Rezone 2765 South Colorado Boulevard from B-3 with waivers and conditions to S-CC-3x in Council District 4.  (NEIGHBORHOODS AND PLANNING) Rezone 2765 South Colorado Boulevard from B-3 with waivers and conditions (Former Chapter 59) to S-CC-3x (suburban, commercial corridor, 3 stories, less intense use) in Council District 4.  IF ORDERED PUBLISHED, A PUBLIC HEARING WILL BE HELD ON THIS ITEM.  REFER TO THE "PENDING" SECTION OF THE FUTURE COUNCIL MEETING AGENDAS FOR THE DATE. The Committee approved filing this bill at its meeting on 3-16-16.
The property is just over 21,000 square feet and the owner is requesting zoning that would allow for possible repurposing of commercial property fronting Colorado Boulevard. The current zoning is B3 or shopping center district with waivers and conditions. The Shopping Center District allows for a 1 to 1 floor to area ratio. The waiver specific to the current zoning include restrictions on more intensive commercial uses and those have been attached in to the staff report. And then conditions include a requirement for fencing between the commercial property and the budding residential to the rear street trees and then a restriction on retail uses before 6 a.m. and after 9 p.m.. The surrounding zoning include B three with waivers to the north and south as well as FCC three X or a commercial corridor, three story maximum height zoning to north and south with some limitations and s or suburban issue single unit D which allows for 6000 square foot minimum lot size. The requested zone district is s suburban context commercial corridor the CC and three storey maximum height with use limitations in these zone districts is intended to balance pedestrian and automobile access and provides for commercial mixed use development along auto dominated corridors, but allows for less intensive mixed use as commercial uses to serve as a transition between the more intensive commercial corridor or more auto intensive arterial streets and nearby residential. Look at the existing land use contact shows commercial fronting Colorado. Current use today is office and there's the lighter red color commercial retail along the corridor as well. And then immediately to the west you see the abutting single family residential land use. The center image is the subject property and you see it. A two storey office building on the site to the north. You also seek office and commercial uses fronting Colorado Boulevard as well as to the south, to the east. On the opposing side of Colorado, you see a larger retail complex and to the west fronting Harrison Street, a single family residential. The rezoning process to present has included neighborhood outreach by CPD and the applicant to the registered neighborhood organizations listed here. All of the written and posted notice requirements have been met leading up to the council hearing this evening. And despite this outreach effort and some communication with Wilshire Homeowners Association presidency, there has not been any submitted public comments specific to this rezoning. Let's look at the review criteria, beginning with plan consistency. The applicable plans are plan 2000, which encourages infill development that is consistent with neighborhood character, also encourages mixed use development and a range of housing types and services. Blueprint Denver shows a land use concept of single family residential, and we should take a careful look at the definition of single family residential as it is somewhat varied. It allows, while it encourages predominant single family homes or single family homes as the predominant development type or use type, there can be a variety of housing types and there can even be complementary land uses such as stores, parks and schools. And this is a citywide plan. And sometimes when we look at specific sites, we we need to carefully consider the definition of a land use as well as the land use context and other factors that we'll look at. This is also in Blueprint Denver, an area of stability defined as mean, intending to maintain the character of an area, but allowing and accommodating some new development and redevelopment. And also in single family land use areas, there can be a small employment base or a significantly smaller employment base. So between complementary stores and other uses and an employment base, we know that there can be more than single family, residential and in fact some commercial uses in single family. Mentioned. We look at other factors when determining how to best interpret a land use such as concept land use such as Blueprint Single-Family Residential in Blueprint Denver. As we looked at the street classification in this case Colorado Boulevard, that the property fronts is a mixed use arterial. This is a high capacity street carrying many vehicles, but also intended to carry bicycle and pedestrian trips that very much automobile dominated and the purpose of connecting neighborhoods to major employment and commercial centers throughout the city in the region. And here's an image of Colorado Boulevard, all six lanes plus that a diesel acceleration lane and center turning lanes. Very much a high capacity vehicle corridor. But we also see accommodations for bike and impaired. The next review criteria is would be met by SCC three X as it would result in a uniform application of the district building form, use and design regulations. Third criteria would be met as the would this district would further public health and safety and welfare by implementing recommendations from these adopted plans. The justifying circumstance would be a changed or changing condition to the property and its surroundings. Specifically, there was after this property was developed along Colorado Boulevard later in the 19 late nineties, we see the saw the development of commercial retail on the east side of Colorado. And then in 2010 there was comprehensive citywide rezoning where SCC three X zoned districts were applied to the north and south of this. Could it be three with waivers and conditions? And then in general, there is an aging condition. Each year, decade that passes these properties. Many were built in the early 1960s are aging and in need of some reinvestment. The fifth and final review criteria would be the consistency with the neighborhood context and the zone district purpose and intent . And in particular the Berman context can be defined as single unit residential uses located away from arterial streets, but also single and some multi-unit residential, as well as commercial strips and centers and office parks, especially located on these these arterial streets. And SCC three X is consistent with this with the suburban context as it would allow for development opportunities along auto dominated corridor such as Colorado Boulevard and allow for that transition between intensity to lower intensity to the adjacent residential while allowing for flexible design standards for building circulation and parking. CPD has found that all review criteria have been met and we recommend approval of this application and Planning Board recommended approval as well with a21 vote. The applicant is here this evening and prepared to respond to questions and I'd be happy to as