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recommended changes, most of the changes affect Chapter Five, the parking chapter. <br />Changes were also made to the public sign system chapter and to the last chapter dealing <br />with residential, mixed-use components. The Planning Commission held a public hearing <br />on February 23, and approved the Framework Plan. <br /> <br />Davidson called for public comments. <br /> <br />Nancy Love, 841 Front Street, Louisville, expressed concern for the requirement to <br />provide 2.5 parking spaces per 1,000 sf. She felt that this restriction would make it very <br />difficult for downtown businesses to grow. It would require seven spaces for her current <br />project, whereas it was 4.5 spaces when she started the process. She requested that <br />Council consider all the parking that Council will be requiring of any expansion <br />downtown as Front Street north of Main will become a parking lot. She also feels that the <br />Northwest Parkway and the Flatirons Crossing Mall will have a significant detrimental <br />impact on downtown. The FAR that is proposed will also make it very difficult for <br />downtown businesses to survive. She felt that placing a FAR on downtown Louisville <br />was ludicrous. <br /> <br />Arlin Lehman, 908 Main Street, Louisville, stated that he has been a strong supporter of <br />these guidelines and felt that they need to be put in place. There has been a lot of public <br />comment, effort and work put into them. He felt that the two large items that have been <br />added have a very serious impact. These items have taken his support away from the <br />guidelines. He stated that he was disappointed that there aren't more business owners and <br />citizens talking about this tonight. He has spoken to several business owners about the <br />guidelines and was astounded and disappointed with their attitude. They expressed no <br />interest in appearing before Council to comment on the guidelines. He stated that he has <br />spoken with most of the downtown restaurant owners and only one claims that his <br />business is actually up over the past few years. The others say business is down and <br />losing the lunch trade from STK when the mall goes in will cause them to lose their <br />business. There are two retail businesses that will not be renewing their leases. He <br />encouraged Council to talk to the business owners about these issues. He stated that in <br />order for a business to build downtown, they would have to purchase numerous <br />properties and level the buildings to provide parking. This is not economically feasible. <br />He predicts that many downtown businesses will close and downtown Louisville will <br />become a ghost town. <br /> <br />Davidson called for Council comments and questions. <br /> <br />Mayer agreed with Love and Lehman that the mall will affect downtown development. <br />He suggested that Council consider developing a separate comprehensive plan for the <br />east side of the railroad tracks. <br /> <br />Davidson asked to respond to the public comments. He stated that the Northwest <br />Parkway would actually provide better access to downtown, not worse. He felt that if the <br />chain restaurants were going to put local restaurants out of business, it would have <br />happened by now because there are already several in town. He agreed that some STK <br /> <br /> <br />