Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

speak to an agenda item you'll have to sign up to do so and the instructions if you haven't already done that the instructions are on the screen or if you can't see the screen you can google city of aurora planning and zoning commission and sign up for it there so with that over to chairman waltz

Great. Thank you, Brandon. Good evening, everyone. It is Wednesday, April the 8th. Time is now 610. I now call this regularly scheduled virtual meeting of the Aurora Planning and Zoning Commission to order. I'll now call the role of commissioners. Commissioner Jetchik. Present. Commissioner Bush. Present. Commissioner Becker.

Present.

Commissioner Banker.

Present.

Commissioner Riley. Present. Commissioner Hogan.

Present.

And Commissioner Walz is also present. We've established a voting form with seven votes. The Pledge of Allegiance will not be said tonight as this meeting is virtual. Move on to the approval of the minutes for March the 25th, 2026. Everyone received a draft of the minutes. Do you all have an opportunity to review that? Are there any amendments or corrections to the minutes? Commissioner Riley.

Page 40. My last name was misspelled. Not a big deal.

Non-substantive, we'll work on that. Any substantive amendments? Seeing none, the chair moves to approve the minutes as presented without objection. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you, Commissioner Riley. It's been moved and seconded to approve the minutes disregarding any non-substantive changes. Is there any discussion on the motion? Without discussion, is there any objection? The minutes will be approved. Tonight we have eight items of general business across four applications, item 8A through 8H. Due to another request from the applicant on the items 8A through D, the tributary project, the chair moves to amend the agenda and continue items 8A through D to the planning staff scheduling discretion. Is there a second? Thank you, Commissioner Bank. It's been moved and seconded. to move items 8A through 8D to the next regularly scheduled meeting according to the planning. Sorry, go ahead, Brandon.

I believe we were shooting for a date certain of May 13th per coordination with the applicant.

I made the motion to the staff's discretion, so schedule it for then if you like.

Okay, we'll share through you. For the record then, I like that stated because that impacts how we approach notice and things of that sort.

Sure. Noted that staff is looking to schedule for May the 13th. Is there any discussion on the motion? Commissioner Hogan.

Just a couple of questions. May I ask why this is being postponed? AND SECONDLY, WHEN DID WE DECIDE TO POSTPONE THIS AGENDA ITEM? BECAUSE IT WAS A RATHER LENGTHY READ. AND I AM CURIOUS BECAUSE THERE WILL BE ENOUGH TIME BETWEEN NOW AND MAY 13 THAT I'M PROBABLY GOING TO HAVE TO RE-READ IT. SO CAN YOU ANSWER THOSE TWO QUESTIONS, PLEASE?

Number one was, why was it postponed?

The applicant had some questions or concerns about tab, one of the tabs, I believe it was tab 12, the urban design section of the application. And basically at the last minute decided they wanted to reevaluate some of the criteria that were in there that were developed you know through iterations of the review process and so in order to do that we said okay and we actually met with them on friday and you know are working through their questions and concerns and so that is uh we wanted to have the final product ready for commission and not handle that after decision so that is why um and then the second question please

The second question is, when did you determine that this issue was going to be postponed? Because again, we read our packets anywhere from Friday into Tuesday, possibly Wednesday morning at the latest. And because this was such a lengthy packet and because it was such a lengthy item, I'm just curious that when we knew this was going to be pulled.

And the reason that my main amendment was to move it to an uncertain day in the future at staff's discretion was if we're asked to postpone this again, I'm going to move to table it indefinitely until they're ready to come back and we'll remove it from the table. I'm not going to keep doing this meeting after meeting after meeting.

We met with them on the 3rd.

And that's when we said, well, if you want to change this, we can't go to the commission. So that's the position that we were in. And I don't know where to go from there.

Is there any issue, I guess, Brandon, of notifying commission once you send out our packets that there will be a postponement of something? Again, I'm not trying to chastise you. I'm just saying that that was a long read for something that you knew that we wouldn't have to read for this meeting.

I'll certainly take that position under advisement for the future consideration. You know, my hope is that your read will not go without value, meaning I would anticipate you know, substantially a similar report, but, you know, with some tweaks. And so we will take that under advisement. So thank you.

