[Music] foreign [Music] thank you foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you foreign we're in the regular meeting of the Aurora city council for Monday April 24 2023 is called to order will the clerk please read the role mayor Kaufman here council member Bergen here council member Coombs president mayor Pro Tim Gardner here council member drinsky here councilmember Lawson here councilmember Marcano president councilmember Medina here council member Mario president councilmember Sundberg here and council members of onik here there's a quorum the announcement for the call in line to be thankful welcome feedback from the public on both matters appearing on the agenda and during public and body to be heard if you would like to speak and have not already spoken to an operator please press star 3 for those watching on Channel 8 call 855-695-3475 and press star 3 when connected you will hear a prompt confirming you are in line to speak to an operator and then be able to continuously to the meeting when the operator comes on the line please be ready to give them your name and agenda item you wish to speak on keep in mind you must press star 3 before the city clerk reads the title of the item you wish to speak on finally as a reminder Council does not allow comments about any items on the agenda during public invited to be heard each speaker is allowed three minutes and public invited to be heard is limited to one hour in total municipality gracias now please join me in an invocation our dear God please protect our First Responders uh please fire detention and Marshals and keep them safe and God bless those who help keep them safe our emergency dispatchers and with that please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all approval of the minutes for April 10 2023 a motion is in order been moved by uh council member Mario seconded by councilmember Bergen to approve the minutes for April 10 2023 discussion I see no uh discussion uh call for the question on item number 5A yes uh motion passes to adopt the April 10th council meeting minutes I'll take the years Warren or Kern in the audience if he could step forward and I believe that there is a pin as well let's see oh is it 42 years of service 45 now and I understand you want to do how many more okay good good well this is uh one of our extraordinary firefighters uh who has uh been with our department uh for an extraordinary 45 years uh serving to keep our residents safe and so uh we're here tonight to honor his service and uh if you could mention the significance of this pin well the significance of the pin is 45 years um the other thing too is because yeah fire medic uh Kern has worked at the busiest stations in the city so he's done at station four at station Seven station one he was also a member of the HazMat team um and then he real what he really did was he stepped up and became a mentor to our new paramedics so he was a what we call a field instructor and that that's a big thing with us so he was able to Mentor all of those people so he mentored new firefighters he mentored firefighters that have been on five or more years to become a paramedic so he didn't just sit and be idle he's been busy he's been running a lot of calls he's done a great job for the department and he will be greatly missed he's a great great friend a great great firefighter and a great brother so let's give him a round of applause do you have any uh words of wisdom for us um my brother served with the city of Aurora too he started in 1970 he was a lieutenant on the fire department so we've gotten 53 years of serving Aurora love every minute of it I think it's a great City great department and I think the people we have in place now are just as wonderful as they started they do extraordinary things that nobody ever sees and like to give them a hand to Fire and Police it is municipal clerk week fancy that guess who prepared this sir we have a municipal mayor's weekend okay whereas in the office of the municipal clerk a time-honored and vital part of local government exists throughout the world and is the oldest among public services and whereas the office of the municipal clerk provides the professional link between local government bodies and agencies of government at other levels and whereas the municipal clerk serves as the information center on functions of local government and community and whereas Municipal clerks have pledged to be ever mindful of their neutrality and impartiality rendering equal service to all and whereas Municipal clerks continually strive to improve their administration's dealings through participation in education programs seminars workshops and the annual meetings of their state provincial County and international professional organizations and whereas this week is to recognize the accomplishments of the office of the municipal clerk now therefore I mayor of the city of Aurora Colorado do hereby Proclaim April 30th to May 6 2023 as Municipal clerks week and witness whereof I have hearing to set my hand and cause the Seal of the city of Aurora Colorado to be affixed this 24th day of April 2023 and we do have an extraordinary Clerk and I wonder if you could come up here and receive uh this Proclamation and if you have some words of wisdom and you always do when you lecture the members of myself and the council but uh wanted to thank you still in the mayor and City management and everybody in the public for um really helping the city clerk's office Thrive we have a great team and I'm really proud of all the work that they've done so and thank you for your support Katie Rodriguez thank you so much for all you do appreciate it National Youth violence prevention week uh councilmember Lawson who's taken a leadership position on this critical issue uh we'll read the proclamation we have everybody here okay I will read the proclamation whereas National Youth violence prevention week was created in 2001 by the students against violence everywhere an initiative of Sandy Hook promise to raise awareness and educate the public on effective ways to reduce and prevent youth violence and whereas Aurora is committed to reducing youth Violence by merging city-wide efforts and resources to strategically tackle this issue as a Public Health crisis and whereas through Aurora violence among our youth continues to affect our communities in 2022 14 of the 52 homicides inner War were victims under the age of 25 and whereas Aurora has convened a group of stakeholders to form the youth violence prevention Network a conglomerate of Youth Community government agencies and city leaders to develop strategies around youth violence prevention and intervention efforts that serve at in high risk year and whereas for yorkford Youth and their families Aurora's youth rebellions prevention programs provides individ lives wraparound service and implements critical incident responses to address the impacts of current delinquent and violent incidents now therefore I'm Mike Kaufman mayor of the city of Aurora Colorado do her by Corporal Proclaim April 24th through the 28th 2023 as National Youth violence prevention week and encourage all residents to support Aurora youth by finding ways to be trusted adult in and intentionally contribute positively positively to the life of at least one person under the age of 25. in witness whereof I have here unto set my hand and cause the Seal of the city of Aurora Colorado to be a fix this 24th day of April 2023 and I would just like to say something mayor Kaufman I want to thank you so much for your partnership in 2019 when I brought this for you really were very helpful in getting the program initiated and also the funding and working with stakeholders I also want to thank the non-profit organizations and residents who continue to provide come to us and say hey we need to do something and provide actual ways that we can come together and work on this very important issue that is impacting our community and to the white and to APD as well my can event all of Aurora Police Department my account event Sergeant I mean Commander Hildebrand and all of the ybp program I really appreciate all of your efforts and support on this program so I'll let you have some more thank you councilmember Lawson and thank you mayor and Council for your support thank you to the community for your support our partnership with the police department with the community with the public really has been instrumental in the success of our program and I think we're really just just beginning and we've got a lot of good things happening down the road uh the mayor Pro tem will be reading a proclamation for a second chance month and for Sexual Assault Awareness Month good evening this first Proclamation is for Second Chance month two years ago city council followed a national Trend and declared April Second Chance month in Aurora recognizing that after offenders have paid their debt to society that we need to do what we can to help them re-enter the workforce whereas every person is endowed with human dignity and value and American values include Redemption and Second Chances and whereas individuals released from prison and those who have paid their debt after committing a crime face significant barriers known as collateral consequences these barriers can contribute to recidivism which increases victimization and decreases Public Safety and whereas individuals with a criminal history often struggle to find housing employment or education regain voting rights volunteer in their community and find Opportunities to pay for significant debt that arises as a result of their conviction and incarceration and whereas the Council of state governments reports that the number of legal collateral consequences of a criminal conviction exceeds 44 000 and youth face more than one thousand collateral consequences consequences which affects their high school and higher education and whereas the stigma and legal barriers associated with a criminal record result in lost human capital and lost economic output for the United States and whereas dignified work and Community Support are keys to flourishing after incarceration but the covid-19 pandemic has caused one in three individuals in Community Corrections to lose their jobs and many and re-entry providers to close our operations and whereas the designation of April is Second Chance month will increase public awareness about the needs of those who have paid their debt and encourage individuals employers congregations and communities to offer Second Chances now therefore I Mike Hoffman mayor of the city of Aurora do proclaim the month of April 2023 as Second Chance month and next up Sexual Assault Awareness Month is Sergeant Ronald taguma here come on down with me yeah great I'll go ahead and read this and then give you guys the mic whereas sexual assault is a Public Health crisis and whereas according to the center of Disease Control and prevention over half of women and nearly one-third of men have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime and survivors often experience lifelong effects on their physical emotional and mental health and whereas sexual assault affects all facets of society and disregards age ability race sex gender gender identity sexual orientation national origin socioeconomic background religion veteran status among others that it can occur anytime anywhere whereas there is compelling evidence that we can be successful in reducing sexual violence through prevention education increased awareness and holding perpetrators who commit acts of violence responsible for their actions and whereas Sexual Assault Awareness Month draws attention to the fact that sexual sexual violence is widespread and that survivors of this crime need our attention and support now therefore I Mike Hoffman mayor of the city of Aurora Colorado do hereby Proclaim April 2023 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month [Applause] um I'm not much uh for speaking but I absolutely do want to recognize the work that these detectives put in these crimes are very personal to the victims and it's very difficult for them and our detectives and do a fantastic job of showing compassion and they work diligently to try to get to the truth of the matter and and they work for justice they do a fantastic job and I also want to thank our partners the victim Advocates that we work closely with the hospital Personnel that come into play it really takes a team team effort and thank you for for the recognition thank you very much [Applause] uh councilwoman Bergen has requested to read National Crime Victims rights week Proclamation it's on whereas the term victim is more than just a label it has legal standing and protections that go along with it and whereas crime victim Rights Acts passed in Colorado and at the federal level guarantee victims the right to meaningful or to meaningfully participate and use their voice in the criminal legal process and whereas including in elevating the voices of survivors ensures that they are heard and seen and creates a path to forging and sustaining Community Trust and whereas survivors lived experience can serve as a catalyst for implementing Innovative programs shifting existing programs in New Directions and changing policies or practices that prevent victims from accessing services or pursuing Justice and whereas National Crime Victims rights week reminds us to ensure that Crime Victims are heard in every space where decisions impacting them are made and whereas the city of Aurora is dedicated to ensuring that Crime Victims are heard believed and supported and is committed to services that assist victims this week and throughout the year now therefore I Mike Kaufman mayor of the city of Aurora Colorado do hereby Proclaim April 23rd through the 29th 2023 as National Crime Victims rights week in witness whereof I have here unto set my hand and cause the Seal of the city of Aurora Colorado to be a fixed this 21st day of April 2023. and I'm going to pass the microphone over I do want to say that I appreciate all of your work it is so important