Planning Commission Minutes 2015 04 09

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes April 9, 2015 Page 23 of 27 I have lived here pretty close to 30 years. I own a home in the Downtown area of Louisville as well. I really applaud what is happening in that area, particularly near my older home on Roosevelt when the Community Park went in. I think some of you remember the old field. I remember it being made into a beautiful Community Park where the Pavilion is now. Now I live on the other side of McCaslin and I think we can make the same thing happen over there. I'd like to see that happen. I'd like to see a concerted plan to make what has happened around my home in the downtown area happen in what I'll call the Uptown area. When I was on the Fire Department, we had the Downtown Fire station and we have the Uptown Fire station. I still remember that. I think we can have that same sort of atmosphere in the Uptown area. I see the bicycle races that go on in the Uptown area and I think that's a way of creating community. We have different ways of connecting to the City, those that live in the newer section of town with those that live in the Downtown section. The other thing I would like to say a word or two about is I was at the first workshop meeting and applauded a lot of the comments that went on about the hot spots and the green spots. We have some major areas of concern and we need to do something with the Sam's Club area because it is a major blight. We also need to think about all that green space that we currently have out there just on the other side of the street from me. What is going to happen to that in the future? One of the things, and I brought this up at the workshop, is to what extent are we really working with the developer, Koelbel, on what their plans are for that area. They own it. We have to recognize that they do, and we need to find out what is their vision. Are they willing to buy into our vision? When I moved first moved here and I saw the icon that was mentioned earlier, that is the vision. The vision is to make it a money -making area in Louisville. I have no doubt in my mind about that. I think we need to get the developers in that area to understand that we are a community and that we have certain values. We have certain pillars that we want to uphold. Those developers need to buy into that vision. We need to find ways to get them to see the value of doing "our way". Any plans we make really aren't going to mean a whole lot unless we can get their "buy in". For example, the Rehab Center was spoken about but once again, that is another example of "is that being plan - full" in that area? We have heard a lot about how many parking spaces are out there, how much space is being taken up with a lot of empty space. There are no greenways or the notion of greenways to get us to the transportation. We spent a tremendous amount of money on that transit site and we need to value that. We need to see it was a major investment on the City of Louisville's part to build that transit center and to share the cost with Superior. We are not really taking advantage of it. We are not creating transportation corridors, bicycle corridors, walking paths, and other ways for people to get to that transit site and back to their homes. They have chosen to live here and we need to provide them the means to get back to their homes and their families. We need to show that we value it when we are in discussion with the various developers and their plans for those locations. We've created open space up on Davidson Mesa which I enjoy tremendously because I'm a big runner. I want more spaces like that but I also want to promote business. The other thing mentioned earlier this evening was about having commercial fronts and residential in the back. The whole idea of having back and fronts to a lot of these businesses means people can get to businesses both from the back side (west side) as well as from the east side. That would give the sense of community and the value to have people walking past those businesses to be able to enter the businesses. Summary and request by Staff and Applicant: Robinson states that the Opportunities and Constraints can be analyzed and recommendations can be made. Moline says that when the South Boulder Plan was discussed, was there an economic analysis of that corridor? Robinson says there will be a fiscal analysis in the South Boulder Road once three endorsed alternatives are completed. There will be discussion of fiscal benefits in Principle 4, (c).