good morning everyone can you hear me okay okay yes ma'am all right it is 8 30 and i would like to call this meeting to order um first and foremost very important order of business we need to all wish council councilmember zavonik a very happy birthday so we'll start the meeting that way happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday thank you have a great day today i will try i hope you're not going to work a whole lot so i'm going to go golf a little bit of fun um do we have an approval of the minutes um council members of anik and lawson do you have anything council members i'm gonna sustain abstain from him because i wasn't able to get on to the meeting so right okay okay um then we will go into general business 3a city center vision update kathy can i have sharing rights awesome good morning i'm jennifer orozco i work in development services i work on urban renewal projects i'm here with dan he's running the slides and he'll be speaking later he is a supervisor in long range planning today we'd like to give you an update on our city center planning process provide some highlights and some and to talk about some next steps so our study area as many of you know we're centered primarily on the intersection of sable and alameda we looked at all four corners of that intersection and then we went out beyond to on this map you can see a yellow hashed or dashed line that shows the extent of the study area within this area we paid special attention to the town center aurora site the evolution of that site as well as the development of metro center which is the undeveloped land south of city hall it is surrounding the county building and the metro center station next slide this was the main outcome of our community outreach we found out that city center is and should remain a priority for the city and this slide is very detailed and it speaks to why and how it has been a priority for the city for the last two decades we've spent over 410 million dollars on investment and in infrastructure in this area we built city hall the i-225 interchange light rail pedestrian improvements drainage improvements etc etc all of these investments have done a great job to set the stage for future development so what should that future development look like according to our community and all the outreach that we've done so far is that this should be aurora's downtown district and it should look like a downtown it should serve a diversity of residents and visitors it should provide retail restaurant entertainment choices a whole spectrum of choices that speak to a whole spectrum of tastes it should provide employment and commercial and housing it should have great public spaces plazas events it ultimately needs to be a downtown that projects aurora's image to the metro area and beyond and it redefines expectations for aurora so how do you build a downtown um ultimately it comes down to what do we have so what land uses what destinations what places do we have and how are they configured are they urban are they walkable do we have exciting storefronts do we have plazas do we have public places with awesome events um in in the end what do we have that draws people in what do we have that encourages them to stay and have a great time and then come back again and again and again and with that i'll turn it over to dan to tell you more about our study great thank you jennifer so you know we've heard loud and clear from the community throughout all types of planning processes and community outreach about the importance of city center about the opportunities here to really kind of develop a city a true city center a downtown for the area um and so i think that the vision is something that we we feel uh the community feel strong about and so we wanted to put together some tangible actions um uh towards uh this vision that will really shape that next phase of uh development um in city center and so uh the the plan that we've we've developed we've developed a draft plan we've talked with stakeholders we've talked with the community um contains a few um elements uh to make this a uh a reality and so the first of those is defining the urban character standards the the plan includes some development standards that really define the fundamental elements of an urban downtown character these include building height density the mix of surface and garage parking identifiable active main streets uh walkable block sizes um in public spaces um and these are really what differentiates an urban place like his envision for city center from a very suburban character which you see throughout other shopping areas uh in in aurora and it's really intended to create a concentration of residents and customers of community activity and economic activity as well so while the current plan contains some of these standards the staff is proposing to clarify these requirements remove inconsistencies and really use these standards better to strengthen the sense of place and that vision that we've defined um i did want to make note for those on the committee and those listening is that these standards at this point are really recommended recommendations and until formal adoption um you know the proposed plan that we're discussing with the community and standards they don't change any current development standards any previously approved plans or any timelines of any current development projects that are under review or to do to be proposed um i know there's a lot of development interest and development applications that the city is currently working through those will continue even as we re-engage with the community and bring forward a final plan development of a downtown district is really a long-term endeavor um it'll really be achieved through many individual decisions um individual developments uh and public uh infrastructure investments and so that's why really a a physical framework or regulatory framework to guide these decisions towards this desired and deliberate outcome is so important and so what you see on your screen here is just one illustration of how the current city center can continue to adapt um to uh to meet the vision uh what you see here is a conceptual drawing um of the southwest corner this is the town center aurora section of the district i'm just