Laserfiche WebLink
Planning Commission <br />Meeting Minutes <br />May 20, 2021 <br />Page 3 of 13 <br />Brauneis asked who made decisions about turf and landscaping for sustainability. He noted that <br />public comments were concerned about committing to additional water uses if they weren't <br />necessary, and he noted that when the next drought happens there would be water restrictions <br />in the City. <br />Jordan Swisher replied that water was an important and expensive resource and they wanted to <br />be smart and efficient with the usage. <br />Brauneis asked about the stormwater management plan and how this plan would vary from <br />what's required. <br />Radoff replied that the green infrastructure plan intent was to avoid the more traditional way of <br />taking stormwater from hard surfaces and sending off that water to an offsite stormwater pond. <br />Those surfaces would instead drain into vegetated areas to create natural systems conveyance <br />and filtration along the way. The pond was meant to be more of a rain garden approach rather <br />than a grassy place to collect water. It was another way to meet the stormwater regulations that <br />brought other benefits. <br />Swisher added that one of the water rights shares would end up being on the western side and <br />it would be more efficient to have a vertical entity on the western side to work to capture that <br />water. <br />Brauneis asked about the sustainability plan regarding climate change and the commitments to <br />meet the energy code, given the strong public comments and his own concerns. He didn't see <br />much in the way of teeth to the climate change plan and he wondered if any of that had <br />progressed. <br />Radoff stated that the team did not disagree with the need for that emphasis. For solar, he <br />thought they could move from solar ready to a commitment of solar installation at 2 megawatts <br />on the site (with a typical house moved 5-10 kilowatts), which would be phased with the <br />development. He noted that there was a risk that Xcel could change the rates. He stated that <br />they were willing to commit to having white roofs or roofs that met LEED standards to avoid the <br />heat-island effect. He summarized that there were three sustainability themes in the feedback: <br />solar, LEED, and electrification. He agreed that electrification was where things were moving, <br />though he noted that industrial uses or commercial restaurants might require gas so an outright <br />ban felt difficult. For the offices they wanted to move toward all electric and they would <br />encourage tenants to only use gas for specific processes. <br />Baukol added that they were committed to the goals of the plan and this was where the world <br />was going. <br />Diehl asked how the changes would be built into the GDP amendment and what was <br />enforceable in the language. <br />Swisher replied that they would update the memo with the additional commitments that they <br />represented this evening and those would become additional commitments. <br />Diehl asked when Campus Drive improvements would happen and if there would be an <br />immediate traffic remedy from the situation today. <br />Braukol said Campus Drive was the first thing they were doing. <br />