City Council - Regular Meeting

I will now call to order the study session meeting of May 4th, 2026. Members of the public are invited to attend in-person city council meetings in council chambers on the lower level of city hall. Public access to tonight's meeting is also available on the local government access channel 8 for Comcast subscribers, on the city's YouTube channel online, and by telephone using the call-in numbers posted on the meeting agenda. Will the clerk please call the role? Mayor Lightidy here. Mayor Prom Lukeman Herroamasa here. Council member Burns here. Council member Severs here. Council member Condo here. Council member Roer will be absent. Council member Gooff here. Council member Noiki here. Council member Lighty

here. Thank you. Well, good evening. We have three items on the agenda tonight. The first one is the 2024 International Building Code Adoption Overview. So, our director of planning and development, Becky Smith, will introduce this item. Good evening.

Good evening. Thank you, Mayor Council. Um, tonight we're providing an overview of the proposed adoption of the 2024 International Building Codes, including local amendments. At the April 20th meeting, we did provide an overview of the Metro cohort model code, which is a component of the overall adoption uh package that we'll bring forward this summer. Um there is a list of proposed amendments included in your memo. We're not planning to walk through each specific amendment in the presentation tonight. It's just going to be a highle overview of the 2024 codes. But if there are any questions, we do have our subject matter experts um available this evening. We have uh Gary Moat with North Metro Fire Rescue District, our public works director, Sarah Borges, and Alejandro Pantoya um our building official with Safe Belt. Uh based on council's direction tonight, uh we plan to bring forward the codes for first reading in June and second reading and public hearing in July. Um, with the adoption of the codes, we are planning to have a 90-day delayed effective date. And this is really, um, to give everybody an opportunity to get familiar with the codes. Um, during that period, um, applicants can apply either under the 2021 codes or the 2024 codes for their building permits. And we will have, um, technical assistance through Dr. COG to help us with uh community engagement which will include a resident facing FAQ sheet as well as targeted community outreach and we plan to offer both inperson and virtual sessions for contractors and the public on the 2024 codes and so we'll we'll get that information out there. So with that I would like to invite Alejandro Pentoya our chief building official up to give an overview. Good evening. I haven't had the pleasure

of meeting any of you, I believe, but my name is Alejandra and I am a building official with Safe Built. And is this for me? Okay, thank you. Um, as Becky mentioned, this is just a highle overview uh mainly of the residential codes because most commercial projects have design professionals, architects, engineers, um, electrical engineer that are involved in that process. So, they should be a little more knowledgeable of the new codes. Um, so number one is uh building official determinations. Um, so the international codes changed on a three change on a three-year cycle. Sometimes, um, there just isn't time for the council to go over every new, excuse me, um, every new building material or method. So, one of the changes that they've allowed in the 2024 is that if someone has a specific change, either a material or some kind of construction method that they would like for us to hear. The new code does allow for that. Um, of course, those changes would not uh would would not go into effect unless they are approved by the council because every every code adoption is very specific to the municipality. So this is not something that would happen on a daily basis or without your administration or with your approval. This is one of the biggest changes. Um so uh for years Northwenn has opted out of the requirement. The requirement for fire sprinklers has been in the code for three cycles now.

The decision was made to put it back into the residential code. Um, we figured it's going to have a very small effect unless someone is going to tear down a house and rebuild something brand new. This code will have absolutely no effect only on brand new construction. Um, this is also a fantastic change especially in Colorado. Um, as you know, a couple of years ago, Colorado adopted the requirement for allowing ADUs in multiple configurations and attic spaces, basement, garages. This will help a lot with that because it does set very specific parameters um for separation between two living units. Uh the bottom one specifically will come in very handy if anyone decides to turn their basement into an ADU which they are now technically allowed allowed to. All right. As most of the code changes typically the code changes um will be specific or concentrated on two areas uh efficiency and safety. These are a couple of the new changes that have not appeared in any code before. Um, one section that was added was to address sleeping lofts, which I guess is a ch is a thing now with people building smaller homes and tiny houses if if they're allowed. That was never in the code before. Um, also the change on the right hand side, um, cable railings have been allowed for a while now, but now there are more specific requirements as far as attaching those railings to the structure.

Um, again, um, safety. Um, uh, also also dealing with safety are, uh, guard rail supports. Uh before you could literally just screw your guard rail to the flooring. That's no longer allowed. There are specific requirements now for supporting it actually to the framing members to the actual structure of the home. Uh this one will also be very important in Colorado. Um I was reading something the other day that approximately a third of the vehicles, new vehicles sold in Colorado are electric. So, everyone will need chargers. This requirement is also new that if you have um one of a charger in your garage, you now have to provide, excuse me, you now have to provide protection from a vehicle. Um I've heard from a couple of fire marshals who are friends of mine that one of those batteries catches fire, they can burn for hours. So, this would be fantastic. This is a great safety requirement. um uh the national electrical code. So the state of Colorado adopts the new code. They are set to adopt it uh this summer, August 1st. And we are re uh we are required to follow suit and 6 months later it just kind of um uh enforces. So we we have to enforce it by state statute. Uh there is verbiage in the code allowing for that. Um, okay. So, North Glenn has adopted the one on the bottom, the metro cohort model code. Um, this goes back to what Becky had mentioned earlier about Dr. Cog funds. Um, there was a lot of work put into it.

It's it's based on the 2024 energy code uh but with more stringent requirements. For example, one of the requirements is um it it does follow the the Colorado state as a lead as opposed to following the ICC every 3 years. So if Colorado makes an amendment, the cohort follows suit. Um, it also allows for what they call net zero construction by 2030, which basically means that a home has to either store or produce as much energy as it requires. Oh, that's it. Okay. Any questions?

Council member Condo, thank you for the presentation. I'm just kind of curious uh you know the whole electric vehicle piece and and charging. So really is the code to protect the the dwelling in the event of an electrical vehicle fire or yes can the charging station itself be an itis for starting a fire?

So the the the basis is to protect the the the dwelling. There are other requirements. One of the requirements is is that there has to be um uh something that we call like a ballard some kind of physical uh restraint. Um there all there are also requirements for heat sensors. So the idea is to protect the people in the home. You know just like sprinklers. Sprinklers the intent of a sprinkler system is to give the resident enough time to get safely get out. this uh the idea behind this is the same. So it it does protect the charging station, but the ultimate goal is to protect the people inside the house.

Gotcha. So if if I were a new electric vehicle owner, but yet resided in a house that was built in the 60s or 70s, am I No. Am I obligated to Okay. No. Most of the energy requirements will only affect brand new construction. Okay. Gotcha. And then one last question and I I feel like I'm living this uh right now because I'm having a solar system with a battery wall. Oh, okay. Installed. A Tesla wall or that's the most common?

Yeah. So, does this code also cover that particular instance where you have lithium ion batteries as part of your battery wall? You know, certain requirements there to make sure that you're protecting the structure. No, our understanding is that it is spec brand new construction. Okay. Gotcha. So, unless you rebuild your home, uh, we probably would not enforce that specific requirement. And then one last question. I'm just kind of going back to your slide here where you have the uh picture of uh two family dwelling, whether it's two floors and two families separated by

side by side or. So it looks like this wall basically has to have certain properties to slow down the advancement of a fire from one side to the other.

Correct. So um uh that that specific requirement the the the vertical requirement already exists um if you have like two two town homes. Um, but the the the horizontal separation until now only existed in commercial applications like condos, like condominiums and apartments. So, it's now required um in a residential setting. Um, that's why I think it will come in specifically handy if someone does decide to convert their basement to an ADU.

You know, it now has very specific requirements for horizontal separation. Are there municipalities uh now that are actually requiring that? Say for example, if you are converting your basement to an ADU? Uh yes. So um just speaking on Safeu's behalf, we have dozens of municipalities adopting the 2024 codes. Okay. Gotcha. Yeah. The idea was to provide some kind of uniformity. You know, Colorado doesn't have a state uh building code. Okay. Gotcha. Thank you. Yes. Council member Noiki.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Thank you for being here tonight, sir. Um, kind of a similar question the with regard to the fire rated walls. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Um, so fire rated walls. So, for example, right now again that the vertical requirement already exists in residential. So, if you have two two town homes, which is very common, right? Sometimes there are two or three or four stacked together. The requirement right now is that they have to have a twohour separation, but if they're sprinkled, that reduces down to one hour. Okay. Um, this this is in the context of the battery storage.

Oh, the sorry. So, um, with that, I mean, if I bought a new car and I wanted to have a battery and all that fun stuff in there, um, would I need to replace my walls or is that just No, that's only new construction because you're right, one of the requirements is a 1 hour separation, um, which is only required in that uh, specific context. Right now, the separation between your home and your garage is 20 minutes. Probably less. Well, it should should be around 20 minutes, but it's like it's built with matchixs basically. Okay.

