I call the June 26, 2025 Planning Commission meeting to order at 5.30 PM. Clerk Duffy, will you please call the roll? Chair Rance. Here. Chair Pro Tem Wiley. Commissioner Green. Here. Commissioner Kidd. Here. Commissioner Leitou. Here. Commissioner Rohrbach. Chair Rance, you have a quorum. I thank you. Please rise and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And number four on our agenda is approval of the agenda. If there are no objections, the agenda will be approved. Okay, hearing none, the agenda is approved as presented. Next on the agenda is item number five, our public comment. A public comment is designed to share your thoughts and opinions with the Planning Commission. This is a formal business meeting of the Planning Commission, and as such, we follow the standard protocol, which means the public comment is not an interactive discussion. It is a one-way forum. If you would like to give... general public comment, and you are joining us electronically, please use the chat feature to write in your name or address. We ask that the chat feature only be used to sign in for public comment. If you are joining us in person, please sign up on the clipboard in the back of the room. When the clerk recognizes you, please start with your name and address for the record. Please note that there is a three-minute time limit. If you have called into tonight's meeting, the clerk will recognize you based on the last four digits of your phone number. We will now pause to give individuals a chance to sign up. Clerk Duffy, has anyone signed up to get public comment? We do not have anyone in person via chat and no one has called in. All right. Thank you. Item six on the agenda is our presentation of the minutes. there any corrections to the minutes from the may 22nd 2025 planning commission meeting okay hearing none the minutes are approved as presented on to our action items tonight um our action item this evening is The Canyons Preliminary Plan Number 2, Second Amendment, Case Number PFP-2024-001. Our staff presentation will be given by Senior Planner Lisa Romhelt. All right. Thank you, Chair and members of the Planning Commission. For your consideration today is a preliminary plan known as the Canyons Preliminary Plan Number 2, Second Amendment. Next slide, please. We'll begin the meeting tonight with a staff overview, followed by the applicant presentation, and then there'll be an opportunity for questions and answers by the Planning Commission. And following the presentations, you'll have the opportunity to deliberate and make a motion and a recommendation on the application. Next slide. All right. So before jumping into the specifics of this application, I do just want to provide some background on what a preliminary plan is. So a preliminary plan represents the first of two steps toward planning the property into lots, streets, and tracks for future development. It's going to look at things like geological hazards, wildlife habitat and corridors, environmentally sensitive areas, sources for required services like water, sanitation, and law enforcement services, vehicular and pedestrian connectivity, and the relationship to surrounding uses. And then following a preliminary plan, there are gonna be subsequent final plot applications to legally subdivide the property. Final plot applications are subject to city council approval, whereas a preliminary plan is recommended by planning commission to the city council, and city council makes the final decision of that. Next slide. So, like I said, the preliminary plans require review and recommendation to the City Council by the Planning Commission, and Planning Commission is to evaluate it based on the following criteria. Number one, that it's in conformance with the goals, objectives, and policies of the Castle Pines Comprehensive Plan. Number two, the subdivider provided evidence that a provision has been made for water supply that is sufficient in terms of quantity, quality, and dependability. Number three, the subdivider has provided evidence that a provision has been made for public sewage disposal system and adequate evidence that such system will comply with the state and city regulations. Next slide, please. Number four, the subdivider has provided evidence to show that all areas of the proposed subdivision, which may involve soil or topographical conditions presenting hazards or requiring special precautions have been identified by the subdivider and the proposed uses of these areas are compatible with those conditions. Number five, the subdivider has provided adequate drainage improvements. Number six, significant cultural, archeological, natural, and historical resources and unique landforms have been protected. And lastly, number seven, necessary services, including fire and police protection, recreation, utilities, open space, and transportation systems are available to serve the proposed subdivision. Next slide. So in this slide, we have the vicinity map for the property subject to this preliminary plan amendment. There are two lots included in this preliminary plan. And those are within the Canyon Signing Number 3, First Amendment. It's highlighted in aqua blue in the first slide. And you can see that they're generally in the central section of the Canyon's plan development. It's near the intersection of Canyon Top Trail and Wild Indigo Street. And they include planning areas 9, 11, I, and J of the Canyon's PD. And I'll address those land designations momentarily. Next slide, please. On this slide, we have the vicinity map adjacent to the aerial imagery. The properties, you'll see, have been generally graded, but otherwise, they've remained vacant. The property, again, is located very centrally in the canyon's PD. Surrounding it is plotted but not yet developed single-family residential lots on the east, north, and west sides. And then to the south, there's open space and then a planned wireless communication facility as well. Next slide, please. So here we have a detailed clip of the proposed preliminary plan showing the overall lot layout, the proposed streets, access, and trails. The applicant is proposing 137 residential lots, 16 tracks for utility, drainage, buffering, and open space uses. It is an infill neighborhood and it straddles Canyon Top Trail. And starting on the west side of the proposed subdivision, It's laid out with clustered single-family detached housing. And then straddling Canyon Top Trail is going to be a smaller single-family detached alley product. And that would have private alleyways east of, or within those, within that area of the subdivision. And then ending on the far east side of the subdivision, there'll be again, clustered single-family detached housing, similar to what you see on the far west side. And then incorporated throughout the neighborhood are the tracks for utility drainage, buffering and open space uses. The open space tracks are proposed along the western and southern boundary of the properties, and there will be two trail connections adjacent to the subdivision. Access to the neighborhood will be via Canyon Walk Lane, Saddlesmith Street, and Wild Indigo Street. And then there are new residential streets and private alleyways proposed internal to the subdivision. And the project will be phased with the clustered single-family type housing being plotted and developed first, followed by the smaller single-family alley product second. Next slide, please. Oh, and those are, sorry, I should have paused there. I did just highlight where the access is to the subdivision, so there'll be a couple clicks to go through to get to the next slide, just so you can see where those entrances are. All right, so in this slide, I'll address the uses and the layout. So the Canyons PD, as amended, outlines the zoning for planning areas 9, 11, I, and J as residential for planning areas 9 and 11, open space active for planning area I, and then open space limited for planning area J. Residential allows for various... housing products like detached and attached single family, clustered single family, multifamily. And then Open Space Active is intended to provide both passive and active recreational