Approves a text amendment to Article 9, Division 9.4, of the Denver Zoning Code to create the South Sloan’s Lake Design Overlay, DO-5. (NEIGHBORHOODS AND PLANNING) Approves a text amendment to Article 9, Division 9.4, of the Denver Zoning Code to create the South Sloan’s Lake Design Overlay, DO-5. A PUBLIC HEARING WILL BE HELD AT LEAST FOUR WEEKS AFTER PUBLICATION. The Committee approved filing this bill at its meeting on 11-12-14.
Yes, Mr. President. I move that council bill 962 series of 2014 be placed on final consideration and do pass. Okay. It has been moved in second in the public hearing for council bill 962 is now open. May we have the staff report? Good evening, Mr. President. Members of council. I'm Deirdre Oates with Community Planning and Development. I will present to you this Council Bill 962 a proposal for an amendment to the Denver Zoning Code. No. Specifically to Article nine Division 9.4 to add d05 or design overlay five concerning the South Sloan's Lake redevelopment. Former St Anthony's Hospital. The ordinance is sponsored by Council District one councilman Susan Shepard. The ordinance also and the overlay itself has been reviewed by the property owners who are actually within the area that is defined in the proposed design overlay. And unlike some text amendments that you might see to the zoning code, which are are something to be applied citywide, this is a design overlay that is more specific to a larger site that will be developed over time by multiple folks, but is looking for a consistent approach in design and transitions to adjacent neighborhoods. And so the design overlay tool was chosen as the way to implement recommendations and plans, and I'll explain those to you. So the purpose of the overlay district, it must meet one or more of the following in accordance with our zoning code, and in this case, highlighting implementation of land use and urban design recommendations and standards that are set forth in neighborhood and small area plans that have been adopted as part of the Comprehensive Plan. Also to provide uniform standards for mitigating the impact of more intensive uses adjacent to less intensive uses, and to reinforce the desired character for newly developing areas. All three of those are very specifically applied to the South slogans like area. The Tax amendment process. Specifically, there is an internal draft review by community planning and development. The text amendment itself was drafted, reviewed by our city staff and then Council District one and partners and owners who are affected by the specific design overlay that occurred in the fall of 2014. Notice was then emailed to all registered neighborhood organizations with links to that review, draft and summary was posted to our website on September 30th. The Planning Board had a public hearing in November 5th and notification to the Register, Neighborhood Organizations and City Council was was provided for that hearing and also notification for the Neighborhoods and Planning Committee that occurred on November 12th. So those are the processes that have occurred up to now, the final hearing for the text amendment. With regard to the schedule, there are two, two items here that you'll see on your presentation. The top is the the text amendment, and that is where we are today, January 5th, for the final hearing. Below is an accompanying map amendment. Now, that map amendment will come to city council in February. Tonight, we are just talking about the text amendment to establish the text as part of the Denver zoning code. And then we will later come back with a proposal to map that design overlay to the site. So I just wanted you to see that schedule as well. So this is concerning the Southlands Lake redevelopment area, the former St Anthony's Hospital in Council District one on the west side of Denver, just north of Colfax. It's 17th between Stuart and Perry Street. And this is the site, obviously an old areal. Now, everything is is under redevelopment actively right now. But the areas specifically affected by this design overlay take off the little legs that are south of Kansas. And you're looking at the areas between Stewart Street on the West, Perry Street on the East, 17th on the north, and then Kinney House on the south. The existing zoning of the site. So you have a little bit of that context is c m x5 urban center mixed use five story. The action that you take tonight should you approve this design overlay will not change that underlying zoning. That will be an action that will take place as a proposal in February, as I mentioned, as part of an accompanying map amendment. So here are a few more pictures of the slums like redevelopment area. This is the slums like park to the north of cell slums like redevelopment area. And then some of the context around the site to the east on Perry Street. We're talking about primarily single family, lower density residential and lower intensity residential that surrounds the site to the west and to the east. And that is the reason that this overlay has been proposed, is to provide transitions to these sites that are consistent with neighborhood plans. Okay. The West Colfax plan and the South like general development plan both advocate for height transitions to existing