Actually, I don't even have a garage, Sean. No need to really worry about this. It's converted to an ADU. Oh. So, there you go. There you go. Yeah. Okay. That's my only question. Thank you, Council Member Severs. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh, thanks for the presentation and director. Um, I just have two questions. Uh, one of them is, uh, prohibits onsite non-pottable water reuse systems in the city. Like, I assume that's something like funneling gutter water down to 50 gallon and then reuse it for a sprinkler or Yeah, I'm I'm sorry. Could you mind repeating that?

Uh, it says prohibits on-site non-potable water reuse systems in the city. Oh, okay. And I just had a question more about that. I mean, in the times when we're Can you just explain more that practical wise?

Awesome. Lovely to see you tonight. Always have good questions, which I appreciate. Uh, so the graywater component of that that you're seeing is um from sinks and showers primarily. And so there was recently a state law that um essentially was forcing cities and communities to allow gray water. Um the problem we have here at North Glenn is that um we don't h if you have gray water and you reuse it to say water your lawn or you put it in your toilet or something like that, there's a huge potential for cross connection to where you accidentally put those pipes into your drinking water pipes. And so there's a lot of oversight that has to go into maintaining a program that would allow for graywater. um we don't have the staffing capacity or the quantity of people interested in it to warrant say hiring another person in order to do a new program. The other component of that is that uh all that water would go to our wastewater plant and we actually do use that water at the wastewater plant. So there wouldn't actually be much water savings in act in um converting that gray water into some other purpose like flushing toilets or uh irrigating the lawn.

So it just lists two things. It says prohibit non-pottable water and prohibit subsurface gray water. Is that basically the same thing to you? Yeah. Yeah. Uh and then my other question was uh speaking about ADUs and new construction. And I know a lot of places that have weird rules about development. They can knock down 85% of the house and then build the rest and it's somehow not a new building. Uh what is the determining factor locally for that? That's more of a planning zoning question, not a building code question. Sorry, I'll step out of the way.

Yeah. Um, so for the 2024 building codes, where most of the regulations will come into effect is if it's a new build. So if we're talking about fire rated walls, we're not going to have a home that is doing a remodel that isn't a substantial remodel. Now, if it was over that 50% of the home and it's all new in an area, if they're adding a new addition, the new addition would be complying with the 20 24 codes. we might not have to retrofit the old portion of the house that wouldn't trigger because we don't want to prohibit residents from making improvements to their properties by adding additional expense to what's existing.

And does that go for ADUs as well? If if someone builds a ADU in their backyard, brand new construction, yeah, you would think it would need sprinklers. So, an ADU would be treated as a separate structure from the primary house, and so it would have to comply fully with the 2024 codes. And I would let Gary maybe weigh in on if that is required for sprinklers.

I would say yes. So they're they're so safer that they're um uh the code does have exceptions if the home if the home is not sprinkled can't really require sprinklers there. There there are exceptions for that. So yeah, if the if the current home is sprinklered, I believe the ADU would be required to to be sprinklered under the new code. If the current home is not there, there there is an exception. So if someone has a non-sp sprinkled house build au it might not require it. Not required. Correct.

And that's going to be the most common situation we have. And as someone that wants fire safety, I'm sure you're saying do it anyways. Well, we'd like to see that, but uh we're pretty excited about the jump we're taking this year anyway. So pretty pretty happy about that. All right. Thank you. Mayor Prom.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Thank you so much for being here for that presentation. Um, I was not here for the April 20th meeting. I was out of the country, so I apologize if I repeat myself on something that was explained, so I'll keep it brief. Um, I think I had two questions, but I think one of them was mostly answered by Council Member Scever's question, which if there's anything to add, feel free, but it was what level of construction would trigger like the fire sprinkler system requirement, which I think I understood and heard was a 50% or more. No is I so the fire sprinkler requirement will really come into play with new construction only new construction

but with some of the other 2024 building codes if there is a new addition the addition would comply but it wouldn't have to retrofit the house the whole house with a sprinkler system. What if you built one room? So that room would not have to have a sprinkler system because the sprinkler system would then basically require the whole house be sprinklered if they're going to invest in that system. Okay, that that kind of made sense to me and um and what I heard, but I was just curious. I'm not planning on building any rooms, but uh you never know.

Um and then I guess my other question would be on some of the amendments that were added from Safe Belt and North Metro. What were the amendments? You don't have to explain all of them, but just like briefly, what were the amendments that were proposed by North Metro? Was it the sprinkler system or I'm just curious. Thank you. Thanks for being here. Well, the requirement for sprinklers was kind of a collaboration because it's been in the building code for three cycles now, but we've opted out of it, right? Northland has opted out. Right. They've amended it out of the code since it's actually been in since what, 2006 or 2009.

Okay. and they've amended it out every year. This is the first year they left it in. Um I'm sorry, can you repeat your question? Yeah, the question was just what were the amendments proposed by North Metro like relevant to North Glenn and has it mentioned I got you. We have a whole host of amendments, but uh the only two amendments uh had to do with the valet trash service. And this is mainly for apartment complexes and stuff like that where they have interior hallways and they have a third party trash company that uh the residents would put their trash into the corridor and uh this company would pick it up every so often. So,

okay. Uh we had an amendment to that to require that or allow that only in sprinkler buildings because of the concerns we have on combustible trash being left out, you know, in an egress path. So that was a big concern. But uh that's made it into the code. So we we did have that amendment and then I believe the sprinkler requirement was the only other new amendment. Okay, that's that's it for my questions. Thank you so much. Thank you to both of you. Thank you, Madam Mayor. And that's all the questions we have. So, thank you so much for coming tonight. We appreciate it.

All right. Did you have anything else on that item? I was just going to say, is everybody um generally in favor with us moving forward with the 2024 package for adoption this summer? Okay. Then we'll be seeing that later this year.

Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay. The next item is section 36 area plan, the review of the final draft. Our director of planning and development, Becky Smith, is here to present this item. Great. Um, so tonight we're presenting the final draft of the section 36 uh area plan. Um, section 36 is the one square mile property uh in Weld County and it's home to um North Metro Fire Rescue District as well as the city's wastewater treatment plant. Uh in 2023 uh when council adopted the comprehensive plan looking up a vision for Northland's future, it identified 11 areas of focus. Um and then based on those areas, the city looked at um ease of implementation, overall need and support and section 36 kind of rose to the top as far as one of the areas to focus on. Uh the city retained Kimley Horn to lead a planning effort. Um, in May of 2025, we did come to council and at that time, uh, council expressed a preference for industrial uses and renewable energy over any type of commercial development. So, you'll see that incorporated into the plan concepts tonight that we'll be presenting. Um we did do community engagement throughout the summer of 2025 at the neighborhood nights and um after that we did a market study to confirm that the feasibility of the plan um scenarios was viable. And on February 3rd, the um consultant team presented to the planning commission uh in a public hearing. And following the presentation, the the planning commission did vote to adopt section 36 area plan via resolution 20261. Um the planning commission does recommend that city council ratify their

decision to amend the comprehensive plan as um a part um to include the section 36 area plan. So, tonight is really the opportunity for council to review those uh final draft recommendations, ask any questions, or raise any significant concerns that you may have with that final plan. And if there aren't any major concerns, uh staff will bring the plan for a formal adoption uh to the city council meeting on May 11th. Uh with that, I'd like to introduce our consultants. Um I have Anise Inz Gamish here uh with Kimley Horn as well as Blake Young who's joining virtually and uh Inz will walk us through the findings and recommendations from the plan.