opportunities. You might see organized recreation facilities or community facilities eventually in those types, in those planning areas. And then Open Space Limited is more going to remain natural in character, primarily native landscaping. So this preliminary plan is proposing 137 residential lots and 16 tracks. And the lots are generally going to be located within planning area 11, but a small area does extend into planning areas I and J, which is not necessarily intended for residential uses. And you'll see in this exhibit here, the green shading shows kind of where it's encroaching into the open space areas. But per the Pink Canyon's PD minor adjustments, to planning area boundaries are allowed. So long as the maximum density is in minimum open space is not being altered. So we are able to confirm that the minimum open space requirements for planning area I and J have been met with previous plots. So staff does support these shifts in the boundary. And then a small sliver of this preliminary plan touches planning area nine on the Southwest corner. So that's why it's included, but it's just a very small. portion of the plan exceed getting into that area. And then I did just want to touch, not necessarily on this slide, but on the dedications. So this preliminary plan is not providing for any additional dedications for Parklander schools, as this has already been satisfied with previous preliminary plans and final plats and the minimum dedications for the canyons overall has been exceeded. Next slide, please. All right. As far as public outreach goes, an adjacent landowner notification was mailed to adjacent landowners in conformance with the subdivision regulations, and we did not receive any comments in response to that notification. And then there were three external referral comment periods to outside agencies. We sent a request for comments to agencies, including the Parker Water and Sanitation District, Canyons Metropolitan District number two, the Cherry Creek Basin Water Quality Authority, Mile High Flood District, South Metro Fire and Rescue, the Douglas County Sheriff, Reuter Hess Recreation Authority, CDOT, and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Centennial Airport, Douglas County government and addressing the school district, and then utilities like Xcel Energy and CORE. And we did receive 11 comments back, but these were either no comment or they were reconciled through the review process and adequately addressed by the applicant. And lastly, there was no public hearing notification. So there wasn't a written notice or posted notice that wasn't a requirement as part of this abuse application. Next slide, please. So upon review, we do find that this application conforms with the approval criteria. And again, I'll just go through those as a reminder. So the preliminary plan is in conformance with the city's comprehensive plan. There is evidence of water supply as well as sewer supply. Number four, there's evidence that the proposed use is compatible with the geology of the land. Number five, the subdivider has provided adequate drainage improvements. Number six, significant cultural, archaeological, natural, and historical resources and unique landforms have been protected. And lastly, the subdivision is provided with the necessary public services. So we do recommend approval of this application, and there is a recommended motion to follow, but I'm happy to answer any questions before the applicant provides a more detailed presentation on their proposal. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Although not the time for debate, planning commissioners may ask questions of staff. Does anyone have any clarifying questions from this room? All righty. I have a bunch. Feel free to tell me if we'll need to defer these to the traffic engineer, but a lot of my initial questions are from the traffic study. So specific to page 33 into page 34, there were a lot of recommendations about things that needed to be done. My question is a little bit more along the lines of what is our mechanism to ensure that these things occur? Because some of them look to be statewide functions, others are probably developer or applicant functions. There are things like the traffic signal length should be increased to 110 seconds for AM peak hour and 100 seconds. And so my question is, how do we keep track of those? Because this won't be developed for a little while. Is there a regular review process where some of these things are captured and accounted for as the development occurs? Thank you for your question. I just want to clarify the traffic impact study that you are referencing. Is it the conformance letter to the primary traffic impact analysis? It is the traffic impact study that was included in attachment F. But I guess, so our traffic engineer does review these studies. And as we're aware of improvements needing to take place with the development, we do track that. So as new studies come in, we are aware kind of like how the volumes are changing and paying attention to that. I don't know if that adequately addresses your question, but we are paying attention to the volumes and as they change, what improvements need to take place that are associated with the developments. Okay. Yeah, and I think that kind of brings on like a little bit of a chicken or an egg conversation. Are those decisions made based on progress of the development or residents as they move in, like the need? Because a couple of those recommendations too were additional queuing lanes and depth and things that, in my mind as I was reading it, you know, require some lead time there. So I guess I'm just, you know, that whole area is being plotted and identified, but, you know, how far out do we anticipate the need to make some of these changes there to affect the traffic use? The traffic impact studies are identifying the improvements needed at the time of... like preliminary plans and final plots as opposed to building permitting. So it's happening well in advance before things go where we're identifying what improvements need to go. Okay. And Chair Rance, this is just the first two steps for planning. So when we do get the formal planning in, we will again reevaluate that traffic impact analysis and make any recommendations as our engineers And my last question just has to do with the cultural survey. I just want to make sure my understanding was correct. A lot of the data in that report that I read indicated that when the original planning areas and everything were studied, that they identified all of the issues then, and that this piece of property in and of itself doesn't increase or butt up against any of those other areas that were identified in the report, so there's no issues with that? That is correct. There's no impact to any cultural, historical, natural features. All right. Okay. Those are all my questions. Most of them are on the traffic impact study. I think it's your fault anyway, because you did the study session, so I don't think you did one of them. Okay. Any more questions from commissioners? No? We'll now move on to the applicant presentation, and we are joined by Ryan McDermott from Shea Homes. Good evening. My name is Ryan McDermott. Thanks for the opportunity to come to 49 and present the Preliminary Plan 2 Amendment Number 2. Next slide, please. With me tonight, I'll just emphasize myself, is Jessica Rickholdig. She's an estate designer. She's a land planner and landscape designer for the project and has been since its inception. And then David Bocce is actually not here. The brains of the operation, Boston Blake, who actually does all the work that David takes credit for, is here from Tennessee in design with a civil engineer on the project. So they're with me here tonight to answer any other questions if I do not sufficiently cover them through my presentation. Next slide, please. So a little, before I jump in, kind of background and updates on the canyons in general. You know, canyons, I should say Shea's ownership of the canyons is 1,270 acres, roughly 2,000 units. We're probably roughly 60% through the housing units right now. Development's a little bit further