lower density, lower height West Colfax neighborhood blocks, including Stuart and Perry Street. The design overlay as proposed implements height limitation concepts that were conceived in the West Colfax Plan and specifically delineated in the approved southlands like general development plan . I should note now that the General Development Plan is not an official supplement to the comprehensive plan, but the West Colfax Plan is. And so that is our main guiding document. But it was more refined in the general development plan as a supporting document. The design overlay uses a distance from the zone, not line so the edge of the property to identify the extent of these height limitations. And I'll show you. You also have in your packet the actual redlined draft of the overlay and then I'll show you some pictures as to how that applies. And the overlay also provides an exception for exterior balconies. And I'll talk about why that is. It provides context, sensitive height, transitions to the adjacent neighborhood and again, does not change your base zoning. So let's start on 17th and Stewart Street. These are just pictures that you also have in your your packet. This shows a structure. This is simply kind of a building envelope. It's typical of the kinds of drawings that we have in our summer zoning code. And this shows for Stewart Street a three storey 45 foot maximum height between 17th and 16th, 480 feet from that zone, lot line. So you can see where the height can transition up to the five story road's current five story district, 80 feet from that zone lot line on Stewart Street. And that provides more of a pedestrian oriented height transition along Stewart. Then between 16th and Carney House, which is to the south, it's another it's 80 feet and then there's a four storey maximum. And this accommodates an existing structure in the parking garage on the site. And then also any future development that might come into play, it would be limited to four storeys for 80 feet from that mine plus it. Along 17th Avenue, there is a five story maximum height limitation for 4343 feet from the zone lot line. That's kind of a funny number. It comes up because a cell phone's like was being redeveloped. 17th Avenue needed to be finally, finally added as part of the subdivision. And when they looked at the delineation of what 17th Avenue would become, it turns out that the private property, there's eight feet of the public sidewalk that's actually included within some of that right of way. So we actually added. 88 feet. To the normal 35 foot from zone lot line. That would have been our normal restriction to make it 43. So a little math behind that. And then on Equipment Street, which is Mid-Block in South Sloan's Lake at 60 feet from the zone lot line with a five story maximum height or 70 feet. Perry Street. Lastly is three stories and 45 foot maximum height with 80 feet from the zone lot line along Perry and that is that eastern side of the south sounds like redevelopment. The balcony exception if you look at your your packet and look at your slide, there is a little area in beige called the restricted height area . Normally, if we did not accept a balcony, they wouldn't be able to build a building and then actually have balconies that would be added to it like you see on most multifamily buildings that are constructed today. That is because in our height exceptions in the code, we do not list balconies as an exception to height. They're seen as an exception to setbacks. So how of how far they come close to the street, even if it's a balcony up, you know, four stories or five stories. But they're not shown as height exceptions. And so we wrote an exception to ensure that the developer was able to provide balconies without taking away square footage of the units which they would have to do if they were to meet those those zone line restrictions for the height. There are two and we're calling them adopted and pending rezonings. Right now both of these are pending the ACM x five, which is the current zoning, the proposed design overlay oh five that would be applied to the site is part of a map amendment that will come to you in February. And then there is also a map amendment for what's called block. One of the sounds like subdivision filing one and that is that northwest block of the redevelopment. They're looking for a rezoning to CMC's 12 and that is the applicant proposing that to see him x 12 they would be applying for and reinforcing the deal five again. But because we don't have the deal five on the books, that application still looks as if it's pending until we have the deal five on site. So now, you know, there are kind of three things that are happening along with the site that you will see over the course of the next month, month and a half. Review criteria for text amendments include consistency with cities, adopted plans and policies, uniformity of district regulations and restrictions, and then further in the Public Health, Safety and General Welfare Plan 2000 or Blueprint Denver from 22 in the West Coal Flex Facts Plan adopted in 2006 all provide the structure for that plan consistency review. Within the the comprehensive plan, there is specific guidance. A lot of that in the narrative to use the best of Denver's