4 Robyn Belt – Library Manager CP Officer Roddy Winder – Patrol West CP Officer Rob Kempf – Patrol South Scott Knebel Paul Gunzelman Cpt. David Voss – Wichita Fire Department ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:30 p.m. DAB Member Matt Lashley opened the DAB 4 meeting and called the meeting to order. He then asked everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Lashley proceeded with the agenda and asked approval for the July 1, 2019 agenda. DAB Member Kit Corby made a motion to approve and DAB Member Michael Gomm gave a 2nd. Motion was approved 9/0. The next item was approval for the May 2019 DAB meeting’s minutes due to lack of quorum at the June 2019 DAB 4 meeting. DAB Member Gomm Page 1 of 8  District IV Advisory Board Minutes July 1, 2019 www.wichita.gov motioned to approve and DAB Member Kit Corby gave the 2nd. Motion was approved 9/0. Then Mr. Lashley asked for a motion to approve the June 2019 DAB 4 minutes. DAB Member Don McManamey made a motion to approve, and DAB Member Rebecca Robertson gave a 2nd motion. Motion was approved 9/0. STAFF REPORTS DAB Member Lashley asked for the Wichita Police reports. Community Police Officer Rob Kempf, Patrol South, then gave the crime statistics for District 4. The month of June had no homicides, 4 robberies, 40 aggravated assaults, 23 residential burglaries, 13 non-residential burglaries, 40 auto thefts, and 83 larcenies. All crimes were down in District 4 from May 2019’s statistics, with the exception of robbery, aggravated assault, and auto thefts. Officer Kempf continued with the success of the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) that was created in 2013. Wichita is considered a model city in treating the homeless population and there has been an 86% decrease in the chronic homeless since HOT was put into action. At this time guest Michael Loop stated that he had seen a story in the Wichita Eagle newspaper about the Wichita Police Department (WPD) needing money for their budget to aid in enforcement of the law. Officer Kempf replied that a study had been conducted and summarized that there were a shortage of officers on the street for a City this size. Officer Roddy Winder, who was standing by to give the Patrol West report, then added that WSU did the study and that WPD needed a certain amount of Captains, Sergeants, officers, etc. in order to be fully staffed. It’s something that the City is working on. Officer Winder then took the stand and stated that he was going to just concentrate on the auto thefts in District 4 as a number of them occurred in the Patrol West portion of District 4. There were 32 last month and 40 this month. 24 vehicles were recovered, and 10 of those vehicles had been left running unlocked with the keys in the ignition. So 25% of the total auto thefts could have been eliminated had people simply turned off their vehicle when leaving the vehicle. Officer Winder commented that there are auto thieves who sit in other vehicles for hours watching and waiting for opportunities to steal a running vehicle. If you see people in your area that look like they don’t belong there, call 911 to report a suspicious person so an officer will be dispatched to check the person(s) out. Officer Winder further stated that out of the 40 auto thefts, one arrest had been made. DAB Member Gomm asked Officer Winder about an item he saw on a Nextdoor post where thieves were using a tool called a repeater that allows someone to mimic a keyless fob. (The repeater is capable of getting a signal from a relay box and tricking the car’s system into believing that it’s the actual “key”.) Officer Winder replied that he would be surprised if anyone in Wichita would have such a sophisticated device as they are very expensive to purchase. DAB Member Glasscock asked if the auto thief whom they arrested had been responsible for more than one auto theft. Officer Winder said that was unknown and that the thief had been arrested while driving a stolen vehicle. Page 2 of 8  District IV Advisory Board Minutes July 1, 2019 www.wichita.gov DAB Member Lashley then asked for the library report. Robyn Belt gave the report for the Alford Branch Library. Alford’s Circulation count for June was exactly 13,000 items. Alford’s gate count for June was 8,123. Our Summer Reading program continues for another 25 days until it’s conclusion on July 26th. It is not too late to sign up! Pop artist and author Michael Albert brings his “Modern Pop Art Experience” to the Alford Branch as part of his Summer Pop Art Tour. Albert, author of an autobiography titled An Artist’s America, is known for making detailed & colorful collages out of cereal boxes & other cardboard packages. Albert will lead an afternoon art-making session for ages 9-17, and parents are welcome to join in. Participants in the 2-hour program will listen to a short presentation by the artist about his life & work, then have a chance to create their own collage using the same materials. All those who make a collage will receive a free signed poster compliments of the artist. Please register online at wichitalibrary.org or at our Circulation Desk. All Wichita Public Library locations will be closed this Thursday, July 4th, for Independence Day. We are back to regular operating hours on Friday, July 5th. At this time Vice Mayor Blubaugh joined the meeting (6:46 pm) and thanked Robyn