ARVADA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT S T A F F R E P O R T 2014 ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

Transcription

1 ARVADA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT S T A F F R E P O R T 2014 ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN REQUEST The request is to ratify the 2014 Arvada Comprehensive Plan. BACKGROUND The Comprehensive Plan is the City of Arvada s guiding document regarding future growth and development. It is intended to provide clarity and direction to decision makers, the development community, and the community at large as to what the City s goals are for the future. The 2014 Arvada Comprehensive Plan is an update of the existing Comprehensive Plan that was adopted by the Planning Commission in 2005 and ratified by the City Council that same year. Since 2005, the City has grown substantially and new issues and challenges have arisen that require the existing plan to be updated. Additionally, there was a desire to align the Comprehensive Plan with the City Council s Strategic Plan. PUBLIC NOTIFICATION The availability of the Public Hearing Draft for public comment was communicated through the project website (ArvadaPlans.org), print media, Notify Me, social media platforms, mailings to homeowner s associations and an blast to all those who participated in the planning process. In addition, the Colorado Revised Statutes require that, at least 15 days prior to a public hearing regarding adoption of a Comprehensive Plan, notice must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City. The notice appeared in the Arvada Press on July 31, 2014.

2 PAGE 2 PROCESS FOR DEVELOPING NEW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN To update the 2005 Plan, the City solicited input from the public, business community, elected officials and advisory board members, other government jurisdictions and service agencies. Outreach efforts included individual interviews, public meetings, booths at community festivals, a Plan Hub at a local coffee shop, on-line surveys, high schools workshops, and work sessions with Planning Commission, City Council and City advisory boards and commissions. Following is a summary of the outreach effort conducted during the various stages of the planning process: Issue Identification Stakeholder interviews (August 12 and 13, 2013) - residents, business community, service agencies, other cities, Planning Commission, City Council, and City advisory commissions. Online survey Visioning Community kick-off events (September 11 and 12, 2013) Values, Vision and Goals online survey Board/Commission Summit (September 30, 2013) Opportunities Analysis Festival of Scarecrows booth (October 12, 2013) Opportunity Area online survey Joint Planning Commission/City Council work session (December 9, 2013) Community Choices Workshops with students from all four Arvada high schools (February 18 and 19, Three public workshops (February 13, 18 and 19, Plan Hub at Global Goods and Coffee in Olde Town (February 19, 20 and 22, Board/Commission Summit (March 6, Joint Planning Commission/Transportation Committee workshop (March 18, City Council work session (April 14, Strategies and Plan Development Sustain Arvada Festival booth (May 3, Planning Commission work session (May 6, Draft Plan Two open houses (June 25 and 26, Joint Planning Commission/Transportation Committee work session on public comment (July 8, City Council work session on public comment (July 14,

3 PAGE 3 KEY ISSUES FACING ARVADA As a result of early stakeholder interviews and public input, the following key issues were identified for the Plan update: Changing demographics- Arvada is getting older, more racially diverse and there are more non-traditional households (single parent households, couples without children, single people living alone, etc.). These changing demographics create the need for additional housing choices and transportation options. Redevelopment is needed as the City matures. Older commercial centers and corridors sometimes don t perform as well as the past. We need to improve our jobs to housing imbalance by creating more employment. Maintaining Arvada s historic resources and diverse character. We need to take advantage of the coming of the Gold Line in terms of residential, retail and employment opportunities. Create a balanced multi-modal transportation system that connects people to employment, services and community amenities. We need to revitalize declining neighborhoods and foster strong neighborhoods throughout the City. It is important to enable access to healthy foods and promoting active living through our infrastructure investments. Arts and education are important values to the community. Resource conservation is an increasingly important value in the community and we should integrate our sustainability goals into the Plan. KEY CHANGES TO THE 2005 PLAN This Plan changes the structure and content of the 2005 Plan to reflect the 2013 City Council Strategic Plan. The Plan provides straightforward goals and policies and clear, easy-to-read maps related to the following three themes: Growth and Economic Development Multi-Modal Transportation Vibrant Community and Neighborhoods Additional changes in the Plan include: The Land Use Plan was revised to respond to goals regarding greater housing variety, connecting people to transit and preserving land for future employment. Additional mixed-use areas were added in the Indiana and Ralston Road corridors and south of Red Rocks Community College. Medium density was designated at the southwest and southeast quadrants of the Indiana Street/72 nd Avenue intersection and at the 80 th Avenue /Kipling Street and 72nd/Kipling Street intersections. Land in the 66 th and Indiana/66 th Avenue area was designated for employment and retail. The Large Format Retail land use designation was merged into the Neighborhood and Community Commercial category. In addition, technical corrections were made to bring our transit oriented development plans at Olde Town and the Sheridan stations into alignment with