architectural and landscape legacy to guide the future in quality design, to be livable and admired. All of the components of the city, its infrastructure, buildings and open spaces must function well and be attractive individually while combining to create meaningful, beautiful places. When you're adding new to old as and we as we're doing here with this redevelopment. So slums like this is one of those phrases that really rings true for redevelopment here. Also, the primary urban design challenge of the early 21st century will be to integrate elements of Denver's traditional urban design character into redeveloping areas and new, more compact, mixed use areas. And so the design overlay has come to us as a tool to apply to the site because it can be applied over time to multiple blocks that will be developed by different people. It'll provide a consistent approach. Specifically policies regarding Denver's legacy is to identify areas where increased density and users can be accommodated and then to encourage quality infill development. We want to encourage that quality infill development. We want to make sure that it is sensitive to the context and the neighboring blocks, in this case, the West Colfax neighborhood. Blueprint. Denver is our land use and transportation plan. It specifically identifies the sites within an area of change for mixed use. Development and specific concepts that are applicable from blueprint include a change in the land use standards of a zone as a tool to improve compatibility. Again, the design overlay using land use and transportation types, focusing on the experience of place at the ground level where the qualities of pedestrian oriented city are most apparent and again, tapering down the height toward the edges is important for creating that pedestrian space along a mixed use street pedestrian scaled facades, which may include height transition step backs for the front of a taller building promoting pedestrian activity. Again, the overlay is designed to provide a building envelope for that to occur. It doesn't constitute detail on the architecture. It doesn't say what to build. It just gives an envelope for building height restrictions in the West Colfax Plan, which is the most specific plan for the site redeveloping St Anthony's in a manner that catalyzes reinvestment in the larger study area while respecting, complementing, enhancing stability of the surrounding neighborhood. The site is identified as catalytic development opportunity as an urban town center, and specific to that with variable scale radiating from the dense core to a lower intensity at the fringe. And there is also a picture in your packet of one of the many kinds of concepts that could be it's on page five of your packet could be used to to look at this site. And it shows generally the higher buildings in the center and lower buildings toward the fringes. And so these height restrictions are designed to create that that lower height and intensity from the West Colfax plan. There are a number of different policies and language that supports the development of this area. So that is not what's the question tonight. It's how we do this best and what kinds of tools can be used to provide this transition. So I've listed many of those specific here. We're talking about promoting safe and attractive pedestrian linkages, incorporating focal points, public gathering spaces and strong pedestrian linkages, and then creating an urban edge along West 17th to define the park. That, for instance, when you create an urban edge or creating a place where people can walk along, where you can have the ability to provide space, either if it's residential or if it's commercial mixed use, which the zoning does allow. If you're doing it in a way that is not creating canyons of taller buildings right next to the street and instead providing height transitions, it creates a better space for the pedestrian. And that's part of best practices in urban design. In the general development plan. If you look at this slide, there's a dotted line around the middle of the site from 17th Avenue down to new house. That dotted line defines what was called the core area. And when we talked about variable densities and variable heights, you're radiating from the denser inner core to the lower intensity at the fringe. These height limitations are designed, if you look on the right for Stuart Equipment and Perry Street to be specific to those recommendations in the South Sloan's General Development Plan. Again using the general development plan for the text amendment. The GDPR provides additional reinforcement, but it is not considered a supplement to the comprehensive plan. It's just additional information for you. And then the Denver Zoning Code provides that the city council may approve an official map amendment which will come to you next month for property located within an approved GDP. So keep this in mind as you're looking at this a month from now in an application for the MAP Amendment that will accompany this this design overlay. With regard to uniformity of district regulations, the text amendment results in regulations that are uniform across the districts. This means that they will be applied across the area that gets Ddr5 five that they will