Thank you. The question before the commission is an amendment to amend the agenda, postponing items 8A through D to the 13th of May. Any further discussion on the item? I will call the roll. Commissioner Jacek. Approve. Commissioner Bush. Approve. Commissioner Becker.

Approve.

Commissioner Benko.

Approve.

Commissioner Riley. Approve. Commissioner Hogan.

Approve.

And Commissioner Walls also votes to approve. Now we will vote on the amended agenda, the adoption of the amended agenda without items A through D. Is there a second on the motion to approve? Thank you, Commissioner Benko. Any discussion? Is there any objection to the amended agenda? Okay, seeing none, we will move forward with the amended agenda. Okay, so we will now have four items of general business, eight E through H, and four items A through D will be scheduled for May the 13th. I will now read a summary of our policies and procedures for this evening's meeting. Please make sure your home or computer microphone is on mute unless you're speaking. The Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is a quasi-judicial hearing. There's no swearing in of those who will give testimony, but it is presumed that all parties are telling the truth. When addressing the commission as an applicant or their representative, please state your first and last name, as well as the organization that you're representing. And you may additionally state if you are an Aurora resident. If you are addressing the Commission as a member of the general public for public testimony, please state your first and last name and if you are an Aurora resident. For each agenda item, there will be an initial presentation by City staff. Afterwards, Commissioners may ask questions of staff. Discussion of agenda items by Commissioners will be conducted only following a motion and a second. Following the staff presentation, the applicant or the representative may choose to make a presentation or answer questions. The applicant will have 10 minutes for their presentation. Commissioners may ask questions of the applicant. Members of the public that have signed up to speak will each have three minutes to speak on the agenda item during this public comment period. It is asked that only new information be presented. The same arguments should not be repeated. Commissioners may ask questions of the public following their comments. After public comments, the applicant will have five minutes to address any public comments. Commissioners may ask questions of the applicants. The Chair will ensure all Commissioners have no further questions of the applicant or the staff. The Chair will then call for the question. After a motion has been made and seconded, the Commissioners will then discuss the case amongst themselves. After the discussion, the Chair will call the question. Commissioners are finders of fact and will vote based on their evaluation of the evidence presented as compared to Code Section 146. All rulings by the Planning and Zoning Commission are normally final. Exceptions are zoning map amendments, zoning code amendments, incomprehensive plan amendments that need City Council approval. Decisions by the Commission can be appealed to the City Council by presenting a written appeal to the City Manager within 10 calendar days of the public hearing. City Council also has the discretion to call up any case whether an appeal has been made or not. Notices for this virtual meeting were published, posted to the City website, and the development projects were posted with signs on the properties. Notices were also mailed to adjacent landowners per City requirements. And without consent agenda, we will move in to our first item, item 8E. And if you have just joined the meeting, items 8A through D have been continued to the May 13th meeting. Item 8E is the Ethio Motors Havana Autoplex conditional use. First, we will record for the minutes. Commissioner site visits. Commissioner Jachik, Commissioner Riley, Commissioner Becker, Commissioner Banka, Commissioner Hogan, Commissioner Bush, and Commissioner Walz. Okay, our case manager for item 8E this evening is Ben Bravenick. Ethio Motors is the applicant. Ben, the floor is yours. Thank you.