that we do not forget our victims and um you they have been hurt in such a deep deep way and anything that we can do to help them is greatly appreciated so thank you thank you councilmember and thank you to all of council for your ongoing support we served over 14 000 victims last year and it's such a horrible privilege for us to do that to walk with folks as they often experience the worst days of our life their lives it's an honor to do so and we just really appreciate all of council's support thank you and I think maybe the chief wants to say something too is that why you came hi you have an hour thank you thank you mayor I'm sorry to come up earlier uh but seriously a lot of folks won't realize just the phenomenal work our victim Services counselors do in the field we don't have enough of them we need more of them but I just hope that the community understands it not only do they help the victims and their families they help us secure Justice that they help us create a safer community and most importantly they help victims transition to be survivors when they come out better so thank you for for taking the time to recognize my personal Heroes and that's our victim Services Unit thank you thank you foreign to be heard yes mayor we have a few individuals Robbie DeYoung followed by Charles Richardson Council mayor members of the audience my name is Robbie DeYoung and I'm with the next door group Stolen and vandalized vehicles in Colorado I am here today to ask a couple of questions the first one is um we had a really good ordinance passed that allowed victims three days to retrieve their vehicle once it ends up an impound I have said this before I will say it again three days is an insult we need at least 10 business days because it takes three days just for the mail to get from impound to the victim and they need more time to pick up their vehicles because they they've got to make arrangements for a tow truck they've got to make arrangements for someone to fix their vehicle they need a time just on their own to take off work to go and pick up their vehicle three days is not enough I listen to the wonderful presentation and awards that were given to our victims a week they only get a week National victim awareness that needs to be a month that doesn't need to be just a week and it's something you should probably think about in the future because I bet you there are people in this audience that have been a victim of either motor vehicle or they know somebody that has been a victim of Motor Vehicle theft my friend Paige and her daughter Taylor were involved in I've brought this up before we're involved in a carjacking Taylor was murdered all four uh criminal wanting to get their vehicle so that they could continue running from the police because their vehicle broke down I don't have a lot of compassion for the criminal I have all compassion for the victims and I would like to see this Council have more for Taylor please consider more thank you Charles Richardson followed by Aaron Futrell good evening mayor city council especially City staff thanks for your service to the public everybody turn down their hearing aids uh and if you have any Crystal here protect it um we want to know local 1290 wants to know why Mr Krab the commission's attorney was fired you did it and the reason I say you did it there is absolutely no way the city manager or the City attorney would have freelance this it is a colossal stupid Heir and let me tell you why Mr Krab has been the commission's attorney since the 1990s and he has acted faithfully and he he acts as the judge and and the commissioners of the jury in in all the disciplinary hearings you know in my 28 years in that office I appointed the prosecutor if I could have appointed the judge I would have never lost a case think about it now you're going to hear some Malarkey from someone up there oh this attorney that basically I'm going to appoint will still be free and independent in their judgment um find that very hard to believe you have a bigger problem poorak is the organization that defends police and firefighters at Civil Service Commission hearings and do you think they are going to accept the City attorney firing the independent Council and shoehorning some City stooge into that position absolutely not you have a tremendous built-in appeal from the get-go on every disciplinary hearing going forward so I want someone on this Council to ask Mr bachelor or Mr brotsman did you fire Mr Krab and if so why now I think I know why because Mr Krab had the temerity to suggest that there was tension between what the council and the city were trying to do to the commission and the city Charter well that must have really offended someone and so they said you're fired and you know in the 1970s again in 1987 again in 2006 the voters didn't approve a charter amendment that read do you approve of a weak subjugated Civil Service Commission where the city and not you do all the hiring decisions where the city decides who the commission independent council is going to be and I know what's coming next where the chief makes the ultimate decision on promotions I don't think so mayor can I ask a follow-up question to that please proceed um and I don't know if this is for the City attorney or the interim city manager so that the speaker said something alluded to something about the appointment of a new attorney for the Civil Service Commission my understanding is that attorneys supposed to be independent but it sounds like it was appointed from our existing City attorney staff and that would be concerning so can we get an explanation for for what happened there so all outside counts will work for me okay under Mr Richardson under Mr of Mr Hyman under myself there is an attorney for the Civil Service Commission from my office currently that is Julie Heckman my deputy okay in this in the disciplinary Council also again is an outside attorney working for me that is a separate position so it is not a general counsel it is a position again that I would that I would hire to to represent the Civil Service Commission okay very well thank you so my hope is that this uh We're not gonna have a dialogue this is not on the agenda this we can have a discussion offline about this so if you would have let me finish I was asking for it to be consent calendar adoption the consent calendar mayor we're not finished with public invited to be heard oh I'm sorry please proceed Aaron Futrell followed by K Dot good evening honorable mayor and Council I'm up here regarding an issue that I recently noticed on the RTD Light Rail at nine miles the illegal use of drugs has gotten as bad as Union Station I know Aurora doesn't want to be Denver and so I reached out to the RTE board a director a form former council person and his response to me is what brought me up here his response to me is it's not our responsibility to basically monitor Nine Mile or provide security it's to move people that was offensive that was wrong so I reached out to one of your colleagues who has said they would support support me and be an ally in the in this fight because I'd rather have people be safe we literally just talked about victims we talked about the sexual assault victims as well when you see the drug use the criminal activity and the criminal activity that it leads to because this isn't marijuana I could care less about the grain solution right next to Nine Mile it's legal in Colorado I may not agree with it but I don't have a problem with it but we're talking about drug use like fentanyl we're talking about heroin I literally watched as a group of families got on the light rail two Nine Mile where another group was on the light rail smoking meth doing fentanyl doing whatever if I have to be a one-man band to basically raise awareness so we can stop this I'm going to be I will be the one man band I know a majority of council is committed to safety security and protecting our citizens so that's why I'm up here bringing awareness to this I thank you for your time and please save the reservoir thank you it paid off good afternoon Aurora uh I wanted to make a couple shout outs real quick uh I've been doing my patrolling and uh making sure holding officers accountable and I would like to shout out these officers for doing really really good work uh officer C Allen uh who else officer B erber officer l Hughes Butler and officer K or Kevin Manley they do really really great work and I wanted to shout them out so if you guys can put that on record now to hold somebody accountable Mr Stephen Sun booger wondering when you're gonna answer my uh my email and wondering when did you ever apologize for for the ethnic group that you offended a few months ago you know Hispanic people Middle Eastern people uh to promote your little funky ass restaurant [Music] um just know I'm going to hold you accountable that seed is going to be hot every [ __ ] time you understand you do not deserve to be called councilman I will make you resign do you understand you racist piece of [ __ ] just because you got some uh black woman you think you down with the people huh you think you're one of us you'll never be one of us never and I'm gonna put that on record you're a racist piece of [ __ ] just like the [ __ ] on your chin either you can resign or I can make you quit one or the other way accountability will be had and I will expose your ass now that's not really necessary where are we at in time individual uh approval of the consent calendar item number 9a1 we have to adopt the agenda what I'm sorry adoption adoption of the agenda mayor uh council member Bergen yes I would like to make a motion to allow uh two appellants to make a 15-minute presentation um as well as the applicant on the Ashland Eagle bin multiple multi-family site plan appeal okay um the amendment's been moved by councilmember Bergen second by second second all right councilmember McConnell to allow two appellant presentations of 15 minutes each discussion mayor I'd like to propose a substitute motion um mayor Tim approve the agenda adding 11a for two 15-minute appellant presentations but move 11a after item 12a uh it's been moved by mayor Pro tem second by um okay this requires a second by councilmember Combs um discussion on the substitute motion mayor uh council member uh yes if I might ask my colleague mayor Pro tem Gardner um could you explain the reason just for the audience of why you would like to move up um an item yeah I I'm proposing to put item 11a after mayor is it okay if I speak or I'm going to get gavel down again uh you're I'd like to move item 11a after item 12a um item 12a is our spring supplemental which requires most of our department heads to be here that item more than likely will only take a couple of minutes whereas as you can see from the audience item 11a is going to take a considerable amount of time and so In fairness to our staff I'd like to move switch those items in the agenda order it will only delay the echelon item by a few minutes further discussion on the substitute motion seeing none the question before us is the substitute motion would the call for the question I know mayor Kaufman uh Melrose now the emotion passes with 10 yes votes one no vote to adopt the agenda with appellant presentations in item 11a moved after item 12a well there was substitute motion then passes the next item is the consent calendar mayor uh councilmember Berger uh yes I make motion to approve 9a1 through 9A 16. it's been moved by councilmember Bergen seconded by Sunday senior Mike councilmember sunburn mayor if I may uh the whole consent calendar includes 9c1 council member Bergen do you want to include that in your motion yes sorry I would like to include 9c1 mayor thank you very well the motion is um the adoption of the consent counter item number nine a one to nine c one uh discussion wizard who was the second on that councilmember Sunbury or second by councilmember Sunbury discussion seeing non-questionary forces the adoption of the consent calendar item number nine a one to nine C1 uh call for the question mayor Kaufman uh council member zabonic thank you the motion passes to adopt the Kingston under promotions okay um the next one is the adoption of the consent calendar resolutions and ordinances item number 10a1 to item number 10 A8 I'm sorry 10b1 mayor mayor Tim motion to approve 10a1 through 10 B1 removed by May per 10 second to buy whoms say my council member Coons to approved odd number 10a1 to 10 of B1 discussion I'm seeing none call for the question on the adoption of the consent calendar for Resolutions and ordinances councilmember Marcano and Savannah yes thank you the motion passes to adopt the consent calendar for Resolutions and ordinances uh spring supplemental item 12a is Introduction of ordinance 2023-12 appropriating sums of money in addition to those appropriated in ordinance numbers 20 21 56 2022-24 and 2022.73 for the 2022 fiscal year and ordinance number 20 2259 for the 2023 fiscal year presentation by staff sure I'm Jackie from the budget office and departments have a couple times a year where they're able to request changes to their budget once in the fall and once in the spring so today we have the spring supplemental packet with final adjustments for 2022 and initial adjustments for 2023 there have been no changes to this packet since the study session for 2022 all items in the general fund were either projected and included in the 2023 budget plan or were Technical and had no impact to the fund balance for all other funds most items were projected or reviewed by Council or at Council committee or council meeting there are also several technical items to appropriate Grant funds and lapse Capital budgets for 2023 most items have been reviewed by Council or are technical such as budget transfers operational realignments appropriations of grant funding and reappropriation of funds that were not able to be spent in 2022. in the general fund there are ongoing requests to add nine and a half civilian FTE and seven variable hour positions to support Public Safety six and a half of them are in the