A bill for an ordinance changing the zoning classification for 1200 Eudora Street in Hale. Approves a map amendment to rezone property from U-SU-C to U-SU-C1 (allows for an accessory dwelling unit), located at 1200 Eudora Street in Council District 5. The Committee approved filing this item at its meeting on 11-16-21.
We're going to go ahead and move on to the next one. Councilmember say to Baca, will you please put council bill 20 1-1372 on the floor for final passage? Yes, I move that council bill 21 1370 to be placed upon final consideration and do pass. Okay. Thank you. It has been moved and seconded the required public hearing for Council Bill 20 1-1372 is open and we have Libby Kizer joining us again for the staff report. Yes. Just a second to pull up the presentation. All right, great. Thanks, Libby. All right. Here we go on this one. It's a rezoning for 1200 Utah Street. It's an EDU, so should be much more straightforward than the previous rezoning. And this property is also in Council District five, represented by Council member Sawyer. And it's in the center of the Hill neighborhood. The property is located near Rose Medical Center, about one block north of Hill Parkway and one mile or one half mile east of Colorado Boulevard. It's approximately 6200 square feet and is currently occupied by a single unit dwelling. The properties in the urban single unit C Zone District and the applicant is proposing to rezone it to urban single unit C one to allow for an accessory dwelling unit. The U.S. one requires a minimum size of 5500 square feet and allows for the urban house and detached 82 building forms. The maximum height for a house is 30 to 35 feet and 24 feet for the detached adu. The existing property is on UCC and surrounding properties are zoned a variety of districts, including single unit, multi-unit, open space, campus and former Chapter 59. The land use in the area is predominantly single unit, with a mix of open space and hospital uses to the Southwest. The subject property is shown in the top photo on the right with other single storey dwellings to the north and west. The single unit dwelling exists across both Alvin 12th Avenue to the South with a two storey dwelling. To the east, alleys are prevalent, but garages are a mix of front and rear loaded and sidewalks are generally attached. Throughout the rezoning process, application notifications have been provided according to code requirements. To date, staff has received eight public comments, including one in support and seven opposed due to concerns regarding stormwater flooding and solar access. Most of those opposition comments came into today. To approve the rezoning, it must be found that the requested MAP amendment is consistent with five criteria found in the Denver zoning code. In regard to the first criteria, there are three adopted plans that apply it to this property, including the comp plan, 2048 Blueprint, Denver and the East Area Plan. Ousted in the staff report. The resigning is consistent with several goals in the current plan. A few of those goals relate to providing a mix of housing types and promoting infill development. The rezoning request is also consistent with Blueprint Denver. The subject property is mapped as part of the urban neighborhood context, which is described as containing small multi-unit, residential and low intensity mixed use buildings embedded in single unit and two unit residential areas with gridded blocks and alleys. In blueprints under the future. Places MAP designates the subject property as a low residential place type, which has predominantly single and two unit uses and its use are appropriate. Eudora Street and 12th Avenue are categorized as local or on designated streets, which are mostly characterized by residential uses. Blueprint. Denver directs growth to key centers, corridors and high density residential areas that align with transportation options, while limited growth is desired in all other areas of the city. Specifically at 10% of jobs and 20% of housing by 2040. The proposed MAP amendment is consistent with this growth area as it will facilitate additional housing opportunities. Blueprint also includes specific policy recommendations and housing policy four focuses on diversifying housing choice through the expansion of accessory dwelling units throughout all residential areas. The East Area Plan also supports A2. Use the A2 key policies to integrate them, to integrate them where they are appropriate. The subject property, located in a predominantly single unit neighborhood, is an appropriate location for an ADU, and the rezoning is consistent with the area plan. The rezoning is also consistent with criteria two, three and five. As stated in the staff report, in regard to criteria for a city adopted plan is the most applicable justifying circumstance for this rezoning. As mentioned previously, Blueprint recommends allowing A2 use throughout all residential areas. Therefore CPD recommends approval of this rezoning request. All right. Well, thank you very much, Libby, for the staff report tonight. Council has received eight written comments on Council Bill 20 1-1372. There are no submitted comments in favor of the application and eight submitted comments in opposition of the application. All members of Council that are present have certified that they've read each of the submitted written comments. Do any members need more time in order to read all the written testimony that was submitted? Right. See, no one raising their hand for that. I want to double check. COUNCILMEMBER So you're you're good with that? I'm okay. Wonderful. See? None. Council Secretary