Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

slides.

I thought they were shared this time.

Recording has been started.

Okay, thank you. Over to you, Chairman Walz.

Great. Thank you, Brandon. Good evening, everyone. It is Wednesday, the 27th of May, 2026. 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 Jacek. Present. Commissioner Bush. Present. Commissioner Becker.

Present.

Commissioner Banka?

Present.

Commissioner Riley?

I am present.

Commissioner Hogan?

Present.

And Commissioner Walz is also present. We have a quorum of seven voting members present this evening. The Pledge of Allegiance will not be said tonight. This meeting is virtual. We'll move on to the approval of the minutes for May the 13th, 2026. Everyone received a draft of the minutes and you all had an opportunity to read them. Are there any amendments or corrections to the minutes? Seeing none, the chair moves to approve the minutes as presented. Without objection, is there a second? Thank you, Commissioner Riley. It's been moved and seconded to approve the minutes from the 13th of May as presented. Without objection, is there any discussion on the motion to approve? Seeing no discussion, is there any objection? Without objection, the minutes from the 13th will be approved. Tonight, we have two items of general business across two applications, items 8A and B, and one item of procedural business, item 10A. The chair moves to approve the agenda as presented without objection. Is there a second? Thank you, Commissioner Bank. It's been moved and seconded to approve the agenda as presented without objection. Any discussion on the motion? Any objections? Without objection, the agenda will be approved. I'll 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 the 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 a 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. Afterward, 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 are 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 argument 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 applicant. The chair will ensure all commissioners have no further questions of the applicant or 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. The commissioners are finders of fact and will vote based on the evidence 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, and comprehensive plan amendments that need City Council approval. Decisions by the Commission can be appealed to 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. Without a consent agenda, we'll move right into our first case this evening, which is agenda item 8A, cats-only conditional use. First recording for the minutes, commissioner site visits. Commissioner Benke, Commissioner Becker, Commissioner Hogan, Commissioner Jecik, Commissioner Riley, Commissioner Bush, and Commissioner Walz. Agenda item 8A is the Cats Only Conditional Use Veterinary Clinic and MUOAG. Located in Ward 1, our case manager this evening is James Sherman. The applicant is CSHQA. James, the floor is yours.

