City Council Agenda and Packet 1979 03 20

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Mayor and City Council Memorandum March 16, 1979 Page 3 The assessment of the actual need for a shopping center is once again a question of judgement. Those individuals which do not stied the limited and deftciMat :bo ping opportunities in Boulder County and within the City of Louisville. or re wit i* oomilenent and reasonable &Irina time probahly c eelwde that L eisaille dmmlowntAkeed tit shopping centahr. Thoeff4peoplh that -think the present shopping situation .Se undestrable 11e0ld omelette-that shopping caster is - Needed. The-Ct;i' of Baader does Not appear to be hale it.accauodatt such a • facility anri ti �;Ladswi . location is a most dest !Br seek a face iq►« . r . Free the st*r*.iwt-#. �re�rM^ am ad sfats�a4 # t�t"CQ tty and Cliffs ah -. the outflow sr dollars to i eecaf facilities is shaidtt a sgl adirtfaF ."- fa Boulder Gouaty. While Louisville residents appear to hi qqww7 i t► urban services-aed in fact continually demand services of higher quality and in- creased variety, people which are In opposition to the shopping center, would sew to indicate that the economic benefit is not necessary. Obviously the provision of high quality city services requires ever increasing levels of funding, and to the extent that the City can achieve such revenues without destroying quality of life, etc., it should. 3. Urban Sprawl - Critics continually mention urban sprawl as the result of this development proposal. If the City continues to implement Its coop plan, and there fs no indication that the City will not, the proposal will not result in urban sprawl. We recognize that the City of Louisville does not control other munici- palities or Boulder County and therefore we cannot comment as to what the impact of a shopping center will be on adjacent areas. We are however, Trilling to cooperate with any nearby municipalities in achieving adequate municipal services which may assist them in avoiding growth necessary to finance said services. Staff certainly is not concerned with the County's ability to control development of the unincorp- orated portions of the County. 4. Air Quality - £fiery consumption and Waste - Many critics have stated that the location of this center at any location other than the City of Boulder will result in increased levels of air pollution and fuel consumption. Staff dis- agrees with this conclusion. We believe the provision for sub regional centers, i, a, expanding Crossroads Center, construction ofd center in Longmont and con- struction of shopping center in Lousiville will result in a fewer miles driven therefore less air pollution and less furl consumption, not more. The location of the Centennial Valley mall Is in such close proximity to the City of Boulder that we believe many Boulder residents would be able to reach the Centennial Valley mall more quickly with less traffic congestion than they would in fact be able to reach Crossroads shopping center. Certainly Lousiville, Lafayette, and Broomfield residents would be able to reach the Centennial Valley mall more quickly than Crossroads or the Northglenn shopping center. Staff suggests that these .jnsiderations support the development of a shopping center in the Louisville area. S. Traffic - This factor has been reviewed in discussions of related items. It appears to staff that the traffic generated by the Centennial Valley proposal is within acceptable limits without significant alterations of the major thoroughfares provisions of our comp plan. It is int.resteinmgq to note that even the County comp plan provides for South Boulder Road to be a principal arterial street capable of carrying up to 28,000 vehicles a day. Thus, both the Louisville Plan and the Boulder County Plan have anticipated traffic loadings similar to those which will result from the Centennial Valley proposal. Additionally, the traffic impact of attempting to greet all shopping needs in the City of Boulder would be significantly less desirable than in trying to distribute shopping needs throughout the County. One only has to drive to Crossroad shopping center to understand the implications of doubling, tripling or quadrulpling the size of that facility, an expansion which would be required to adequately meet the shopping needs of Boulder County.