Let the record reflect that all written testimony both in favor and in opposition of Council Bill 20 1-137 to have been read by each member of council and all written testimony will be submitted to the official record of the hearing. We have one individual signed up to speak this evening. Jesse Paris, please go ahead. Yes, good evening. Members of council may be heard. Yes. Yes. My name is Jesse with so cast member presented for Black Star maximum for self-defense of the Mexican Man for Social Change, as well as the Unity Party of Colorado and the East Denver Residents Council in Frontline Black News. And I will be the next my member in 2023. I'm in favor of this rezoning tonight. We have an affordability housing crisis in this town. So any time there's an opportunity to increase our health system, I'm in full support of like I was when I ran for city council at large in 2019. I'm still support of accessory dwelling units all over this town. I'm just concerned about the seven letters of opposition opposed to this 80 you. That is very concerning. But besides that, I am in support of this rezoning tonight. You said pass this. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes our speakers questions from members of Council on Council Bill 20 1-1372 Council Member Sawyer. I'm president. I promise I have less questions on this one than I did on the last one. I worry it's a lot. More. Straightforward for sure. But I do know that one of the things that we received in the form letter that was sent to us today was about whether or not the property owner resides on the property and so is the applicant here. We will look here ahead. Oh, there we go. We have Katie Buchanan, her hand raised. And so we'll move her over into the panelists. There we go. Katie, if you wouldn't mind, before you answer Councilwoman Sawyer's question, you introduce yourself for the public record, please. I can you. Can you see me? Yes. Yes, I am Katie Buchanan, and I'm the owner of the property at 1200 Eudora Street. I've owned it since 1998. Great. Thank you so much and thanks for being here. So Denver has a requirement that the if you are applying for rezoning to add an 80 that you live on the property. So I'm asking not just whether you own it, but whether you live there. Well, I am not there all the time. You. No, but I am not renting. So so I'm not there all the time. But I am not going to. What I would like to do is have a part of the property be for me and then a full time like renter is what is what. My goal in all this is because I'm not there all the time. And so I would like someone else to be on the property when I'm not there. And not a short term. A long term. Okay, great. So when you say you're not there all the time, what does that mean? Well, I'm also in the mountains. I have a house in the mountains, too. And also, I, I but I vote in Denver and I have I get mail at the house. So I kind of go back and forth between both places. Okay. So we don't necessarily have anything specific in the Denver revised municipal code that require you know, that specifies what a, you know, what living on a property means. But there are some very specific requirements in our short term in our short term rental code in the piece. In the short term rental code. And it's not are you just the are you registered to vote it at this property? Yes. Is your car registered at this property? It is. Okay. So your driver's license says this driver's licenses, 1200 Eudora Street. I could show you. No, it's okay. I don't need to. I just those are the kinds of things that when you would apply for a short term rental, those are the kinds of things that the short term rental that expires and license would ask to ensure that you are a resident on this property. And since there's nothing like that anywhere else in the code, I guess I'm sort of asking those questions because that's the that's what you would that's the only place that really gives us any sort of direction on what quote unquote living in the property would be. So that's great. If you're, you know, if you're registered to vote at this address, if you are if you're a driver's licenses at this address, if your car is registered at the address, you know, if you have bills that are registered at this address, that would be, you know, essentially what the the city and county of Denver would look at to determine whether you live at this address or not. And that's why I was asking those questions. Okay. That's great. Thank you very much. Really appreciate that. Libby The other thing that was a little bit concerning that was brought up in the letter that we received today was regarding flood mitigation and wondering if you can just talk me through kind of the that the flood mitigation, whether that's looked at, how that's looked at and those kinds of things. Sure. So when we initially deemed this application. Complete, we sent it out to multiple referral agencies, as we always do. And the Wastewater Division of Development Services approved the rezoning, but did note the redevelopment of the site may require additional engineering, such as preparation of drainage reports, construction documents, erosion control plans, and that construction of water quality and retention basins may be required, as could public and private sanitary and storm sewer mains and other associated improvements. So what what that mitigation could look like will be determined through the residential permitting process. It's not something that consideration of would hold up the rezoning. Okay. Got it. So that is not something that we can look at in terms of the five criteria that we're required to look at as