Good evening, Commissioners. I am Ben Bravenick presenting for staff. Tonight, I am presenting agenda item 8E, Ethio Motors Havana Autoplex Conditional Use. The applicant, Ethio Motors, proposes a conditional use to allow automobile and light truck sales and rental within the MUC zone district. The site is zoned MUC mixed-use corridor and part of the city corridor place type. The site is located at 840 South Havana Street, northeast of Kentucky Avenue and South Havana Street, adjacent to South Ironton Street. The vicinity map shown illustrates location of the site in the context of the surrounding area. The site is located within the Havana Autoplex development and is internal to three other pad sites. Fenced private car storage lots abut the parcels to the north and south, tenant commercial uses are located to the west, and Village at Westerly Creek Multifamily is located across South Ironton Street to the east. The site is located within the mixed-use corridor zoning and adjacent to the mixed-use corridor zoning to the west, south, and north. Across from South Ironton Street to the east is R4 High Density Residential. The site is surrounded by and located within the city corridor place type. This is an aerial image of the project site showing its current condition. The area in blue is the building and parking the tenant will utilize. The area in red is where the applicant was previously operating. The applicant is moving their primary sales location to Denver and proposing to use the new site as a service center and secondary sales location. Here are two images showing the site. The first is from South Ironton Street without the temporary fence that is currently on site. And second is from South Havana Street. The tenant location is in the back of the Havana Autoplex. Eight adjacent property owners and 17 registered neighborhood organizations were notified of this project. One comment was received from the landowner in support of this project and a neighborhood meeting was not held. Notice of hearing boards and mailings were posted and sent out. Major items discussed during this review were the conditional use, parking, and the temporary fence. Staff worked to understand the applicant's proposed use and the history of the site to verify the process needed for this application. The applicant wishes to continue to use the site for motor vehicle repair and service, as well as add a new use of automobile and light truck sales and rental. Both of the uses are conditional uses in the MUC Zone District. However, the site already has an approved conditional use for motor vehicle repair and service. Evaluate the proposed use. Staff worked with the applicant to understand how vehicles would be stored on the site in addition to the spaces needed to be available for customers and employee parking. Based on the proposed uses, 34 off-street parking spaces are required per the UDO. 43 parking spaces are located directly in front of the building, separated from the other tenant spaces to the west, plus additional car storage is available for the business within the fenced area to the south. Also note that the applicant and owner have agreed within the property contract for the use of additional parking spaces to the west should they be needed if the business grows. During the review, staff noticed a temporary fence on this site along South Ironton Street that is not up to UDO standards. There's an approved minor amendment for a permanent fence to replace the temporary fence, but construction has not started. Staff worked with the applicant and the landowner to understand the plans for this and concluded to support the approval of this application with the condition that the temporary fence be removed by August 15th, 2026. This date was determined in coordination with the property owner and it's consistent with the owner's request to delay the permanent fence construction until after ethio motors opens and is established. Conditional use criteria approval are shown on the screen. The project complies with the approval criteria listed, including the application complies with the applicable UDO standards, and there's no applicable master plan for this property. The application is consistent with the comprehensive plan city corridor place type and will help further city goals of supporting new commercial uses within this place type. The proposed use is compatible with the surrounding area. The building has historically been used for motor vehicle uses, and the applicant was previously operating in the same commercial corner. The tenant space was recently vacated. No dislocation of tenants will transpire with this application. With the approval criteria in mind, staff recommends to approve agenda item 8E, conditional use for automobile and light truck sales and rental in the mixed use corridor zone district. because the proposal complies with section 146-5.4.3.8.3 of the UDO with the approval subject to the condition that the temporary fence on site must be removed by August 15th, 2026. That is the conclusion of my presentation. Thank you everyone for listening. I'm here to answer any questions as well as the applicant.

Thank you. Great. Thank you for the presentation, Ben. I'll open the floor for questions from the Commission.

Okay.

Seeing none, any questions for the applicant?

Okay.

Seeing none, Stephanie, do we have any members of the public sign up to speak on 8E?

No, Chair, we do not.

Okay. At this time, I'll close this portion of the public hearing and entertain a motion on Agenda Item 8E. Please reference the email, the blue sheet that was received today for the proper application. amendment to the recommendation.

This is Commissioner Jacek regarding agenda item 8C, conditional use for automobile and light truck sales and rental in a mixed-use corridor MUC zone district. Based on the staff recommendation, the presentation, and discussion at this evening's public hearing, I move to approve with one condition, the conditional use for automobile and light truck sales and rental in a mixed use corridor, MUC zone district, because the proposal complies with requirements of code section 146-5.4.3.a.3 of the Unified Development Ordinance for the reasons stated in the staff report. Approval to be subject to the following condition. Number one, the temporary fence on site must be removed by August 15th, 2026.

Thank you, Commissioner Jacek. It's been moved to approve agenda item 8E. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you, Commissioner Riley. It's been moved and seconded to approve 8E. I'll open the floor for discussion by the commission.

This is Commissioner Jacek. I am really glad to see this being reused. That building is very old. I went down to the machine shop in the building several years ago, and it's antiquated. So I'm really pleased that Ethio Motors is stepping up and going to make use of that building.