be applied in the same manner and to which it is written. And it is written very specific to certain blocks. And furthering the public health, safety and welfare, providing for context sensitive transitions between new infill development and adjacent lower intensity, lower height blocks in established neighborhoods, and transitions that provide for pedestrian friendly environments at the street level where experience of place is most apparent. So the public review, I went through this a little bit, but we had informational notice symptoms of tember 30th. There was no dissent of the planning board hearing on October 21st. There was also a public meeting where the applicants the city attended, but then also the owners of the property that's affected also attended to help answer questions about how this overlay will affect future development, followed by the Planning Board, public hearing and just the update notice was sent for City Council to a number of different registered neighborhood organizations. With regard to public comment, we actually had a few public comments sent to CPD at the public meeting. They asked about how the balcony height exception works in the future of new based zoning with higher height as approved balcony height exception still applies for anything that's over the site. And then with planning board there, there were questions about the use of applicable city plans and concerns regarding the overall development impact. Things that weren't necessarily related to the overlay, but we did hear those as well. So with that, staff recommends approval of the Denver Zoning Code Text Amendment for the Southlands like design overlay or D or five. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Host. We have three speakers signed up and I'm gonna call all three. You can come up to the front pew and the first one can begin his remarks Cameron Bertrand, Dan Shay and Ben Stetler. So excuse me, you three can come on up and Mr. Bertrand, you can go ahead and begin your remarks. Hi, my name is Cameron Bertrand. I work for LFG. Sounds like one. We are not the applicant, but we are the property owner of four of the six blocks affected by the design overlay. Our address is 475 17th Street, Denver. Thanks very much for having me up here tonight. I just briefly wanted to say that as the owner of four of the six blocks and once upon a time all six of the blocks, it may be a little bit unusual for a property owner to support what is really effectively height restrictions across much of the property. But for us, this is really the culmination of an effort that the city started back in 2006 with the twin Anthonys task force recommendations, followed by the West Colfax Corridor plan that I think put very clearly out there the intention after many community meetings that the development of the redevelopment of the St Anthony's site be sensitive to the surrounding neighborhood and that heights transition from the center down to the edges. And I think that that was further put forward through more than 60 meetings that we had with the community when we showed up in 2012. And the passage of the GDPR, which further reinforced not only transitioning heights at the edges, but also to some extent in the center to make for active urban mixed use streets. So just on behalf of us as the owner as well as our development partners who are building the are the presumptive builders of the mixed use buildings on this site, we support the passage of the design overlay text amendment here tonight and just a quick thank you to CPD for all their work along the way and to Councilwoman Sheperd for sitting through 60 public meetings with us. Thanks very much. Thank you. Dan. Dan Shay. Yeah. Dan Schorr and I met with the West Colfax Business Improvement District. And I just want to thank you for your time to consider our input. My district strongly supports the text amendment because it furthers the principles and recommendations of the West Colfax Plan and because the proposed development projects that are coming on based on that following the text amendment restrictions are a critical step toward revitalization in West Colfax. In addition to specific design recommendations, the West Colfax plan sets out objectives for growth in West Colfax, and the proposal under consideration today should be commended because it is designed to ensure that type of growth actually occurs at the Saint Anthony site. These objectives include promoting a range of housing types, increasing income diversity and offering the density of development that will support enhanced retail and neighborhood services, as well as a healthy walking and transit oriented environment. The design overlay not only enshrines in code recommendations from the West Colfax Plan, but working in conjunction with even more restrictive design guidelines , plays a critical part in laying the groundwork for the kind of owner occupied condo project that is sorely missing from among the housing types in West Colfax and actually is not found in any of the other of Denver. Denver's Untested Markets. It therefore supports the plan's recommendations to increase the range of affordable I mean, of available housing types in West Colfax. We know that from a business development perspective, this