4 PAGE 4 the Plan and to reflect the Wadsworth Neighborhood Study (see Exhibit A for key changes to the Land Use Plan). Land Use categories were updated. Key changes were inclusion of language regarding how compatibility is a consideration in determining actual density of projects, clarification of density range in residential categories, elimination of numeric requirements for uses in mixed-use designations and elimination of the Large Format Retail category (merged with Neighborhood and Community Commercial. (See Exhibit B for a Track Changes version of these changes). Looking at transportation from a multi-modal perspective which includes planning for automobiles, transit, bicycling and pedestrian travel. Updated traffic modeling was conducted to update future roadway improvement needs. Analysis was conducted of the existing transit system to determine gaps to be filled in the future. Maps were included to reflect City goals for bicycle trails and the pedestrian system. Additional policies were added to emphasize the importance of looking at land use and transportation in an integrated manner and from a multi-modal perspective. To reflect the importance of developing strong neighborhoods, additional policies were added to reflect the importance of focus areas, improving infrastructure in older neighborhoods and neighborhood engagement. Public safety goals were added to the Comprehensive Plan to reflect the community s need for a future Justice Center, a future community station in western Arvada, decentralized service delivery, community partnerships and regionalization of certain services such as the SWAT Team, Police Academy and Crime Lab. Integration of City s major sustainability goals under Resource Conservation section, including goals related to recycling, air quality, energy efficiency, water conservation and water quality. Inclusion of a new policy to support expansion of Red Rocks Community College. PUBLIC COMMENT ON PUBLIC HEARING DRAFT Extensive public comment was received on the Draft Plan which preceded the Public Hearing Draft, and two public meetings were held in June. Staff reviewed approximately 150 comments and recommended certain changes to the plan which have been incorporated into the Public Hearing Draft. The comments on the Draft Plan were discussed in previous workshops with the Planning Commission and City Council. See Exhibit C for the Draft Plan Comments and Responses. Comments on the Public Hearing Draft were received from five individuals and agencies. These comments are attached and discussed in Exhibit D. Based on the public comment received, staff recommends that certain changes be made be incorporated into the Final Plan. These changes are fairly minor in nature, but provide greater clarity with respect to our bicycle and pedestrian policies in the Plan (See Exhibit E ). PLANNING COMMISSION ADOPTION OF THE PLAN The Planning Commission held a public hearing on August 19, 2014 to consider adoption of the Plan. The Plan was recommended for adoption with the condition noted below on a 6-0 vote.

5 PAGE 5 CONCLUSION Staff and the Planning Commission recommend ratification of the 2014 Comprehensive Plan and forward to the City Council for ratification with the following condition: 1. That the following changes be incorporated into the Final Plan: (1) Page 3-2, last sentence of paragraph titled Multi-modal modify sentence to read: These multi-modal transportation alternatives provide children and adults with safe and convenient opportunities for walking and bicycling to school, work, shopping, and activity centers to encourage exercise and healthy living habits, reduce the risk of injury from traffic collisions near these locations, and decrease morning commute traffic, air pollution, and fossil fuel consumption. (2) Goal T-4, Page 3-6, Policy T-4.3. reword as follows: Arvada will maintain and enhance bicycle and pedestrian functionality as the Arvada street system expands in order to provide safe, convenient, and comfortable routes for walking and bicycling to enable active travel as part of daily activities for all users and, in particular, for students, families, and staff en route to school. (3) Policy T-5.2, Page 3-7 add the following sentence after the second sentence to read: Improve connectivity in vicinity of new and existing schools to make walking and biking convenient and direct. (4) Replace the photo on Page 3-17 with a photo of people walking.