council members, when we are when we're looking at a rezoning. You know, you could consider it under a public health, safety and welfare, but it will be something still vetted through the residential permitting process. Okay. So when Mrs. Buchanan goes to actually file a permit, then that triggers the essentially site development review. And that's where that flooding issue, if there is one, would be considered correct. So they would determine how much impervious surface she's adding to the property and what that runoff might look like and where it's going and what improvements. Might be needed. Okay, great. Really appreciate that. Thank you. And then, Libby, this one last question for you. The third issue that was flagged in that letter was regarding the height of a potential ADU and blocking a neighbors ability to put solar panels on their roofs or something like that. So wondering just want to clarify, in this zoned district, what would the max height be for an ADU. For an 80 you? The max height is 24 feet tall and that's only allowed on the rear. 35% of these are marked, which is also then that structure is also subject to a minimum five foot setback in bulk lane require or bulk plan requirements that might further push the upper kind of upper height on the building back further from a property line in order to make sure that the neighbors maintain some solar access, none of that structure would infringe on the solar access. Of the primary. House to the north. Of this property. Okay. Got it. I think that is it for me. Thinks that I'm president. And thanks so much, Libby, for walking me through that. All right. Thank you, Councilmember Sawyer. Councilmember Black. Thank you, Madam President. I don't see an attorney in on this meeting, but I just wanted to clarify. You do not need to be a resident of your property in order to apply for the reason you need to be a resident of the property in order to build the EU. And applying for the zoning is different than applying for the building permit. So I just wanted to clarify that. All right. Thank you, Councilmember Black. And we have Nate Lucero in the attendees, if we can go ahead and have him moved over in case there's another question. But we'll make sure if Nate has any further clarification to your statement. Council Member Black. Go ahead, Nate. Did you hear the question or the clarification? Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. I did hear the question or clarification, and Councilwoman Black is correct. You don't necessarily have to. But I think what we're talking about our short term. Rentals to a certain extent. Right. And for those things, you do have to be the primary resident. But to put forward an application to rezone, you don't necessarily have to be the owner, but the application has to be authorized by the owner. And again, there you don't necessarily have to be the primary resident of that structure to apply for the rezoning. Thank you for the clarification. Yes. And can you go ahead and introduce yourself for the public record? Yes. I'm sorry. Nathan Lucero, assistant city attorney. All right. Great. Thank you. Councilmember Black. Or you could. Okay. Wonderful. All right. Councilmember Sandoval. Thanks, Madam President. Thanks, Libby, for the presentation. When rezonings were coming forward, especially when we got voted into office in 2012 and 2020, they were requiring to go through a site development plan simultaneously because in Denver we don't always have our minimum zone lights match our zone districts, our minimum zone districts. So we were trying to catch these ones that actually have entitlement but can't really build. Do you know if that's still the case that when CPD gets a rezoning application that you have the applicant possible through the site development process? That's a great question. And for commercial projects, we definitely recommend that they go through the site development plan process and begin with the concept plan review to ensure that their development is feasible under the district that they're requesting. But we're having conversations right now with our residential team to understand what their capacity is to review residential projects which don't go through like a full site development plan process, but rather go through a process to get a residential permit. And their project is evaluated after the zoning is obtained. And that's kind of a capacity issue. It's something that we're trying to work through and that we will consider moving forward as well. And then determining kind of what the limits are of the zoning versus the parcel are is important as well to make sure that the applicant has a clear. Picture as to what they're. Allowed. So we are working on some. Additional tools to make. Sure that they know what boxes to check, even if they can't get like a fully vetted plan from the city. Okay. So thank you for that. I do know that. Thank you for bringing up the 2.1 about the capacity and when acknowledging that commercial goes through it and not residential. I just want to go on the record and make sure that we talk about the importance of that and being able to bring up the importance of Councilwoman Sawyer's point that you have to have a short term rental or a ADU. You have to prove residency. So having that simple ADU checklist seems to be appropriate to help answer some of these questions. One other question on this rezoning. Is there an R.A. that I miss. That there is an R.A., but they don't take a position on rezonings? The applicant did reach out to. Mr.. Hill Mayfair. Yeah. Well, you doors the you doors, the Bellevue Hale is on one side of Eudora and Mayfair