police department and the rest are all in human resources for recruitment and background services so that's the end of our short presentation on the supplemental questions to staff seeing no question is there anybody who wishes to be heard on this issue we do have one individual Charles Richardson Jesus mayor good evening local 1290 objects to stripping out all the money for the background investigators now we have learned that staff has been consistently telling you that in case there are any boy scouts or Girl Scouts in the crowd a shoddy job of background investigations Council didn't stop for a second to do an independent analysis of those background studies and took staff's word a hundred percent and so that's disturbing you know the former interim Chief oats makes a big public deal which he's good at of saying only five Cadets uh graduated and we can't sustain our Police Department he's right five Cadets were all we had so um who do you think he blamed let's play Family Feud for a second um what were the three top reasons uh for not having more than five Cadets number one Civil Service Commission number two Civil Service Commission number three Civil Service Commission let's open all the boxes to our contestants all ten boxes are the Civil Service Commission and let me say the commission heard that they changed their rules God forbid I should say lowering standards but let's be honest they they took away some of the prohibitive rules and there is logic to that the reason we had five Cadets is not because the Civil Service Commission is doing a crappy job you're getting subpar applicants there I've said it it's out in the open the commission fell those were the only five candidates that they wanted to put a gun in their hands and I applaud them for that so you don't like what I'm hearing that you don't like what I'm saying because you're being fed a torrent of City misinformation from staff there's only been one council member who has taken the time to reach out to us and get our side of the story is there anybody else who wishes to be heard no very well uh motion is in order mayor motion to approve item 12a uh it's been moved my name for Tim seconded by zavonic second by council members to approve item number 12a spring supplemental further discussion see no discussion and question before says the adoption of item number 12a spring supplemental 2023 spring supplemental call for the question the motion passes to adopt ordinance 20 23 12. uh with code now please read the title to item number 11a item 11a is a public hearing without related ordinance to consider an appeal of the Planning and Zoning commission's approval of the echelon at Eagle Bend multi-family site plan with adjustments public hearing is now open uh presentation by staff okay good evening thank you mayor ladies and gentlemen Council my name is Asia tips I'm the senior planner for the planning and development services department I'm presenting to you the echelon and Eagle Bend multi-family site plan with adjustments this is the city council appeal public hearing sorry about that the site subject site is located or sorry is 14.73 Acres located on the Southeast corner of Aurora Parkway and komoy way the property is surrounded by existing two-family duplex residences and open spaces for the Eagle Bend Community with the exception of the Aurora 14 fire station which is located to the east of the site the subject site and all surrounding property is zoned planned development plan development Zone District allows for the adoption of unique site-specific land use regulations and a planned development for this area is known as the Eagle Bend General development plan or GDP because the Eagle Bend GDP is considered a zoning document building and development standards are established within that GDP and they must be adhered to for the site development the GDP standards must also be harmonized with the zoning standards the definitions of the Udo and the spirit and intent of the comprehensive plan where the GDP is silent vague or ambiguous the Udo is to be followed to ensure adherence to the overall review criteria and consistency with a development review process this is an image of the site plan proposed for the echelona Eagle Bend multi-family application it includes 260 units over 10 multi-family buildings as well as a clubhouse pool and maintenance building parking requirements are met through a mixture of Tuck under parking detached garages and surface parking the development has access from East Aurora Parkway and South komoy Way a private street is also proposed to the site to connect both access points and provide Street Frontage for the internal buildings amenities proposed within the project include the clubhouse a pool a dog park and walking path along the south side of the site which circles the detention Pond open space and connects the dog park building elevations have provided four-sided architecture with a variety of massing building materials and multiple gable roof Ridge lines half of the buildings are two to three stories located along the back and interior of the site and the remaining five buildings are four-story buildings which are located along Aurora Parkway and a portion of komoy staff in the Planning Commission did find the application in compliance with the approval criteria for site plans established within the Udo overall The Proposal complies with the Eco Bend Eagle Bend GDP the Udo and is consistent with the Aurora places comprehensive plan it proposes infrastructure and public improvements needed to serve the development mitigate any potential adverse impacts and is compatible with the surrounding uses for that reason Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the site plan and adjustments on March 8th two appeals were subsequently filed based off the Planning Commission decision these were received by staff Cheryl Hutchings which is in a budding property owner as well as 26 additional budding Property Owners filed an appeal on March 20th that was also added by Mr will shippers who filed on behalf of the Eagle Bend Metro District on March 17th the appeal objections bit were based on non-compliance with the Eagle Bend GDP staff's application of the standards on the proposed project and the planning commission's evaluation of the site plan approval criteria disappeal public hearing was then scheduled by staff for council's consideration the question before you this evening is if the body wishes to uphold the decision made by Planning Commission which approved the echelona Eagle Bend multi-family application with adjustments staff is confirmed that notice of tonight's public hearing was published in the newspaper posted on the property and mailed to a budding Property Owners not less than 10 days prior to this evening's hearing yeah lastly staff will provide a quick summary of the objections raised by the public through the Appeals and a brief response for city of Aurora planning the first objection raised by the resident and the districts was that the proposal does not meet the prairie style architecture required within the GDP staff finds that the term prairie style is used as a description to establish the overall vision for the development and is not an architectural style standard the architecture standards Matrix within the GDP establishes architectural style requirements for housing types and planning areas within Eagle Bend but does not have a style requirement listed for multi-family the second objection raised by both the residents and the Metro District are that the GDP establishes a 50-foot maximum Building height for building buildings within the development building type 3 which is five of the proposed 10 multi-family buildings exceeds that requirement staff found that while the GDP does list a 50-foot Building height requirement the table notes has a footnote that the measurement shall be taken as defined within the Udo Building height measurements within the UDR defined by section 146-6.2 this states that the height of buildings with sloped roofs which are being proposed is determined by taking the average distance between the peak and the eave taking that point measuring it to the ground surface elevation within five feet of the buildings Foundation using this method which is consistent on how we apply Building height across the city the proposed Building height does meet the established 50-foot requirement of the GDP thirdly the residents have objected that the proposal does not meet or provide the 45 percent on-site usable open space requirement as defined in the GDP staff finds the GDP specifically allows detention ponds to contribute towards the 45 open space requirement as long as it's landscaped and usable the applicant is Landscaping all areas credited towards the minimum requirement as ant has included a wide walking path around the pond to allow the outdoor space to be more usable fourthly the residents have objected that the proposal or the proposed retaining walls exceed the GDP requirement staff finds that the final height and the design of the retaining walls will be determined with the Civil review process and that is still underway the applicant is working through this design requirement to meet the minimum standards and it is an ongoing technical comment that will be confirmed prior to construction you'll notice that the Planning Commission approval does have one condition which is the resolution of technical comments next the residents have objected that there is a six-door garage requirement per the GDP and that multi-family buildings proposed include eight garage doors staff has reviewed this standard which notes that the GDP only establishes this requirement for elevations with front doors this is intended to preserve building entries and front facades while pushing the garages to lesser internal facades building types one and two do include eight garage doors but these are on excuse me these are on the rear facade which do not contain front doors or building entries lastly the resident has objected that overall the application is not compatible with the use of use terms of size scale and building facade materials staff finds that compatibility is typically evaluated with the applicable standards and that compliance of the standards is generally serving for compatibility I would also note that multi-family residential and two-family residential uses are commonly considered to be complementary and suitable when placed next to each other Additionally the multi-family buildings propose closest to the existing two family residences have been reduced by Building height they are only two and three-story buildings they have provided substantial setbacks a minimum of 42 feet from the property line and these contextualize and transition the permitted multi-family density within this existing neighborhood lastly The Masonry and siding building materials numerous gable roof forms and neutral color tones are consistent with the existing architecture in Eagle Bend this concludes staff's presentation thank you mayor and counselors if there are any questions staff is available to answer them thank you a presentation by the applicant thank you and good evening I'm Ashley Bedell vice president of development for the Garrett companies with offices at 5075. South Syracuse Street in Denver Colorado several of our designers engineers and attorneys are here with me this evening as well to assist in answering any questions you may have our Echelon at Eagle Bend project received unanimous approval at Planning Commission last month and tonight I ask that you uphold that decision Garrett companies is a national multi-family development construction and management company that focuses on the development of class a boutique style luxury properties we've developed in Aurora before and look forward to the opportunity to build here again our site is at the southeast corner of East Aurora Parkway and South cuomoy adjacent to the Heritage at Eagle Bend neighborhood since our initial filing in May of 22 we have worked with staff to confirm our project complies with the Eagle Bend GDP and the Udo this was validated by the approval we received from the Planning Commission on March 8th the approval came after the commission's careful consideration of the same issues raised on appeal by The Neighbors which you will hear tonight and I will be addressing in my presentation the GDP anticipated more intense uses including commercial and multi-family would occur along Aurora Parkway a major arterial as you can see multifamily is an allowed and anticipated use on parcel a which is our site the determination for compatibility between multi-family and the attached duplex home to the South was made at the approval of the Sixth Amendment to the GDP during our early planning for the site we knew there was existing residential along the southern property line we were intentional with our layout on how we would transition from the south property line to Aurora Parkway knowing it would become a six-lane major arterial in the near future we've reviewed the GDP and the Udo paying close attention to setbacks and buffering requirements area that you see between the red lines is the 25 foot building setback per the GDP the Blue Line you see is a hundred foot setback which we refer to as the protected lot zone meaning buildings to the south of that blue line can only be 38 feet tall you also see the contour lines on this site we have a great deal of topography that we're working with from our South property line to Aurora Parkway going down komoy there's 28 feet of fall As you move from there going east down Aurora Parkway towards the fire station there's an additional 53 feet of fall we took all of this information into consideration when we determined building type and building placement shifting your focus probably a little more to the north side of the property where you see The Black Arrow um during our two neighborhood meetings that we had a concern we heard from the neighbors was traffic and use of cuomoy we've taken two steps to address this first of all