All right. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Tonight, as Becky said, I'll be presenting on the section 36 area plan, which provides direction for future land use, infrastructure, transportation, and implementation in the city's last major vacant areas. The goal tonight is to summarize the plan's key findings and walk you through the recommended future land use direction in preparation for um that adoption hearing. Uh as Becky said, my name is Yian Galmish. I'm the deputy PM for this project and then joining me virtually is my colleague and project manager Blake Young. So section, excuse me, section 36 was identified, as Becky said, as a priority in the city's 2023 comprehensive plan with a recommendation to explore employment oriented uses such as industrial and commercial uh based on the impact, implementability, and community need. An area plan takes that city-wide direction and translate it into a more detailed framework for a specific location. So in this case, section 36. And this document is organized into eight chapters. So we've got introduction, existing conditions, engagement, market analysis, vision and goals, future land use, transportation, and it concludes with their recommendations. So section 36 was annexed in 1989 and it sits about 5 and a half miles north of the city proper and it's surrounded by the city of Broomfield, Thoren unincorporated, Adams and Weld County and because the area is geographically separated um and multi-jurisdictional implementation will be heavily reliance on ongoing coordination with partners and service providers. So this project began about two years

ago. We started with an existing conditions analysis. We did community engagements, a market analysis, scenario testing, um, and implementation strategies. And as Becky mentioned, all the phases are complete at this time. Um, attached to the packet is the full document. Um, and the plan is on track for adoption this month. So now existing conditions here directly limit what's feasible um in the for the future of the site. The plan includes the city's wastewater treatment plant, the north metro fire training facility, oil and gas operations and it has nearby residential and agricultural uses. So firstly because of the proximity proximity to the uh treatment plants and the thorin settlement agreement residential is not a realistic option for the site. Additionally due the to the treatment plants as well food and beverage related uses are not permitted on the site. Now, regarding emergency response, due to the distance from fire stations and expected response time, the plan does discourage high occupancy and high-risisk uses such as hospitals, schools, senior living, um, and high density residential as well as heavy industrial with hazardous materials. And environmentally part of the site, especially to the southeast, um there are areas that are v vulnerable to flooding and there is a wetland area in the center of the plan um that may require delineation, permitting um and mitigation depending on development location. And then lastly for utilities, um utility utilities are generally available um on the site. Water service is provided through Todd Creek Water uh Todd Creek Village Metro District. Um and development will require coordination for connections and

capacity. The city would also need to extend a municipal water line from W County Road 13 for adequate service uh capacity. And then as part of the process, we worked with United Power. Um we met with them and um they recommended that future development endeavors should coordinate with them as early as they're able to. Um and they advised that higher energy users would likely need to complete additional studies um and provide infrastructure needs. So now land ownership is concentrated among just a few major entities uh including the city, Anna Darkco and North Metro Fire. Uh and it's important to note here that the city's ownership of multiple parcels does provide uh unique leverage for desired development outcomes. An important constraint on the site is the hydraulic fracturing area um and those associated setbacks. So the plan recognizes the state and the the county setback frameworks. Um but there is an ability for developers to pursue reduced setbacks through additional protections. Um specifically in a darko's activity um is permitted for a 25 to 30 year schedule and it started back in 2024. Um afterwards a long-term re redevelopments any long-term redevelopment will depend on remediation approvals and restoration after operations have completed. Now as I've mentioned as part of the project we completed a market analysis um to ground the plan in what the market can realistically support at the moment particularly for employment and industrial uses. At a high level, the market area experienced substantial growth. Um, it

increased more than 50% between 2010 and 2024 to over 200,000 residents. That growth, it supports long-term demand for jobs and for employment space. And employment in the market area was over 86,000 jobs in 2022, and it's expected to exceed 104,000 jobs by 2035. This indicates continued growth over over the next decade. And from an industrial real estate perspective, um the market has had a major wave of new development. Um since 2020, about 6.3 million square feet of industrial space has been delivered. Um this pushed vacancy rates up to about up 13.8%. But that's largely due to leasing up new product rather than a lack of underlying demand. So at this time, rents remain strong. Um the a little over $14 per square foot. Um which suggests to us that the market is still competitive. And now and final the the market analysis recommends focusing on two opportunity charact um categories showroom flex and smallcale manufacturing um as stronger near to midterm opportunities. That's why the preferred land use plan that we'll go over in a in a few slides emphasizes the light industrial and flex industrial uses. These are formats that can absorb incrementally, create jobs, and adapt over time with the market. Now, as previously mentioned, we have done some community engagement um over the past year that included an openhouse survey, stakeholder meeting with agencies and jurisdictions, uh outreach, and neighborhood nights this past summer as well. Uh a key takeaway is that

support was strongest for flex industrial uses. Um and there was additional interest in incorporating renewable energy features. The vision goals reflect all the input that we received throughout the process. So the overall direction is to position section 36 as a resilient employmentoriented area that supports economic vitality, responsible land use, and long-term infrastructure needs. The plan's goals include renewable energy and sustainability, creating employment opportunities that benefit residents, um expanding economic developments, and diversifying the tax base, um and being a good neighbor to surrounding land owners, businesses, and jurisdictions. So now transition to the heart of the document itself, the future land use plan. Um the primary purpose of this plan is to identify those land uses that are compatible with a site's constraints surrounding context and the long-term priorities of the city. The future land use plan is intended to provide clear direction for future decision- making while also being flexible enough to respond to changing market conditions and infrastructure realities over time. and it's designed to guide future zoning and entitlement decisions. But the plan also notes additional zoning work such as new districts or overlays that will be needed to implement the preferred development types that we'll go over in a in a few slides. So now with that said, we have the first scenario on the screen here. Um this scenario one was designed to test um a stronger emphasis on the renewable energy piece. So this scenario maintains public facilities and it includes light industrial plus a dedicated energy utility components. That's that yellow portion in the in the center. And the

benefit is clear alignment with the city's sustainability goals um and compatibility with existing operations. However, the trade-off is that dedicating large areas uh to solar for example can reduce flexibility for broader job generating uses. So the preferred alternative that you'll see in two slides uh carries forward the renewable energy primarily as an integrated feature of development. So for example rooftop solar solar canopies rather than just the dominance land use. Now scenario two um tested a more employment forward approach. So this emphasizes industrial and flexindustrial uses while still maintaining the public facilities. Um that was something that we heard from the start is the public facilities we don't touch, we leave as is. Um this scenario aligned well with the market conditions and the stakeholder input and it reflected direction we heard consistently throughout the process. Uh this scenario also still allows for the renewable energy through building and site design as I mentioned earlier rooftop solar EV charging um without setting aside the acreage exclusively for that energy use. So now here we've got the preferred um alternative that the plan recommends. So based on the feedback that we received on those two land uses, the plan recommends this preferred alternative. Um and this option maintains the public facilities. Uh it also focuses on light and flex industrial as the primary job generating use. It also incorporates the renewable energy through the development standards and incentives. And overall this approach aligns well with the market conditions supporting job growth and taxbased diversification and it

remains realistic about constraints and infrastructure timing as well. So once we have that preferred land use plan established, we ask what types of businesses are those um development formats trying to attract. And so here on the screen you have an example for the light industrial um zone uh zone area, excuse me. Um and it shows different development types that we imagine for that area and which ones are preferred and which ones are discouraged. And we will have that listed in the plan for all the um the land uses. And the plan emphasizes light and flex industrial uses because those formats generally create jobs uh with fewer impacts for example to traffic um than heavier industrial categories and are better suited for the surrounding residential areas as well. And this guidance here is meant to inform the zoning and the development review so that projects can match the plan's intent and minimize conflict. Now for transportation today the area is framed by East 168th Avenue, Colorado Boulevard, Weld County Road 11 and North Metro Avenue. However, North Metro doesn't currently extend all the way to Colorado Boulevard. So, one of our key proposed improvements is to extend that that road um create that connection and this would strengthen the east to west connection across the site the site um and would require coordination between um North Glenn and Weld County um as joint owners of the land and portions of that roadway. The plan also aligns with adjacent jurisdiction planning,

particularly along 168th to the south where Thoren's transportation mobility master plan proposes future improvements. Um, and this includes additional capacity and protected bike lanes. So over over time, 168th is expected to function a bit more like a minor arterial. Um and um that's what we have shown in in the map here and in the document. And finally, the the preferred land use plan assumes a network of internal local streets um that would support uh circulation and access to those sites. The area plan recommendations are organized into five categories. We have land use, mobility, utilities, economic development and environmental and environmental sustainability and innovation. As I mentioned earlier, implementation here will be stepwise and coordination driven because of the site's constraints, ownership, service provider relationships. The intent is really to provide a practical blueprints that remains adaptable but gives clear directions on the next steps. And then lastly, and just in closing, section 36 area plan provides a clear and implementable framework for one of the city's most important opportunity areas. It protects the core public facilities, especially the wastewater treatment facility. And it position it while positioning the remainder of the site for job creation um with renewable energy integrated throughout development features. And it also identifies the key steps needed in the future to move from planning to execution including the zoning tools, infrastructure coordination and transportation connectivity. So with that said, um thank you for your time tonight. Blake and I are available

for questions. Okay, Council Member Condo. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you for the presentation. Um just trying to think about the current tenants or people that are there. For example, you have Triple LLC which I believe are five residential homes and I know it's early days but at some point or another when when there is a decision that kind of having this in our comprehensive plan we're going to reszone. How do you how do you treat or manage those people or those residents?

