Planning Commission Minutes 2013 01 24

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes January 24, 2013 Page 6of 44 469.Community Services 47 48BACKGROUND 49 50The City’sLouisville’sfirst Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 1973 when the City had 51only 2,600 residents, and. That planwas then updated in 1975. Since then, newNew 52Comprehensive Plans were adopted in 1983(updated in 1989) , updated in 1989, and 53then adopted again in 2005(updated in 2009).and updated in 2009.The pattern of 54creating new Comprehensive Plans appears to coincide with a period of significant 55growth, while the updates appear to coincide with periods of relative stability. The 2005 56Comprehensive Plan was created near the end of significant City growth and 57anticipated change associated with RTD’s FasTracks Program. The 2009 update 58occurred during a period of stability. Staff believes that aThe 2012 Comprehensive 59Plan uUpdate can will further strengthen the Comprehensive Plan in two key ways: 60 611) Better meet today’s unique challenges that were not factors in 2005 and 2009. 62 63Several conditions which influence the City’s ability to implement the Community’s 64Vision have changed, or emerged.,These conditions include: 65 66The General Development Plan (GDP) a. Redevelopment vs. new development – 67approval for ConocoPhillips and the Planned Unit Development (PUD) approval of North 68End and Steel Ranch commit the City’s last large vacant parcels for development. 69Future change in Louisville will come almost exclusively in the form of redevelopment. 70Previous Comprehensive Plans noted the shift in growth patterns,but they did not 71provide the adequate tools necessarytoolsfor the community to adequately review, 72discuss, and respond to inevitable future infill development requests. 73 74Development issues and concerns of an expanding greenfieldcommunity are quite 75different than those of a redeveloping infill community. Louisville’s previous policies 76generally align with those of an expanding greenfield community. Previous policies 77focused on measuring, accommodating and mitigating the impact of new development 78on the capacity of the City’s infrastructure, services and quality of life. 79 80In a redeveloping infill community, the capacity of community infrastructure and services 81is still a concern. However, efficiency—the ability to achieve economies of scale by 82using existing infrastructure to serve more customers at a lower unit cost to each 83customer—also becomes a consideration. Also, Bbecause infill development can 84positively or negatively affect existing land uses, understanding how the design, 85physical character and other aspects of an infill project affect the adjacent neighbors 86and the City as a whole is critical to determining whether the project is likely to enhance 87or undermine the how the project will impact the existing quality of life. 88 89This Comprehensive Plan provides not only the flexibility and guidance to address 90redevelopment in the HWY 42 Revitalization District and Downtown, but throughout the