well. And thank you for your time. Think, tim, we have one speaker for this public hearing, Dan Burkey. Evening Council members. My name is Dan Burkey and I'm here on behalf of the applicant. I'm happy to address any questions that may be directed to the applicant. Thank you. All right, councilmembers. That concludes our speakers now. Time for questions. Councilwoman Black. Hi. Hi. Thank you, Mr. Burkey. This project is in my very own neighborhood. And could you just explain to the rest of the council what's been done to this property and why they are seeking the rezoning? Sure. My client recently acquired the property within the last year and a half timeframe and immediately went into a remodel. More of a facelift, really. We put in, you know, all new windows. And so it is existing office space, kind of boutique office space. And so with this recent remodel that we've just completed, it's for lease now. And so our immediate intentions for the the near future is, of course, to to continue to use that as a boutique office space. Now, the reason we're requesting the rezoning is because we do know that future development is a possibility. Again, we don't have any immediate plans or designs or anything at this point, but we would like to have the the rezoning, the I'm sorry, SCC three X that's what we're looking for to allow for more flexibility in the future, either if we were to sell the property and market it, or if we ourselves would like to redevelop it in the future. But the existing 1990s ordinance that we have right now is pretty restrictive on some of the various specific uses. I mean, I don't think. We're looking to do adult. Bookstores or tobacco shops, but we know that the new zoning classification does allow for a lot more flexibility and in what we might want to do in the future. I don't have any other. Thank you. Councilman Black. Councilman Espinosa. And sort of. Oh, I know it is. It's actually probably for Tim, but I don't know. Both of you might know it. The one vote planning board against. What was the nature of that? Yes. So, Don Elliot, after voting no at the end and explaining his position, felt that complimentary commercial uses should be more neighborhood serving and perhaps less oriented to a regional arterial street. But the rest of the the board members felt that complimentary could mean neighborhood serving and serving an arterial street passing near a neighborhood. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Espinosa. Councilman Carter. Thank you, Mr. President. Councilman Espinosa asked my question so I don't have to thank you. Thank you, Councilman Flynn. Thank you, Mr. President. Tim, could you explain what differences there are, if there are any, between the waivers that are being now waived and the new zoning classification? Will there be? It looks to me like it'll be allow for similar commercial uses, but I just want to be sure. There are some similarities and I might just begin with the some of the uses that are restricted under FCC three x. So those would include body art, outdoor service and repair firearm sales and your heavier automobile services, vehicle rentals, contractors, lab research, general manufacturing, storage, wholesale trade and vehicles. So it's these larger, more intensive uses that might have larger trucks with, you know, as they back up, they beep. And so that's generally that the types of use is restricted today. And what you'll find in the list of restricted uses or waived uses from the earlier ordinance is very, very detailed uses which reflect the former Chapter 59 use list, which prior to the early 2000s was extremely detailed down to the type of store, grocery store, tobacco store, etc. and yet in the early 2000s, those uses were consolidated to. Reduced number of categories. More of a light, medium or large, medium, small. I forget the exact classification. So it's just really gone through a series of of evolutions and changes to where there is not a 1 to 1 comparison between today's use restrictions. And I know that in the past, under the old Chapter 59, my predecessors, predecessor, Councilmen Hackworth, often was highly specific when wavers were involved in a rezoning. That's why I was wondering what the neighborhood might have bargained for when the initial B three with waivers. What were the restrict? What were the waivers in the original B three? Well, there are quite a few, and I'll just give you samples perhaps and get an idea. But automatic indoor archery. Lane's Automobile Gasoline Filling Station Billiard Parlor. Pool Table. Food Locker Plant. Fruit store. Grocery Store. Ice skating and a roller skating rink. Just doesn't seem to be a real consistent list of what. You're right. Pool table. I thought of Harold Hill and the music man does it doesn't allow in your first list you talk about the new zoning does not allow things like body art. Are you talking about tattoos? Tattoo parlor? Is that what that refers to? Correct. So the closer you look at the exact definition, but that's my understanding is that type of. Is a permit marijuana sales. So that's under the control of excise and licensing. Okay. But it would be allowed under this new general retail. Okay. So long as the spacing requirements. Correct. Excise and licensing. Okay. Thank you. That's all, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilman Flynn. Any other questions? 174 scene public hearing is now closed. Time for comments, Councilman Black. Thank you, Mr. President. Councilman Flynn, to respond to your question about a marijuana store, there actually is one next to the property. So, no, there can't be one there. As I said, I live in this neighborhood and this rezoning is consistent with the other properties on that block. I don't see anything controversial about it. The owner has spent a great deal of money reinvesting in the property and is currently leasing it. There's no change in the structure, no change in the parking and no change in the use. So I won't be supporting it this evening. Thank you. Councilwoman Black. Councilman knew I used to buy an auto insurance from this from this building where Adrian was there, and it surely needed some improvement. So I welcome your your project to remodel and redevelop this project. I'll vote for it tonight. Thank you, Councilman. New Councilman Espinosa. And councilman knew you must have been getting a good deal on that auto insurance. Also, I was going to say is yeah, this is even if the other not in the other now. Nonconforming marihuana facility location. Was there there's a there's a residential zone district that is across the alley or abuts this. Correct. So this location would per our new ordinance wouldn't wouldn't be eligible anyway. So that's all I wanted to point out. Thanks. Thank you, Councilman Espinosa. And a comment. 174 Seen none, ma'am. Secretary Roll Call. Black. Hi, Brooks Clark. Hi, Espinosa Flynn. Hi, Gilmore. Hi, Cashin. Can each. Lopez. Hi, new Ortega Susman. Mr. President. Hi. Madam Secretary. Please close a very nice results. 30 Nice nice 174 has been placed on final consideration and does pass. All right, the next bill we have come up is 191. Councilman Flynn, will you please put Council Bill 191 on the floor for final passage?