we added a left turn lane that's represented by The Black Arrow on the screen that allows both Eastbound and Westbound traffic to enter the prop Project without use of komoy our traffic study has been reviewed by and approved by City staff secondly we've worked with the president of the HOA and agreed to increase the property's financial contribution to the road maintenance of cuomoy that is stated in the existing easement agreement you'll also see that a majority of our buildings are located outside of the Blue Line even though they're of a height that's allowed there we've pushed things as far north as we can based on the requirements in the GDP and the Udo again we could place a building up to 38 feet tall at the red line and up to 50 feet tall at the Blue Line but we went into this project pushing our buildings further north being aware of the neighbors to our South additionally these buildings sit lower than the Heritage at Eagle Bend homes looking kind of at the bottom left corner there we have about 11 foot of fall so our buildings are 11 foot lower than the homes transitioning to the east where we get to about five feet there is a lot of topography on this site and it has created a lot of challenges in design but we found the best plan that allows for the exist the connections that we have to make keeps the streets and the sidewalks at acceptable slopes but we do do this through the use of retaining walls as Asia mentioned and as raised in the appeal the appellants claim there is one retaining wall that isn't in compliance with the GDP this is a technical issue that we will solve I can confirm that this will be satisfied upon our upcoming submittals the Topography of the site also generated two adjustments which we have worked with staff and they have confirmed we meet the requirements for not only will this project fill a need for middle housing within the city of Aurora but it will appeal to a variety of residents through two different building types two different living options first we have the corridor buildings on the Northern portion of the site shaded in the darker blue these are four-story buildings that have elevators for convenient use of our residents secondly we have the more aqua colored buildings at the South and those are more of a two and a half story home that feature that's more like a duplex or a town home they have direct entries you can have a garage attached directly to your unit and there's even two story units in there to separate the living from the sleeping areas um this project has one two and three bedroom units all designed with high quality materials and sought after features this is an elevation of our smaller building the southern half the aqua ones materials are masonry and fiber cement siding consistent with the GDP and very similar to what's on the homes to our South raised on appeal the appellants claim the garage doors do not comply with the GDP per the GDP no more than six garage doors may appear on any multi-family building containing front doors and the plane of each garage door shall be offset by at least two feet from the plane of the garage door adjacent to it the doors on the elevation with the garages are patio doors you see I've highlighted the patio railings in yellow just to further demonstrate they're not front doors and we are in compliance this is the elevation of our Corridor Building located on the North half of the site and these buildings sit at least 250 feet from our Southern Property Line between our smaller buildings the changes in grade and the increased setback there is a good transition between the Heritage Eagle Bend homes and these buildings raised on appeal the appellants claim our buildings exceed the height requirements in the GDP we've reviewed this point closely and can confirm we are in compliance this is the chart straight out of the GDP section 2.1 you can see maximum for multi-family Building height is 50 feet and then I've highlighted the footnote at the bottom that Asia referred to that sends you to city code or the Udo and again Udo definition on screen a point halfway between the eve and the highest point that is how we're measuring our building height for our smaller buildings we're at 30 feet 3 inches our Corridor buildings 49 feet 6 inches both under the 50-foot allowance as Asia mentioned and as raised in the appeal the appellants claimed that the Building architecture does not follow the Prairie theme that they feel is required while a prairie style is mentioned in the GDP it is not a required architectural standard the chart before you is the architectural standards Matrix you can see the Box highlighted in yellow would Define the architectural style but that box is blank instead of listing an architectural style there's an entire page of the GDP that provides the multi-family architectural standards these standards and required features such as pitched roofs variation and roof lines complex massing multiple wall planes are requirements we don't have the discretion to ignore these items the images included with the GDP standards show the required elements and characteristics including a four-story building confirming our project's consistency with the vision and standards for this parcel regarding open space as raised on appeal the appellants claim that the project does not meet the open space requirements because they do not feel the detention area should be counted per the GDP we are required to have 45 percent of our site as common open space the area shaded green satisfies that staff has reviewed our submittal and confirmed we meet this requirement the water quality basin can be counted as common open space because it includes the required landscape as well as a path amenitized with benches and fitness stations the maintenance path trickle Channel and 100 Year elevation have not been counted they are not shaded the perception that this is a pond with high banked sides that aren't usable isn't accurate sometimes it's difficult to visualize when you see our plans with the four to one slope what that really means these images demonstrate the sloped area in that we have shaded green staff has completed their technical review in confirmed we're in compliance did the GDP states depend detention ponds may be used to meet common open space requirements if they are landscaped and can be effectively used for recreational activities this visual affirms that this area is not unusable open space but instead an area that will attract residents and encourage Recreation amenities evidence excuse me in addition to the GDP requirements we are providing 20 activated open space per the Udo we are meeting this through the amenities we will offer our residents to include the clubhouse pool and an open game lawn area as you can see we are under the buy right unit count by 108 units we are providing greater setbacks than required and we have satisfied both the GDP and the Udo requirements I'd like to invite our land use Council David Foster to conclude this presentation thank you thanks Ashley Mr Mayor members of council I'll be very brief it's obviously not good when the lawyer has to present as part of an applicant's presentation on a site plan but so is the case here because both the applicant as well as the city has already been sued in District Court by the neighbors we've included on page 1177 a letter that's part of the record that speaks to meeting the criteria this is a site plan appeal this is not a rezoning sections 146-5.4.3 point B 0.2 on site plan criteria and 146-5.4.4 uh parenz D on the adjustment criteria have all been met based on what is already a part of the record as has been demonstrated by your staff in Ashley height open space garage doors are objectively objectively reviewed analyzed and have been determined to meet this GDP architectural style you've already seen was left blank intentionally and the images although they're not very clear for sure in that GDP you will note that those images do appear to include four-story multi-family buildings much like we've proposed is the project compatible with surrounding uses it's a residential use and we are immediately adjacent to residential uses it is a residential use as permitted by right on this site as multi-family which is to say when it was zoned in 2006 you your previous Council people already made that determination of compatibility and decided that multi-family on the outskirts of this project was compatible this isn't a conditional use tonight this isn't a special review use this is an appeal of a site plan that has already been unanimously approved by the Planning Commission we asked tonight that you uphold the unanimous decision of the Planning Commission from last month and we'll of course be available for questions thank you a presentation by eagle bin Metropolitan District Mr mayor council members thank you for your time tonight will Skippers on the half eagle band Metro District Metropolitan District the band root boundaries of the land within the district and the boundaries of the land within the GDP are identical you received my packet of my comments and Exhibits with the exhibit number being noted in the upper right hand corner of each exhibit so we can follow along with those as I go if they were preamble to this discussion the following recitals would be mentioned as all parties agree to the following the Eagle band GDP is a governing document for developments within the district non-compliance of the GDP would require an amendment to the GDP the GDP provides standards that are mandatory for all Eagle Bend structures the GDP standards recall require all residential buildings within Eagle band to be of a one prior architecture and B harmonious whole design in the real estate sector there is consensus that prairie style means married to the ground with emphasis on the horizontal rather than the vertical and harmonious whole means items that are coordinated compatible matching and symmetrical to understand what's required for structures within Eagle band per the mandatory standards stayed in the GDP one only need to answer a couple questions first what wording was used to describe the standard section 1.1 of the GDP states that the following these separate parts will develop into our mindless Soul through the use of standards and aesthetic principles set forth in these development standards and guidelines section 1.2 of the GDP States the following due to the high plains character and location of Eagle band a prairie style theme will be developed throughout the community this character will be carried throughout the project architecture and all land uses section 1.3 the GDP States the following these development standards and guidelines will further describe the standards established of the GDP so that all development within Eagle Bend adheres to an overall theme the words adhere to an overall theme describe what the author believes is best surfer Eagle band to be in a harmonious whole section 1.3 also States sees development standards and guidelines will be used by the city of Aurora in reviewing the subdivision sites and plans regarding Building height a roof plane is the surface of the roof that's pitched or in an angle it's the biggest and most noticeable part of the roof the roof Ridge is a horizontal line at the top of the roof plane where two roof planes intersect section 8.3 of the GDP multi-family architectural standard States the following root planes surfaces of 50 feet or more shall not be allowed as depicted in exhibit a the route plane is 54 feet and two inches in height this standard clearly requires the roof Ridge I.E the highest point of the roof plane to be less than 50 feet not equal to not greater than question number two what was the intent of the author of the standards to answer this question the answer to this question provides the most important Insight is the meaning of the standards in this case the author was a developer of Eagle Bend one only has to look at what developer allowed to be built with an eagle band The antennas demonstrate in the design the resonance structure's built-in Eagle band by the creation of a cohesive harmonious whole prairie style themed Community obviously the purpose of the developer specifying prairie style and harmonious hole in the GDP was to enforce what the developer intended and desire to be built and that is what has been built today there are five residential communities within the district has depicted on exhibit B in your packet these are existing parts mentioned in section 1.1 of the GDP Exhibit C provides evidence of extreme difference and lack of Harmony among the five existing residential areas within Eagle Pan and the pro proposed four-story Echelon building proposed by Garrett companies for Echelon and Eagle band Exhibit C point one is Creekside Eagle band 149 1 and two-story single-family detached homes C2 Ridgeview Eagle band 318 two stories Town Homes C3 Heritage Eagle pen and her age restricted mix of 1442 single-family detached and two to four Plex homes all single story C4 the KB Home 74 two-story homes C5 the Springs at Eagle Bend 280 dwelling unit two-story multi-family project you can see that no Harmony exists between the echelon building and the existing residential structures there are no three or four story residential or commercial structures within Eagle Bend the Garrett four-star Echelon buildings are more representative of a hotel in exhibit D you can see the harmony that exists between a hotel and the echelon buildings it is inconceivable that the authors of the eaglemen GDP would have ever envisioned a hotel type building being a part of any residential area with any Eagle Bend the echelon four-story building type is compatible and harmonious with a commercial neighborhood exhibit e depicts the proximity of the Garrett 5 810 Southlands project to Southlands Mall one can see South and small just to the right of the four-story echelon building the attributes of this area provide an excellent location for the echelon four-story building exhibit F depicts the route if one drives Southwest on Aurora