ahead. We've built roughly eight miles of trails for the community of the 12 miles plans that are remaining four miles will be built with the remaining build out of the community as we continue through development and housing construction. We built one, two, three, four, five parks, completing the fifth park right now. We'll have one more park in the phase three area called Long Canyon Park that will come before staff when we get through that portion of the SIP process. And yeah, I guess it goes without saying, hopefully we just had a chance to go out and see the Exchange Coffee House. We built a pool, a pool facility, and more recently opened up the full service bar and restaurant in the canyon. So really kind of delivering our promises we made to our community residents and the things we provide for our community and for the city, Castle Mines, and the canyon's development for Shea Homes. This is kind of the hole in the donut, as everybody's kind of talked about. We've kind of had this planned since 2018. We brought, I believe, this preliminary plan number two in 2021, 2022, so don't quote me on the dates, but generally that time period. We purposely held out this area because we were trying to figure out the geometry on this alley-loaded product and more related to product segmentation. So you want a variety of housing segments, square footage. And so we really didn't know what those lot sizes need to be at the time. We were going through this original preliminary plan in 2022, so we were trying to put pencils down on this area. focused on understanding that product series. And then, obviously, we're now back in front of you all with kind of having to find that geometry and how that works with those alley-loader products to provide appropriate segmentation. You know, so we have houses, not 4,000 to 5,000 square foot, but these will be more than 18 to 2,500 square foot. So hopefully providing another kind of... lower square footage, lower price point to allow entry into the city of Castle Pines of the community. So just adding a little bit more of a lot of segmentation to the community. So that was kind of those pits down and study that area and then come back to you all now with the preliminary plan you see in front of us. So in total, you know, as far as, like I said, shade ownership of the canyons has always been 2,000 units. We have not changed those numbers. And I'll touch on some of your traffic study questions as we go forward here. Next slide, please. So, you know, staff did a wonderful job of showing a much better image of this, but, you know, really part of the storytelling is here, this is one of the main entrances into the Canyons community. So as you enter it, you would also go through Soaring Oak Park, it's further south. And then we really wanted to create this kind of entranceway in the community with rear-loaded products that you have front architecture on the streets. So you're kind of creating a gateway without being garage-dominated. So we kind of go through that gateway, and then you hit Long Canyon Park, and then you're kind of into the community. So it's a little bit of this kind of theming, branding, thinking through how best that community works and gathers and lives. And so this was kind of our thought process of having that immediate adjacency to Soarin'. Hawk Park, and then, you know, this kind of gateway into the next phase of the Canyons community. It was kind of the storytelling and theming behind it. Next slide. And so this is, you know, kind of another highlight of that gateway. So those pink lots be that alley-loaded product where you have heavy architecture, front-loading, the street. Those lots behind it are... you know, standard front loaded single family detached. And once again, we're going back to segmentation. It goes kind of smaller, it's a little bit bigger. So this, the blue lots would be Shea's current smallest series on site. So we're just kind of, once again, working through segmentation and providing another opportunity to enter the city of Castle Pines. Next slide, please. As I mentioned, we've already built eight miles of trails. There's four more that go, kind of goes, corresponds to about 60, 65% done with housing. We're kind of 60, 65% done with trails. As we... As we continue on, obviously, as development goes, we'll continue to build trails throughout the community. The trails are based on the open space within the community. So we've had several joint construction projects with Mile High Flood District. improving channels. I think we've had three projects of channels so far. We have one more left to do that we'll pick off in late 26, early 27, which is the far east side channel that will go through improvements in our like I said, a collaborative effort with Mile High Flood District. So if you had a chance to be out there, you'll notice those streams have been heavily improved. They were kind of eroded, degraded streams, and now they're fully enhanced with, you know, landscaping, wetlands plantings, and it's all part of the project and process with Mile High Flood District. So I read that, I'd say that's kind of where our trails goes, open space. Staff mentioned we were roughly required 430, I have the numbers here somewhere, but like 430 acres of open space for at PDE, we've dedicated roughly 450 acres of open space right now. So we've kind of over-dedicated open space. Like I said, it's part of the big thought process behind the Canyons community. Next slide, please. Streets, you know, probably goes without saying, but it was in the referral comments. I think the last approval criteria is related to connectivity, fire, police, obviously fires. South Metro has reviewed the plans. Obviously, we have trail connection, roadway connections been done by Public Works. To kind of get to some of the questions related to the traffic, because that was probably another 300 pages of the report. I'll have kind of two answers to your question. This little piece in front of us tonight has not changed in density, so it's been chained the same 2,000 lots since its inception. The traffic study that was in the packet is kind of a holistic traffic study for all of the Kansas City and the entire PD, which I think now is 5,000 units or something like that. So those triggers are triggered by traffic roadway improvements. And those improvements are captured in the city for the developer to build on the SIAs or SIPs, whatever it is in public works. So if there's a certain intersection, a traffic signal needs to be built, when the developer, the owner comes forward and says, I want to build something, whether it be commercial development or something here that triggers traffic, these roadway improvements at that time, the city typically, I'm not going to put words in C's mouth, will sign an SIA or SIP that says, you guys have to build this traffic signal at that time in order to get these improvements in this plan approved. That's the typical process. So I don't know if that helps to answer the question, but it is usually done at the public works level. So it will be captured and it will be part of anything done commercially or that phase three area that was approved pulmonary plan down a couple months ago or something like that, whenever that was. Well, yeah, I think I was trying to get to your question there. I think that's kind of the end of my presentation. I'm happy to take any other questions. All right. Thanks, Ryan. Appreciate the detail. Commissioners, although there's not time for debate, we have an opportunity to ask questions of the applicant. Does anyone have any clarifying questions for Mr. McDermott? I just have one question. Go back to that. What's the plan of land use for the north side? I think it's the northeast corner there. It's open. Is that going to be planned as last two or is that going to be you? That's a long-term work. And we've got SIP, so that'll be the next one. That's phase three. Okay, great. Thank you. All right. Any other questions from the commissioner? All right. Thank you. Chair Ransom. Chair Ransom. Yes. May I just provide a restatement of the traffic impact analysis? Sure. So again, I just want to make it clear