James Showerman, Thank you chair walls good evening Members of the city or planning Commission, my name is James chairman and I will be providing the staff presentation on agenda item eight a tonight. James Showerman, The applicant ch sqa architecture, represented by Jesse Goldman tonight is requesting approval of a conditional use for a veterinary clinic and hospital in the mu oh a G zone district. The vet clinic is proposed to occupy a tenant space at 2501 North Dallas street at the northwest corner of North Dallas street and East 25th avenue more specifically the 5390 square foot vacant suite in the northeastern corner of the Stanley marketplace. This aerial imagery dated February 6 2026 shows a more up to date view of the surrounding area of the Stanley marketplace. This zoning map shows a variety of zones in the area, with the core of the Stanley being zoned original or general to support mixed use projects, providing residential retail restaurant and personal service uses. That zone is then buffered by the original aurora main street zoning to the east, which aims to provide similar uses at a smaller scale and ultimately transitions to the more neighbor neighborhood oriented original aurora are two. parks and open space zoning occupies the northern portion of the area stubborn directly into the westerly creek trail. This property is entirely within the original aurora place type as shown by this place. This is a site photo that shows the northeastern tenant space and the entrance closest to it. Here is a snippet from the concept plan that shows the limited exterior improvements proposed with this plan. And here are the plans that show the proposed interior improvements as part of the tenant improvement permit. The applicant was provided with three public hearing signs and posted them in location suggested by staff. Photos on the left of these slides were posted and provided by the applicant on 513 and photos on the right were taken by staff to confirm their presence on 527. This first one was placed on the corner of East 25th Avenue and Dallas Street. The second was placed in the window of the tenant-specific entrance. And the third was placed in the tenant entrance within the marketplace itself. By placing three signs around the site, both staff and the applicant aimed to inform patrons of Stanley Marketplace of the proposed use while also intentionally identifying which tenant space the clinic would occupy. Seventeen adjacent property owners and 20 neighborhood organizations were notified of the application. One neighborhood comment was received during review, generally expressing support for this application and this type of use within the array of uses that are provided within the Stanley Marketplace. Major issues discussed and resolved during the conditional use review were first addressing why this use is conditional use per the permitted use table, then identify the unique operational aspects of this use, and lastly comparing them to the conditional use criteria. This public hearing is ultimately warranted due to the fact that this use is listed as a conditional use in Table 3.2 of the UDO. While this use is outright permitted in the MUOI, MUC, MUR, I1, and I2 zones, this use is considered conditional in zones coinciding with neighborhoods, primarily the MUN and most OA zones. Because no use-specific standards are present for veterinary clinic uses, all uses providing, and per our definitions, surgery, diagnosis, and treatment of animals, are considered the same, regardless of the clinic size, boarding practices, or whether they provide specialized care of certain species. The applicant's conformance with the conditional use criteria is largely evidenced by the practices listed in the operations plan included as Exhibit B. By serving the namesake cats only, the use intends to generate much less noise in a clinic that serves dogs, which can be compelled to bark in a group environment. Concerns regarding animal and patron safety are addressed through a required carrier policy and providing rental carriers to prospective patients, and a double-door entry system which prevents animals from escaping and running large throughout the marketplace or parking lot. The use also proposes to primarily operate during the non-peak hours of the Stanley Marketplace, being 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday, and entirely closed on weekends. Lastly, the clinic will not offer boarding or emergency services as stated on the last bullet point of page 25 of Exhibit B. Before providing my analysis of the conditional use criteria, here they are for your reference. And I will stay on the slide for a little bit before we move on, and I'm happy to flip back to it if needed. While the operations plan provides much of the evidence or mitigating measures that demonstrate this vet clinic will have no adverse impacts on the Stanley marketplace, ultimately the conditional use criteria must be satisfied in order for this use to be approved. Overall, three aspects of this application readily satisfied the conditional use criteria. Firstly, by proposing a new business in a currently vacant space, the vet clinic will create new jobs and services that not only strengthen the economy, but will also result in better community health through quality pet care. Christopher McConkey- Moreover, this use will not be adding any additional gross floor area and instead occupying a vacant suite that could have hosted a more intensive entertainment or restaurant focused use satisfying criteria B and D. Christopher McConkey- Because this use is cited in a vacant tenant minimal exterior improvements are required in the proposed useful in will not introduce an anticipate or will not introduce an anticipated strain on Stanley marketplaces infrastructure. Tenant improvements are largely regulated by the use table in Section 3.2 of the UDO, and as a result, staff were able to deem criteria A, C, E, and F satisfied through this aspect. Lastly, the operations plan introduces several important operational elements that make this proposed vet clinic contextually appropriate for the Stanley marketplace. Serving cats only, requiring carrier transport, refusing to provide boarding or emergency surgery, and operating not during popular hours for the marketplace differentiate this use from other vets that might create adverse impacts on surrounding properties. While this operations plan is paramount to this use satisfying satisfying criteria C and G staff recommends it be preserved through a condition of approval. Overall staff finds that agenda item 8A a conditional use for veterinary clinic in MUOAG meets the criteria for approval. Staff recommends the Planning Commission make a motion to, and I will read the results verbatim, approve with one condition of approval the conditional use of a veterinary clinic and hospital use and the mixed use original Aurora General Zone District because the proposal complies with the requirements of Code Section 146-5.4.3.A.3 of the Unified Development Ordinance for the following reasons. The application complies with all applicable standards in the Unified Development Ordinance. The application is consistent with the comprehensive plan original Aurora place type and will contribute to strengthen the economy of the city by supporting a new business and will help create a healthier Aurora by providing quality pet care in a walkable setting. By implementing scheduled appointments only operating on weekends and renovating a tenant that was planned to accommodate a more intensive personal service or restaurant use the proposed veterinary clinic size scale height density and traffic impacts and hours of operation are compatible with the surrounding automobile related uses in the area, as well as the mixed variety of uses in Stanley marketplace and will not change the predominant character of the area. And is not directly adjacent to nearby residential uses. Because this application is proposing no expansion of gross floor area and Stanley marketplace has already constructed the utility and frontage improvements in order to accommodate the site's overall use. there is adequate capacity within city infrastructure to serve the proposed development and no property improvements are needed to serve the proposed use. The proposed use will not result in the dislocation of tenants and instead will currently, will renovate a currently vacant tenant suite. The application addresses potential adverse impacts by surveying only cats which make less noise, carefully securing the space, implementing hours of operation during non-peak hours, and implementing scheduled appointments. This approval shall be subject to the following conditions, being that any modification of the veterinary clinics operations plan, including providing overnight boarding for cats or expanding veterinary services to accommodate animals besides cats, shall constitute a major amendment of this conditional use approval and require further review by the planning commission in a public hearing. With that, I conclude my presentation. The applicant does not have a presentation, but we are both available to answer any specific questions you might have.

Great, thank you for that, James. I'll open the floor for questions from the commission for the applicant or staff.

Commissioner Riley.

Thank you, Kyle. James, I want to commend you In the past, I have read in the notes where something will say will generate almost no adverse impacts, and I have to ask why. And in your general operations plan, you specifically outline what the adverse impacts were and how they're mitigated, as well as coordination with Stanley. I just want to commend you for doing that kind of work because it makes my job a lot easier. Thank you. It was my pleasure.

Make questions of staff for the applicant from the commission commissioner Hogan.

James, can you confirm confirm or not if we have a letter from Stanley's marketplace ownership that this is a fine use and that they concur.

Absolutely commissioner Hogan overall 1 of our requirements to accept an application for conditional use is owner authorization. So an owner authorization was included upon submittal for this application, and it was signed by Jonathan Alpert, who represents Westside as a Westside partner at Stanley Marketplace, and that was signed on April 17th, 2026. And overall, in that authorization, they also conferred or conveyed support of this use, setting it as a good use for the marketplace.

Excellent. Thank you so much.

Sure thing.

Further questions from the Commission for the applicant or staff? Seeing none. Susan, do we have any members of the public signed up to speak on 8 ?

Chair Walz, we do not.

Okay. I'll close this portion of the public hearing and entertain a motion on agenda item 8 . Commissioner Banca.

