Approves a map amendment to rezone property located at approximately 1600 Raleigh Street from C-MX-5 (Urban Center, Mixed Use, 5 stories) to C-MX-5/proposed DO-5 in Council District 2. (NEIGHBORHOODS AND PLANNING) Approves a map amendment to rezone property located at approximately 1600 Raleigh Street from C-MX-5 (Urban Center, Mixed Use, 5 stories) to C-MX-5/proposed DO-5 in Council District 2. 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.
The existing context. This is a shot from the Coleman building on the east side on Perry Street over toward the west and sell signs like Park. Obviously, things are starting to happen. And then the existing land use, building form and scale east of Perry Street are primarily single family, some multifamily, all low rise, all low skill buildings . And then to the Southwest, where we actually have an existing parking structure on the site, there are some very small houses. Unfortunately, I couldn't zoom in well enough in the sun to get to those, but also similar scale housing to the west of the site. And then also a school building to the west as well. There is a pending rezoning that you may hear about, which is not the subject of tonight's hearing. But just for your information, is block one of these cell salons like redevelopment area and this is at the southeast corner of Stuart and 17th. Again, that will come before you and the future. The review criteria for the amendment to add the design overlay tonight includes all of our standard rezoning criteria with consistency of adopted plans, uniformity of our district regulations, furthering the public health, safety, safety and welfare, and then also justifying circumstances and consistency with neighborhood context, zone, district purpose and intent. There is an additional criteria that is applied as part of our code where the City Council may approve an official map amendment for a property located within an approved GDP or general development plan area, taking into consideration the approved GDP. With that, a summary of the consistency with adopted plans. We've included comprehensive plan 2000 Blueprint Denver from 2000 to the West Conflict Facts Plan from 2006 and the South Sloan's Lake General Development Plan, which, while it's not an adopted comprehensive plan supplement, it is a GDP. And as I explained, can be considered in this this pending rezoning proposal. The comprehensive plan always has standard support for infill debate and neighborhood development compatible with existing neighborhoods. But drilling down further into blueprint Denver and the West Colfax Plan Blueprint Denver supports. The site is an area of change where new growth should be channeled. We already know that's happening with the development of South Sloan's Lake. The concept is for mixed use. None of those things are really at task today, and in terms of the zoning, it is still going to be mixed use. Five We're talking about restricting the heights along the edges to be compatible with what our plan recommendations say. The West Colfax Plan encourages height transitions to existing lower density. Lower height was Colfax neighborhood blocks like Stewart and Perry Street. The West Colfax Plan designates the whole site as a town center and calls for compact development that radiates from a dense core to lower intensity at the fringe. Further support is in the South sounds like general development plan. And if you look at the the picture of that GDP on this slide, within the dotted line are the areas that are sort of called for as the core of the dense core. And then all of those edges and some of that within the dotted line would be the areas where the Doe five or design overlay is is placed. And your staff report also outlines in detail what those height transitions are. They're also on this slide. In sum, the idea of five an application of the DE five to the areas that we know as blocks one through six between 17. Canellos, Stuart and Perry Street implement the height limitations as recommended in our plans. The use this design overlay as we explained during the text amendment, but I'll reiterate uses a distance from the zone lot line and those measurements are in the Denver zoning code. The proposed DOE five mapping on the site provides context sensitive height, transitions to the adjacent neighborhood blocks and again does not change the base zoning of the site. The Math Amendment does result in regulations that are uniform across the district for All Lands Map Deo five, which at this time are only contemplated at this site and furthers the public health, safety and welfare, providing for context sensitive transitions that provide for pedestrian friendly environments at the street level where their experience of place is most apparent and where people actually can be part of the streetscape. This provides safety and eyes on the neighborhood. Justifying circumstances in this case so that it is in the public interest to encourage a departure from the existing zoning through application of supplemental zoning regulations. That is, the DE five that are consistent with the intent and purpose of and meet the specific criteria stated in Article 9.4.5.1. That is the article within our overlay regulations in general that design overlay districts implement land use and urban design recommendations and standards set forth in neighborhood or small area plans. They provide uniform standards for mitigating the impact of more intensive uses and reinforce desired character for newly developing areas. All three of these things in place at this site. The CMC's five and I say proposed here it actually is really an adopted now oh