that the traffic impact analysis included in this packet is a traffic impact analysis for, again, 2,000 units, which this piece is included, and that all of these identified improvements are included in the annexation and development agreement. And as Mr. McDermott had mentioned, they have specific triggers for when those improvements take place. And typically those triggers are based on as development comes in and actually adds and hits that level of traffic. that would, again, trigger the improvement. So I apologize if I wasn't clear last time. No, all good. That's a good clarification. Thank you for that. All right, seeing as we have no further questions, can I get a motion to begin debate? I'll make a motion. I move to recommend the approval of the Canyon Supplement Plan number two, second amendment. Case number PFP 2024.001. Based upon the findings in the staff report dated June 20th, 2025, subject to following conditions of approval, the applicant shall pay all fees and costs incurred by the city and its consultants in the review and processing of the application. The applicant shall resolve and correct any minor technical issues as directed by staff before filing an employment plan with the city. All right, is there a second? I second. All right, we have a motion and a second. Commissioner Worlbaugh, you have the motion. Would you like to begin the debate? Yeah, I'd say from my standpoint, I like the idea of the lots fronting onto the collector street as it comes in. It'd be in service to the alleys. I think it's a good plan and I'll be voting yes. Any other remarks? Okay. Thank you for that. I just say, you know, I echo your sentiment there. I find that the approval criteria and analysis in Section 3 of the subdivision regulations within the canyons ADA have been met. I think this is a great addition to the city because it's going to bring smaller, more affordable lots. and open up the ability for other families of different income levels and backgrounds to join the city and live in the newest part of our town. So with no further debate, could we call the vote? Certainly, and I did want to note that Commissioner Wiley has joined us online, but our electronic meeting policy does not allow for her to participate in a quasi-judicial, so I will not be asking for her vote. Chair Reitz? Yes. Commissioner Rohrbaum? Yes. Commissioner Olechu? Yes. Commissioner Green? Yes. Commissioner Kent? Yes. The motion passes. All right. Thank you. Item number eight on our agenda is planning commission discussion items. Our study session tonight is the Affordable Housing Fast-Track Overlay in Rio de Janeiro by representatives from Payers Planning and Development. So we are ready for that presentation. So Josh, if you could step up to the podium. He's leaving Spain. Thank you, Chair, Commissioners. I'm a pleasure to be here before you. So I am Joshua Hobbin with Ayers Associates. I'm our Planning and Development Supervisor. At Ayers, we're based out of Fort Collins. It's kind of our state of Colorado address. So I work kind of up in that region. And then, of course, assist communities such as yours down this way. So as mentioned, we are kind of in the early stages of the affordable housing fast track process and overlay zoning process. Next slide, please. So what we're going to do is I'm just going to touch on a couple of my other colleagues that are part of this effort that are helping out, kind of in the shadows, and then talk about the project overview and the summary. I'm trying to remember all my points there. Josh said promote some of your people. Do you have people on that I should promote? They're just listening back. Yep, no worries. Appreciate it. So we'll do an overview of our engagement summary. We had an engagement event about a month ago. I just want to provide some insights on what we heard thus far on this effort. We're going to do a little mapping exercise, so get you all kind of moving and thinking about what you want to see, and then kind of do a summary of kind of the next steps and what we're going to be moving forward to do. So next slide, please. So as mentioned, Joshua Hava. Online, I have my colleague, Lindsay Wilson, who's a planner, and then Carlyn Bossen is also a community planner on our team who's assisting with this effort. So Lindsay and Carlyn have been active with community outreach components and stakeholder discussions. They're doing a lot of the background research right now that's gonna go into this effort and help guide our efforts and recommendations as we move forward. Next slide. So I just wanted to cover a little bit of a project overview. I guess it is a little hard to read, so I might just read it for you. But the purpose is to accelerate and simplify the development of affordable housing through a dedicated process and a zoning overlay. So the zoning overlay is going to help identify where should affordable housing be allowed. And when we think affordable housing, we're thinking the big A of affordable housing. Individuals that make 60%, 80% of the AMI, a lot of times affordable housing gets kind of stuck with the low income, below 30%. So Again, we're really thinking of the workforce housing, some of the housing that you all discussed here a little bit ago, as well as other opportunities to help that workforce. The fast track process itself, so under Proposition 123, there is the expedited or fast track process. I always like to use the word expedited a little bit more than fast track just because Same fast track implies that everything else is going slow or a slow track. So you'll hear me kind of use expedited probably a little bit more interchangeably just because of my belief in the terminology being used rather than what statute may imply or say. But with that process... we want to look at how we can prioritize those qualifying affordable, again, big A affordable housing projects. And when I say qualifying, Statute Proposition 123 talks about 50% or more of the units within a development or a project being affordable. So let's say you have a multifamily property or project, 50 units and 25 or more of those units are classified as affordable, meeting those income thresholds, then that could meet this fast-track process that we start to develop in that layout. But if only 20 of the units are affordable, then it wouldn't click that trigger to be required to have the expedited process. The intent is, of course, to reduce time. A lot of times when we talk to developers in the development community, it's the time is money kind of effort and notion. The longer it takes to go through the process, a lot of times, especially today, building costs and labor cost fluctuations really impact the overall construction, which then gets handed down into the purchase or rent in price. And so it's really one of the multiple pieces. Again, you'll hear me say that a few different times. It's not just that one thing that works. It's just a lot of little things that start to add up to really help. kind of move the needle a little bit to help make more housing affordable, both for sale and for rent. Some of the times we look at, you know, what is a public hearing, what requires public hearing, and can some of that be an administrative-based decision, especially if you have really strong criteria, which your code has a lot of good criteria. I know you guys have been working on the code as well recently. So, you know, as you work on that, you're guiding staff. You're telling staff what you want to see. You have the comprehensive plan that also provides that guidance. And so hopefully, you know, with certain types of projects that meet the right criteria or threshold, there might be consideration for more administrative-based decisions. And again, that's something that, you know, we'll continue to flesh out as we look through the process. And then we'll have those kind of discussions with you all at a later point in time. So a little early to get into the weeds on that. But of course, you know, with big plan development projects like the one you had tonight, those types of projects, take a little bit more because a lot of times PUDs are also a zoning-based document plus