showing that even as the town center continues to operate we do have an opportunity to establish that urban block network that urban street grid sort of in and around this area and create some urban blocks for new development whether it's mixed use or retail or housing office and hospitality and so it's an incremental um process or or how we sort of envision this and so that you know at some point in the future if redevelopment happens for some of these sites the decisions we make and the planning we make and the physical framework can continue to um shape development in the area if we start off with it with a good urban grid that could be stitched together um you know at some point the mall redevelops um we don't want really really trying to just make sure our near-term decisions don't close doors for some of the long-term development options and really maximizing the impact of the the plan in the in the in the district the current city council uh priorities for urban renewal areas are sort of further refined in the plan as they pertain specifically the city center uh what we've done in the draft has taken this has taken the city council's adopted priorities um we'll really focus them on the opportunities that we see um as as city center's future this is a way that city staff and the community and the development community can really understand what is a priority to the city and what types of improvements or developments the city may choose to provide public incentives for things like office development or job creation you know unique opportunities for unique or locally owned businesses affordable housing near the metro center station are really sort of enhanced retail dining arts or entertainment districts just just to name a few district identity branding and organization is is an important part of how these are urban downtown areas can function um we see a few examples from around the metro area and around colorado in a lot of cases there is some sort of stakeholder developer business organization and obviously there's a lot of models for how that works but we're not trying to presuppose one that works for city center but i think the the plan will recommend that we investigate those options um sort of understand um the state stakeholders in the area their interest and and the benefits that a type of organization could bring to the district in terms of supporting additional public improvements marketing advocating for the district business development those sort of things i think we're all familiar with the role that on havana bid plays for that area and so we'd like to investigate if there's an opportunity for some sort of a business organization in city center to play a similar role and so obviously we've been working on this plan for um a little while we have a draft plan that was was shared with the uh the community uh last year um and at this point we'd like to sort of pitch next steps to um completing this project and so the next step that staff would recommend is to re-engage with the stakeholders in the area those property owners developers and other representatives who've been part of this process we'd like to distribute an updated draft plan for them to review conduct a series of in-person and online outreach to solicit some final community input into the vision and planning recommendations and specifically reengaged with the project steering committee members um around this final draft based on the uh the comments that we receive um from those groups um as well as this committee and council we'd like to bring forward a final adoption draft of the city center plan for pd planning zoning and council consideration and if that plan is supported and adopted start uh the implementation of that plan and we see a few sort of recommended implementation items listed here sort of around those themes that we've been talking about and can allow uh city center to continue to grow and develop and let this plan and vision sort of take shape um and be realized be realized for the community benefit so that concludes our presentation um the question for the committee is should we proceed with this staff outreach and bring forward a final plan i would be happy to answer any questions or any comments that the committee has at this time yeah thank you i i love seeing this presentation um do my colleagues have any questions or or anything that they want to say or or and or do you want to proceed with this plan councilmember jorensky i just had a question and um a comment so i am glad that this is moving forward this has been talked about since i've been on council for seven years i guess um from my question to you is what's going to be the um the engagement timeline um do you have a specific number of engagement um that you're going to be doing is it going to be like within a month a couple months do you have that information we do we envision um this fall i'm going back up to the community at large and scheduling those stakeholder meetings so that this winter we could bring forward a final adoption draft through the city process again that includes this committee uh planning a zoning commission which which has played a good role in this and ultimately bring it forward for adoption this winter at some point do you mention the steering committee who is uh who makes up the steering committee it's a great question let me click a couple slides and i can show you who has been involved as part of the steering committee um which is okay this is this uh slide um shows many of the steering committee members we've got representatives or landowners or developers from all uh four corners of the area yeah um the developers of parkside who have been involved um bill park hill who's the developer of the metro center site has been involved washington prime at the town center as part of the steering committee and the property owners of city place shopping center the target shopping center have been involved we've also had public sector involvement we've had city staff planning a zoning commission representatives uh councilman gardner and former person uh bursons has been involved as well as the representatives from rtd um visit aurora arapahoe county and we've had some we have some neighborhood organization representatives from some of the