for her report. Vice Mayor Blubaugh then recognized Representative Nick Hoheisel who was in attendance as well as Representative Jim Ward who had also joined the audience. PUBLIC AGENDA There was nothing schedule for this portion of the agenda, but Mary Cole who is living at 4665 S Broadway, stood and spoke that since she has been using a walker the crosswalks that have bricks is making it difficult to get across intersections because the walker will catch on the edges of the bricks. She states that she recently went to an event downtown and used the brick crosswalk near the railway overpass and that she had to keep picking her walker in order to get across the street. She states that it would be nice when putting in cross walks that there be a smooth portion of cement in the middle so that those with walkers, canes, etc. could cross a smooth surface. Ms. Cole also mentioned that she recently attended an event at the Wave venue (St. Francis and 2nd Street) and that the city-owned parking lot to the south had handicapped parking spaces, but that the spaces are located in the middle of the parking lot which is not very convenient when having to go across the street. There was no one else wanting to speak at this time, so Vice Mayor Blubaugh moved to the next item on the agenda. Page 3 of 8  District IV Advisory Board Minutes July 1, 2019 www.wichita.gov NEW BUSINESS DER2017-00003: Briefing and Public Hearing on the Delano Neighborhood Plan: 2019. Scott Knebel, Planning Manager with the Metropolitan Area Planning Department (MAPD), Stepped up to the podium. Mr. Knebel had a PowerPoint presentation on the proposed Delano Neighborhood Plan. At the conclusion of this presentation, DAB Member Don McManamey asked if the plan included a walking path along the river. Mr. Knebel responded yes, there will be a multi-use path along the river. It will be a continuation of the same type of path that has been constructed north of Douglas Avenue that is in front of River Vista. Mr. McManamey then asked if McLean Blvd. would be 2 or 4 lanes. Mr. Knebel responded that McLean Blvd will be 2 lanes as approved by the City Council. DAB Member Dalton Glasscock inquired about the parking strategy and asked if there will be an emphasis for providing pedestrian paths to businesses in Delano. Mr. Knebel replied that there will be an emphasis for pedestrians. Mr. Glasscock then asked if there were to be any residential space on the 1st floor of buildings in the “baseball village” area. Mr. Knebel replied that the plan is for commercial/retail businesses to be on the ground floors of these buildings as they would provide sales tax revenue for the Star Bond that is helping to build the new baseball stadium. But if the building managers/developers chose to put residential on the 1st floor then they would be allowed to do so if it is on the property owned by the Metropolitan Baptist Church group. DAB Member Rebecca Robertson mentioned that the Bicycle Master plan was to recommend at one time to change the diagonal parking of vehicles on Douglas the parking to the opposite direction. Is that still going to occur? Mr. Knebel remarked that he has not seen that plan included in the Delano Neighborhood Plan of 2019. Ms. Robertson remarked that she serves on the Transit Board and that it has been mentioned that the City would provide transportation from other City owned parking lots to and from the ballpark. Mr. Knebel verified that this is correct, especially for those with mobility issues. One last comment from Ms. Robertson was that she really likes the Handley Corridor idea that is mentioned in the Delano Neighborhood Plan and it was one that she had not thought of previously. Mr. Knebel gave credit to the K-State students who presented their ideas back in the summer of 2017 for coming up with this idea. DAB Member Michael Gomm asked if the proposed pedestrian bridge would cross McLean Blvd. Mr. Knebel stated that this has not been decided at this point, and that it would land on the east side near Century II, and there might be a raised crosswalk across McLean, but this has not been finalized at this time. Vice Mayor Blubaugh then asked if there were any more questions, and Lois Harrold, a guest, raised her hand and stated that she owned a house on the north side of Maple near Hadley (822 S Page 4 of 8  District IV Advisory Board Minutes July 1, 2019 www.wichita.gov Maple). She has owned this property since 1969 and she would like to know if her property would be taken by eminent domain. Mr. Knebel replied that this will not happen. That eminent domain is only used for public use such as necessary for public safety (such as streets, etc) Ms. Harrold is worried that if it is taken that she will not get a fair value on the property. Mr. Knebel stated that it does not work that way. There are 3 separate appraisers who submit their appraisal reports and that the City pays the owner for the top appraisal. Guest Michael Loop asked what a Planned Unit Development actually mean in reference to just Light Commercial zoning. Mr. Knebel responded that this will be explained on the next agenda item if he could wait to hear that item. Guest Nicholas Smarsh then asked about parking. Mr. Knebel replied that there are about 500 nearby spaces and that the original Lawrence Dumont stadium parking had about 900 parking spaces. Mr. Smarsh then asked