a development-based document. So there's a lot of moving parts and pieces. But we're always cognizant of that. And just so you know, my background is in community planning. I worked, like your colleagues here, in the public sector. So our team really takes that to heart because we've all worked there and we understand that day-to-day grind, what it takes. And so we really balance that instead of just being the consultants from the outside, so I want to make sure you all understand that. When we talk about the overlay zones, so as I mentioned earlier, this is identifying designated areas for those affordable housing projects. Now, as you all have a lot of QDs, a lot of existing neighborhoods, and a lot of built-out areas, you may think, well, we don't really need to identify areas because it might already be incorporated, but we also need to think of some of the older neighborhoods or some of the older commercial areas that could be revitalized or with some info opportunities. And ultimately, the results have greater clarity, predictability, and efficiency in the process and in delivering affordable housing where it stands most in your community. So the idea with the overlay is a great idea and a great touch because then you get help guide it. Where you want to see that, how you want to see it occur, especially in your commercial places, places of employment. So that's what we'll be doing. Next slide, please. So here's the project timeline. We kicked off kind of mid-late February and been doing a little bit of background research. We did the early outreach, I guess it's been, right, a couple months ago now. Time flies. And then we're continuing to do some background research in zoning audit, kind of looking at the existing zoning, but also the regulations and everything that your staff and you all are working on. In terms of the process mapping, that's actually occurring here in a couple weeks, so... We'll be doing that effort, and I'll talk a little bit about that here in a minute. Moving into the next couple months is where we'll start really looking at what that process can look like, what kind of regulations go into that in terms of are there certain standards in place today that maybe we create some flexibility around, create instead of the box being tighter, we expand it a little bit more, give some more options and flexibility just to help, again, with those costs and the numbers. And then a little bit later this fall, we will be working on the final review and final presentation of the code language and the overlay district. And between that time, we will be coming back with you all and having discussions, working things out, kind of fleshing it out, and then moving forward with additional refinements. Next slide, please. So the engagement summary. So again, we held an engagement, a couple engagement events a couple months ago. The first was kind of like a drop-in open house type session where We were at the Ziggy's coffee shop, had some poster boards, had some different residents that came in, talked to some business owners. We did advertise that out to the business community, also through, I think, the chamber listserv and everything as well. So I wouldn't say we had, like, a huge turnout with that, but we had some real good meaningful conversations with the individuals, which a lot of times is more beneficial and more meaningful than just a big number of people to have that quality over quantity. Sad things. And then after that, we did hold some stakeholder discussions with some of the developers and some of the building community in the area. So what we've heard is workforce housing. I think it's nothing new. It's something you all are aware of through the various regional housing assessments. Comprehensive plan talks about it as well, that there is that need, especially with the employee shortage. It's hard to find employees because people can't afford to live. close to where they work. Various housing types. So we did hear that there is support for a variety of housing types. Townhomes, clustered housing, so a little bit tighter neighborhood patterns, which tend to see in the canyons development area. Mixed use, some of the ranch. So when you think ranch style housing, lower maintenance, especially for seniors, people that are aging, less that they want to maintain and take care of. So kind of not downsizing. But, of course, there is always, as you hear probably throughout the state and every community I work in, they want to maintain the small town character and feel. So I think that's what's neat about Castle Pines is the way you're developed and designed. And I think a lot of it's the topography really helped you out there. It really created kind of that small town feel because you really have these kind of clusters and these areas that all work together. So the other thing we heard was community spaces, so a desire for gathering areas. That comes up often, right? Like people just want places to go, spend times with family and integrating that within your neighborhoods or making a walk more accessible. So if we look at infill stuff around the commercial area, is it accessible through the trail network? Is it close to parks, other places where kids and families can go and play and recreate? Infrastructure challenges. So high cost require density, right? As things get more expensive, How do you distribute that to more units? Usually it's more density, tighter lots, more people within square footage and acreage. You know, slow review process. I will say that every community I've ever gone to, comment is always the process is too slow. And they'll always say that community is faster. And if you go to that community, they'll say the other community is faster. It's just kind of the nature of the beast. And again. Being that person's been on both sides of the coin, I've heard it, so I've been there. But it also means there's something there. There's a perception. Because as with any process, as a process improvement guy, right, what's an applicant want to do? They want to be able to turn in a plan, get their permits, go build. They'd love to do it the day of if they could. But that's the job of you all, staff, is to make sure that they are adhering to your standards, your requirements, that they're taking into account what's best for the community. So there is a need for some development review process. And then zoning code updates, which is stuff you all are working through, staff's working on. You guys have identified areas that need refinement and improvement. And we'll work on some of that as well as we're working through this effort, especially targeted on the affordable housing side of things. And then last but not least is the priority sites. So that's part of the activity we'll do here in the little biz. Where? Where should this occur? Where do we want to see this affordable housing? How can we maximize existing infrastructure and instead look at greenfield development? Because if we already have the infrastructure, that reduces the cost. And it kind of serves as a carrot, you know, the development process, if you will. Next slide, please. Any questions before we jump into the activity on the stuff I discussed previously? We got very high levels still. but I've listened to a couple of your meetings talking about zoning regulations. You guys are on top of this, so I don't feel like I have to do too much background education on that. Josh, when you're talking about affordable housing, are you talking about for sale, for rent, or both? Both. Creating the options. I think the current vacancy rates are really low. I think it's hovering just above 0% on for sale and kind of 1% to 2%. on for rent in the community or in the region. And the same then too, in terms of cost is, you know, being able to both rent and purchase. So it caters to kind of all the different demographics and natures. All right, so we're going to do a little activity. You're welcome to partner up or do it yourself. So I printed off some of these maps. What I'd like you to do, and we can talk about it. You can ask me questions as we go along. But what I want you to do is you know your community