Planning Commission Agenda and Packet 2024 08 08

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes May 9, 2024 Page 2 of 6 Motion to indefinitely table Resolution 3, Series 2024 was moved by Choi and seconded by Mihaly. The motion was adopted by voice vote. PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS — NEW BUSINESS a) Comprehensive Plan Update Discussion — Discussion related to existing conditions assessments, preliminary report on first round of community engagement, and continuation of discussion related to the Plan's vision and values components. Staff Presentation: Hirt introduced the staff presentation for a progress update on the Comprehensive Plan. He said that the new information presented was centered on the conditions assessment and a preliminary report on the community engagement results from the first round of community engagement. Jessica Garrow and Alison Cotey, consultants from Design Workshop, introduced a presentation on these items. They outlined the goals and nature of the Comprehensive Plan, and then explained the "Scenario Planning" stage they had reached. Cotey highlighted some of the findings from their focus groups, including that there were community tensions relating to growth, the burdensome development processes the City employs, the desire for additional affordable housing, and community concerns about traffic and congestion. She outlined the other related plans they had examined, and explained their findings. Commissioner and Staff Discussion: Mihaly asked about how the risk categories for the various open spaces were assessed. Cotey said that she would have to look up the Environmental Assessment for the exact data, and said that she would answer this when she could find it. Moline asked whether the vacancy rate or anticipated future construction had been a factor in their calculation of the job and residential growth predicted for the City. Garrow said that their partners at Economic Planning Systems (EPS) had completed this analysis, and that they had factored this data into their projections. Brauneis said that it did not appear the City would have room for 17,000 new jobs, and wondered whether that number came purely from the City's predicted share of job growth in Boulder County. Garrow said that because the City had a strong established research and development ecosystem, there was an expectation that this would allow for the anticipated growth. She added that the degree of employment growth, and where it occurs in the City, would be an important part of the scenario planning stage. Mihaly asked whether that figure was only looking at vacancies and proposal rates, or if it was also factored in specific industry trends.