if there was a large event at the stadium, how many parking places would be required. Mr. Knebel replied that it would take about 2,000 nearby parking spaces. Guest David Babich commented that Lawrence Dumont stadium had over 900 spaces and was used for other events with a shuttle between that parking lot and the event. Mr. Babich notes that there will be a lack of parking spaces for the current merchants in Delano now. He thinks that the money that would be spent on a pedestrian bridge should be spent on a parking lot/garage instead. Vice Mayor Blubaugh then recognized Chris Parisho who is a resident of Delano and also serves on the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Board. Chris asked about the Delano overlay as it pertains to the proposed building sites along the river. Mr. Knebel replied that he will be addressing this on the next item if he could wait until then. Guest Andy Spackman stated that he had concerns about parking east of Oak Street, and if that land will be a parking lot or a parking garage as this is a huge difference. His ideal solution would be to have green space across from the stadium to provide picnic areas for the public to meet prior to any ballgames. Mr. Spackman also suggests that a parking garage be put in at the Ice Center since there is already a parking lot at that location. He also has concerns about the walkway along the river. Does the plan address any wildlife needs that on/in the river? Mr. Knebel replied that the plan does not include wildlife access to and from the river in the area in which the plan will be implemented. There are plenty of other area in which the wildlife does have plenty of access to the river north and south of the downtown area. In addition, Mr. Spackman had concerns about the possibility of dust and pollution due to increased traffic in the area. Next, guest Carolyn Lindsey expressed her concerns about the parking in this plan. She like the old parking lot at Lawrence Dumont where shuttle accommodations were made from this parking lot for other events downtown. She would like to see a larger parking venue Page 5 of 8  District IV Advisory Board Minutes July 1, 2019 www.wichita.gov implemented. Ms. Lindsey is also concerned about parking meters being installed along Douglas and that doing so will deter people from spending time in Delano due to having to plug parking meters. Next, Sarah Smarsh, 201 S Oak, had questions about the 2 sites that are being considered for parking. The south site would be on city-owned land near the ice rink, and the west site would be privately owned land west of the stadium. So A.) what are the developers’ concerns and B.) why wouldn’t the City just put a parking garage on their land? Mr. Knebel responded that the developers are concerned about having enough new retail business surrounding the stadium that will help support the Star Bond that is paying for the majority of this project. Ms. Smarsh then asked about the property near the Advanced Learning Library, and Mr. Knebel replied that this is now owned by a private developer and not the City. Vincent Hancock stood and states that he is the acting President of the Delano Neighborhood Association and was one of the 14 members who sat on the Delano Plan Committee. This committee was a well-rounded representation of businesses, clergy, and other areas of Wichita that discussed the future of Delano. There is no way to make every single person happy and compromises had to be made. Vincent thanked Vice Mayor Blubaugh and City Manager Robert Layton for this process, and when it came to the properties that surrounded the ballpark, developers purchased properties from those that wanted to sell and those that did not want to sell were not forced into doing so. Mr. Hancock stated that if anyone wanted to speak with him about the process of the Delano Plan Committee that he would be happy to answer any questions. At this time DAB Member Michael Gomm made a motion to approve and a 2nd motion to approve was given by DAB Member Dalton Glasscock. Motion was approved 8/1. Mr. Scott Knebel stayed at the podium in order to present the next business item. PUD2019-00004: The applicant is seeking to establish the Ballpark Village Planned Unit Development, (PUD #61) on the 24 acre tract generally located on the northeast side of North Sycamore Street and West Maple Street. The applicant is also seeking to remove the DO Delano Overlay zoning from the 10 acre tract of Arkansas River between Douglas Avenue and Waterman Street. This is to clean up the Delano Overlay boundary as this tract was never intended to be zoned DO. The applicant has indicated the intent is to construct a new multi-use sports complex and allow a mix of commercial uses on the property adjacent to the complex. Due to an earlier question by one of the guests, Mr. Knebel explained that a Planned Unit Development is a site specific zoned district that establishes the zoning rules for the properties within that specific district. So when looking at a zoning map, the properties within the specified area will not show light commercial, or general commercial, etc., it will show the property as a Page 6 of 8  District IV Advisory Board Minutes July 1, 2019 www.wichita.gov Planned Unit Development (PUD). There are guidelines for the specified PUD. Another question was will this property remain under the