best. Where do you see these overlays popping up? You know, we're not going to just have one big overlay. And again, this overlay is where we're going to establish that affordable housing is an encouraged use. It might have these variations in development criteria or design criteria to try and encourage affordable housing. Again, we're never going to compromise the integrity of the community or the public health, safety, welfare, which is, of course. our charges, get them officials and representatives. So I have the big map that kind of shows the overall community. And then we have this good zoomed in area of kind of the downtown and the core area to be able to work on. So I'm going to hand this out. I do have a couple markers with me. I forgot I have a rental car with me today from CML and everything. So I don't have my full set of markers, but you're welcome to use pens and other things. Anyone want a sharpie marker instead of a pen? This is your only chance to get your choice, blue or black. So again, just thinking of your community, look at areas. The goal is, again, we're not going to create this one big overlay. It might be a series of different areas. It could be a couple block overlay. It could be an overlay, let's say, over here just in the east in the old grocery store area in the parking lot. Maybe that's a good revitalization opportunity or infill to incorporate a good mixed use that has affordable housing. So kind of think of it through that lens. You can also think of areas in the community that are just at older neighborhoods that you know might see some redevelopment in the next five years. So to be clear, you just want us to circle? Yes, put little notes of things that you're thinking of in your head, why you think that's a good site. It could be the infrastructure. It could be proximity to different services. Again, now it's the kind of awkward silence where sometimes I put on background music, but you never know the audience's interest. So usually pretty safe with Rat Pat music, but you never know. Again, there's no rush on this. Obviously, this is your meeting time. So after this, really, Richard, just go over. next steps, where we're at in the process, and I'm here to answer some of your questions. But this is just, again, really helpful because I can come up with ideas just by driving around the community. Your staff have great insights, but, yeah, the more you guys help guide it, the more ownership you have on that. And Donna, Lisa, anything you two want to add in terms of kind of what we're doing, the work we've done thus far? I feel I captured most of the big pieces. Thank you, Josh. I thought it was very helpful and a spot on overview. Thank you. Just a fun fact. Some of you might know this. In the past 10 years, home values in Castle Pines jumped over 40%, 45%. Douglas County is under 50%. Obviously, there's a little bit more there to capture. Well, and those taxables. Yeah. Any questions? Anyone? Probably go another minute. And if you want, I can always send some digital copies. I sent at least a PDF copy of this. So if you ever want to rethink on it a little bit, send some additional ideas over the fourth holiday and you have nothing else that you're doing, you're welcome to do that. of you that are wrapped up or anything, any key areas or insights that you had that you wanted to share out loud? Obviously, it's hard to see what everyone's drawings are, but anything you can explain or elaborate on? So I'll go first. So I'll just prioritize central areas. This is the one I did see. I think we talked about the community plan. Advocating for more walkable areas, more and more small town feel, that small town vision. Walk out my front door and I have all my amenities and services right nearby. Also try to prioritize options that aren't developed or at least minimize the amount of blight. So I like that Castle Plains Marketplace area. I think it's a prime location for redevelopment. I know my dentist is over there, so she may not want to move, but I think that area needs some TLC. That wasn't in the thought process. A little bigger and cool will give you something, too. You never know. You never know. Any other insights? It's not a requirement that everyone share, but. I want to comment. I share the same feeling, but also, as I view, when we talk about families, probably younger, accessibility to parts and the trail toy, the The plots to the east are probably the farthest from the parks and the good trail network. And that's where I was wondering, like, if we do something there, it probably needs intentional parks, recreation. How do you connect if it's bounded by the highway and it's bounded by Castle Pines Parkway and our main trail network is a mile to a half mile to the west? So when you think about having young kids, small, early stage families, we'd all love something to happen in that area, but it's probably least family friendly in the way I think about what I want for my kids. So just something that you want. Just takes a little bit of that green stuff. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I kind of agree. The way that Castle Pines is set up, you kind of have the commercial centralized around I-25 and Castle Pines Parkway, and then it kind of tenders into more residential where the parks and the schools and seeing the families are. This area that you've highlighted, we do have as it goes south with those apartments and then further south where they have the town homes and more rentals and trapped homes. But even looking at the spaces that are off Castle Pines Parkway that are either unused lots, I don't know if they're best for housing. And even if it's kind of high density, I just don't know if that's kind of how Castle Pines is set up, to be honest. I agree that Castle Pines marketplace should be utilized. I feel like we probably need more commercial, to be honest, in those areas and revitalize those areas as commercial rather than affordable housing. Just some of the key points that were mentioned earlier. not family friendly, not, it's hot, it's close to the highway, it's close to the busy streets. I just don't know if those are the best areas. I think we want to go further west, further south, but I don't know if there's space for it. I guess if we play first, all commissioners, I think the idea is that even if there's no one solution to everything, it's a little job to be cognizant that maybe this affordable housing location will be maybe one excuse. Or this one over here could be, you know, town homes or single family residence that you're envisioning. So it's more like a built standard solution versus one stroke. Yeah. And think of it too, like this is just creating an overlay. So it's creating the opportunity, the sandbox opportunity. It's still allowing all the other uses that you have today. So a developer could still say, no, it's my property. I want to do commercial there. And they can move forward with that. So it's not saying, It only can be affordable. It has to be affordable. It's saying that this is an identified area that could see affordable housing. Here's some of the flexibility we need to create around that. If you so choose, it's proper to you. I'm curious, based on the studies that you have done so far, and if you have that information, knowing you talked about workforce housing being something that people have mentioned as something that is, I mean, you know, I feel like speaking with the mayor and some other people in the past is like when we bring more commercials. And so I'm curious what percentage, right? Like, is there a number that you're coming up with based on the amount of workforce that's actually in Castle Pines? Or are you pulling from like Castle Rock and adjacent areas, right? Yeah, so that's a great question. So the APRICOT, so the Regional Planning Agency, they've done regional housing assessment And through that, they've identified the overall regional needs in terms of for sale, for rent, the various price points. But then they've started to kind of wendel that down into the focus areas. I don't know if they got specific into like Castle Pines and Castle Rock or kind of more county level. That's