Yes. Thank you, Commissioner Jacek. I concur with the Commissioner's comments. I think it's great when we see one of these longtime vacant properties get new life and get new tenancy and get some energy going in the back of that property. I think that's great. I think it'll go a long ways to reducing some crime also in that alleyway, in that area, just activating the space. So I'm very happy to see this come before us. Further discussion on the adoption of 8E? Commissioner Riley.

I want to thank the applicant for putting in a sign that will not move. I appreciate that effort. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Riley. Further discussion on the adoption of 8E? Seeing none, I'll call the roll. Commissioner Jachik?

Approve.

Commissioner Bush? Approve. There you go.

Commissioner Becker? Sorry about that. Commissioner Benka. Commissioner Riley. I approve. Commissioner Hogan.

I approve.

And Commissioner Walz will abstain. Agenda item 8E is approved with six votes. We will now move to agenda items 8F and G, which is the Black Rock Coffee Conditional Use and Site Plan with Adjustments. And first recording for the minutes, Commissioner site visits. Commissioner Jetchik, Commissioner Banka, Commissioner Hogan, Commissioner Walz, Commissioner Bush, Commissioner Riley, and Commissioner Becker. I had issues when I did my site visit, putting it on the record. I could not verify proper posting of the sign. The sign was laying flat on the floor and it wasn't visible from ILIF. It wasn't visible from the sidewalk. I actually had to walk onto the property to stand over the sign and look at the sign so i wanted to have the discussion with the commission to see if others experience difficulty and experience what the posting was like commissioner jetcheck yes we did uh drove by the sign was on the ground and we picked it back up and put it back in place that was yesterday okay commissioner banka i had the same issue so and gal thank you for picking the sign up and and putting it up i

I should have, but I didn't.

Commissioner Riley?

I did not see it either, but my question is, is it our obligation to put the sign up? I went by twice to see if the applicant would have even considered walking out there to review whether the sign was posted or not. I'm a little disappointed.

I did a site visit today, and the sign was on the ground today, as of today. So if Commissioner Jetchik put it back up, it was down again. So I will actually defer to Lena. I'd like to review the posting requirements before the Commission takes action on these agenda items.

Yes, good evening, Chair.

Lena McClelland, Senior Assistant City Attorney with the City Attorney's Office. So the requirements for notice can be found in Section 146 0.5, 0.3, 0.7 of the Unified Development Ordinance. There is requirements for written notice, published notice, and posted notice. And posted notice is subsection point C. And it States that development applications requiring a public hearing shall be posted at a point clearly visible from a public right of way for at least 10 calendar days prior to the public hearing before the planning and zoning commission and the city council, the posted notices shall be of a number size location. as prescribed by the planning director and shall indicate the type of development applications proposed the date time and place of the hearing and posted notices may be furnished by the city and the notice sign shall be removed seven calendar days after the public hearing was held thank you do any commissioners have questions of our city attorney okay um commissioner hogan

Well, I'm not sure this is a question, but if the sign is laying down, I would not consider that proper posting. And I guess I'm wondering if this constitutes a postponement of this agenda item because the sign was not properly posted within the time period, according to what Lena just read.

Correct. I would agree with that. I would like a little bit more feedback. I'll allow some open discussion from the Commission, even though we don't have a standing motion on the floor at the moment. I'd like to hear what you guys think about the notice. I think this isn't the first time we've come to this issue, and I think it's incumbent upon us, we represent the public. We're appointed specifically with a responsibility and a duty to represent the public within the City of Aurora, and the very, very least that we can do is make sure that the public is aware of items that are coming before the commission for a public hearing. I think that's the very least of our duties. And I think it's something that this specific commission we take very seriously. And so I would move to postpone to the next meeting and allow proper notice to occur. Commissioner Becker.

Are there requirements on whether like We have weather, obviously. We live in Colorado. In regards to it, it was windy, but I'm wondering what kind of standards there would be to kind of address that. I mean, I also had issues seeing the sign, but I'm wondering, I mean, obviously, if it came down a couple times, you can't really just say that was weather, but is there something, maybe that's a factor we have to think about as well? I'm just wondering about that.

further discussion? Commissioner Reilly?