Absolutely. Uh well, as it stands right now where nobody is being pushed out, um this creates an opportunity for them if in the future they would like to do something differently with with their land. Uh were there any of those five residents participating at all in your project? Out of curiosity, we had reached out um but we have did not hear back. Right. Yeah.

Okay. Gotcha. And then another probably stakeholder to consider, I believe there's a farmer that's leasing the land and farming their same sort of issue. I would assume uh it would be just as things transition over to reszoning. But say for example, if we even reszone for Flex Industrial and the economy just kind of languishes and there's no real motivation to develop, can the farmer continue to farm that lease that land and farm it?

Absolutely. This, like I said, this creates an additional opportunity. Um the they can continue on with their use. Um, this just lets them know that if they would like to do something different or if they are approached by a developer who's interested and buying their land to do something differently, they have that option. Um, but it's not necessarily um changing anything that they're doing right now. Gotcha. And I see our city attorney would like to jump in.

Yeah. I'm not I'm not sure our council has um done comp plan amendments very and certainly not since the new council has taken over. A comp plan amendment is aspirational. It is a planning document. It is not a regulatory document. So this is if adopted is aspirational only and it talks about what you want to see, not what you can compel in the absence of an application. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Noiki.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you for being here tonight. Um, with regard to the rooftop solar, would that be up um to the discretion of like the business owner or whomever to put currently? It's just a recommendation in the plan for the city to take into consideration. Um once this plan is adopted, the city would have to go through um and create language to either uh require or recommend that those components uh be required as part of development. Okay. And if we didn't do that, then then it's just kind of up to their discretion.

Yes, it would be noted in the area plan that that's the recommended vision. Uh but if if there's no further action taken, then it would just be a recommendation. Okay. Excellent. Thank you. Absolutely. Council member Goff. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for this presentation. Um I just would like to propose that in the preferred development types that we take off the data centers because I believe that's in con direct conflict with our sustainability and you know visions on that line. I I don't know what other people are feeling about that, but when I I mean that it just makes me very uncomfortable to see that there.

Can you point to what what are you talking about? Okay. Um the slide Oh gosh, sorry. I just got my eyes fixed. Um slide 19 uh says preferred development types at the top and it's listing uh under light industrial. It starts with warehousing and there's a bunch of things but data centers is one of them and I would I I would not want to recommend that. Got it. Thank you, Council Member Severs.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. And uh I just wanted to point out this is kind of the same issue I had with uh I mean again this none none of this is set in stone but when we heard it at the planning commission uh we preferred to not use 40 acres for solar uh which according to the internet how accurate it is or not just uh 1500 to 3,000 homes annually could be powered by something that that size and with our water treatment plant being there and one of their big ticket items expense-wise as you know is their pumps. I'm not sure how relevant that would be to be able to make it used for the water treatment plant, but that's a big ticket item other than chemicals. It's electrical use. And um and then that's why I asked recently about what leverage we have as a city to mandate more of the solar on the roof cuz these big flex industrial warehouses are pretty flat on the top usually and uh solar if it's not going on land which I understand that makes sense but if we eliminate the solar in the plant and then also don't ask solar to be on top of big warehouses and then also have a data center go there. It just seems like a lot of missed opportunities to uh do some of the sustainability that we talk about. So, um I do remember when we talked about this in the plan commission uh the the bottom the preferred plan with the flex industrial around 168th was kind of more of a a better front to it in instead of like just straight into light industrial. So, it made sense. I just I've brought it up a few times about the this issue where I I'm going to have a hard time saying, "Oh, yeah, let's eliminate solar. Let's not have any ways

to encourage solar on roofs and then encourage data centers." So, it just just my feelings about it. Council member Burns.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um, thank you all so much for being here and thank you for joining us online, Mr. Blake or Young. I don't know. Commasa's in a weird place. Um so um if we look on um page 41 actually of like the the full giant presentation in the prefer preferred alternative um council member Gooff they do talk about data centers being a drain on energy use and how if that is something we go forward with we need to coordinate early. They talk about rooftop solar there too being incentivized. I do feel like this preferred plan is I don't know like if I'm just like being in my feels at the moment like we are not going to get what we want. And I feel like we just keep hearing this over and over and over again with any kind of development, whether it's this lot um or section 36. I mean, I think the I think this is honestly like the best it's going to get with the best of both worlds, the preferred plan. Um I think the connection road is smart and I think that looks good and moving into Colorado. um and having the flex industrial in the front around 168th based on Thornton's plans to develop their side of that. Um I agree with council member Goth like I don't think I'd want to see a data center there because again like I don't really know how many jobs that's going to bring in the long run and what that's going to look like. But I think you know it would be it the growth opportunity and the jobs investments in that area looks strong and so to at least approve a plan a concept of a plan if you will I

think makes a lot of sense. Um and I think the preferred plan is fine. Thanks. And I'll add too if I can as well. Um like we were saying earlier, this is a vision document and it establishes the steps that need to happen afterwards. Um so there there will still need to be actions on the city side to be able to require or uh find ways to incentivize that solar um and and reach these um these goals. Um it looks like our guest has his hand up next. So, Blake Young, thank you, Mayor. Uh, can you all hear me?

Yes.

Okay. So, um I I did want to address the uh Katherine's comment first on data centers. Um I I think as as technology progresses over the next 5 to 10 years because this plan is a long range planning document um technology surrounding data centers is quickly evolving. Uh so going from an openired uh air conditioning system to a closed loops uh cooling system uh that reduces the water usage um you know along with the usage as well. I think um as technology progresses um it's important to note that we did not want to put any limitations um in the plan as as it sits today and leave it up to to you all to address it as uh as development applications come forward on a case-byase basis. Uh because then at that point in time um you know things things could be different. Um I don't I'm not a data center uh professional but I know I do know that uh this world is is evolving very quickly on that side. Um and then this the second uh the second item which I believe Megan had already pointed out the page number for us. So thank you Megan. Uh the the solar panels paired with future development. Um it it could address opportunities for uh future power needs as well as um identifying or uh essentially checking the box on some uh renewable energy goals on on your all side. And this could be addressed uh during that time of development application uh and also uh on a case-by case basis.

Okay. Thank you, Council Member Condo. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, just one other thing. I just wanted to make sure uh as you were doing this assessment, you were thinking about the inline development and the potential for a station going in at 162nd, I believe. Was that was that part of your calculus also when you were doing the market assessment? Blake might be able to speak a little bit more on this, but that was part of initial conversations.

Yes. And if I can jump in, you're correct. Um the the transit oriented development uh radius is typically a quarter mile to a half mile and we are right on that edge. So, uh, with the with the unknown of RTD's time on when they would be, uh, completing that, uh, extension. We we did not assume any transit oriented development within the section 36 area plan uh because it would be too far separated from that station. uh as well as the site constraints uh per the settlement agreement uh prohibits uh highdensity residential uh uses and high occupancy uh uses as well. So that sort of scratches a lot of the to uh uses off the table.

Great. Yeah, I I recognize that. I just think that if Thornton decides to put in residential, it could cause some more complaint, I suppose. But maybe that's a bridge that we need to cross when we get there. Mayor Prom,

thank you, Madame Mayor. I say Thornton will just have to deal with it. That's my opinion, and I'll tell them that, too. Thank you so much for this presentation. Really appreciate it. Um I have a couple of questions. Um as you were going through and talking about United Power and potentially depending on what goes in um you know the need to coordinate more studies. Um like what just if you have like some broad example of what could trigger that like what size are we looking at or is that something like a data center um that United Power would go hey wait we need additional studies to see how much power they would use? just curious.

Blake might have an idea that we did not go that de into detail with them during that meeting. Um I think it would be pretty case by case specific depending on what the uses are that are proposing to go in. Um they made it clear that for example something along the lines of a data center would require much more intensive studies um and util uh infrastructure considerations as well. Um but we did not go into detail on the actual uh process.

Okay. But with the proposed um preferred alternative is the one that I'm definitely in agreement with as well are they're sure that they can support providing they have enough infrastructure or you know enough power to go to that area um as it stands in terms of what the proposed uses are currently. Yes. Currently. Okay. Sort of. Yes. And I get I get it because we don't know what would go in there. Yeah.

Yeah. It depends just over time how it changes with other uses coming in and using up some of their energy. Um as well as what it is is that's looking to come on on site here. Um and Blake I think you had something to add.

Okay. Yeah. I mean that makes sense, right? There's a lot of unknowns and whatifs right now. And then maybe a weird question. I know we said no food and beverage. It's just not an appropriate area for it with our wastewater treatment facility obviously. But uh what about industrial or flex space that manufactures things like I don't know soda cans like Pepsi or something like that or distributes that it's a beverage that they're maybe putting it together and distributing as a dist distribution center. I know that sounded very redundant but I hope you understand what I'm saying. Is that something that would be allowed or is that just immediately fall into food and beverage and nada? Okay.