five will allow up to five storey buildings at certain locations, three in others and four on other blocks. As the graphic showed you, the DFI provides limitations on height to address compatibility between higher height, future development and lower intensity. West Colfax Blocks. We do put this through the Standard City Review with all of our departments. We've received no substantial comments from any of our other city departments. It really is substantially L.A., CSU Public Review. It has gone through extensive public review as it's associated with the South Sloan's Lake redevelopment and as it's continued progress and all notice was provided to applicable registered neighborhood groups, including the West Colfax Association of Neighbors, Denver Neighborhood Association, Sloan's Citizens Group, the West Colfax Business Improvement District, Northwest Quadrant Association, the I.N.S. and the Sloan's Like Neighborhood Association. Public Comments. We've not received any letters specific to the City Council hearing. We did receive a couple that I did forward to you later this afternoon that were from planning board, in case you were interested, that were really submitted at that time for the whole South Sloan's Lake approach . Overall, there was support for the approach. There were questions about the use of applicable city plans and how we use GDP's or don't use GDPs and concerns regarding the overall development impact. So some things were not as relevant to the actual rezoning discussion, but more relevant to some site plan. Specific questions that people had with that staff has done its analysis and is recommending approval to the City Council, based that finding of all rereview criteria have been met. Thank you. Ms. HOST We have six speakers tonight and I'm gonna call all six of you. You can make your way up to the front pew. Cameron Bergeron. Dan Shaw. Trevor Hines. Brian Levitt. Rabbi Aaron Wasserman. I apologize. It was cut off and Ben Stetler so you six can come up to the front pew and Mr. Burton, you can go ahead and begin your remarks. Thank you very much. Cameron Bertrand I work with EFG South Sloan's Lake LLC one. We are the property owner and we address at 475 17th Street. I just wanted to quickly say, as the property owner, since we are not the applicant in this instance, that we are supportive of what the City and Councilwoman Sheppard are doing here and feel like it flows logically from the city's West Flex Plan effort, followed by the general development plan and the design overlay to then implement what was in the general development plan makes an awful lot of sense and we think it has given a lot of assurance to both our developers, but also the surrounding neighborhood that what's coming is flowing from those previous planning efforts. So with that, thanks very much and we appreciate your time. Thank you, Mr. Burton. Dan Schorr. Yes, hi. Dan Schorr from the West Colfax Business Improvement District. So, yeah, I just want to indicate where our support for this map amendment, we believe that the what it does is it really memorializes what was in the West Colfax Plan and St Anthony's task force in order to integrate the neighborhood with the redevelopment site. It also and then especially with design guidelines that the property owner has issued, it works to attract more market rate development on the site, which is really important and which was recommended in the plan and also is very important to stimulate the kind of neighborhood serving retail that we've been working to achieve in and around West Colfax . And then finally so and then from the business development perspective, having market rate housing obviously means that you have incomes with greater disposable income and that as such, it just becomes a very important part of the revitalization of West Colfax. And then finally, by striking balance between existing housing stock and more intense development, the MAP amendment also supports to the plans vision of a neighborhood developing with sufficient rooftops to support neighborhood serving retail and services. And then finally, that also works with greater numbers of people. It also supports the West Colfax plans recommendations for a walkable, transit oriented neighborhood and healthy neighborhood. So we're confident that the code change proposed is really going to promote the kind of investment that the plan envisioned and that we've been working for. So we're very much in supportive support of it. Thank you. Thank you. Trevor Hines. Thank you. Hello. My name is Trevor Hines and my address is 278, a South Monaco Parkway, Denver, Colorado. I am the CEO of Denver Real Estate Development, together with my partner, Brian Jay Levitt. I've heard many people say that some 2000 people a month have been moving to Denver as a net migration. America's a free country, and many fine people, citizens and non-citizens, choose to make Denver their home to accommodate these people. The city itself is forced to grow. What was once sufficient in terms of retail infrastructure, office and housing cannot meet the needs of the future in a growing city like ours. This requires the construction of new buildings. The business of development is to build new buildings in areas with the greatest potential that is currently unrealized. There is no place I can think of that fits this definition better than West Colfax. Sloan's Lake Park is beautiful. Mile High Stadium is less than one mile away. There's a new light rail stop at the Dry Gulch and there's close access to downtown. And yet the residents of West Colfax are treated to elevated levels of crime, outdated retail and an overall lack