form of market rate housing will attract residents with greater disposable income, also recommended by the West Colfax Plan and contribute importantly to West Colfax is well , revitalization. Last but not least, by striking a balance between existing housing stock and more intense development. The text amendment also supports the West Colfax vision of a neighborhood developing with sufficient rooftops. To support strong neighborhood serving retail and services. At the same time, the density also supports the West Colfax Plans recommendations of inculcating a strong walking and transit oriented culture. For these reasons, the West Colfax bid supports the proposed tax amendments as directly supporting the West Colfax plans objectives of income, diverse, retail, abundant and healthy neighborhood in West Colfax. So thank you very much for your time. Appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Shah. Ben Stetler. Hello. Good evening. My name's Ben Stetler. I live at the corner of 17th and Utica, and I'm co-president of the West Colfax Association of Neighbors. Our organization is excited for this project and for the opportunity that it presents for the West Colfax corridor. I'd like to read a letter that we prepared, read that you all now. And thank you, by the way, for the opportunity to speak this evening. I'm writing on behalf of the West Colfax Association of Neighbors Weekend to express our general support for the Design Overlay District at the Sloane's redevelopment. Since the board membership of our organization voted to support the GDP for the redevelopment in December of last year, and the design overlay district merely codifies the lower height specified in the GDP at the time. The Board of Directors feels confident in supporting this new district. It should be noted that we did not take any official vote on this issue, but simply lean on our previous support. By and large, the board and the membership are quite happy with the way in which the project is progressing and glad to see that the city is taking it upon itself to ensure that the residential edges of the development are protected from taller development as outlined in the GDP. We can represents the needs and desires of the residents and business owners in the Denver's West Colfax neighborhood. Our organization currently has over 550 registered members and is dedicated to creating a healthy, safe and sustainable community in West Colfax. Please support us in approving this rezoning. We look forward to the completion of this project. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes our speakers. Now is time for questions. Do we have any questions from members of council? Councilwoman Shepherd. Thank you, Mr. President. This is a question for Deirdre. So the evolution of this project has had many phases, shall we say, met several of which perhaps may not be the most obvious or clear to folks that have been following it. And I think there may be a lot of people perhaps watching tonight via television that say, you know, why are we doing this? Because isn't this what we already did through the general development plan process, which was, you know, you know, went we went through literally a year ago and planning board made the final vote. So I think it would be beneficial to clarify why this next step is needed. Certainly the general development plan is a guiding tool. It is a process that is in our Denver zoning code. It is not a regulatory tool for helping to restrict that height in a formal way that attaches to zoning. And so while it's in the general development plan, without this tool, there isn't a consistent regulatory approach that would accompany the zone district that's currently there, the Cemex five or any other zone district that they propose. So it is a regulatory tool. It is the way we help implement that GDP as the next step. Okay. Thank you for that. I appreciate it. Thank you, counsel. I'm sure councilman in each. Thank you very much. I just want to make sure I am saying it back and understanding correctly the differences between the different votes coming in phases. So what we're doing tonight is creating a new district with some rules regarding three stories, four stories, five stories. Any zone district that adopts those this DOE five at a later date will be adopting these restrictions regardless of what the height is in the non restricted portion. So for example, it could be three stories next to five, which is what it is today, or it could be three stories next to 12 if that's what's adopted. Just depending on which street you're on, so am I. Am I understanding that correctly in terms of how this will interact with what comes after it? What comes after it? Right. Pretty much, yes. So what we're doing is putting the language on the books today. And should you approve that, then that would become part of the Denver zoning code. And in a month, you'll see the map amendment that goes with this applied to that very same area that we talked about. And that map amendment will then make the zoning on the site effectively seem x five slash DL five. So we're adding that overlay to it. The third that we're talking about for an applicant who comes in and is proposing a different zone district like the CM x 12 to change the