Yep. That would fall under food and beverage. Yeah. Because of um for the proximity uh smell it's um that's Yeah. No, absolutely. No need to go any deeper into that. Okay. It was just I was just curious because technically it could be like a just a distribution center and not like a manufacturing the beverage for example.

That was like a fine line for me. Okay. Um, and then I think um, so regarding data centers, I mean there's a lot of legislation right now and we don't even know like what that's going to look like until the session is over. Um, I definitely, you know, all I can think of is that right now we have nothing here, nothing in the space. We've lost some tax producing entities in our city. So we need to diversify our tax base. Um, and I I look at this as such great potential for that to happen. Um, as well as provide jobs. So, I I really I love the preferred alternative with what I'm hearing from Mr. Young that there's still kind of those safeguards that those things are going to come back to council that we'll know, you know, it'll be approved. So, we'll still have a say to Council Member Burn's point, you know, to get what we want, what we hope for. So, there's there's still ways to manage that. And I see Director Smith nodding your head. So that that is true. Yes.

Yeah. And one advantage we have with this specific site is that we are the owner of the majority of the land there. So if the city did want to sell or lease the property at some point, we could control what that agreement with the potential buyer looks like. So instead of just moving forward with a reszoning that allows for every type of use in that zone district, we might have a little bit more control in those initial negotiations. I don't know if Corey wants to add anything to that, but um and then as far as the next steps of this plan, there are some recommendations as far as maybe looking at the zoning code and amending our light industrial or adding a light industrial zone district that has these specific types of uses so that we're not opening it up to everything that we currently allow in industrial, but more tailored.

Okay, that makes sense. I mean, we're in a better or a more unique position with this property versus like say the space that's empty in the marketplace where we don't have control over it. Um, so I do love that and I think that's a way to have those guard rails in place. Um, and to incentivize I love the idea of maybe making it somehow more I don't know if I want to say mandatory but to have strong incentives for solar and things like that. Uh, but I am leaning towards the preferred alternative because it sounds like that is the has the most potential to increase our tax revenue base as well as employment. Is that what I'm understanding? Yes. Okay. I think I will leave it at that for now. Thank you so much, Council Member Gooff.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, I agree with the preferred alternative, but I still think if this is an aspirational document, um, if we're going to have a list of preferred development types or discouraged ones that I would not want to see I still don't want to see the data center on a preferred one. And that way to to my mind if somebody thinks that's the absolute best place to build a data center and they they can come to us and we can negotiate something and maybe get more gu more more guard rails or requirements about water use and electric electricity and whatever. I I um I mean there's just so many other options on there. I just don't I don't want to encourage that at all. So that that's that's just all I'm going to I mean, it's it's not like we're requiring it or forbidding it, but if we're if we're going to have a list of preferred types, I don't think that data center should be on it.

Thank you, Council Member Lighty.

Thank you. Um, I want to say thank you so much for coming. I have a few questions. I'm noticing I was looking at the community engagement summary, and correct me if I'm wrong. I'm looking at it and I'm not seeing anything that says the surrounding residents of this area. Just thinking about being a good neighbor. I know that we've already stated other things, but just thinking about making sure that we're not just throwing a random section or a bunch of random industrial things to this area, especially if not I mean knowing the specific area that we're looking at, it's kind of bland right now and it's pretty it's pretty agricultural. And so is that is that something that will negatively impact us in any way if we lose all this agricultural space and make it industrial?

Um and I guess are the residents aware that that's happening? Yep. Um so to answer the first part, we did outreach to um to residents to the area um with the community events. We had a lot of advertising um going on incentivization for people to to be involved in in the process. I meant more the neighborhood that's on 168 than York.

Yes. To the south. Yep. Yes. Yeah. Correct. Um and then so so we we did outreach um we did advertise um to attend the the meetings the we had an open house um as well as the community events. Um, as far as what you are gaining, um, the intent of this area plan is really to address the tax base and to use that in a way that benefits the city. Um as the site is so severely constrained with what is able to go in um there's not a whole lot of options um that benefit the neighboring residents, the neighboring the neighbors um the commun the municipalities around as well as as the city. Okay. Oh, I see uh Mr. Young, your hand is up again.

Yes. Thank you, Mayor. To answer Council Member Lady's uh question on community engagement, we did reach out to the adjacent municipalities as well, uh to understand their current vision for not only, you know, just our surrounding site, but along 168 and and beyond, especially in connection to I25. um with our settlement agreement in place right now, it it essentially puts us into a really tight box on what is what is allowed per that settlement agreement. Um so if it's um you know residential is um is not permitted through that agreement which means that we basically have two we have two options that is or I would say three options. Uh the first option is uh essentially a status quo. It is keeping the site as is. Uh second option would be mostly focused towards the agricultural use. Uh and then the third the third option would be that industrial use and back to I believe another council member's question or statement on economic development and creating that that diversified tax base. I think this is something that is that is a great opportunity for the the entire city of North Glenn um to really really expand upon the options that we have right now and and bring something online that that the city uh does not currently have in in the market.

Okay, thank you. Um, so we don't have any more hands up and I was just listening to all of the questions from council and kind of going back to where it started with us as far as um May of 2025 and our preference being renewable energy and industrial uses. Um, and I think we had a lot of the same concerns and a lot of the same questions as far as impact to residents, impact to neighbors, impact to the area, all of those things. Um, and I think I mean I don't know. I look at what could be there could be just as bad as a data center. I don't know. all those other things could also depending on who moves in under any of those categories could do worse things. Uh and so I guess I'm trying to figure out what happens next. Can you just summarize that for residents and people that are going forward like we have this information now and then where what is the timeline for when an industrial park moves in?

Absolutely. I might

so um as Corey had mentioned this is a long range vision document and so it typically looks into a 20 30 year horizon that doesn't mean that it couldn't happen in five years necessarily but how we use this document is we use it to guide our policy decisions so if someone were to come to the city and say I want to buy this parcel from the city and this is my vision for how to develop it we would use this document to say yes this lines up with what we want to see here. Let's talk more about this and go through the steps of reszoning and getting the site development ready. So that's sort of the next steps. We might sit for a while and wait. We might see something move more quickly. Part of it will depend on what sort of demand there is for this type of use in that area.

Okay. And the market says there is some. So, and that's that's a very nice concise summary of what we just talked about, right? Because I think if people are listening or paying attention or they look online later, they may think that all of these changes are happening in the next year, right? That we're going to move forward and a data center is going in and and and then we're going to have protests and it'll be a whole thing, right? So, I think it's important for everyone to understand the timeline and the process and the purpose of this document. So, thank you for summarizing that. I appreciate it. Um, and thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Young, for being here.

Thank you. Thanks. Have a good evening. Okay, up next. Wow, we are just uh it's it's our night of Becky Smith. Uh so director of planning and development is here to talk to us about our neighborhood services discussion number four. Thank you.

All right. So um here we are uh with discussion number four on neighborhood services. And really the purpose of tonight is to present the staff recommendations uh based on all of our discussions leading up to tonight. uh specifically based on the direction that we received at the March 16th city council meeting. Um this is just a summary of all of our discussions to date and the things that we covered uh leading up to this moment which is where we will go over basically our recommendations uh making sure that what we heard is in line with what you were wanting to see and uh just getting on the same page with that. So, one of the big updates that we heard that city council we think would like to see is that we update our process with regards to non-life safety enforcement. So this slide shows a diagram of our proposed new process, which would be really focusing on that education first and working with residents to obtain compliance before we move on to that pre-inforcement step of a notice of violation. So what we would do is if we receive a complaint, we would go out and do our investigation and verify if there is something that is not in line with what the code says. And if it's not a life safety issue, we will um uh initiate contact by doing a door hanger and letting them know what what the problem is and what needs to be corrected. And then we would go back out to the property in seven days to see if it was corrected. If it's not, then we would try to initiate contact if we didn't have an initial contact with the resident, if no one was home. And so we would try in good faith effort to initiate contact, understand what any barriers are, help them understand what

the violation is and what the next steps are, and really try to work with them. Um hopefully we'll come into compliance. We've um had a very successful compliance rate um prior to even implementing this. So I'm hopeful that this will work just as well. But then in cases where we may not achieve that compliance after three reasonable attempts or missed deadlines or no understanding from a resident of what's going on as far as potential barriers that we can work with them through, then we would move on to that pre-inforcement um notice of violation. um we would keep our process that we have in place for those life safety violations. And um in the packet there is a table where we did reorganize our violations and we tried to pull out the ones that tend to lean more towards life safety issues. Um and I'll I'll get into that in a future slide. The process is with the life safety basically we do start with that notice of violation or immediate emergency response assessment if it is a a very severe life safety issue. So this is the violation table that I was referring to. This is just a screenshot of that. But for uh public nuisance life safety, we would do an immediate notice of violation and really start working with that resident through that process. Um for anything that's deemed an aesthetic violation, that's where we're moving to that door hanger, really trying to work with residents uh through education and understanding. And then uh we will continue to handle department assists, how we've handled them, and take the let the agency or the department that needs the assist take the lead on how they want to handle that enforcement.