Parkway from Smoky Hill road to komori way there are no three or four-story buildings along that route which is approximately three miles when Aurora Parkway has extended to Parker Road is doubt there will be doubtful there will be any three or four story buildings prior to intersecting with Cottonwood Drive which is an additional two and a half miles exhibit GE provides a depiction of the proximity of the four-story Epsilon buildings in the proposed project relative to the abiding property owners and Heritage Hill band note that the distance between the four-story buildings and that of the Abundant properties is approximately 400 feet along the west line of the project property project property and approximately 250 feet in the Eastern portion of the property it is clear that the four Storey Island buildings are not harmonious with the immediate area of the project nor with an eagle band as a whole and the GDP does not delineate where harmonious whole may start or stop with an Eagle Bend and correspondence with the Garrett companies the city of order planning staff mentioned that the proposed site development area is within the Eagle Bend GDP which functions as a planned development Zoning for the site they also mentioned the plan development includes specific guidelines including but not limited to General development standards such as architecture and additional comment made by staff is the buildings must also be no taller than 50 feet in height planning recommendations planning staff recommendations Smith planning Council including the following comments the application is compatible surrounding uses in terms of size and scale the application mitigates any adverse impacts on the surrounding area to the degree practicable the planning staff also made the following points points when submitting their recommendation to the Planning Commission The Proposal is consistent with all applicable standards including the Eagle band GDP the project is compatible with surrounding institutions and residential uses one can easily recognize how the project one is not compatible surrounding uses in terms of size or scale does not mitigate adverse impacts on the surrounding area three is not consistent with all applicable standards including Eagle band GDP 4 is not compatible surrounding institutions and residential uses pardon me it's a CDC national immunization is calling me so the planning staff never mentioned the requirement for a prairie style type of development the required harmonious whole design nor did they mention the 55 grounded root plane height measurement being a standard the required maximum height that stayed in the GDP Echelon is Garrett's branding for their high density product type the echelon product type is intended to be within walking distance of dining shopping and work has shown an exhibit Eve Garrett's 5810 Southlands project includes the four-story echelon building type this is a perfect location for the echelon building type as the location provides dining shopping and work within walking distance the echelon Eagle band project is also planned as a high density project but has none of those attributes showing at exhibit C5 is the Continental property Springs at Eagle Bend multi-family development which was built in 2018 only three quarters a mile from the echelon project in comparison his design is similar to the Garrett caliber product they receive very few comments from residence those comments and concerns were quickly quickly resolved by Continental Continental was aware of the design standards and the GDP and complied with the prairie style harmonious whole design when designing the Springs at Eagle Bend as they believe the two-story design was more compatible with and complementary to the surrounding area and neighborhoods continental state true to the intent of the GDP guidelines for a cohesive harmonious prairie style Community throughout Eagle Bend the district feels that Garrett and the city of Aurora should look at the springs that Eagle band as an example of multi-family housing that stays true to guiding principles and standards of the Glenn GDP the Garrett caliber product type is a low density product type that's compatible with Eagle band residential structures Garrett could choose to develop the site with only the caliber product type with no objection from the district during the Planning Commission meeting on March 8th the chair of the commission asked Miss Fuentes of Garrett why they didn't use the caliber building type in the project instead of the echelon building type this Fuentes replied that they are using the caliber project or product in the project this was cracked in the 5-10 buildings within the project are the caliber building type however nothing was mentioned about the other five buildings that are the echelon four-story building type and the chair of the committee did not ask a follow-up question as to why they didn't use the caliber building tied throughout the project Garrett has now developed has developed many mid to low density projects including several in Colorado they know how to make a lower density project financially feasible they've also developed several projects with many fewer dwelling units they know how to make a smaller project financially feasible Garrett is choosing to Val to site as a high density High height project Garrett website mentions their participation in 63 projects consisting of over 15 000 units yet the project was 160 units versus 260 units the difference is only approximately half of one percent of the units built the project at 260 units or 160 units doesn't move the needle for Garrett at all Garrett has developed 23 projects in Colorado only 10 are high density 13 are fewer than 200 dwelling units they can make this project feasible with only caliber buildings and with 100 fewer units the Garrett project does not move the needle for the city of Aurora and is housing for all principal this is not an affordable housing project the project may not lend itself to walking for work shopping dining Recreation this is not even a family housing project as Guerra will not even build a playground relegating the children to play in the detention Pond if the project consists of 160 units rather than the plan 260 units the impact of the city would be microscopy a senior member of the planning department mentioned that Garrett has a right to build is assigned and we can't take that right away Garrett does not have the right to build as assigned as a project design does not meet the standards prescribed in the GDP we also believe the city of Aurora has a responsibility to enforce the standards as prescribed in the GDP by approving the project as designed the city Roar is actually granting Garrett a right that Garrett does not have which is in violation of the GDP the GDP clearly states these development standards and guidelines will be used by the city of Aurora in reviews in the subdivision and cyclins the project does not reflect the vision the intent in order to meet the required standards provided in the GDP the city should not ground approval a project as designed just to allow Garrett to meet Financial feasibility at the express expense of existing residents the city of Aurora has no obligation or the authority to allow non-compliance of the GTP GDP standards just to make the project financially feasible or desirable of to Garrett the district requests the city reward not approve the project as designed and recommends Garrett eliminate all four-story buildings such that the property property only consists of their caliber building type I.E the type 102 building following is a critical point for you to consider Garrett is a merchant Builder meaning they sell their projects as soon as they are stabilized in occupancy and rents according to the Garrett website they have sold every one of their Colorado projects once construction is completed and leasing was stabilize when Garrett recently wanted to relocate their offices they did not choose Aurora they chose they moved their office from Lone Tree to the Denver Tech Center Garrett is not invested in this community and is not demonstrating long-term concern for the effect of the project on the community so miss Wente has mentioned challenges to the website to the site the city certainly should not allow exceptions just because there are challenges to this site I certainly agree that's a challenging site but that does not warrant any exceptions to the GDP this project does not move the needle for for in the haystack for Garrett it does not move the needle in the haystack for the city of Aurora but for the residents of Eagle Bend this project is a haystack I'm happy and answered questions you may have but thank you for your time and consideration thank you [Applause] the next presentation is by the appellant residents of Eagle bin second appellant good evening thank you my name is Cheryl Hutchings I live at 21941 East Canyon Place in Heritage Eagle Bend and I am the official appellate on this peel I'm going to turn it over to my approved representative Mr Jim folk who is also a resident at Heritage Eagle Bend thank you there it is good evening council members and Mr Mayor I am James folk I live at 7709 South valde Court in Aurora and I am speaking on behalf of Cheryl Hutchins the appellant Garrett and Aurora planning state that Echelon was developed to fit nicely next to a single family one-story homes you have heard Garrett state that restaurant meets the usable open space requirement that the building Heights conform to the GDP that Echelon is compatible with Eagle Bend and that Echelon conforms to the GDP and is compliant with Udo the abutting homeowners and 825 residents disagree their assigned support is right here in these documents and there is a list submitted in your package of the of all the of all those homeowners this is an accurate rendering showing echelon's height scale mass and density it is based on Garrett's site plans Garrett states that nobody is guaranteed of you this is a misrepresentation this is not about views it is about complying with the Eagle Bend GDP after hearing our issues the city council should vote to send it back to to send it back to planning for GDP and Udo compliance the Udo clearly states that established development Agreements are the governing regulations and standards and the Udo cannot modify or invalidate any of the GDP Provisions standards or guidelines yet planning allowed Garrett to ignore the GDP standards the Eagle Bend GDP guided residential commercial and multi-family developments for 24 years all Eagle Bend communities exhibit complete compatibility with the GDP intent and purpose it states and I quote all the separate parts of Eagle Bend are developed into a harmonious whole using a prairie style theme and adhering to the overall theme of the purpose and the intent of the GDP eschevan is the only Eagle Bend Community that deviates from this intent and purpose Shalon does not comply with the theme is further supported by the Project's violation of the GDP standards to ensure that the Eagle Bend Community remains a harmonious whole planning stated that prairie style is just a reference in the GDP and is not an actual design standard I would emphasize the entirety of the GDP is the design standard planning's judgment was solely based on style and building materials a definition of prairie style is easily obtained from multiple sources stating the most defining characteristics is their emphasis on the horizontal rather than the vertical is this slide show prairie style Highland Village and Ridgeview in Eagle Bend are multi-family communities with two-story homes these Community communities fulfilled the Eagle Bend GDP prairie style theme of horizontal versus vertical Echelon does not the Springs at Eagle Bend apartment complex maintains the prairie style theme of horizontal versus vertical Echelon does not Garrett says their two and a half story buildings offer a single family appearance and field yet never mentions the five four-story buildings that dominate the site the Springs at Eagle Bend is a similar Community with 280 Apartments 14 buildings on 20 acres Garrett is squeezing 26 percent more units per acre less parking and less open space Garrett says they are under the allowed 367 units that doesn't matter if it doesn't fit Garrett says that they meet the usable open space requirements we disagree oppose Garrett adopted the Springs approach this rendering is a side-by-side comparison suppose care used their prairie style two and a half story building types one and two look at the difference a prairie style harmonious hole versus non-compliant four-story buildings the springs on the left side reduces the emphasis on the vertical height size and Mass Garrett states that placing five four-story buildings 250 feet away from a budding single-family homes minimizes this Project's height issues it does not the building Heights are not GDP compliant the GDP standard for maximum Building height is 50 feet five buildings exceed 50 50 feet planning claim this requirement is not fully defined what's unclear about the words maximum height Garrett states that the 54 and one-half feet is compliant as measured by city code and the Udo is city code the Eagle band GDP established in 1999 has the standard maximum of 50 feet planning allowed Garrett to utilize a Udo definition adopted 20 years later to get around the non-compliant four-story building Heights that definition measuring Building height does not negate the word maximum this is not about how to measure Building height the word maximum overtakes all discussion the GDP clearly states height maximum is 50 feet there is no ambiguity and there is no reason to rely on the Udo on May 19th and October 20th 2022 these instructions on this slide were sent together from the very beginning planning to advise Garrett to limit the building height to 50 feet what happened it became clear to HEB residents after commenting on the height that the original ground to roof Peak measurement was changed site plans were revised to show a lower