City Council Minutes 2010 08 03 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes August 3, 2010 Page 7 of 9 and regional background growth, enabled downtown traffic to decrease by 33- percent since 1999. Staff recommended increasing the cap on development for the westerly portion of Downtown from 354,000 square feet to 475,000 SF for the following reasons: 1) The current development cap is close to being reached and its limitation may restrict long -term economic development opportunities that improve the quality of life and enhance the fiscal stability of the City of Louisville. 2) Transportation assumptions from the 1999 Downtown Development Framework have changed significantly and the resulting 121,000 square foot expansion of the cap will not negatively impact the transportation system, its character, or performance downtown. Staff did not recommend creating an exemption to the Draft Downtown Development CAP Ordinance because the proposed Cap provides a 10% reserve and additional development exemptions would deplete the reserves and compromise system friendliness. It was noted the effective preservation tools include the Downtown Framework Plan; The Design Handbook for Downtown Louisville; the Historic Preservation Commission and the Historic Preservation Fund. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilors commented on the following: A Councilor requested justification for the recommendation for a maximum of 1.25 parking spaces for a one bedroom unit. Staff felt the requirements should be consistent with the mixed -use guidelines on the east side of the railroad track. There was a request for the number of parking spaces on blocks where there is minimum use. Staff cited the number of parking spaces available on downtown city blocks. A question relative to the traffic impacts to the intersection of Pine /Main Streets. Staff reported there is more impact to the Pine /Front intersection however there is more capacity at the Pirie /Main intersection with a four -way stop sign. There was considerable discussion on the exemptions to the Downtown Development CAP and whether the pay in -lieu fees were sufficient to pay for additional downtown parking. Staff stressed this will be a key piece to the Parking Action Plan strategy and the importance of understanding the costs. Concern was also expressed over the exemptions. Support for Staff's recommendation was expressed.