This is a screenshot of the door hanger that we created. It allows code officer or neighborhood services officers to uh fill in what the violation is and then also what the correction corrective action would need to be. Um, I kind of went over this before, but really that initial contact will be um either if someone's not home, they get the store hanger, they get the information, they know how to contact us if they have questions, and then we follow up in seven days to see if there's anything. If if the violation is corrected, we just close the case and it's done. um if it does need to be escalated, it's only after several good faith attempts to resolve that matter uh with the resident that we're working with. Um so if we do have to move to pre-inforcement, um we've tried to work with a resident over several attempts and we're just not getting anywhere and we're not um finding a resolution. That is when we move to this pre-inforcement action which is the notice of violation letter. It is the same as the one we had previously looked at. Um we we want it to be transparent as far as what the next steps could be for the resident, but we do think with this initial step of education and really trying to work with people that this is the the right next step for those cases. Um, we also heard from council that we wanted to do education for new residents and let them know about some of the top violations that we see. And so we worked with our communications consultant and they helped us develop this uh trifold brochure that we can give to new residents. Uh when we get someone uh signed up for utilities through the city, we can send them um a new resident uh guide. One of the things we were thinking about after it was created is

we could also just send this to everybody, maybe not as the trifold, but some version of this to everybody in the utility bill. So, that'll be a question for you, right? Um, when we get more into the discussion, we're also working on improving our communications to people that are sending us complaints. And so we really want them to understand that we have heard their concerns and that we are looking into it, but we are focused on life safety issues and focused on working with residents on non-life safety matters. And so we want them to know that, you know, we're working on it, but it may take some time and please be patient with us. Um, we also heard from everybody that code enforcement is not always the most welcoming title and we actually did rename the division in our code. And so in the municipal code, they are neighborhood services. And it's it's hard it's hard for me to do it, but um we're going to make a concerted effort to change everything over to neighborhood services and use that as our branding because that has a much more friendly want to serve the community and work with our residents to resolve issues instead of that punitive code enforcement um terminology that we're so used to using. So, we have started to look at the website and try to clean up wherever we see code enforcement. If you see it somewhere, shoot it our way. We'll try to get that corrected right away. Um, and then this is a discussion that has come up a few times um over our conversations and it's anonymous complaints and we have heard from the community um about anonymous complaints as well. So, we wanted to bring this question to you tonight as we move forward. Um, Attorney Hoffman's guidance

is that anonymous complaints can create a legal risk, especially if a case is elevated to court because that person that has the violation has a right to face their accuser. Um, there's arguments for requiring that someone discloses who they are and then there's also arguments for anonymous reports. Ultimately, it is a a council decision on what your risk tolerance is with this matter. Um, I will say that it could deter people from weaponizing the code if we do require people to disclose who they are. Um, some people have also shared with us that they feel they will damage their relationships with their neighbors if they talk to them about what their concerns are. So, there's kind of two sides to the coin. So that'll be one of the questions that we discuss in a moment. So um that's pretty much the the um summary of our recommendations. Um the first question for discussion tonight is um escalation to enforcement and does city council agree that code violations should proceed to a formal enforcement if we've tried to work with uh residents through our door hanger and that proactive education and really trying to help them understand what the the violation is and how to bring it into compliance um when we're not getting anywhere. Oh, I can go through all the questions and then we can

No, I've got I've got hands. They're ready to go. Council member Noiki. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Thank you, Director Smith. Um, one suggestion on the new resident guide on the the flyer thing, rather than using uh the URL because no one ever does that, like enters it. Uh, could we do like a QR code? That way they could scan that instead and it would just link them directly to wherever you want them to go. Yeah, that's a good suggestion.

Okay. So, um, with regard to your the discussion questions, I'm going to say for escalation to enforcement, this these are my thoughts. Yes, for that. Um, number two, resident education materials. I do like the idea if we're going to do this to of kind of sending it to all residents first and then as new residents come, you know, giving them the trifold or whatever. Um, so I like that idea. Uh, I like the rebrand to neighborhood services. I think that's great. Um, and then for the anonymous complaints, I would be open to um, accepting the anonymous reports for outreach only, but I mean that's you, you know, to kind of head off the other kind of legal risks. That's all we can do with that.

So that's where I'm at. Okay. Council member Condo. Oh, okay. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Oh, sorry. No, that's okay. You got me mid bite. It's great. I thought Megan was gonna go next. Anyway, um first of all, number one, yes. Uh number two, I would agree with Council Member Noiki. I'm just curious on slide 26, the the uh trifold. Uh I was looking very closely at that. I'm assuming it's a fictitious house. It's not an actual house in the city. Is that correct?

That's correct. They used um some stock photos and AI, I believe, to create the images. Oo, AI. Ah, okay. Well, um I'm glad Well, first of all, I'm glad that we're using a fictitious graphic so that we're not we're not lambasting anybody. Uh number three. Yes. number four. I want to hear what my other compatriots have to say about it. Thank you, Council Member Burns. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Are we just going to discuss these things right now and then loop around about other general feedback or should we just do it on

Let's just do it now.

Okay, great. Okay, general thoughts. Um, I think on the door hangers, why does it say at North Glenn? At the city of North Glenn and not in the city of North Glenn. We're proud of our neighborhoods. Okay. Can we change that? And thank you. And then um there's just like some like I don't know if this is the final design or not, but thoughts on that? like this just like isn't just like there's like a weird space like the a the friendly reminder needs to be justified. And I feel like these could be just generally designed better. Um like I love the water ones that we did that I feel like was a better vibe. This is kind of like I don't know. Um it just doesn't I don't know. And then it's just like, you know, if you need assistance, I think this part is great um to contact for help, but assuming that someone is also going to follow up. Um okay, that's like my nitty-gritty thought. And then so my second thought is on the enforcement to escalation and enforcement. So I think generally yes, but I feel like understanding like we're in a drought. We're not putting any grass seed down and or if someone is like, hey, like they just bought their home or whatever, right? They just moved in. They just bought their home and they're like, I have a plan to change things. I don't have the funds to do this right now. I don't really feel like investing x amount of dollars to get this into com like I just I would love to think about like long-term

like community building in this as well. So my answer to that to number one escalation to enforcement is yes, but like what is like what like what are people like in those conversations like what is the ultimate goal for people, right? And like what are they trying to achieve? like home ownership is a long-term thing, right? And not everyone can afford to do things immediately. And so taking that into consideration, I think, is really helpful because people are making financial choices every day. And no offense, but like grass is probably at the bottom of people's lists at the moment.

Just a thought. Um, resident education materials. Yes, obsessed. Love this. I think that's great. Um, I think we should send those to everybody. Oh, I did have another thought on the door hanger language because in our code language there was a mismatch of talking about like how you referred to somebody in the slide when we talk about homeowners like if you own the home but that's not ne I mean for almost 50% of our residents that's not the case and again like are we giving these violations to the actual owners of the homes as well if the people residing in the residence are not the owners ers and like who actually is in charge for that I think is a good addition. Um so education materials yes rebranding obviously I'm a yes. Um anonymous complaints I am a no. Corey said our city attorney said no. No own if you want to go talk to your neighbors talk to your neighbors. Friction is okay in our frictionless society. It's okay to have friction. Thank you,

Council Member Lighty. Oh, I went out of order. Mayor Prom, sorry, not looking at the little hands. Mayor Prom.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Thank you for all the work that you've put into this. Um I'm really happy that you are director of this department because uh you've taken all our all of our input um and created something that I think is really um close to embodying pretty much everything that we are hoping to happen. So to answer the questions that you need escalation I'm a yes on that because it does say following several good faith outreach attempts. So that to me um reading in the materials um that to me says that there have been attempts to find out if there are issues, if it's because it's a senior that needs help, someone with a disability or you just moved into the home, all of those things. So hopefully that gets resolved. That's what I understand good faith efforts. Um I do think that there has to be some lines that you know that have to be drawn. there has to be some level um after several good faith attempts and that you know then the enforcement portion has to happen. Um because again I go back to my education in sociology and psychology and broken windows theory. You let things get too out of control and I already get complaints just recently um on that. So I think there needs to be a balance and this is the balance. So yes on that. Um resident educational materials I think for sure to new residents of course but absolutely I think it needs to have a broader reach. Um, again, a lot of folks who live here, uh, just even speaking to people didn't even know that we're in drought restrictions. Like people don't necessarily get information or are watching the venues where we post it. And we do we do a good job of doing that, but um, for utility bill mailings, sure, but I get mine electronically. Like I don't even really look at it. It's like automatically debited every month. So that's something to consider.