and non-compliant Building height five buildings or over 54 feet they are not GDP compliant planning says that the ground roof Peak is not commonly used I will now show some neighboring site plans each measuring ground roof Peak here's Bridgeview Eagle Bend note the ground to roof Peak measurement the Springs at Eagle Bend Eagle Bend Marketplace Southland Shopping Center Saddle Rock Apartments most interesting is Garrett's Clipper at Southlands basically the same building as echelon according to their site plans it's measured from ground to roof beak and a 2022 Garrett project Pomeroy measuring ground to roof beak we have reviewed site plans contrary to planning's assertion there are 38 more site plans we have found within Eagle band and the surrounding areas using the same ground roof Peak measurements on their site plans this is another actual rendering based on Echelon site plans of a cross-section of their property Garrett showed homeowners a rendering of building roof lines that were no higher than a budding HEB homes that was inaccurate place these buildings on the proposed topography and they are as high as a six-story building planning states that because of the site's topography and other site constraints they approved exceptions to two buildings that did not face streets we say planning is allowing Garrett to pick to pack too much in too little space after the May 19 2022 pre-application meeting these Open Space instructions were sent to Garrett attention Pond requirement is that it can be effectively used for recreation activities we asked what happened to these requirements along the way there is no doubt this Pond is not usable open space and cannot effectively be used for recreational activity per the requirement earlier Garrett showed a rendering of the proposed path that encircles A detention pond their rendering is misleading in fact not shown on their rendering is the 40-foot slope change 74 seven inch steps 10 six inch steps 25 Landings a pass slope of 9.7 percent and multiple three to one slopes which are not allowed for the GDP 4.1.15 standard did you see any of those items in that rendering Garrett's rendering is wrong and deceptive the detention Pond is not conducive to recreational activities as required and cannot be used by all residents any Resident with mobility issues cannot easily use the detention Pond path eliminating the pond area sets the open space at 38 percent far below the required 45 percent and another GDP non-compliance issue the GDP sets the maximum retaining wall height of 14 feet Echelon has 240 linear feet of double 16 foot retaining wall which is two feet more than the standard planning said that a review is still underway but planning to submit submitted a non-compliant project to the commission yet it advised the commission that the project is compliant the Udo establishes a Project's approval criteria the commission ignored non-compliant issues it does not one it does not comply with the GDP two it does not improve or expand multimodal connections the site plan does not show any of those connections three it does not expand existing bicycle activity planning indicates there are connections but there are none on the sideline four it does not achieve compatibility with adjacent neighborhoods in terms of size scale mass and building materials five it does not mitigate adverse impacts on the surrounding areas Echelon does not have any of the characteristics of the Eagle Bend communities it does not align with the GDP purpose and intent no prairie style no harmonious hope no compliance to the overall thing the Udo defines compatible as a determination of compatibility including height scale mass and bulk of structures echevan is not compatible with any of the Eagle Bend communities never did these 825 residents say not in my backyard we knew this site would be developed planning has stated that quote residents did not want this project that is a misrepresentation Aurora wants to provide high quality housing options across all social economic levels cultural identities and stages of life this can still be accomplished while conforming to the eagle binge GDP standards the 825 homeowners respectfully asked the city council to send this project back to planning to apply all the required standards is it appropriate to allow a 14-acre parcel to change the character of an entire 1018-acre community we trust you agree the answer is no thank you for allowing us to present our case [Applause] it is is there anybody who wishes to be heard on this issue that is not uh associated with either repellents nor the applicant yes we have 10 individuals who have signed up the first person is hairy breast followed by David admire good evening mayor Kaufman city council members my name is Harry brust and I live at 22949 East Long Drive you may have seen my name in many of the letters and complaints registered with the city of Aurora I have chosen to lead a group of Heritage Eagle band residents 825 petition signers not because I'm directly affected by this development I'm leading this because the project is not sound development for this last 14 acres of the original Eagle Bend development parcel of more than one thousand acres there are many concerns that residents have brought forward some of which you have heard from Jim folk tonight these concerns have not changed from our original letter sent to Asia Tibbs on December 28th of 2022. these concerns have gone unanswered for four months and Garrett and Aurora still claim that the development meets all the requirements of the Udo and the GDP this is where the disagreements begin in the interpretation of those guidelines you can argue codes and regulations until you're blue in the face one code supersedes another and others don't apply completely or are vague what this really comes down to are the rights of the residents of budding the development to rely on the Eagle Bend GDP to protect them from the development that is not compatible with the surrounding properties they have been accustomed to the Eagle Bend GDP type of development for 25 years you can accuse them of saying not in my backyard or we just don't want it these statements are false and all the residents signing those 825 petitions knew that one day the property would be developed they are not anti-development they counted on it being developed developed like what has been done in the Eagle Bend GDP most recently with the Springs at Eagle Bend project these residents were astounded and surprised when they learned of a development featuring five four-story Mega complexes shoehorned into 14 acres with inadequate parking no recreational space for play areas and no public transit system available the proposed development was far from being a compatible neighborhood there are no four-story complexes within three miles of this site it will be seen like a sore thumb sticking out from as far away as Smoky Hill Road and Aurora Parkway it is not compatible with the entire surrounding area this type of development is more suited for areas amongst Transit stations shopping and business centers poor decision on Aurora's planning department thank you for your s to present our case residents would you please raise your hands if you agree with the statements presented tonight thank you hopefully the city and Garrett will make the changes needed to comply with the residence request time thank you thank you David admire followed by Doug Markham yeah I just want to repeat that this is for testimony for individuals not associated with either either pellets or the applicant okay David admire yeah but still right okay I'm sorry he's with a pellet so Doug markheim he's with an appellant Elizabeth folk with the palette Monica Dell with a palette Dawn Rollins okay uh Jerry Pettibone okay would you like your three minute comment you're you're on the appellant side okay uh Brady McShane good evening my name is Brady McShane I'm a land use attorney at Greenberg charg and I'm speaking on behalf of the existing property owner for this development project Carefree Eagle Bend first thank you to staff and Council for your time and attention dedicated to this matter we fully support the Planning and Zoning commission's approval of this project and staff's recommendation of approval to council which directly refutes the issues raised in the appeal we also fully support and agree with the Project's clear compliance with the project approval criteria as demonstrated by staff and the Garrett companies importantly that proved Eagle band GDP is intended for more intense uses given its location near a major arterial and Commercial uses to this end the underlying zoning allows the proposed multi-family use by right permitting up to 25 units per acre at a 368 unit count further the property was previously approved in 2006 through a vested site plan for up to 400 units the proposed project at 17 units per acre and 260 units is thus considerably less intense than what is allowed by the underlying zoning and what was previously approved in the 2006 site plan building setbacks and parking are also significantly greater than what is required by the zoning the issues raised on appeal are without Merit as evidenced by the planning commission's unanimous approval and is further demonstrated by staff in the council agenda commentary and the Garrett company's land use Council in its letter to city council dated April 6 2023 with respect to the architectural theme the project complies with all applicable architectural standards in the GDP which were developed to implement the desired character of the community with respect to Building height project height is clearly subject to the Udo as stated in the face of the GDP and the project complies with the building height limitations with respect to open space the proposed detention Basin area is allowed to be counted pursuant to section 4.5 of the GDP since its design supports recreational activities with respect to the retaining wall the issue has been resolved and the revised sheets have been submitted to staff with respect to garage doors the requirement only applies to front doors the garage is in question are not front doors and are located along the rear facade accordingly the Project's fully compliant and the subject appeal is wholly unsupported we therefore respectfully request that the city council uphold the unanimous decision of Planning Commission and approve the major site plan as submitted thank you is there anybody else who wishes to be heard that is not associated with either repellent or the applicant that is the last individual very well questions of staff the applicant or either repellent mayor council member yes thank you mayor for staff I have questions on you heard a lot of testimony on the GDP versus the Udo I was I had asked a question a few months ago about the when does the Udo come in play I was told that the GDP is the guiding document and that everything must abide by the GDP and the only time that the Udo would come into play is if there was I guess if there was a question so is that accurate if it was not addressed in the GDP that's correct we use the Udo if the GDP is ambiguous or unclear or if it's specifically referenced in the GDP but the Udo was um was done what like in 2000 but I don't have the time the I guess 2022 when it was redone correct yes I am not aware of any changes in the way that Building height has been measured since the time of the original adoption it is a consistent practice to measure Building height that way okay and then on compatibility I also asked a question of staff on compatibility and I asked specifically is it subjective or is it literal and I was told it was subjective is that true foreign with the planning department you know as playing staff you know we Endeavor to objectively apply the regulations that have been uh produced by the community through the city council and and that is how we approach compatibility is through those regulations as compatibility is built into those regulations and the design standards that are incorporated into those regulations but would you say it's subjective at times when we're applying a regulation we're looking for objective standards but you yourself told me it it was a it could be subjective you told me that I believe uh there's always different opinions about what compatibility is okay on the parking so I believe it's 1.5 per unit and these are one two and three bedroom units right well I'm asking for parking specifically if it meets you said it meets our requirements for 1.5 per per unit it's it's not 1.5 so it's one per unit and then there is additional guest parking required and the application does meet that requirement okay is there any street parking available there is some street parking on the internal streets but they're not allowed to use street parking on komoy or on Aurora Parkway right in Aurora Parkway I mean no one would want to who would work there okay um on the open space so the drainage the detention Pond was able to be counted towards open space that's correct yes correct and when we say recreational you know abilities um is there Recreation that can be I mean the Topography is very different there there is the detention Pond I don't see anyone playing in the detention Pond sure so Recreation for open space is different than Recreation for Parks or developed parks open space is meant to be an open unprogrammed area and we commonly allow and count open areas towards open space credits when they have a path or an ability to walk through it and enjoy the open space okay and then what about Park requirements was there a Park requirement there was not the pros Department requested a cash and live so obviously that is something within our guidelines not with the developer but probably need to change that in the future because this will have children in these apartment buildings and there is no pocket park there's no neighborhood park nearby there's no Transportation what about traffic when the traffic study was done does that anticipate the future connection to Kings Point I can't speak to that