All right. So, agenda item 8 conditional use based on the staff recommendation, the presentation and discussion at this evening's public hearing. I move to approve with one condition of approval the conditional use of a veterinary clinic and hospital use in the mixed-use original Aurora General MU-OA-G Zone District because the proposal complies with the 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 conditions. Any major modification of the veterinary clinic's operations plan, including providing overnight boarding for cats or expanding veterinary services to accommodate animals besides cats, shall constitute a major amendment of this conditional use approval and require further review by the planning commission in a public hearing. And I so move.

Thank you, Commissioner Bank. It's been moved to approve agenda item 8A. Is there a second? Commissioner Riley, thank you. It's been moved and seconded to approve 8A. I'll open up the floor for discussion on the motion. I'll start us off. I think this is a phenomenal use. And actually, when we received the packet, I was kind of surprised that this is a conditional use in original Aurora and a mixed-use development. This seems like it makes sense. I understand that for boarding facilities, facilities that might generate a lot of noise, but I think this is going to be nothing but an asset to the community and another draw for not just people coming outside of the community to go to the Stanley, but actually serve the residents of the immediate community with a really convenient use. So I fully support this project. And I'd also like to compliment the applicant. I can say that in several years of being on planning commission now, I've never seen a project narrative and use description for conditional use like this one. My hat's absolutely off to the applicant. This is the most well-researched and cited narrative that I've ever seen. It was very professional, very easy to read. So thank you so much for making our jobs that much easier. Further discussion on the approval of 8 . Seeing none, I'll call the roll. Oh, go ahead, Commissioner Bush.

Well, I was just going to say, you know, you never can get too many compliments, but the structure of this presentation was excellent for all of the reasons mentioned by both you, Chair, as well as Commissioner Rowley. So job well done.

Thank you commissioner Bush and I would like to add on the record in addition to commissioner Riley James, thank you so much for thoroughly going over the posting for this particular project and for going out today and capturing kind of up to the minute up to date posting photos. That's really helpful for the commission and it's greatly appreciated. Thank you. Thank you all without further discussion on the approval of 8 a, I'll call the roll commissioner. 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 8A is approved with seven votes. Moving on to agenda item 8B, which is the Windler development recording for the minute site visits by a commission. Commissioner Jachik, Commissioner Riley, Commissioner Hogan, Commissioner Benka. and Commissioner Bush. Okay. Agenda item 8B is the Windler Development Project Waterfall. It's a conditional use for a natural gas utility in R2. Our case manager this evening is Maria Alvarez. The applicant is Xcel Energy, PFCO. Maria, the floor is yours.

Thank you so much, Commissioners. Can you all hear me okay?

Yes.