surrounding neighborhoods and so these are these are the folks who've been involved and we'd like to go back to them with the with the uh final set of recommendations and final draft plan so they'll they'll you know the recommendations will go to them and then um from there it would come back to us on the committee yes sir we'd like to get any sort of final feedback on the final on the on the uh specific plan and recommendations from them be able to bring that uh that input back to you all um and move forward from there okay thank you so yeah so i i just had one question um it had said limited surface parking areas so i'm wondering is the mall parking uh spaces going to be available for for these destinations i think i think we envision um the mall site um for incrementally redeveloping i know that there's been some some interest already and and development applications in in redeveloping some of those parking lots into various uh developments um i think that's something we can expect uh moving forward um and as that happens um you know the mall will meet in the mall and any of that new development will need to provide you know the appropriate parking um i think uh the recommendation um in in the draft plan and actually there's current regulations around how much surface versus how much garage parking um is permitted in the area just to make sure that you know we're providing a mix of parking that meets the needs of those developments but also doesn't you know continue to provide parking lots over development that that garage parking allows for that density of development that density and activity it helps shape the urban form and so we've got some recommendations in the plan um about how much service versus how much garage parking should be provided for a new development as there it continues to evolve sure so over the weekend i went to the shops at parker the downtown parker area um over there on main street and the city one thing i really liked and why you know my friends and i kind of make that a destination area is because the city put in that one big parking lot so we're not constantly um you know having to drive around looking for parking and i mean for me i i don't you know i'm i'm getting older not like my elder council member zavonik is uh but i like to go somewhere where i know i can get a parking space um so for me i i would like to make sure we have some sort of parking because i plan to be at this development a lot so but other than that i think i think we're excited i think we we love this so thank you so much for the presentation councilman can i just ask one more quick question please of course um so within this development is there going to be um a traffic kind of study involved with this um i know particularly just within this area you know i look at when we go how are we going to be you know from the mall area to cross the across the road you know the the safety of that crossing into that area because i look at that whole area as the downtown you know where the starbucks is where everything is where people can cross and that's a very dangerous trek across there so will there be any kind of traffic study involved with this you know how trans how people are moving in in in and around this area yeah that's a great comment and certainly one we've heard from from the community um you know a district like this we do want people to be able to move throughout the developments and and and throughout all four sections of this and and those major thoroughfares through there can be challenging um they can be an impediment um and so i think what the city would like to do is is consider are there improvements to these streets or these crossings that could be made um to help um residents customers um you know employees to move between these four sectors more conveniently and safely so they can access all the great things that will be happening throughout the district i will say that you know the city has um standards and processes for reviewing uh traffic for every you know particular development um that comes in um as well and i'm not gonna claim expertise on the details of those studies but i know that those are evaluated by the city when um any development or master plan is reviewed and approved council member jorinski this is steve sunburg we ask a question well hi steve sundberg you sure may good morning everyone and thank you for the presentation this may have come up but i was curious within that south east quadrant there of the aurora metro center has there been any talk about the construction or visualization of a multi-purpose arena for events concerts high school graduations that could be held in aurora for the first time etc i think that idea of some sort of events center um has come up in discussions um regarding city center um you know i think there's there's opportunities to to add that type of active sort of community use a facility of great community pride in this area i know that there is a a process underway that will beginning beginning underway um to look city-wide for opportunities for an event center or performing arts center or something of that of that type and i i think city center could be one of those areas that could be uh strongly considered for that type of facility um but i wouldn't want to i wouldn't want to um sort of presuppose any outcome for that for that uh study but that's certainly a comment that's come up and and this will be certainly a prime location to continue to to grow activity and diversify the activities and provide yet another great public facility in city center thank you i think it would take a considerable amount of land space so i wasn't sure if it was large enough thank you you're talking but you're muted uh my question's been answered thank you so much appreciate it take a lot of land space i imagine i'm unmuted now all right well thank you so much we look forward to seeing this um come back to our committee thank you for that presentation and we will go into miscellaneous matters it looks like nobody reports um the next scheduled meeting is october 12th at 8 30 a.m i wanted to just see does anybody else have anything any matters that they wanted to bring up all right with that this meeting is a journey have a great day bye everybody thank you bye thanks good day