can I ask the applicant or traffic with City staff sure um to the applicant okay good evening I'm sorry can you repeat one more time so I can determine if it's best for me or traffic sure um the question was on traffic and and I know you do you know the traffic studies but were were those traffic studies taken into account the development of King's Point which is actually in application with the city currently um that they will eventually open up that Aurora Parkway and extend it to Parker so was that traffic study does IT project that that traffic flow so our traffic study looked at both current conditions today and then also once the Aurora Parkway improvements are made so how would that be determined if you don't I mean I I that I don't know how you determine future usage Kings Point will have 1700 homes and it's not just the homes that will be built obviously your development all the developments that are nearby will you know right now they don't have access to that they usually use E470 so there will be a lot of traffic going through Aurora Parkway once that opens up so that was is there a way to how do you project that it is a much more um technical projection than I can speak to as to how you predict um based on what a typical subdivision a typical Apartment project how many trips are generated and if you want more detail I'd be happy to have our traffic engineer speak to that okay and then um since you're up here I'll go ahead and move on to my questions for the applicant on the height um was there was there consideration to lower the height at all during this process we definitely listen to the neighbors and looked at all questions brought before us the GDP requires many factors I couldn't adjust the slope of the roof because that's required so that's what's also generating the height but was I mean you heard at two public hearing or neighborhood meetings I should say the request to lower from the four story to the three was that ever considered in in the planning of the design of it we looked at many factors and many options for the property as we were in our early development and also going through the neighborhood meetings and so why was three-story not considered to just reduce it from four to three just looking at how we would satisfy all of the requirements in the GDP Beyond just the question on Building height it did not work for the project but the GDP doesn't require you to have four stories you can go below correct we could have gone with the lower height but the GDP allowed the height we were buy right with that height and with that density okay so I guess what I'm hearing is you did not consider lowering it to three stories we considered it and looked at it internally and made the decision to stick with the plan okay was presented okay and then um I think that's it on the on the applicant thank you um I do have another question for staff and I know we keep hearing about the GDP versus the Udo what was the six the amendment number six that happened in 2006 that allowed that changed that zoning of that parcel correct it's unclear I think it is entirely possible that it was designated for market rate multi-family use much earlier than that that's not what I see in the GDP well I've looked at older versions of the GDP that do allow multi-family use on this parcel the sixth amendment did add a significant number of design standards for multi-family projects and so it references this parcel it's kind of unclear if it actually wasn't allowed use earlier but we do know that the amendment six is what currently stands and does allow this use on the property does anyone remember because I wasn't on Council and none of us were on Council back then why that sixth amendment was approved by Council I think it was because an assisted living facility was supposed to come in possibly and that assisted heard earlier that that would still allow a large number of units I believe that facility was going to be lower in height so it would you know most of the the assisted living in in our area in southeast or are not you know huge height they're they're lower so I think that was the reason so I can't speak to that I do know that it was a zoning Amendment which is not a condition of the site plan or the approved site plan it was a zoning change okay either way regardless of the site plan proposed it's an amendment to the zoning that allows to use okay and then can I ask a question the appellant please proceed so to the Metro District Appellate yes um when when you had the neighborhood meetings um did anyone address the reducing it from four story to three story was that brought up by residents um I can't tell you specific questions that were asked about actually um that exact topic however the Crux of the meeting was based on the height of the buildings I can't tell you any direct question that was asked but that really is a Crux of the issue for the district and many of the residents is the height of the building so um your objection is not to apartment buildings per se correct so in 2017 when Continental Properties came to our community and wanted to build the Springs at Eagle Bend it's uh 280 units and there were no objections from the district no objections from any homeowners associations in the area there were three or four neighbors across the Aurora Parkway on the south side that raised some concerns and those were addressed by Continental actually the Continental people went to the homes of those people and talked to them and those concerns were immediately remedied and one way they did it was because I just talked to the Continental people last week about that and they actually had sight pictures like was shown here by Mr folk and to see how that was not going to block views and that was going to be compatible with their their homes KB Homes people right next to it you know those are Twin Town Town Homes there was never any objection from any anybody any residence in within Eagle Bend to that project yeah I was present during when those were both built you know the springs and the other one and I I didn't hear any objections from residents on those right so okay thank you very much one more question I'm sorry for the um the applicant and it's it was said earlier that um that the company would sell the project after it reaches a certain occupancy um Can someone address that from the applicant regarding um if we will sell a property or retain it um in the development world we always identify our sites and build them like we're going to hold them forever there comes a time when you finish construction and you stabilize and you look to refinance out of a construction loan at that point sometimes market conditions encourage a developer to sell I can't tell you what we'll do with a project currently under construction or one that's early in planning but we always build projects at sites that we believe in and that we intend to hold and I I was present for both of the neighborhood meetings I do remember um that it was stated that that you guys have a um you know want to be um involved in in the in the area for a long time to come and or you know and and I guess what I'm hearing is that you probably will sell once the occupancy when it is occupied it may happen it's possible I have no idea what the economy will do right now tomorrow versus you know five years from now so but we have our own management company because we do self-manage properties okay that maybe that's what I remember hearing is that you have your own management company okay thank you thank you for other questions of Staff the applicant or either repellent mayor uh councilmember McConnell thank you sir this question is for staff can you please um clarify how a gable roof is to be measured per our code excuse me for our code there's two points of height obviously the top and the bottom the top point because it's sloped is measured from the eve and the peak of the roof so that midpoint down to the base elevation within five feet and that is kind of confusing because there's some different options in our measurements if you have a sloped roof or kind of a walk-out basement scenario the applicant is grading their foundations flat on both sides within five feet so it's essentially the foundation to that midpoint is their Building height yeah can you also Define how or go over how we Define a plane on a roof of the side of a gate a gabled roof or a bridge right so not not the rich not the ridge the ridge would be the top so it'd be the point between the Ridge and the Eve that's connecting that would be the all right thank you and then I have another question for the applicant um I would like to I'd like y'all to explain how you went and selected your materials how did you get the finishes the palette and what was the inspiration yeah good evening I'm assuming with your question you mean of the exteriors of the building I think through several things we looked at the GDP and we looked at the surrounding area and we came up with a neutral palette using masonry materials and fiber cement siding that are long lasting and I think Beyond um just the materials on the building the same with our landscape materials that will be throughout the property okay thank you further questions of Staff the applicant or either repellent mayor councilmember Coombs um so I have a handful of questions first I have some questions for the appellant about some of the points that were raised so um I think it would be the second appellent I think both of these would apply to that account not the um first so first there was a point mentioned about public transit and the lack of public transit in the area which I've found to be a concern for a long time but my question is if public transit were to be planned and implemented in this area would it be desired and used such that it would provide enough ridership to sustain that public transit yeah I don't believe I I mentioned anything associated with public transit okay maybe it was a commentator okay well I just that you know I think or wait no it was the first appellant I'm sorry that talked about the fact that this is more suitable to areas with public transit so I guess my question would be do you all would you all um want public transit and use it and would that be sustainable for your area I think you're talking about me yes please identify yourself for the for the record as well for me please identify yourself for the record when you speak thank you well Skippers on behalf of Eagle Bend Metro District yes so my comments there were relative to the the echelon building type the five buildings that we're really contesting so to speak and that those are typically located in more commercial areas and those would typically provide what be within walking distance of dining Recreation shopping and work and this site you cannot walk you can walk to One restaurant and that's it really there's no employment you know there's no Recreation uh within walking distance of this site so it doesn't necessarily lend itself to you know this hotel type of four-story structure like you'd normally see around a commercial development like Southlands Mall was the example I used so to my question though do you think that your area would desire or use public transit sufficient to Merit provide enough ridership to sustain public transit I think both of those and actually that's a very good point you know there's a couple areas so Heritage Eagle band is an age restricted so you have a lot of people there that get to a point they can't drive anymore and so public transportation will be an excellent amenity but not only that once Garrett builds the echelon project hopefully with all of the caliber type buildings only league but we'll have two major apartment projects within three quarters a mile of each other and we have Interstate 70 and so you know many of those people hopefully would make themselves available to the public transit system so what you can do we'd be happy to work with you on that as a Metro District okay I mean I do think point that increased density helps to support public transportation absolutely and availability and then my other question because kind of both appellants mentioned this the total number of units as well as the height so if the total number of units that are permitted by right which it sounds like from the applicant would be 360. if that total number of units could be achieved with a lower height would that be accepted yes that'd be probably a little bit challenging you know quite frankly but yeah if they could do that we're not we're not if it would have been 300 units we we've never argued about the number of units it's just a matter how you get those units into the into that site it's a very challenging site yeah for sure so thank you because I do I now have some questions for the applicant related to that so thank you um so yes I have a few questions for the applicant um the first is about the density um you stated that you reduce the number of units that you could build by right by a hundred and so my question is why did you reduce the total number of units and would it be possible to develop the total of number units permitted by right with a lower height and using this caliber building type that the neighborhood is saying they support okay I'm going to break that down into a couple and then yes yes um so I guess maybe your first question I think is how did we establish the unit count that we're at is maybe the best spot to start with and I think some of that before we even had a site plan that we shared with anyone we do many iterations in our office going through the GDP looking at all the standards we're focused a lot on the buildings and I understand they're a critical part but we also have parking requirements in this GDP it's not only how many cars per unit but it's how many garages per unit and then further how many attached garages per unit um it's also the open space requirement so without really sitting down with our engineers and our planners um I can't tell you could we do a b or c I can tell you most projects we go through dozens of