Delano Overlay guidelines, and Mr. Knebel states that it will not be part of the Delano Overlay. The PUD will have its own guidelines about design, signs, etc. This PUD is called the Ballpark Village and the Delano Overlay will not apply. There will be no base zoning district for this development due to the river bank being used on the west bank of the Arkansas River. This PUD addresses the types of uses that will be allowed, how the site will be required to be landscaped, and where building set-backs will be located. There are restrictions on signage, the requirements for parking, although there is no required vehicular parking, there is required 1 bicycle space per 50 ft. of linear frontage for each lot. There are restrictions on architectural design, and more. The recommendation from staff is that the Planned Unit Development be approved. At this time the DAB Members could ask questions. DAB Member Don McManamey asked that if he were to open a bar down here (meaning in the area of where the meeting was taking place), he would be required to have an X-number of parking spaces based on the capacity of the business, right? Mr. Knebel replied, in most cases, yes. Mr. McManamey then asked, but when it comes to the ballpark village that does not apply. Mr. Knebel replied yes, but that it is common in these types of developments. As there were no more questions from the DAB, questions were opened to the public. Andy Spackman reminded everyone that he lives on Oak Street, and that during the fireworks for the River Fest people parked in front of his house and blocked his mailbox. Mr. Spackman believes this will continue once the ballpark is opened. Mr. Knebel replied that there are parking distances from mailboxes and driveways in residential neighborhoods and that this is enforced by the Police Department. Mr. Spackman added that many of his neighbors told him that developers were going to houses in that area and telling them that if they didn’t sell to them that the City would come and take it from them, forcing them to sell. So the owners of properties felt like they had no choice but to take what the developer offered them. Now Mr. Spackman believes that these developers will be selling the property to the City and make a profit from doing it. Mr. Spackman said he didn’t need a response from Mr. Knebel, but he wanted to make this information public. Chris Parisho spoke stating that he has an issue with the City removing the ballpark village from the Delano Overlay Plan. Mr. Parisho believes that the ballpark village should at least try to adhere to the Delano look since the ballpark village IS in the Delano neighborhood. He encourages that Planning does not remove that language entirely so that a developer does not design something that looks entirely different than the neighborhood surrounding it. Mr. David Babich asked if the electric scooters would be treated the same as bicycles, and where will riders park them? Mr. Knebel replied that it is his understanding that the scooters will not be allowed to ride on the sidewalks. Mr. Parisho raised his hand and spoke, stating that he was on the Bike/Ped Advisory Board. He relayed that the scooters are allowed on the multi-paths and Page 7 of 8  District IV Advisory Board Minutes July 1, 2019 www.wichita.gov bicycle lanes that are marked on the streets. Mr. Babich states that he is more concerned about where they park instead of where they ride. Vice Mayor Blubaugh asked Nancy Wilhite if she had any questions, and Ms. Wilhite did want to know why the City Council is allowing the electric scooters since there have been some accidents in other cities. Mr. Knebel replied that this is a pilot program, and if there are too many issues with them than the companies that are offering them for rent will have to cease. Mr. Chris Parisho confirms this and that they will be carefully monitored. At this time DAB Member Dalton Glasscock made a motion to approve the PUD, and DAB Member Matt Lashley gave the 2nd motion to approve. Motion passed 8/1. BOARD AGENDA Updates, Issues, and Reports The Vice Mayor brought the meeting back to the board and asked Becky Fields if she had Budget Simulator results to share. Being that she did, Becky passed out the basic results from those who had used the budget simulator. The Vice Mayor asked if anyone on the DAB had used the Budget Simulator tool, and Michael Gomm stated that he had. DAB Member Dalton Glasscock wanted to know the percentage of results from District 4 residents. And since it was not specified on the results, he wanted to know if there was a way to find out. Vice Mayor Blubaugh recognized Representative Nick Hoheisel for helping out with the Southwest Village neighborhood cleanup and that Becky Fields approached an elderly man across the street from one of the dumpsters who had just gotten out of the hospital, and that we ended up pulling all sorts of stuff that the elderly man wanted out of his backyard to put in the dumpster. Mr. Loop from the public asked if the board members could have larger name plates because he said he couldn’t see the names from where he was sitting due to the size of the room. Vice Mayor Blubaugh joked that this was by design. A motion was made to adjourn by DAB Member Matt Lashley and a 2nd given by DAB Member Jonathan McRoy. Motion passed 9/0 and the meeting adjourned at 7.45 pm. Page 8 of 8