Um, for folks like me, how are you going to reach them? uh there needs to be some other way to reach them whether that's on our social media platforms or uh yes and whatever we can do additionally but I'm just saying that I'm definitely one of those people who it's on automatic and I do not look at it unless something jumps out like whoa why did this go up so much sorry that's just

safe paper and always pay my bill all right and then rebranding yes great job I love that neighborhood services is great and I think it embodies um the way we want to communicate what we do. And then anonymous complaints, I'm still affirm there should not be allowed to have to be anonymous complaints. Um it's just too easy for people to weaponize that and just call in and call in and call in and complain and just make somebody's life miserable. I think there's some personal accountability that if you're going to make a complaint, it's because you see something so egregious that you think it needs to be addressed, right? Which is probably more than just weeds, for example. Um, so that's just my two cents on that. I think this is heading in the right direction. Thank you,

Council Member Lighty. Thank you. Uh, thank you so much for all of your work. This is a lot to continuously do and take feedback. So, thank you so much. I did have a question just because I personally have some residents that may ask, "Well, how many is several? What is several?" Well, they got this many and I only got this many. So, is there a way that we can put a number on several good faith attempts? And then also I'm struggling with the word good faith outreach attempts as well because we have had some instances where it not necessarily wasn't in good faith but it just didn't feel like the outreach was in good faith for some of the residents that I've talked to. So that's another thing that maybe just a little bit more training around what what that actually looks like um would be awesome. I do think that it it's a good idea. Definitely escalation to enforcement is necessary, especially when we have the repeat offenders over and over and over. Um I do struggle sometimes just because driving even through my own neighborhood, I've noticed that there's times where code enforcement kind of picks and chooses what they want to enforce. Like the other day, I was driving past a code enforcement truck or sorry, neighborhood services or car, whatever it was, and I I mean, shouldn't point out all of the code violations that I'm seeing now as I drive places, but I noticed a few. And I'm I'm not sure how that whole process works, but it does seem from some residents that I've spoken to and then some personal experience that it feels like we pick and choose what we enforce. So, just making sure that that isn't I don't doesn't feel icky for our residents. Um, and then I'm really glad that you pointed out the not someone's house cuz as someone I was looking at that picture and I was like, "Oh, what if that was my house? That would be

terrifying." But I'm also a little concerned that we used AI to generate the images cuz they look kind of wonky. So, just wanted to point that out cuz I'm like as a new resident, I would go, "Huh? I don't know a single house like that looks like that in my neighborhood. So, or anywhere around. Um, resident education materials, love them. Maybe make them less AI generated. That's all I for that one. Um, the neighborhood services is great. I think that is a good way of trying to move in the right direction. I do think there will still be some people that have had negative experiences with code enforcement, so they will stick to code enforcement until it's over. Um, and then the anonymous complaints, I agree with Council Member Burns and Mayor Prom. It as someone that works in education, if a seven-year-old has to confront their bully and say, "Hey, why are you saying this about me?" Adults should also be able to confront their issues. Um, and I think that it's important that we continue to support our residents and not allow them to be not necessarily attacked, but allow other residents to use anonymous complaints as a weapon. So, thank you,

Council Member Severs.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Director Smith. Uh, number one escalation to enforcement now that the door hanger thing is involved, whether we can improve on it or not. Um, I think it's a good step. I'm good with that. Resident education materials. Like Mayor Prom, I've never looked at my water utility bill. Uh, my neighbor asked me what I should what he should do when he has a a 35,000galon water bill that came in. I was like, "Wow." First of all, I'm shocked at how low the bill is for 35,000 gallons cuz they were obviously contesting that being a thing. Um, so I will say we have some affordable water apparently here. Um, but overall I think the educational materials are great and rebranding neighborhood services obviously is good. Code enforcement does not sound fun or friendly and anonymous an anonymous complaints. I totally am okay with making them not available. I just I just picture situations where there are people that are concerned about a neighbor. They already know the neighbor's not friendly and they're just trying. I totally get removing anonymous. I can picture a lot of situations where this person might feel in danger. So, I do feel like it will stop some complaints, which is probably good because it for everyone it doesn't it stops that we want to hear about it probably stops five others that are neighbors on neighbors. So, I am a little concerned about that. I don't know if it's gonna rear its head, but I can see like I have a neighbor, she's retirement age, and if there's a neighbor that has a really aggressive family, you know, I just don't think they're going to want to report that. It's not worth it. Um, but, you know, if they're going to be the primary

defendant in a court case, they can't be anonymous. So, I get it. Thank you, Council Member Goff.

Thank you. Um, number one, yes. Um, most people have said things that I would have uh said and also number two, yes. Now, the neighborhood services is great, but I do think that there's I'm not sure how we would go about the community outreach on this cuz I know there's a few people that like the enforcement part of ced code enforcement. And so, I don't know how we're going to like help them understand that this, you know, it's the same thing. But yeah, I don't know. Just some explanation about me why we're changing it or what it is. I don't know. And then in terms of the anonymous complaints, I totally get the um the need for legally for it to be um not anonymous. However, I do know um I've had talked several times to a a senior single woman living in her home by herself with a neighbors across the street that were um loud, noisy, but the her thing was the fireworks. They would shoot fireworks off all the time and her poor dogs were being traumatized and she was worried about fire and I I did everything I could but like hold her hand and pull her to the police department or something to report it. She just would was too afraid to do that. So I don't know if there's some like if you if you are don't think you can do this you know contact this person or here's an option or you can call the police non-emergency number but you have to realize that you know you might not get an instant response or something. I don't know. I just do feel like there might be we might need some allowance for the people who are afraid and if it's a safety issue, you know, not just afraid that the neighbors are going to yell at them because they're complaining about their trash cans, but things like fireworks. I I don't know. I don't know how we would do that, but um those were my comments.

Thank you, Council Member Condo.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um, question for our city attorney. So, obviously the sixth amendment gives us the right to face our accuser. Um, and I'm just looking this on the internet. It says criminal prosecutions. So, when you're talking about a violation of code, is that a criminal or is it a civil matter? In this context, it is the while some of the penalties may be civil, the standard of proof is criminal. So, effectively, that means it's criminal. And I also want to I want to address some of the conversation about anonymous complaints because this is something that the city has struggled with and it's not an easy answer. Um, but I'll use um Council Member Goff's example because that that is the real struggle with whether to allow anonymous complaints. And on the slide about anonymous complaints, um, part of the struggle is we can't guarantee it. So even using that example, if this were for example to go to a court proceeding, that promise of anonymity can't be kept. And so from a from a city's perspective, that makes it exceedingly difficult. Now, even with um a policy that there were no anonymous complaints, if someone made an anonymous complaint that said there is a um slash pile that's currently burning and I don't want to give my name, we're going to go look um and independently verify because that's something that could be an an immediate life safety issue. So even with the no an anonymous complaints if

the city gets the type of complaint that is an imminent danger city's going to still go out there and then it will be able to um observe that type of offense itself. But the trouble with the what we've talked about with weaponization and the and anonymous complaints is at least the experience I have seen is that weapon weaponization is increased with anonymous complaints coupled with the fact that even if we say we accept them we can't guarantee it and that frankly hurts our credibility in addition to the issues with criminal prosecution and not being able to guarantee Yeah, I would just say that in this case, I did tell her to call the police non-emergency number and if they can get over there in time to see it, then they can be the ones that would witness it and whatever. But yeah, so I don't know if there's some way to just refer people to that instead of making an anonymous complaint. I I don't know. I mean, she she just I call them and by the time they get there, you know, they're But you that's just that's what we have. That's the best tool we have. And

and truthfully, from my perspective, I hate using fireworks as the example. Um because that is a different issue than your standard code enforcement where a neighbor might be arguing about, let's say, construction materials in a sideyard or something that is more subjective perhaps and and more likely to be um the source of a neighbor dispute more than code enforcement itself. Well, I want to thank staff and and our city attorney for taking the time and energy. Uh clearly, um there was a resident in my area that was very interested in this topic and based off of this conversation and what you've just told me, I I will probably come down on number four as not allowing an complaints. So, um that should answer that. I do want to offer uh one other thought and that is uh I do have a couple rental properties and different municipalities. Um and I do get the water bills even though the resident has taken over responsibility to pay for the utility bills, but I still get a copy. So, I'm wondering if if that is an opportunity to be able to reach back to the actual property owner. Um, I just offer that as food for thought. Thank you.