base zoning, we've asked just to reinforce , even though it already would be on the site, we've asked that they come in with an application that still says d05 on it to make very clear that it doesn't go away, that it's staying along with that. And in fact, you know, sneak peek, the planning board looked at that and said, that's great, but we want to make sure that the door five is applied to the site. And so it's just a reinforcing way to look at any zoning application in the future. But the deal five would apply to the entire site. Okay. Thank you for making sure I understood that. Yeah. Thank you, Councilwoman. Any other questions on 962? Seen a public hearing on 962 is now closed time for comments from members of council councilwoman shepard. Thank you, Mr. President. I am glad to sponsor this text amendment this evening and it's precisely for many other reasons that we've already spoke about tonight. The West Colfax plan in 2004, you know, did envision higher density in this site because it is an area of change. And we knew the hospital would eventually leave and then we'd have, you know, all these blocks and, you know, what would we do with them? And in particular, with the advent of the light rail and of course, also the West Colfax bus line that exists today, which has 15 minute headways. We have excellent, excellent public transportation opportunities throughout this whole corridor. And if, you know, as our city grows and changes, it is imperative, you know, that we plan for the infrastructure that helps to accommodate that growing population. And the number one of the number one ways to do that is by making sure that we have adequate public transit, transportation, transportation options to help meet that need. However, although it is an area of change, there is already a very large established neighborhood there in that area, many 1 to 2 story homes throughout the whole neighborhood. And I think it is imperative, you know, that. We protect the quality of life for those folks, especially on Perry Street and Stewart Street, which is the east and west boundaries of this site. And I think it's a very sensitive approach to help limit the height at those edges, to better compliment the site as it develops forward. And in particular, I think this is extremely important as we contemplate potential heights that are even higher than the five stories that is currently on the site. And as many of you know, through the presentation, that is already a higher, you know, heights, higher than five stories are already being contemplated there. So I think it's even more imperative that we move to codify this in a way that can give residents that have already been on the on the ground for quite a while, you know, some security that they're not going to be faced with, you know, potentially up to 12 stories right there, you know, across the street from them. So for that reason, I am definitely supporting this tonight as I chose to sponsor this application and I would ask my fellow council members to support it as well. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Sheppard. Councilwoman Kennedy. Thank you, Mr. President. I would also like to just enthusiastically add my support to this to this overlaid change. I really do think that the idea of density is one that people talk about. And often when they're articulating their concerns, it's really design that's more concerning than total height. It's about what it feels like, it's about what it looks like. And so, in my opinion, these kinds of overlays and even some of the basic things we already have in our zoning code like step backs and setbacks from the street edge, which will also apply to some of these edges to even further enhance the way that it feels when you're walking by it or living near it. So I really do think that these pieces are really responsive to the to the community and actually even to the original conversations about how you make something that was a piece of the neighborhood, but a pretty rough transition from hospital to residential become a little more of an integrated transition. And so I think that it'll actually be an even better experience than the prior uses and the prior edges were. And so in that way, I think redevelopment presents an opportunity for a really great, seamless community. So I want to just thank all of the work that went into it and to Councilwoman Sheperd for coming forward and sponsoring this creative solution. So I hope we all support it enthusiastically. Thank you, Councilwoman. Any other comments on 962? Seen none. Madam Secretary. Raquel Brooks. Hi, Brown. I fats. I can eat lemon Lopez. Hi, Monteiro. Hi, Nevitt. Hi, Ortega. Hi, Rob. Hi. Mr. President. I. As women can each. Thank you, Madam Secretary, please close the voting. And as a result, 3939 counts will 962 is passed on Monday, February 2nd, 2015. Council will hold a required public hearing on Council Bill 963, changing the zoning classification between 17 Drive, Cornelius Place, Stewart Street and Perry Street, South Long Lake General Development Plan Boundaries . Any protests against Council Bill 963 must be filed with the Council offices no later than noon on Monday, January 26, 2015. Seeing no other business before this body, this meeting is adjourned. Yeah.