CC Minutes - 09/27/06 Work Session

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of a citizen involvement committee for the downtown zoning district project, Walnut Station mixed use project, and South Ridgeline habitat study. She described the commission’s efforts to date with respect to opportunity siting and infill standards. She said the Historic Review Board, one of the commission’s standing committees, had completed the first historic survey of the River Road area. Mr. Hledik discussed the commission’s current high priority projects, beginning with opportunity siting and infill standards. He said direction from the council at a joint meeting in July 2006 had been very helpful. He indicated that the purpose of the project was to concentrate higher density housing on specific parcels that could best accommodate density in terms of compatibility with existing neighborhoods and to create a tool kit of strategies to make infill development more compatible with its surroundings. He said tasks to be completed during the next 12 to 18 months were incorporated into the 2007 work plan. He reported an initial public forum had been held to discuss community concerns as the commission began its work and a staff person had been hired to lead the project. Mr. Hledik emphasized that opportunity siting and infill standards would proceed on separate but equal tracks because while they were complementary, one was not necessarily dependent on the other; the commission was keeping the distinction in mind as it proceeded. He said possible opportunity sites would be identified and that process would involve a wide representation of interests and broad community outreach in collaboration with the Neighborhood Leadership Council (NLC). He said the process would also provide an opportunity to explore a prototype of the alternate path process in which the council had expressed an interest. Mr. Hledik anticipated that the end results of the project would include broad public awareness and participation, a full study of one or two opportunity sites, a feasibility analysis of high-density housing generally and specifically for the demonstration sites, criteria for identifying future opportunity sites, a tool kit of compatibility strategies, a report of neighborhood concerns about infill and a strategy for addressing those concerns, and an analysis of the net effect on housing yield, which would be the metrics portion of the project. Mr. Lawless addressed mixed-use centers. He said that Walnut Station was an effort to implement mixed- use development and significantly increase the amount of housing in the study area. He said a major issue was continuing refinement of the selection of a preferred design concept. He said the Rasor Park project on lower River Road would provide an implementation strategy to guide redevelopment of the area into a pedestrian- and transit-oriented, higher density mixed-use center. He identified the next steps as involving the neighborhood in the planning process, development of a common vision for the area, a realistic assessment of the study area’s mixed-use center potential, developing strategies for improved connectivity, design standards and guidelines, plan amendments, and implementation strategies. He said a primary issue in mixed-use centers was effectively managing citizen involvement in the projects. Mr. Hledik related that the South Ridgeline Habitat Study was a field inventory and analysis project that would address nearly 2,000 acres of potential habitat area in the south Hills as well as across the south ridgeline. Mr. Lawless stated that the code amendments project would enter Phase 2, which would focus on a limited number of changes to the code as suggested by the community. He said the initial steps of the process would include community outreach forums, opportunities to identify the areas of desired change and prioritization of potential amendments. He said several opportunities for the public and the Planning Commission to discuss the direction and focus of amendments would be organized and conducted prior to any public hearings on the proposed amendments. MINUTES—City Council September 27, 2006 Page 2 Work Session