And mayor, if I could, because I think the question about landlord and tenant has come up in a couple of different contexts. The landlord and the tenant are both what we call jointly and severally liable. In other words, if your tenant avoids responsibility, you as the landlord are ultimately responsible because this can be enforced ultimately if you get through all of the steps in number one to enforcement. This can be a lean against someone's property. So, and that's the landlord's property, the owner's property. So, it it can be enforced against both. Council member Burns.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, all right. A couple things. So, thank you so much for all of this. This has been a long process. Um, and I think we've landed in a really good space. Um, and I appreciate like coming from the binder to this big jump. You know, we've been through a lot together. Um, and I just want to say and then to my fellow DIS members around the anonymous complaints, this is a question for city attorney Hoffman and city manager guy. If we hear a complaint, can't we submit the can't we submit it if a resident comes to us and put our name on it?

You can. And the way we do it currently is we log that the complaint came from you. Um, but typically, you know, if I receive a complaint, I include that I received a complaint from at the ward meeting from this resident and because most residents want some level of followup. So, we tend to discourage council members for and staff for reporting on behalf of a resident who wants to remain anonymous. That's part of the consistency piece that we've addressed over the last couple years. Um because, you know, I can speak from my experience when I got here in 2018. That was something that I was brought to my attention right away of, oh, I'll share it with you, city manager guy, so you can report it. But um you know through the conversations that we've had with the city attorney, we really do need to be documenting who the complaint comes from because even if an individual comes forward and says, "Well, I want to know who." It it wasn't me making the complaint or you a council member on the dis. It came from someone. Mhm.

And and then I would just add that goes to can we really guarantee anonymity? If you were on the on the witness stand, how did you under oath, how did you why why did you make this complaint to the city manager? Who was it from? And you're going to be compelled to answer,

which I think like is where we would end up, right? But like from an immediate safety perspective, I think it can be used as a workaround is what I'm saying. Is that correct? There we go. Problem solved. Um and then um the other question I had is like I see your timeline in here and I see you know the comm's plan and stuff like that. I think that all looks really great. Um and so I saw a lot of this you know sort of happening like so is this after we move past tonight like all of this stuff is already in place or is like that's I guess I'm looking for immediate next steps.

Yes. So, um, we have the materials ready to go. We were waiting to get them printed and invest in that until we had everybody's blessing here tonight. So, um, we might make some updates to the door hanger based on the conversation tonight before we send it to print and then we will go ahead and implement. Uh we have already started having conversations with neighborhood services as far as okay if you see something try to make a contact and provide that education. We're not moving directly to a notice of violation at this point if it's not a life safety issue. So even though we don't have a door hanger yet, we aren't doing that pre pre-inforcement step right away.

Because I'm wondering because I have seen them driving around. I saw them taking pictures from their vehicle of my neighbor's house with no approach and I don't know like what happened after that and so like just wondering if this is enforceable immediately. Okay, thank you. And especially too I think we need this at this moment. Um because the weeds on the sidewalk on Washington growing up out of the sidewalk, those babies are like 6 in high now. Um and so I don't like we can't throw stone from glass houses. like that's going to be a real problem. And it's been about two weeks I've been watching them grow as I drive to school um up through the cracks. And I mean whatever that like that vine weed is is crazy cuz it's coming it's growing up under my like weed tarp. So it's aggressive this year and I get that because everybody's literally starving and dying.

Um things get drastic when you're up against the corner and I get that little plants, you know. But yeah, I just don't think we should we just got to like keep keep our own stuff together before we start. Yeah, I appreciate you bringing that up because I do want to make note that this summer specifically or as long as we are in a drought, we won't be enforcing a lot of our general landscaping regulations, uh, including weeds. Um, I think it's just height and noxious weeds that we will be addressing. And so, um, that'll be an education process, too, this summer as we work with our residents.

Yeah, you can like see the like ecological battleground beginning. Um, as we we'll see what the snow brings. So, who will survive that next, you know? We'll see. So, to clarify, you're talking about weeds on city property. Oh, yeah. like the Washington on the east sidewalk between approaching 112th up there and then in between 112th and Mali. Okay. Did you use the access North Glenn app? Well, I can't because I'm driving when I'm do when I see them. So, Mayor Mayor, you would never encourage me to text and drive.

That is true. That is true. Um but when I go on my walk this weekend, I will.

Okay, there you go. Uh thank you. Well, I um I'm sitting here and I cannot figure out I I have never felt so seen and so heard sitting up here ever. like you went through every single piece of feedback that you heard from nine different people over many feisty meetings and you fixed it. Like I was I looked at this packet and thought this is genius. Like you're brilliant and I'm so thankful you're in this role because I personally have been having this conversation for years and I was like oh here we go again. This was everything that we have asked for. So, to go through really quickly, um, yes to number one. Um, number two, I do think it's a yes and, even though not everybody opens their utility bill. And I'm wondering if there's a place to do a whole uh, connection article um, so that it gets a ton of visibility at least in that mass mailing as well. Um, because we're not the only ones. we're representing the residents that have asked for this clarification and this level of um simplicity. And so to know that everything has been streamlined and it makes more sense, I think it's super important to share that with our residents that you guys did the work in response to their complaints. And so I think everyone should see it. And then ongoing definitely a new resident guide. Um, I love the new branding and I don't think people really need it defined. I think we just need to start using it and they'll they'll figure it out. Um, and then anonymous complaints, absolutely not. However, I did want to talk to Corey because currently it is my

understanding from personal experience that the first complaint right now is anonymous for something like dog barking. I'll just throw that out there as an example. But the second complaint requires someone to turn their name in. So the first complaint, I got a warning letter for a barking dog from an anonymous source and then I never heard from them again because they did not want to put their name on a formal complaint.

So I don't know specifically about barking dogs, which is a different part of the code from the code enforcement we're talking about. And so DC may be able to answer that better. But I mean, part of the issue that I think council member Condo identified a couple months ago when we were talking about this was this idea that there was still on North Glenn's um website the ability to or the CRM the ability to um make anonymous complaints. I believe that was

Yes, that was fixed. Um, so as it relates to code enforcement issues, there should not be a basis for anonymous complaints. I'm on on dog barking. I frankly don't know. It is the same issue and I have the same concerns. I don't know how the city is dealing with that at the on the animal control level.

Okay. And maybe it's just a warning letter. So I didn't know if if that was a process to that's transferable. It doesn't need to be. I agree with everything on the no anonymous complaints list because I I mean you're totally correct. If kids have to uh learn how to resolve conflict um at the small child level, then they should be able to do it as grown-ups. Um, okay. Back to this though because those are four easy questions to run through, but we do have to talk about the brilliance of this because it is lovely. One of my favorite things is the training. I mean, we just kind of went really p really fast through the antibbias and community centered training. Love that you have a timeline of right now, which is so great. Um, and so that's just in the memo. the the urgency of your timeline. I just so appreciate it's and I don't know that we've seen it in in other areas of the work that we do. Like you said, hey, I heard your complaints. Here's what we're going to do and we're going to fix it tomorrow. We just need your go-ahad. That's I'm again brilliant. So, so impressed with the work. And I know it was you and your team, but I want you to own that you're very smart and you led the team to get us here. And it's so so impressive. Um the communication template for the complainant is great. Love it. Love everything about it because I think that honors the people that have concerns. They will also feel heard. I just think that's a great addition. Um really you just you listened and you put all the things in place. The priority between life safety and non-life safety. So great. Um, I did appreciate the the small tips and as far

as wording because in North Glenn does sound like we all live here. Um, and so I think that's that's an easy thing. But the flowcharts are great. I love again training was another piece that we had talked about was making sure that no matter what the situation is that the neighborhood services person employee shows up with grace and compassion and has that training. So I have zero complaints. I was trying to figure out how to give you a wow, but I'm not allowed to. So I'm just giving you a public wow because I'm just so impressed with your work. So thank you. And I think that's it. Can we just clap? Will everyone clap with me? Yay. It's just so good. So, so good. So, thank you so much. And then those are all the next steps, which I love.

All right. Well, thank you. Thank you. That's it. So, anybody else want to jump in? I'm just so happy. That was just so great. Yay. Yay. Thank you. Thank you. All right, that's it for the evening. We are adjourned.