of services. Denver has sprawl to the east and the west, the north and the south, and there are natural limits to this growth. The new generation of homebuyers that is entering the market is looking for more urban places to live. This means places that can be reached on foot, by bike, by train and by bus, and not just by automobile as restricted by the design overlay. We intend to build some 224 units on block one of the St Anthony's redevelopment, moving from two stories on the western portion up to a maximum of 12 on the northeastern corner . The design overlay in front of city council would restrict the rights of the landowner and reduce what could be built on the site. Nevertheless, we are in support of this motion because it would cement the form of what we intend to build as a promise to the neighborhood. We have conceived of a building that we feel is elegant and modern and sensitive to its surroundings. Under the current zoning of CMCs five. It is possible to build an even greater number of apartments on the site, perhaps 300 or so. The map overlay would pave the way for a development that could bring greater height and greater quality without excessive density. Thank you. Thank you. Brian Levitt. Good evening. My name is Brian Levitt. I'm the president of Nava Real Estate Development, 100 Fillmore, Denver, Colorado, 80206 Members of the City Council. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. Our company, Nava Real Estate Development is focused on building quality projects in the Denver community, where Trevor and I both live. In Denver, we have kids. We both have several girls who are going to school in Denver. And I actually am a product of Denver public schools, starting at Hallett, going to Cole, Thomas Jefferson and staying here. So the opportunity to develop West Colfax is a really great opportunity for us. And I think that initially one thing that really attracted us to us was not only the neighborhood, not only the chance to help revive West Colfax, which is really exciting, but as Trevor mentioned, to take advantage of one of the greatest assets in town, which is Sloan Lake Park. Now we've been watching the news and for several years now I've been studying the economy and clearly building for sale housing. Condo housing is a very big challenge right now. And to do that, we don't take that challenge lightly. For several years, we have been meeting with law firm specialists and have developed a very extensive strategy to try to put for sale condos out into the Denver market. We think it's very important. We're very excited about the opportunity. And what we found out is really there's one simple word that is the answer for doing this, and that's quality. And quality comes at an expense, but quality is also what we are planning to build here. We've hired Arnell Design and Munoz Alvin to build this great building. It will be LEED certified as everything we build is LEED certified, and this is going to be the one of the first. Well certified. Projects in the world. It's already registered right now, if we're fortunate enough to build it. So why Stone Lake again? The project, the master development overall? It's an incredible project. The Streetscapes, the Metro District, it makes it all real. And again, being right on the lake is incredible. The general development plan that we originally read several years ago spoke of height from 8 to 12 storeys high. And being a condo developer, I can tell you that we're not going to build what condos and if not bought for the building being 12 storeys high, we're not going to build a for sale product and it goes. Back to the quality issue. So we obviously we have taken part in numerous community meetings over the past year and really feel confident that we have tried to flush out any of the concerns and we've listened to the members of the community and we try to be reactive to them. We feel that this proposal supports the community goals of a balanced housing type at St Anthony's. It will help revitalize West Colfax and Sloane Lake. It will capitalize on nearby transit station and most importantly, will allow more Denver residents to live on the lake. So we thank you. We humbly request your approval of the overlay and eventually of the CMC's 12 on the 17th. Thank you very much. Thank you. Rabbi Aaron Wasserman. Thank you. Aaron Wasserman, President and CEO of Sheba Tourism. We are actually neighbors of the proposed overlay lanes development. So I want to thank city council and Councilwoman Susan Shepherd for the consideration of as a especially as a neighbor to the idea of lowering the density, at least at the edges. So there's a decent transition for the homeowners as well as the school and everyone that's right across from the property. So we are in a for this this overlay and hopefully a student city council approve this overlay to have the consideration of the community that's around their existing community. Thank you. Thank you. Ben Stetler. Hi there. Good evening. My name is Ben Stetler. I'm co-president of the West Colfax Association of Neighbors registered neighborhood organization in West Colfax of just north of 600 registered members. We can supports the mapping of the DOE five at the site because it implements the vision of a transition between new buildings at St Anthony's in the existing neighborhood. I am hopeful you will support the mapping of the deal filed this evening. Thank you. Thank you. Well, that concludes our speakers is now time for questions. Do we have any questions from members of council? Councilwoman Chapman. Yes, Madam Secretary, I was hoping you could put the pin this sort of simplistic graph