Awesome. Thank you so much. Good evening, everyone. My name is Maria Alvarez. I'm the senior oil and gas planner for the city and I will be presenting for staff this evening. The applicant's Xcel Energy is requesting the approval of a conditional use permit for a high pressure natural gas distribution line and associated facilities within medium density residential R2. This rectilinear project is an extension of a natural gas distribution line from its current location on Powhatan Road, traveling westbound along Field Utility Easement on 56th Avenue, and then traveling southbound Harvest, servicing the new residential winder development and adjacent commercial project waterfall development. The proposed project will support and provide a safe and reliable energy source to approximately 5,000 new homes, as well as the adjacent development. The regulator station, which is the associated facility here, is the equivalent of an electrical substation, but it's for the use of natural gas distribution. In the UDO, a minor utility is identified as a substation on a lot or lots consisting of less than five acres of land. above ground electrical transmission lines or underground pipelines. Utility facilities are necessary to support legally established uses such as residential and or commercial use involving only minor structures such as above ground valves and metering equipment. Minor facilities generally do not have any employees on site and the services may be either publicly or privately provided. Okay, so the purpose for this hearing, as you can see, is to approve a conditional use permit. The called out map on the left shows that there are two zoned areas. In the yellow, we have the medium density residential where a minor utility is a conditional use. However, in the gray area, to the right, which would be east of harvest. This is a permitted use within airport district. Here's a representative photo of a six foot opaque fence constructed of composite wood to provide screening and above ground or ground mounted natural gas utility equipment. Here we have Sorry, the applicant also proposes the use of metal panel buildings, such as the one that you're seeing right now. The proposed panel is a 26 gauge metal, tan in color. Regulator equipment produces noise during pressure reduction, and such noises are not expected to exceed the City of Aurora's noise ordinance. So baseline noise levels, are measured from the property line at 25 feet and may include 55 decibels during the day and 50 at night at the property of residential zones as this. So the small prefabricated building will keep metering equipment out of the elements, reducing visual impacts and mitigate noise from associated equipment. This is a picture of a sign or nameplate that is 20 by 14. It will be attached to the opaque fencing for identification purposes. It will include owner operator of the facility, the facility name, coordinates and address, and general emergency contact information. The current existing conditions at the intersection at 56th Avenue on Harvest Road As you can see, this entire area is vacant greenfield development. On the right-hand side, you may see the red arrow pointing southwest towards the Windler development. At a distance, very far in the distance, would be the approximate location of the proposed F1013 station, which would be the facility that services the Windler development. As we continue to move southbound on Harvest Road, the focus is on the proposed F1013 regulator station location. In conformance with the R2 zoning, as previously mentioned, screening and noise mitigation for this location is necessary. With a proposed opaque fence and metal utility building, noise levels will be mitigated and will, again, not exceed the city's allowable decibel levels, all while providing a very necessary service for the area. At the southern intersection of Harvest and 52nd Avenue, once it reaches this point, the natural gas utility line We'll travel east out of our two medium density residential onto airport district to the proposed commercial side on the east side of Harvest Road. This is specific to Project Waterfall. Per UDO section 531 or 5.3.1 notification for development projects is within a one mile radius from center line of Typical notification for any pipeline is solely 350 feet from center line. Being that this project is a utility condition I use in residential, these requirements were used. The applicant sent out notification to both property owners and registered neighborhood organizations And during the review process, external notification was sent to proximate governments, such as Denver International Airport, Mile High Flood District, CenturyLink, and Adams County. Here is one of the signs that is posted. And of course, here we have our first location along the R2 zone districts. A total of four signs were posted. However, due to high winds, only three of these remain. This is one of them. This view is of Harvest Road southbound with the Sun Empire building to the east on the left hand side. Which, from the map on the right, it will guide you to where these yellow public signs are posted. This photo is halfway down the proposed project route. The sign again is posted on the residential zoned area and the photographer is looking southbound on Harvest Road. And this is the final standing sign and the view of this is looking northbound on Harvest. As you can see, there are very different survey markers throughout. It is an already approved development, so work is being done making this the best time to incorporate supporting infrastructure to the area. Okay, and finally, these are two virtual posts that were also done for the applicants. The Aurora Sentinel posted on May 14th, and as a courtesy to all oil and gas applicants, we also posted on the City of Aurora's oil and gas website. This has been up since May 12th. In community response, there are 53 adjacent property owners and two registered neighborhood organizations that were notified, totaling 55 mailings being sent out. At the neighborhood meeting, two people of which one was a developer and another interested party were in attendance. No questions were asked from the public attendees at the meeting. However, aside from the public, two city employees were present. And as a case manager, I provided some feedback regarding presentation flow and suggested minor edits. As previously mentioned, this was posted on the oil and gas website, has been up since May 12th, helping the public notice process. During the review comment period, two comments were received. One was from Adams County stating no comments and the other one was from Denver International Airport stating that a navigation easement would be needed. However, a navigation easement in the situation does not apply since that can only be granted by the landowner. So this wouldn't affect this project. During the review process, consultations were held with the applicant at various stages of the review to go over some possible issues. The main topic discussed was the conditional use criteria for minor utility in R2 medium density residential district. Along with the application, BMPs relating to oil and gas infrastructure were asked. The applicant was also advised to provide topics that may impact surface environmental conditions. During the review process, the applicant provided a high-level environmental memo that included research methods, results, recommendations, going into some detail regarding wildlife, noxious weeds, floodplains, cultural and historic resources, also addressing the ambient protections such as noise, lighting, air quality and odor. This type of environmental review will be established with any oil and gas development for future applications pertaining to utility as well as any regional pipeline that may be coming through. This in itself would be considered a mini phase one environmental site assessment in ESA, which is designed to identify potential or existing environmental contamination of the property. Along with the environmental memo, internal safety protocols were included. Those were addressed. erosion controls, spill prevention and response, as well as subsurface contamination. As a city, our police powers allow us to regulate at surface conditions, and the last applicant did address the specifics of screening and noise mitigation of ground equipment for minor utility in our two districts. Section 146. dash 5.4.3.8.3 of the City United Development Ordinance conditional use in R2 zoned area. The F-13 Regulator Station natural gas utility lines are located within the R2 zoning subarea C for an emergency. I'm sorry, emerging neighborhoods character area as described in the comprehensive plan, which is meant to promote and preserve medium density housing. The proposed project is in conformance with the UDO, the window development and the project design was developed to be in compliance with applicable city standards. The project signs, the project aligns with the city of Aurora's comprehensive plan, policy of housing for all, Utility service are required infrastructure for any new development. Natural gas regulator stations occupy a small footprint and are autonomously operated. There is no expected impact in traffic. The area being that this is a non manned facility. The project consists of approximately 95% buried infrastructure with a remaining 5% to be covered by the opaque fencing and the small metal 26 gauge metal utility building to mitigate noise. The project does not require additional street trail or sidewalk systems. The proposed project will integrate to the overall infrastructure and public improvements in mind. Since this is a new service to Greenfield Development, no dislocation of tenants or occupants to accommodate the proposed site use. And finally, the proposed project has a footprint of roughly 55 by 55 feet and will not impede streetscaping associated with the Windler development. An agreement was reached with Windler development and landscaping will be provided by the community or developer development. OK, some of the issues that were discussed. For the following, so in this situation, due to the applicant's efficiency with this development application, the applicant was able to upload a technical submission onto the development portal, which will be available for review after this hearing. Issues that were resolved during the review include compliance with landscape fence screening and above or at ground mounted equipment, environmental protections and response to best management practices in the city addressing medium density residential and adherence to the approved design standards within the Wendler master development. As previously mentioned, staff does recommend the approval of this conditional use since 95% of buried infrastructure, which is the pipeline and the remaining five, which would be the regulator station will be covered by opaque fencing. The applicant has provided a document addressing high level concerns. regarding environment to include oil and gas mismanagement practices, potential impacts to air surface water quality, as well as wildlife and stormwater. The project will provide a safe, reliable energy source to the new residential development, as well as the adjacent commercial development. The project does not require additional street, trail, or sidewalk systems. The natural gas regulator stations are autonomous, again, unmanned facilities, which will not require on-site parking or routine presence of operations and maintenance staff. The location of the F-1013 regulator station was selected with the input of the Windler development project team to integrate into the overall development infrastructure and public improvements in mind. The natural gas utility infrastructure has been cited with collaboration from the developer, Windler, and the city of Aurora to mitigate conflicts with future land use. And again, the site itself will be roughly 55 by 55 feet and will not impede any streetscaping associated with a residential window development.

