Planning Commission Minutes 2014 05 08

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes May 8, 2014 Page 9 of 13 well. I think we are seeing it happen faster than what was anticipated. We are a few years ahead of where I thought we would be in December 2010. It is a benefit to the City, certainly a benefit to this blighted area, and I hope to have the opportunity to be in front of you with these potential requests. The drainage illustrative shows the current proposal within the existing final PUD that is before you for approval tonight. It would make a nice public space. In terms of height, you would see an plus wall and that is the access where staff is requesting the wide staircase or other similar feature that would get pedestrian access down to this area to amenitize it. We could put climbing walls for children and other things that would take it from a drainage and detention to a public amenity. There are cases in Boulder County where many drainage facilities that are used as parks and play areas. At the corner of Highway 42 and Arapahoe at the corner of Indian Peaks, there is a large drainage facility that is graded out. I see fathers and children throwing Frisbees and footballs there frequently. The designed image with amenities shows what you saw in the preliminary approval. It makes for a far more desirable pedestrian space. We have the ability to integrate some shade structures and some monumentation. We would like to get the old Omnibus integrated back into the park. It would be an amenity to a play area. The Omnibus is a bright yellow, double stacked, old style horse drawn bus. It has been used in Labor Day Parades in Louisville in the past. It was custom manufactured by one of the property owners out in Steel Ranch where we had hoped to install it at Cowboy Park, but we could not get it retrofitted. The next image shows how the townhomes will look. Justin passes out material boards. David Gregg from Boulder Creek is here to answer any specific questions associated with architecture. Justin speaks positively in favor of behalf. Builders are always hesitant to design a new product as there is no economy of scale, raises expense, and creates complexity. Boulder Creek does a fantastic job of being willing to design custom products especially here in Louisville. What you see is a different product from Boulder Creek, substantially different than seen at the Overlook in terms of architecture. The layouts are similar. The larger ranch-style units on the end caps are geared at empty nesters. The market responded well to that product at the Overlook, and we are happy to bring it to DELO in terms of accommodating that demographic. The next image shows a higher quality rendering of the relocated historic structure. The house was relocated to Louisville in 1983. It is technically older than 50 years old as it was originally constructed in Boulder. We are honored to be able to work with the HPC and the City in relocating a home for this structure, and finding an appropriate use for it. We feel it brings a nice transition into DELO. There were some questions about height. We are sensitive to height. In the Louisville MUDDSG, there are residential transition and protection standards. In our PUD, it is clearly annotated that we respect those standards. The heights and the massing clearly reflect those standards, and we are not asking for any deviations. Commission Questions of Applicant: Moline asks about railroad crossing noise being close to Griffith Street crossing. Do you hear any concerns from residents at Steel Ranch about the railroad? McClure answers that it is done through architectural mitigation with certain window and door efficiencies. We hope one day to have a quiet zone in this corridor, although it is a complicated process. There is a joint application with several municipalities moving into