part of the data we're still pulling in. They went through an update process as well for their data just because all the new state requirements that came out that we have to incorporate. I don't know anything else. Yes, I'm sure. And we did have Maria Chano from the Douglas County Housing Partnership come and make a presentation on housing needs. And so this Dr. Cox needs assessment did go a little further and looked at Castle Pines, Castle Rock, Parker. So we did have that discussion and I can resend that information if we need a refresher or have Maria come back just to before we make any final decisions? Yeah, I do remember that, and I think I recall at least the number of units for Castle Pines was pretty small based on the overall. It was like nine or something like that, right? And so that's why I'm curious is, you know, in the way that we're looking at this, I mean, nine units isn't like, you know, is the circle throughout? Is it, you know, like how... And to me, I feel like we're more of a single family. I mean, we do have town homes and apartments that are more clustered. But overall, we're not a high density residential town, city. So just in looking at what's out there, it doesn't seem to fit, right? Like, if you're going to put nine units right off Casablanca Parkway. Yeah. Well, and it could be a mix. I mean, you could have a couple integrated in a development here. You could have a couple integrated over here, which is always a better approach than just a consolidated housing complex. But at the same time, nine might be the current demand versus the projected demand for that housing. So I would have to... Yeah. But it is... It's not a lot. But did I hear you say that there could be... that there has to be a weighing of like, especially in our mixed use area, do we want commercial or do we want housing? Is that what you're also talking about? Can you rephrase that again? Yes. If we're talking about our mixed use district and how there's a lot of talk about how we need more businesses. And so if we put an overlay on our business district, will that shift? to now becoming all affordable housing and less development? I think it could be an incentive, right, to get people to create some kind of, so if you look at like an empty parking lot or something, to get businesses to bring in maybe ground-level businesses, if you give them some kind of incentive to provide like a couple of apartment units above as affordable housing, right, and some type of zoning or incentive to create more of that maybe is possible. So would you think putting an overlay over the entire mixed-use district is appropriate? I mean, I don't know. I think that's the part. Initially, as I look at the overall, I feel like it's easier to... integrated into the west side as development comes in. I feel like it's harder on the east side of what's existing, but maybe not. I don't know. Oh, OK. Easier to integrate. Do you mean like the canyons area? Yeah. There's more commercial that's supposed to kind of fill in, right? But just west of, I mean east of I-25. And I don't know if there are instances. Yeah. Just because of, you know, we kind of discussed some of this previously of like even as we're looking at zoning and the codes of, well, what's existing there? When is it going to change? If it does, you know, how may possibly, like there's a lot of question marks, right? Yeah, I would agree with that. I mean, part of the thought process that I had in areas that I was circling, is along, like on the east side of the city, along Cassabines Parkway, that northeast corner, not the pointy, undevelopable little section up there that's mostly vertical, but right below that, on the edge of what is going to be that commercial district, there's an opportunity for a little bit more clustering capability south side of Chase Lane, along Lagay, heading down towards the south end of the city there, are opportunities because that's a large enough space to put the other amenities in that would be beneficial, you know, decent playground, park, that kind of thing. Since it's a quick shot up the road to our current business district, they're easily walkable with some good sidewalks. It's a little bit more of an elevated campus, if you will. It is. And I'd have those pieces. You know, I share the sentiment, too, with the, what's that thing called? The marketplace. There, but also recognize exactly what Commissioner Green said. That would be a rough place to have a young family. Yeah, you'd break it more than young professionals. Was there a young couple? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's right next to your state. be great access to Las Fajitas. Yeah, and the cycle bar. There's something for us to think about. When I think about, what if we were to drop a big box store at a location? Then I go, my next step is, where are they going to hire the employees? That's the rub. It's hard to figure out. We may only have a target of nine, but if you put one big box of something there, where are the employees going to come from? If you look at our grocery store as is, it's not like they've got an overspilling of people working there. When we add more commercial to our footprint, if it's not white collar, I'm not sure that our nine maybe needs to be 100. I think there's a mix in there that we don't yet understand. We can't project who's going to come in and what kind of commercials they'll land. But if it's highly retail or more of a blue collar type role, then our problem grows. There's a balance there that it is chicken and egg. If the workforce isn't there, then I'm not gonna put a retail location there. But if you're not gonna commit me a big white collar type work environment, it doesn't fit with the cost of living in this area. So there's a little bit of tension there that I think we gotta figure out, then figure out what we want to incentivize. If we want to incentivize a big office building and marketplace, that's a certain set of activities. If we want to talk about having a thriving retail district to go spend a Friday night on, that's a very different problem. But that comes along with we need to incentivize the workforce that can actually support it. So I think that's a problem for us to solve. But you almost have to place your bets on that decision before you can really figure out where it map these sort of things appropriately. I think to that end, too, as Commissioner Kim was talking earlier, if we look at the west side where the commercial is really planned but undeveloped and consider an overlay there if it's allowable within the existing canyons PD, right, to incentivize the more mixed-use design as part of that development in the commercial space. I guess we'll only present in AMI or EU. So with the affordable, there's two thresholds of affordable. One's affordable attainable, one's affordable workforce, because of course it's planners and professionals who like to get the dimples. But generally it's the 60, 80% AMI, although with a lot of the housing studies, I don't check with the housing studies specifically for CAS points, but sometimes it stands up to the 100%, and we've even seen some that go up to the 110% or 120% AMI. for what is considered a tank or affordable workforce housing, just because of the cost. Okay, so I'm looking right now at 60% AMI or that was counted. Single family also, that's a 58,000 per year limit. And then for 80%, that's 78,000 per year limit. And then for maximum rents, depending on the bedroom size, it goes up to various sizes. So it's not, we're looking for a job that is 58,000 in the Castle Pines or near the Castle Pines or 78,000 for a single person. It's not that many. Okay. Commissioner Whaley. Commissioner Whaley, we see your hand up. Go ahead. Yeah, thank you. Two-part question. One is can you just expand a little bit more on the development conversation you had with developers, and then the second part to that question is, if there is an overlay, is that an incentive to the developers, or is that more of a hurdle that might discourage developers? That's a great set of questions. So the developer conversation, so as developers, as a representative from the housing