And that is it.

Great. Thank you, Marianne. And does the applicant have a presentation or is simply available for questions? Sorry, Maria, that was for you. Is the applicant available for comment and question or just here?

Yes, they are. No, no, they are present. We have three representatives from the permitting team that are available for questions.

Okay, perfect. I'll open the floor for questions from the commission for the applicant or for staff. Commissioner Becker.

I just have a quick question. Thank you for the presentation. That was really, really very in-depth, so I appreciate that review. This is more just a kind of informational question. The reference to the opaque fence, It's pretty vague. Is that best practice in previous similar cases is opaque? Like, cause to be opaque could be a chain link fence with those slats in it. I just want to make sure that's, I mean, I know it's clarified in the report, but just kind of, is that the best common practice for previous projects like similar?

Yes. Thank you for your question, Commissioner Becker. So in this situation, chaining fence, is allowed. However, it is allowed within an internal within an internal fence. Chaining fence is not something that is approved in residential areas. In regards to this specific opaque fence, because of the type of equipment, it may not be necessarily visually appealing to somebody, so the applicant would be. Providing a 6 foot opaque fence, meaning that it would be a wood composite fence that would be accessible by. A gate or door. to be able to have maintenance if needed, the facility itself. The other option, which of course in this situation would apply so, for example, being that this splits between two different zoning areas it splits between residential and airport district on the airport district side the fence itself can be wrought iron fence. So as you can tell, there's a difference between, you know, the commercial industrial side with wrought iron and the fully opaque composite wood fence.

Thank you. One follow up to that.

What's to stop them from doing that? I'm sorry, could you repeat that? What's the is it? Is it going to be? No, nevermind. That doesn't make any sense. I was just kind of thinking out loud, but that helps. I think my, my concern was the two different zone districts. So that's, that's helpful. Thank you.

Yes, of course. You're welcome.

Further questions from the commission for the applicant or staff commissioner Riley.

Thank you. So your pictures of the signs allayed my concerns because I think the one in 56 should have been the most prominent because that's the one that most people would see. And of course, I go by with my prescribed checklist that you all developed. And again, I'd like to be specific about the sign shall be two to seven feet from the ground, which those little sign stakes don't do. and a heavy stake with two crossbars or a full plywood backing works best to keep them in place during the windstorm. So again, I'm going to continue to bring that up until I see signs that are legible and stand up. But the pictures allayed my concerns. The question I had was on fire life safety. It's page 97 or 102, depending on the Adobe PDF file or the staff report. on fire and life safety. My only concern is I see all about the hydrants and the fire lanes, everything like that. I didn't really see an emergency plan should something occur. And I don't know if Excel has got measures in place. Should there be a leak? Should there be an explosion or how that would be mitigated? So I just wanted to bring that up. It does say in the staff report, or the report that was provided us that eventually something's going to go to fire life safety, a site plan or something like that in the future. And I just wanted to make sure that you all are going to receive that so that we know that there are safety ramifications put into place. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

By the way, your report was intense. I liked it as well.

Thank you so much. In regards to your question, Commissioner Riley, there is an emergency action plan that was developed by Excel. We usually, for this type of plan, ask for two different copies, a publicly visible one and a private one. The private one, of course, has cell phone contact information for whoever would be the emergency contact on the applicant side. I can make this available for you if you would like to go over it. And this is something that has been reviewed by Fire Life Safety.

Okay, thank you.

Further questions from the Commission for the applicant or staff? Commissioner Hogan.

I have a question for the applicant. I too had to play search and find for the signs and frankly I only saw one and that was at 56th and Paul Houghton and that one was turned completely backwards with a rock in the sign so that it could not even be blown forwards. And I'm concerned because that to me is not public notification. Now I may have missed one because I didn't go down the street. but but 56 that's the main access to see these signs so i'd like to hear from the applicant as far as their placement of the signs and how they made sure that they truly provided public notification hi um can everyone hear me yes

My name is Caitlin Riesberger. I work with HDR Engineering. We're supporting some of the public outreach as well as the permitting for this project. I know we worked closely with the City, Maria specifically, on placement of the signs and where they might be best placed. We put out five of the provided signs Um, you know, with the instructions that we were given in terms of where they should go and how we should install them. Um, I do recognize I recognize now that there are some concerns moving forward on height invisibility, but we put out 5 of them. Um. various areas along the alignment. And I will say that specific to this application being for the conditional use is specific to the station in the Windler development in the residential area. The rest would not warrant the public signage. And I do, Maria, I'm not sure if you have the photos of the signs that were closer to that F1013 station that were still in place, invisible. But I think that the one you're referencing on Powhatan and 56 was, while relevant to the project as a whole, much closer to the development that was in the airport district and a permitted use that wouldn't trigger the public notification. So we felt we did an adequate job of informing everybody that drives in and around the area as best we could, given what we were provided from the city and also the severe weather that we had in the days leading up to this meeting.