You used the proper term. It is incumbent upon us as public representatives, but it's also incumbent upon the applicant to fulfill the obligations that this city has provided in the UDO. And if they're not checking their site, maybe they're not that interested in having this application approved.

Commissioner Jacek?

Yeah, uh, This site had come up before. I think it was a used car dealership wanted to go in there, and the neighborhood was really against it. When we looked at the sign yesterday, the prongs on it, one of them had been broken off. So is it somebody tampering with the sign? How do you tell? But it was kind of unstable when we put it back up.

Me too. At this time, I'll move to postpone agenda items 8F and G to April 22nd, providing the applicant sufficient notice time to incur proper notice in accordance with the UDO. Is there a second? I second. Thank you, Commissioner Riley. I'll open the floor for discussion on the motion. I'll call the roll. Commissioner Jachek? Approve. Commissioner Bush? Approve. Commissioner Becker?

Approve.

Commissioner Benka.

Approved.

Commissioner Riley. Approved. Commissioner Hogan. Approved. And Commissioner Walz also votes to approve. That will be postponed until April the, I believe the date is the 22nd. We will go to agenda item 8H, which is the Echo Suites at Majestic Commerce Center. It's a sign adjustment. and we'll record for the minute site visits. Commissioner Riley, Cechik, Banka, Walz, and Becker, and Bush, everyone. And I had a similar issue with this particular agenda item. I walked the whole parcel, including the one that's not included in this development, this specific application, and couldn't find a sign anywhere. Then I walked out to Tower Road and also couldn't find a sign anywhere on Tower, at least thinking that maybe it was with the main sign or the for lease or for sale sign that was out there advertising the property. And I saw no public notice sign whatsoever on the property. Other commissioners experience with site visits. Commissioner Riley.

I did the same thing, except I also went out to I-70 just to see if they had improperly posted it. I walked.

did it friday i drove by again saturday and then i had an errand to run i went by monday thinking that maybe they overlooked it but on all three occasions there was no sign hey commissioner benka um i also did the same thing i thought i was losing my mind and i mean i double checked this list twice or two or three times because i thought why are there no signs do i have did they send me a different email with different properties but Anyway, I didn't get out and walk around, but I drove around a couple of times going, I don't see it. I didn't see a sign even on the ground on this one. So I had the same issue and I'm just really kind of grateful to know I wasn't going crazy here.

Further discussion, experiences? Great. I'm going to move agenda item 8H be postponed till April 22nd as well to give the applicant proper time to notice in accordance with the UDO. Any discussion on, or is there a second? Sorry.

I'll second.

Riley, thank you. It's been moved and seconded to postpone 8H till April 22nd. I'll open the floor for discussion. Commissioner Benka.

I just wanted to say I was there yesterday and again this morning. I drove by, so. Was there a sign even laying down? Did anybody even see anything for a sign?

I couldn't find one out in the field. That was my personal experience. Could we ask staff on that? Who is our staff member? Eric? Are you there? Did you happen to get a photo originally when it was posted?

Yeah, I did get a photo after it was originally posted. So there was a sign posted there at some point. I couldn't say when it came down or really why. Yeah, there was a sign initially posted, but it sounds like it did not last the full notice period.

Where was that sign posted? Just out of curiosity so I can look for it again.

It would have been posted along 32nd Parkway. Okay.

Any further discussion on the postponement of H8H? Seeing none, I'll call the roll. Commissioner Jachek.

Approve.

Commissioner Bush. Approve. Commissioner Becker.

Approve.

Commissioner Benka.

Approve.

Commissioner Riley. I approve. Commissioner Hogan. Approve. And Commissioner Walz also votes to approve. Agenda item 8H will be continued till the 22nd. Stephanie, do we have any members of the public sign up to speak on non-agenda items?

No, Chair, we do not.