neighbors is on the other side. Okay. And one other question to you, Kathy. Have you talked to your neighbors about this? Because you have to put up a sign. So it's pretty public process and mailers going out. Yeah, I mean, that all happened. And yes, you talk to me about that public process on your end and what you talk to about your neighbors. And did you get questions about solar panels and things of that nature? No, I got no solar panels. The house next door to me is a has been a rental since like. Early 2000, and it's a person from California and they don't do anything to the house. They've never. They don't even come out to see it. So. No. So I didn't get the questions from them. But 12 Avenue is obviously is where everybody walks and has their babies and the strollers are going back and forth. So I'm sure many people saw it. I actually had calls from people who asked what the process was like. And they said, Well, I'm thinking of doing it, or how did you do it? Or What's it take? I did get it. And do you have an alley? Do I have a sari away and an alley in the backyard? Alley, huh? Okay. Did you talk to the do you know the people who you share the alley with on the other side? Did you talk to them? Because oftentimes construction with accessory dwelling, it happened in the back. The various portions of the alleys slows down. What did they think about this zone change? You know, I have not talked to him. He's a doctor. He's an emergency room doctor. And he he's not home very often. He's divorced also anyway. And so I don't he's he kind of just goes in and out when he's not working. And I didn't know who he is. The thing is, is that I had the street there also on 12th Avenue and a detached garage there. So I obviously I'll get advice, but it might end up being along there because of the detached garage rather than in the alley. Yeah. So thank you for that. It's important to know and we do give it provide entitlements like we're voting on now. It doesn't mean you build it, but the community process and being able to go to your neighbors and make notes for neighbors. The community process is important and that's why we do those notifications is because you are changing the language and the entitlement on your property. Well, thank you, Madam President. That's a. All right. Thank you, Councilmember Sandoval. We've got Councilmember Ortega. Yeah. Just a couple of quick questions. So first of all, the size of the lot was that 5500 square feet? Is that correct? I think it's 62. Okay. Mr.. Read something wrong when I was looking at the report. And then I did want to ask Libby a quick question. Libby, if you can join on. So have you all experienced people who have gone through the ADU process where the lots are very small, and then when they get into actually going through the design review process, they can't actually build because. Of setbacks and just not being able to squeeze a lot and squeeze a structure on that lot where there's already an existing housing unit. It's always a concern of ours. But those kinds of issues we try to vet in the pre-application meeting. So we look at the size of their law. We look at the zoning that they're requesting and what the minimum lot size is and what the setbacks might be. And so we we try our best to inform them of the constraints that will influence the final outcome. But and if they choose to go through with it, they can still go through, even though you might be advising them there will be some serious challenges. Right. Like they might not be able to maximize the footprint based on the setbacks and the law coverage, maximum requirements and whatnot. So we do our best to try to to give them a heads up as to what that final design process looks like. Okay. Thank you for that. And just a brief comment so that I don't have to make any comments during the comment session. The early access for neighbors who will be impacted by the alley being closed when materials are being dropped off when. I've had a. Then maybe you build across the street from my across the alley from my garage. And there were many times I couldn't get out. I've had a couple of flat tires from nails in the alley. So having. Assuming this goes through, having your contractor and you have a conversation with your neighbors that will be impacted will be really important. So that's it. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Councilmember Ortega. The public hearing is closed. Comments by members of Council on Council Bill 20 1-1372 Council Member Sawyer. It's been a president. You know, I appreciated the opportunity to ask through some of the questions that were raised by the community. But this is clearly consistent with adopted plans, 80 years or something that we talked about over and over and over again during the East Area plan process. And it's something that is, you know, a thoughtful way to to introduce gentle density into the area and provide more affordable housing. And so for all of those reasons, I agree that this is consistent with adopted plans and I'll be supporting it tonight. Thanks. All right. Thank you, Councilmember Sawyer and I agree as well that it meets all of the rezoning criteria and we'll be supporting it. Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 21, Dash 1372, please. Sawyer I. Torres I. Like I. CdeBaca, I. Clark. I. Flynn. I. Herndon. I. Hines i. Cashman. I. Ortega. Sandoval. Hi, Madam President. I. Madam Secretary, please close the voting and announce the results. 12 eyes. 12 eyes. Council Bill 20 1-1372 has passed. Thank you to the community members and the applicant who joined us. And Libby, I guess you're done tonight.