While Maria is looking for that as an immediate follow up, when was the last time you were a member of the applicant team checked on the status of the signs?

Let's see.

I can pull that up one moment, please. I believe on

The 20th or the 19th is the last time I was aware of that, but we've had people on site here and there, not specifically checking on the signs and didn't hear anything about them being gone. But I guess the 19th or the 20th is the last time somebody drove out to make sure they were still there.

Commissioners, here are the photos that were provided by the applicant at the different locations. I believe that this is one of the ones that I used. presentation.

When were these photos submitted to you, Maria?

These were submitted on May the 12th at approximately 8 p.m.

So these are the from the initial posting.

If you guys can hear me, sorry, I can jump in really quickly. Tessa Lamborn representing Excel. I was out there last Tuesday on the 19th. I want to say around three o'clock in the afternoon. And I was the one who verified that three of the four signs along Harvest Road were still visible. And I did take and send photos to Maria.

This might be the one that Commissioner Riley might be referring to. Or I'm sorry, Commissioner Hogan.

The one that's low to the ground.

Commissioner Hogan, did you have a follow-up question? I saw your hand raising a little bit before.

I'm not sure it's a follow-up question so much as, again, I drove this site on Tuesday. I only saw one sign, and it was backwards. And regardless, because this is a conditional use hearing, I do feel it's very important to have public notification. That's the whole point of having a conditional use hearing. So saying that just because it may not apply to that specific area that it doesn't apply, it does. You're talking about running a gas line a very long ways with businesses and residents being out there.

Understood. I think procedurally, since we're this far in the hearing and staff presentation has been given, and we've had some questions back and forth at the end of this portion of the hearing, I'll entertain a motion on this agenda item after a main motion has been presented. Then at that time, I'll entertain a motion for potential postponement if the Commission wishes to do that. And we can debate those specifics of posting on that specific motion. Uh, but at this point, since we've gone through the staff presentation, let's finish up this portion of the hearing and then, uh, let's move forward in that fashion. Any further questions from the commission for staff or the applicant.

Okay, seeing none Susan, do we have any members of the public sign up to speak on 8?

Sure walls we do not.

Okay. At this time, I will close this portion of the public hearing and entertain a motion on agenda item 8B.

Commissioner Banka.

Okay. Regarding agenda item 8B, conditional use for a minor utility in medium density residential district, based on staff recommendation, the presentation, In discussion at this evening's public hearing, I move to approve with one condition, the conditional use for minor utility and medium density residential district R2. The proposed project complies with the requirements of the code section 146-5.4.3-8, sorry, .A.3 of the Unified Development Ordinance for the reasons stated in the staff report. Approval is to be subject to the following condition, one resolution of all technical corrections and outstanding issues prior to recordation of the site plan. And I so move.

Thank you, Commissioner Bank. It's been moved to approve agenda item 8B. Is there a second? Commissioner Bush, thank you. It's been moved and seconded to approve 8B. I'll open up the floor for discussion and subsidiary motions would be in order at this point.

Any discussion on the approval of 8 ?

I can just say in general, Maria, thank you so much for the presentation and the staff report. I think, again, just like our first agenda item, this was minus about 20 pages for minutes and things like that, 140 or so, 160 or so pages of staff report for two items was incredible. This commission isn't afraid of reading. We like more information, not less. And I would actually, again, give my hats off to Excel for this submittal as well. And Maria, thank you for including the actual development plan. We literally never get to see those, or almost never get to see those, especially with staff comments on them, going through each stage of the process. That was incredibly helpful to walk me through kind of what they've been through, what discussions were had. So I just want to say that including Excel's letter of notification that went out, as well as the emails that also went out to associations. My concerns about the public posting one sign being illegible when commissioner visits, those concerns were mitigated because I do feel that through posting on the Oil and Gas Commission website and the other notice that was sent out, we see proof of that in our packet. So I feel that the public was reasonably notified of this project and I have no issues in moving forward and voting to approve this project. Further discussion on the approval of 8 ?

Commissioner Banga.

I was just going to say, I do know what you're saying, Commissioner Walls, Chair Walls. I feel like there was a tremendous amount of notice that was put forward out there, and I applaud that. You know, I know that's an area where the wind doesn't just blow. It's like a hurricane constantly. There's nothing to break it. So, you know, I saw two of three signs, but who knows? The third one could be in Kansas three days later.

Commissioner Hogan.

This is a struggle for me because I feel so strongly about public notification and we have postponed other items due to the lack of what we felt was public notification. Don't have an issue with staff. I don't have an issue with Excel even. I do have an issue when we require that people post things legibly and wind or no wind that they stay up and let the people in the community know that there's a development project coming, particularly as it affects access for businesses, even on the north side. I will be voting no for only that reason.

Understood, Commissioner Hogan. Thank you for the points. And I do want to put it on the record for the applicant. I do think it's a bit shameful that the last time that the project was checked for public posting was the 19th. Again, my concerns were mitigated because we were shown that it was publicly posted by the commission. Had that not been done, had the Oil and Gas Commission not done sort of their own process for extra transparency, I would also be voting no tonight. So you're getting a yes vote from me on this particular motion because the oil and gas, because staff covered you. You did not do your job in terms of checking the posting. That is very clear. And it's a little upsetting and offensive to the general public in the city that the last time you verified the property was the 19th. And you sent photos on the day that they were posted the 12th. So that's a week that we know that they were posted. The other week, leading to today, it's anybody's guess. Clearly the commissioners didn't feel that it was posted physically on the property sufficiently. So if you get yes votes and this approves, you're very lucky this evening.