up. Or is it Deirdre again that shows the height transitions proposed by this design overlay? Here we go. Okay. So I just. There's been quite a few things to discuss tonight, and I just wanted my colleagues to be really clear on what the design overlay is proposing this evening. And that is the pieces in purple. And the the green piece. Is that correct, Deirdre? That is on the edges of the overall development on both the Stuart Street side as well as the Perry Street side. And I just I just wanted to make that clear. And those numbers are stories. And those numbers are stories. Thank you, Councilman Shepard. Any other questions from members of council seen on public hearing on 963 is now including the time for comments? Councilwoman shepard. Thank you. So colleagues, if you're having a little bit of deja vu all over again, there's a reason for that. And that's because we actually voted on the text amendment. That is the companion piece of this. Was it two weeks ago during January 5th. So you may feel like you've heard this twice and it's because you have. I just want to confirm that for you. But I want to. The reason that I'm supporting this tonight, number one, as the companion piece to the text amendment. But secondly, there's a couple of different things going on at this site. And it's important to remember that this site is going to be sold off individually, the individual blocks to different developers. And so this tool is an opportunity to codify what the general development plan says, so that this will be literally in our code and provide that consistency of expectations for what exactly will happen as this site develops overall over the next two, five, ten years, and that we ensure that the transitions between the various projects and that that the new projects and how they transition to the neighborhood is codified. And so that's what we're trying to achieve here. I just want to make sure that people aren't a little bit confused. One of the speakers spoke to the zoning of BLOCK One, which is an item that will be before us later. So don't confuse what was said about that with what we're actually voting on tonight. And that is the design overlay that implements the three stories on Stuart and Perry and then the four stories right there next to the what, as many of you may know, is the parking garage that remains from the St Anthony's site. So I do support this tonight and I would kindly beg your indulgence to support it as well. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Sheppard. Councilwoman Ortega. I just want to add my support as well. I know this is a project that's been around for a very, very long time in the Sloan's Lake neighborhood. I know I attended many meetings when the hospital was still on the site and much of the meetings were taking place there. There has been lots of discussion around the issue of height. And I just want to commend Councilwoman Sheppard for her efforts in working both with the developer and with the community to define the edges of this project and make it clear for everyone, including other developers who may yet to come and build on this site. I'm also a very strong proponent of affordable housing, but in this area of the city, there already is a lot of low income or affordable housing, actually, a combination of both. And on this site, I think it makes perfect sense that there is market rate housing that will help ensure that we are successful in bringing many of the types of services that will serve these neighborhoods and keep some of Denver's tax dollars in Denver and not have them leave to Jefferson County because folks who live along the western edges of the city, by and large, for lots of different services, whether it's going to the movies or oftentimes shopping restaurants many times will cross over and spend money in Jefferson County. And if we can keep a lot of those tax dollars in Denver, when we deal with tough economic times, it means that we're capturing those in our Denver general revenue account and not Lakewood or Wheat Ridge or one of the neighboring cities. So I just want to also commend the development team who has really gone above and beyond in working with folks like Villa Park, the West Colfax Neighborhood Business Association. And tonight's presence, if you will, is a testament to that, because I think had. This been brought forward at the early stages of this project coming forward? You probably have a room full of people expressing concerns about height and maybe density and some of those issues. That all got worked out through this process of, you know, multiple meetings with the neighborhood. So kudos to your team and to our city staff who have been involved in this project. They know there was a lot of give and take with the neighborhood on many of these issues. And I think at the end of the day, this is going to be a good project, if you will. I know there'll be multiple projects within it that will benefit this whole quadrant of the city. So thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilwoman. Any other comment on 963 seen on Madam Secretary? Roll call. Shepard Sussman. But I can eat. LEMON Hi, Monteiro. NEVITT Hi. Ortega. Hi, Rob. Mr. President, I. Madam Secretary, please cast your vote to announce the results tonight. Tonight's 963 has been placed on final consideration and does pass. There is no pre adjournment announcement, so seeing no other business before this body. This meeting is adjourned. Think. Denver eight TV. Your city. Your source. Denver. Eight on TV and online. Stay connected to your community, your city, your source. You are watching Denver eight TV. Your city. Your source.