authority, anything that you're... group, other entity groups, but the conversation really talked about process. We talked process a little bit. We also talked about the existing canyons development and how they have established requirements for various housing ranges and affordable housing and location of those in terms of the idea of creating this overlay and the process discussion and then within that overlay some of that flexibility they they didn't see issues with that concern. We did a similar mapping exercise with them, and they identified areas. Some of it was exact same places you're talking about, just east of the interstate, kind of undeveloped area, as well as the marketplace area for redevelopment. So you kind of hear like the two. There's the greenfield development side, and there's the infill redevelopment side. So there's almost like these two strategies that I can see coming out where you have these overlays, but within them you have different sets of tools because of the nature of development in those areas. Yeah, this is me thinking off the top of my head this word as I'm listing you all, but in terms of the overlay, again, it is intended to be more of an incentive. It creates more options. It helps provide more guidance and a little bit more flexibility in the base design or development standards. So it creates another option, I would say. It doesn't hinder or, as I mentioned earlier, it doesn't mean that, you know, it has that across the street that's allows a Wendy's drive-thru or another drive-thru. If they want to do that and add all the criteria of the code as they exist, they can still do that within the overlay. It's just the overlay showing where we'd like to see affordable housing. And here are some of the tools that we're going to give you or flexibility we're going to give you. So if you choose to do that, here you go. And some of it might be processed. Some of it might be the standard. So it's kind of multiple pieces, as I mentioned earlier. So awesome. Well, next slide, please. So in terms of next steps, we're doing the technical work. So I'll be back down here on the 7 doing some process mapping with staff, which is always a fun exercise. If you've never done that before, roll out a big piece of paper across the wall. I've seen the walls get really long. But I don't anticipate that here as much, just knowing staff and what I've heard. identify every single task that occurs. Every little thing staff has to do, what the developer does to get all either in front of you all for recommendation or decision or counsel for recommendation or decision. And what's nice with that is we do different things with that. We look at kind of what is really needed per code. What are things that are maybe because we don't have the tools we need. So that helps us to start to understand where are those options in the process and considerations that then we can, break things down and then come forward to you all with thoughts and ideas and get your feedback as well. So that'll be a fun activity with staff on the seven. As mentioned, we'll be finalizing code design standards research here this next month as well. So I would anticipate, I think August ish, probably later August coming back with some overall findings, maybe some, some things for you to react to. Cause I always find that beneficial. Like, what do you think if we had these kinds of this kind of box of tools? you know, some of these tools and get you to react to it, see what your thoughts are. And then we pull some out, we add some in, whatever that might look like. So that'll be kind of what we'll look to do. Of course, it's going to depend on your schedules in August, what you have on the agenda. So we'll talk to staff and kind of coordinate on that. And then we'll kind of be working on those final pieces as we move into the fall, which will include additional stakeholder input. So we'll come back to the stakeholders, say, you know, this is what we heard. This is how we kind of responded to that. Are we still on the same page? any red flags, and then keep going forward. Last slide, I believe. So with that, happy to answer any additional questions that you might have this time, but of course, if anything comes up after this, feel free to email Donna or Lisa, and they can get it over to me as well. All right. Any other questions? Commissioner Riley, any last comments or questions? No, nothing more. Thank you. if you could, on the top of your PDF, part of the paper, put your last name on it, just so I, because I'm very visual, and I kind of wrote everyone's name down in order, and then it helps me remember who said what with my notes here with your map, plus I can generate your drawing skills. So, yeah, since we're at the end of the meeting, I'll just wait and I'll grab them at the end if you want to leave them there. Awesome. All right. Thank you, Josh. We really appreciate it. Okay. Okay. Our final item tonight is an update from the Community Development Director, Donna Ferguson. Thank you very much. I wanted to share a few items with you tonight. Number one, we had two open houses. One last Wednesday, so yesterday, and the one the Monday before. The open houses were very well attended. We were very excited about all the people that came in to check out what's going on with the city. Lisa and I had kind of our own little booth. At these open houses, we highlighted our development activity map. We highlighted the recent commercial development that we have or is in progress, such as lifetime fitness, the 7-Eleven refresh, and the indoor self-storage. We also had a lot of questions from the community, but what people were interested in the most were two things. Safeway. What is going on with Safeway? So I wanted to share with you what I shared with everybody there. What we know about Safeway is that their current lease is set to be up at the end of next year. So it is at that time where they'll make a decision whether to continue the lease or whether we'll see some changes. Don't know yet. But, of course, we're always helpful. Michael Perny continues to work with the property owner to help encourage Safeway to move along. So as we get new information about that, I'll let you know. Also, questions we had about where another hot topic was McDonald's. So I wanted to let you know we still have not... heard a decision from the district court on the lawsuit, but as soon as I hear anything, I will share it with you. But speaking of lawsuits, we did, City Council did approve the settlement with Twin Star, who is the owner of the 7-Eleven that you just approved the facelift on. So that's good news. I'm glad to put that behind us. Then I wanted to tell you that we are going to be meeting the second Tuesday of July. At this meeting, we will be discussing approval criteria for the various land use applications. So we're going to start talking about that. We put together approvals for all of the various, or the general land use applications, so we can kind of look at each one and how they relate to one another. What approval criteria needs to be in place at the time of zoning? What approval criteria needs to be in place at time of a flat? And what approval criteria needs to be in place at the time of a site improvement plan? They are definitely different scopes. They shouldn't be the same. So we'll be starting that discussion next, okay, second Thursday in July. Second Tuesday. No, it's second Thursday. It's a planned mission. Sorry, I kept the picture changing Tuesday, Thursday. I apologize. And then on the horizon for next July, we are hoping to bring forward cobblestone, car wash, various requests, and we'll, with regard to a setback. So we'll talk more about that if that comes to Planning Commission next month. And was there any other items? There may be one. Oh, yes. And then potentially a site improvement plan for Graystar, which is a multifamily project in the counties. So we have those two things to look forward to. And that would be on our regular Planning Commission meeting date. And that's all I have. All righty. Thank you, Donna. We are at the end. With that, I will adjourn the meeting at 6.49 PM. Thank you.