Further discussion on the approval of 8B? Seeing none, I'll call the roll. Commissioner Jachik? Approve.

Commissioner Bush? I vote to approve. Commissioner Becker?

Approve.

Commissioner Benko.

Approve.

Commissioner Riley.

I approve.

Commissioner Hogan.

Deny.

And Commissioner Walz votes to approve. Agenda item 8B is approved with five votes to approve and two votes not to approve. Susan, do we have any members of the public signed up to speak on non-agenda items?

We do not.

Okay. We'll move into agenda item 10A or miscellaneous items of business. And first up, we've got a little procedural thing. We discussed this or introduced it at the workshop last week. We are looking to move the dates of our July meetings. Instead of the second and fourth week, I believe, let me get to July. We were looking to move them to the 15th. So the third week, the third Wednesday and the final, the fifth Wednesday, the 29th. So you all had a chance to look at your calendars from then to now and any comments, concerns, questions with that proposal? Okay, I move that we adjust our July planning commission meeting hearing dates from the 8th and 22nd to the 15th 29th. Is there a second? I saw a second. Thank you, Commissioner Bush. It's been moved and seconded to move our July hearing dates. I'll open the floor for discussion. Seeing no discussion, is there any objection? Without objection, we will adjust those dates and send out public notice appropriately for those hearings. Any other miscellaneous items of business, comments by commissioners? I think Commissioner Hogan I believe you had asked Commissioner Banka if she would give a recap of today's PED meeting. And now would be a great time if Commissioner Banka is so prepared.

Oh, I have my notes. And so I'll just make it very quick. Hats off. Mr. Danny did a great job presenting today. And he educated us on opportunity zones. As a realtor, I'm familiar with them. Anyway, the city is working with the state on the opportunity zones. He showed different areas where the city is looking at the potential for opportunity zones, which these are coming through the Fed. And the city has got to make recommendations to the state. He talked about different housing and growth areas. water supply areas, strategic growth areas. And this is a second generation coming out from the feds. And this really comes from the IRS. I know a lot of developers that really look forward to the opportunity that they get with these opportunity zones to develop. So that was very good. And then the second part dealt with gas stations, which you know, has given me personally a little heartburn that I feel like we have a gas station every three feet, but it's not true. It's about every three to 500 feet anyway, at the closest. So anyway, we've got, we've added 25 gas stations since 2020, and only one's been denied and two are under review. 11 new gas stations in Ward 6, 13 gas stations going down Havana, 17 gas stations on COFAX. So anyway, that's a really brief summary. And I'm sure if you want more, I can give you more. But that's kind of the brief piece of that.

For those that weren't able to catch PED, what's the status of that sort of moving through the city, and what's the proposal, I guess, by staff for the gas station buffers? Or was it just an info-only kind of review of, hey, we've got a ton of gas stations?

I think it was more information only. I know a couple of meetings ago, Councilmember Bergen said, was wanting to know about gas stations. And so I feel like this was more informational only. Somebody can correct me. You know, I think she was having the same feeling that I was, that maybe we, you know, I mean, Louisville will only allow six gas stations. We've got gas stations on just about every corner.

I saw Director Rustad, her camera showed up, so I will welcome her into this conversation. Then I'll get to you, Commissioner Riley and Commissioner Becker after.

Thank you, Chair Walz. For the record, Janine Rustad, Director of Planning and Business Development. We actually did get guidance from PED on the gas stations. The questions were one, did they want to explore a half-mile buffer around existing gas stations? Two, did we want to explore a 500-foot setback from residential zones? And oh, I'm trying to go off my memory for three and it is failing me embarrassingly, but I bet you the Colonel has it. They do. What was agreed is on these issues. And I had recapped at the beginning that they said that the setbacks would not apply in industrial zones or with a gas station that was tied to a major grocery store. So not a convenience store. We'll have to work on that definition. But we are going to build out a public engagement schedule. We are going to engage with general public, likely through Engage Oregon and not Oregon, sorry, Colorado through town halls. But we also want to do roundtables with owner operators. We met with several at ICSC last week. and developers because we've heard from them through our development review advisory board. So we want to make sure we get holistic engagement before we start drafting code.

Great, thank you, Director Rusted. Commission Riley.

Thank you and I always feel enlightened when the director talks. The one thing that was on there as well was the EV ready infrastructure, but infrastructure only. But that's, I was gonna bring those points up, but the director covered it.

And then I think the other things covered, we'll get a report by our city attorney at some point, like for the final legislative update, what's actually going to be signed this summer. Session just concluded, so.

Chair Walls, if I may, there was a second agenda item at PED and that was Senate Bill 24174, which we will be doing some work on looking at our infill and developable land. looking at strategies and policy that include water, but really taking that holistic look of where and how we should grow. The state's deadline is December 2026. I'm waiting for my email to blow up because this is the second public meeting I'm saying this in. that we are going to be contacting the state that for a city of our size, 420 some odd thousand, 160 some odd square miles, to do this work right, which is very important. Again, it's going to affect where and how we grow into the future. We want the time to do it right. So Daniel Krasnowski is building out that schedule and we will be approaching them.