Okay. I'll open the floor for comments, announcements, concerns from the Commission. And I'd first like to start and say I think there's no chastisement of staff here, but I don't know if there's a conversation that needs to happen with applicants where we go over the posting process in more detail. I know that in chatting with Janine very briefly yesterday, it's something we're looking into standardizing or working on this public posting signs on the property kind of issue. I just, I want to know, I mean, I think we're making a clear statement that this isn't going to fly with this commission. We feel our public responsibility and we're going to hold the applicants to that responsibility. So I don't, I guess I don't want to belabor any more than that, but You've seen three agenda items get postponed tonight for that reason and another agenda item a month or so ago get postponed for the exact same reason. And that applicant was contrite and they recognized that there was an issue there and they fixed it. So hopefully we can somehow create a process to not have this happen. Further discussion, comments? Yes, go ahead.

Chair Walz, Jeanine Rustad, Director of Planning and Business Development. As I had mentioned to you, we are looking into various notice requirements, signage being one of them. In the meantime, because that process will take a while to go through PED study sessions with both you and City Council, we will work on a statement that we give to applicants when we give them their sign so that they know they need to be checking, We do have weather, as everybody mentioned here, but especially if there is windy days that they need to check and make sure that those signs remain intact.

Great. Thank you so much, Janine, for that. Further announcements, comments, discussion? Commissioner Riley.

Okay, so we're hitting water restrictions, and I'm just curious. I haven't lived here long enough to go through a water restriction. How will it impact water? us on the planning role do we have to take a more serious look at developments coming in for water concerns for example if a data center comes in i i'm not sure how the city is oriented toward data centers and what concerns we have to have but i certainly want to be a good steward of my own water here i'm just curious as to

what staff guidance could come to us as as we look at you know future development in times of water shortages janine if i may on this issue as well we have a very progressive water uh department commissioner riley so they actually for industrial and business users have a water usage table Data centers, the new ones that are coming online actually have closed loop systems. So their irrigation takes more water than their internal operations. Marshall Brown, the executive director for Aurora Water and city manager Jason Batchelor are going to go talk to, I think there's two of our existing data centers that don't have closed loop to see what we can do to get some efficiency there. So I think we're well prepared. We were also the leading jurisdiction to reduce turf and restrict turf that's put into new development. So there's a lot going on in the background. If you watch city council meeting on Monday, our water department is on top of this.

And that's very reassuring. Thank you very much.

Further comments by commissioners? Okay, moving on to our report by our Planning Division Manager. Brandon, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Chair. Brandon Camerata, Planning Manager. Administrative decisions over the last couple weeks include Painted Prairie Phase 7, which is a little bit noteworthy, probably our last filing along 56th Avenue there, so as Painted Prairie builds out there. Another interesting one that went out today would be Outlook Gateway Apartments, which is, I believe, on the west side of Tower there, near the 40th Avenue light rail station, a little bit, probably a quarter mile, a little more than that, away from that light rail station. So it's a multifamily proposal. And it's in kind of that area that back a long time ago, it might have been slated, I think, for like a movie theater or something of that sort. it's been vacant for many many years and and so that's kind of an example of the muc zoning permitting a mix of uses and and so that uh approval was done um city council on monday um the the tappiest initial zoning that went through this commission a few weeks ago uh was uh recommended or it was approved on first reading by the Commission. So an eventful discussion there. So that is my update. I'll try to answer any questions.

Thanks, Brandon. Questions for Brandon? All right. Thank you again.

Lena, you are up for our city attorney report.

Good evening. Hello again.

Let's see, just a real quick report this evening. Just wanted to give you all some updates on some of the legislation regarding land use as we get closer and closer to the end of session. So as I'm sure you are aware, the House Bill 26-1001, otherwise known as the HOME Act, the Housing Opportunities Made Easier Act, was passed and signed by the governor on March 25th. And if just to remind you, that is the one that allows for certain nonprofit and school and religious organizations to build on property and circumvent our local codes. Um, and then, um, house bill 26, 11, 14, which is the one about the minimum lot sizes. That one is still under consideration. Um, and then House Bill 26-1308 about lot splitting. That one is also still under consideration, but it did pass the House on the 24th of March. And that is the only update that I have for this evening.

Great, thank you, Lena. Questions for Lena?

All right, easy crew tonight.

Okay, thank you, Lena. Okay, any final announcements? Seeing none, I move that we adjourn this evening's meeting. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Commissioner Bush. Have a wonderful evening, everyone. Meeting adjourned. All right. Great meeting. Good to see everybody.