Great, thank you, Director Restad. Go ahead, Commissioner Becker.

Thank you, Chair. I just had a question. Was there any discussion about, Commissioner Venka mentioned that within, there was a number she mentioned that was between however many gas stations that came online from 2020. Was there any link to like, or any information about population increase between that time as well? Or this is just my own curious brain.

We did not provide it there, but we can bring that back. We have an amazing data team that probably has that at their fingertips.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, Commissioner Benka, for the recap. I appreciate all of you guys that are able to attend PED, but more so if you're taking notes and ready to present to the commission. Thank you. Other announcements, comments, any items of business? Commissioner Bush.

Yes. Chair Walz, I just wanted to compliment Commissioner Hogan as well as the staff for the retreat. It was excellent. The structure of what we do, how we should do it, the rules by which we are monitored, I think all are very important and for everyone to know. So it was very well done. And I just wanted to say thank you to everyone. I know it takes a lot of time and energy.

Yeah, that's a perfect segue. That's how I was sort of going to end. So thank you, Commissioner Bush. I agree, Commissioner Hogan, Brandon, and all planning staff. Thank you so much. I got a lot out of the workshop. I do every year, but this year I felt even more engaged. Brandon, I know it was a trial doing the role play case and I thought it was great. I can't wait to see where you go from here. You realize that you've set a bar now and I'm not expecting you to retire anytime in the next year. So there's a bar established and And you've got to at least meet the same standard for our next workshop. So thank you for that. Thank you for all the work that went into planning that. And I appreciate it's great getting to see the planners and the planning staff and actually shake hands and have like real human conversations. It adds a lot of context to the person behind the screen when we're seeing these presentations. So. Thank you so much, because we can't, you know, as a commission, the number one thing we can't forget is that we're all humans and humans presenting. And even though the subject matter gets a little thick sometimes and things get heated and sometimes there's public testimony, we're always here for each other and we're all humans. So the workshop, first and foremost, helps to kind of reinstill that ideal in all of us. So thank you. Okay, we will move to our planning division. Oh, Commissioner Becker, go ahead.

I just want to ditto what you said. I thought it was great. And it is always really nice to get to meet, see everybody, including Commissioner Becker for the first time, I think. And, you know, in living color, a real light person. So thank you for putting that together. Becky, Commissioner Hogan and Brandon and staff. And it's always great to get to meet the staff and thank you all for all your hard work.

All right, Brandon, you are up with our planning division manager report.

Uh, thank you chair and thank you commission for for the kind words and compliments and yes, we'll try to build off of of that and and continue to try to provide engaged workshops. Um. Let's see. One administrative decision since last meeting. That would be another phase. I think the final phase of Sun Empire. Sun Empire is a industrial master plan north of Aurora Highlands and east of Harvest. And so there's buildings out there now, and this would be the last phase of that. And if I may, Chair Walz, when we read the vote for the conditional use for the Excel project, did we have two no votes? Who was the second, or was there a second no?

I think it was Colonel Riley. Did Commissioner Riley vote no? I voted aye. She voted I so there's a single OK I apologize there's there was a single.

OK that's kind of what I heard so I just wanted to confirm so we had a 6 1 votes that works yes 6 months thank you. That that's all I had for an update nothing percolating at City Council for us so that's all I have if there's any questions I try to answer them.

Any questions for Brandon.

right thanks brandon uh now uh lena you are up with our city attorney report good afternoon everyone um nothing too major to report i think i did mention at the um planning uh workshop about the HAB-Masyn Moyer- Only land use bill that really. HAB-Masyn Moyer- is a major concern for us was the passage of. HAB-Masyn Moyer- The home act that was the one with for nonprofits and. HAB-Masyn Moyer- Educational institutions and things like that that can now have developments on properties that are five acres or less without regard to our zoning. They do have some restrictions regarding height and density and things like that. But generally as a rule, they don't have to follow our zoning or comp plan and get an expedited administrative approval. So we'll see how that plays out and if we have any applications related to that in the near future. So that's really the only one of any major note. Like I mentioned, the two lot bills, the minimum lot size and the lot splitting bill, those both failed. So we don't have to worry about those. And, yeah, that's all that I had to report.

Great. Thanks, Lena. Questions for Lena? Okay. Thanks again. All right. One final opportunity for announcements before we adjourn. Oh, I would be in trouble with chance if I didn't mention that if you don't have plans on Saturday evening, Havana's first global night market is returning, and that will be Saturday evening at 2710 South Havana from 6 to 10 p.m. So if you guys don't have anything going on Saturday evening, stop by. The first one is always crazy packed with people and usually lots of live entertainment and lots of great food. So if you don't have anything planned on Saturday, come join us. What time is it? 6 to 10.

6 to 10, and it was 2710 South Havana?

Yes, it was posted at Lee's Akaya, the restaurant Lee's Akaya, 2710 South Havana. Okay, great.

Thank you.

All right. Final announcements. Seeing none, I move that we adjourn this evening's meeting. Do I have a second? Great. Thank you, Commissioner Benke. Meeting adjourned. Have a great evening, everyone.

Thank you. Bye. Thank you.