site plans this one we probably went through close to 50. it's you know you pull out the sketch paper and you're working through options um why did we you can see from kind of the open space plan there's only so much land to work with for the buildings so I don't know how to come back and say we could hit these unit counts with all of the caliber buildings there's only so much space to work with on this site and we tried to be very conscious early on by placing the smaller buildings adjacent to the single family or I'm sorry to the existing Heritage at Eagle band homes so would not it sounds like be physically possible to build the 360 units that you could build by right on this site while having parking open space and only using the caliber buildings would that be an accurate statement I don't know because I think there where there's a will there's a way I mean could we do some type of parking structure I don't know off the top of my head if that would be allowed could I you know do basements and have you know units that only have Windows coming out of the ground that much but I just I don't okay but the caliber buildings wouldn't have Garden level type apartments no those that's not part of that design yeah okay so using that design [Music] that caliber design it wouldn't be possible no it would not work for us um and then sorry I do have one other question you don't have anything else to say on that um and that's with respect to water use so this is just a consistent question that we receive um around development so I know he brought this plan forward before the city had implemented our new uh development restrictions around water and also in fully cognizant that this is in a community with a golf course but I am wondering if there are any efforts being made with respect to concert water conservation in your open space and with your other Landscaping I did not bring a landscape architect with me tonight because honestly we have not had a ton of landscape questions so I apologize um we always Endeavor to use as many native plants and species to reduce irrigation so I can tell you that that's kind of a company practice to use as many native plants as we can um I don't recall off the top of my head if we are meeting the newer landscape standards or not I know they were shared with our landscape architect who's working on other projects in Aurora as well and he's very aware of those and cognizant of that great and obviously you guys don't have wands because it's multi-family so no problem yeah thank you I think that's all the questions I have for you all and then I have one question for staff okay thank you thank you um so for staff with respect to the um open space um you kind of talked about this a little bit with councilmember Bergen's questions um but you stated that kind of the standard for uh detention Pond to be included in the open space requirement is the ability to walk through and enjoy the open space I'm wondering the statements that were made about the 40-foot slopes and the seven foot stairs with four foot Landings that were presented by the Appellate does that fit with those standards in terms of where they are on the site does it impede people's ability to use the walking paths and other amenities like I'm trying to understand how those two things are compatible the seven foot stairs and four foot Landings and the ability to walk through and enjoy the open space yeah I mean I think the standards do not necessarily require the paths to be accessible or fully accessible and I feel like that might be part of the conversation that the residents are are stating that they're concerned that it's not fully accessible we don't have all Open Spaces certainly private Open Spaces meeting fully accessible standards that's not a requirement of the GDP or the Udo um but it is still a path that will be open and available to the residents and certainly something that the applicant is proposing in this submittal that doesn't exist today so they're you know what doing what they can to amenitize that space to bring an open uh path for people to use and share the slopes around the path don't make it less enjoyable obviously undulating slopes or moving slopes on a hillside are still just the same as a flat one so I don't think that necessarily changes the description of whether it's usable or not okay so the slope of the path itself all meeting accessibility requirements including for people who may have Mobility needs I think that there are stairs on a portion of them so that would not obviously be accessible okay and does that put the city or the owner of the site at any kind of risk with respect to the Ada no building and fire Life Safety review is a plan for accessibility requirements they are required to provide an accessible route directly between the parking areas and the entries of the buildings or any accessible units those are being provided in the site plan okay so the the open space is not required to be accessible it is not okay well that's concerning but um but thank you for answering the question that's all I have mayor further questions of Staff um the applicant or I the repellent yeah I have a question uh council member Lawson yes I have a question for the applicant this argument that the Udo and GDP um and you're just saying because we're following the Udo and GDP but what about I don't know the philosophy of your company but what about just being a or a company that could just do What the residents want and lower the roof or lower the rooftops I mean you're using that as you know we we can just do this but what about just just doing that like just making it lower what would be different with the standard is that just the philosophy of your company we're just gonna because you said that you do 50 site plans um you sit down and you're you're develop your developers or whatever look at 50 site plans oh if you're looking at 50 site plans are they all the same type of roofs okay so my question is is if that's the case then why can't there be some reasonable within your just beyond the GDP just being a good organization in terms of being reasonable and working with neighbors especially in this area why couldn't why can't you maybe go with the roofs being lower and accommodating some of these things that the residents are really wanting to make it all everybody kind of Jive in together I guess I'm just trying to understand you did 50 site plans but we're going by the Udo and all of that so can you just explain is that just the philosophy of your company or is that just because you can because you can do it because you can I think we have basically I mean no I think I think there I think um we have several projects where we have a lot of success when we have what I'm going to call two different building types some people may prefer to live in a four-story building with an elevator you don't typically put elevators in buildings and I say typically there's always an exception so I recognize that but you don't typically do an elevator in a building that's two or three stories some people like the idea please receive of walking into a Lobby having an enclosed Corridor that then they take an elevator up to their unit some people like to be on a higher floor so the corridor buildings provide that as an option for that type of living Some people prefer a two-story unit where maybe your kitchen and your living room on are on one level and the bedroom's upstairs and having your own private front doors you don't have to go through a corridor by having two different product types this allows us to offer more options to residents um to your point of why can't we make all of the buildings the same what did we do to be considerate of the neighbors and we put the two-story buildings or I'm sorry the two to three story buildings the smaller buildings up against the neighbors okay as opposed to doing four-story buildings across the entire project but I think from the argument that I heard is that it's not so much the the buildings that you have there it's the height of the roofs and I guess that's what I'm trying to understand you're telling me about the different project the different project types you can probably still have that but you could still have a lower you don't have to have the the height of this roof I guess I'm just trying to understand is that just your philosophy of your company or is it just why can't you do that when you talk about the height of the roof are you talking I'm talking about the slope here that you're that the complaint that we're talking about the fourth story yes the GDP requires a minimum 512 roof slope so if the roof slope to me is different than building okay sorry the roof the roof slope is required to be a minimum I believe 512 per the GDP and then the GDP also in that architectural standards table has a list of features that we have to meet I believe five of and one of those is actually increasing the roof slope to 612. okay um thank you um can I just ask the staff a question so with her saying that is that they have to meet five of the requirements is what she's stating the applicant is that is that something that cannot that you actually don't have to do that they don't actually have to meet that or do they have to meet that in a fourth story there is a menu of options okay there's the menu of options so they can select from those options they can okay correct okay that's thank you for that then my second question to the Apple I mean not to the applicant but to staff is you're doing a retention wall that hasn't even been developed if it's still being thought about I guess I'm just trying to figure out how you're going to develop a you have this development but you don't even know what the retention wall what the sound proof is going to be you have like no no idea but we're still going to do this development but we really don't know what the retention wall is going to be so I guess I'm trying to understand in the development world how can you do that because you there may be issues with where the development is versus the retention wall sure so the Planning Commission approval has a condition to approve with technical Corrections grading changes and shifts frequently up until construction drawings are finalized the only way we can move forward with a planning application is knowing that some of those grading details will continue to get worked out when construction occurs it will be a requirement they still comply with the standard and there are civil drawings and documents won't be approved until they do prove that they're complying with that standard okay mayor thank you that's all the questions very well further questions of Staff the applicant or either repellent me um council member thank you sir I have an additional question for the applicant and this is regarding the paths around the retention Pond I do see that there are stairs along the northern portion it looks like several sets in quick succession and along the Southeastern bend it appears that there are very long steps maybe not too dissimilar from what we have here in Chambers and from an accessibility standpoint I'm wondering if you had all considered trying to accommodate ramps and landings on the southern approach is it just based off of what I'm looking at here I haven't been to the site it does look like that would be the easier stretch to accommodate something like that and I believe that has been reviewed and I'm happy to take that back to the team as we go through the technical rounds and as we work through civil CDs to just confirm that we have ramps anywhere possible okay I appreciate that thank you further questions of Staff the applicant or either repellent I have one question for the second appellant which is a Heritage Eagle bin residence I'm just wondering if you could put up on on page five uh the site plan on page five can you put that up back up which uh your your particular I think it's uh it was a site plan with okay this one okay um they okay I'm going to ask I'm going to use your site plan to ask a question of the applicant right now and I'm sure to come back to you but to the if you could stand by and then to the applicant I wonder if you could comment on this site plan um as it does is this accurate in terms of your understanding of the site plan without reviewing all of the base files that go into building a rendering I can't say it's accurate or not it is representative of us having four-story buildings I don't know the detail that their consultant had as far as our grading plans because we're still working through our civil CDs um does that accurately depict the elevations uh you know just in terms of the terrain in the ground yes there is movement in how the buildings sit higher than Aurora Parkway I can't say it's perfectly accurate but I'm also not going to sit here and point out every spot I see that might not be perfect okay thank you very much to the appellant did you want to add to my Mr Mayor oh sorry I had the engineer whispering in my ear and as she's looking at the elevation it actually goes down because it does look Stark um I'm going to say it does look Stark yeah it looks like all of the buildings are at the same elevation and that's not actually the way in which the topography works on this site as it would kind of come down as we move in in this direction okay so it isn't but but that's because they don't have base drawings for topography to stick these buildings on there a response by the appellant these are as accurate as we can get based on the site plans that uh were published one of the reasons it doesn't go down in slope is the far buildings on the right the distance between the roar Parkway and the base of the building is like five feet but as you go to the buildings all the way to the left that left building the berm rise from Aurora Parkway to where that building is beyond those double retaining Wells is 25 feet so at one of the meetings the online meetings I personally asked the engineer why couldn't you grade create a a grade going down to mimic the slope of Aurora Parkway and the answer was we cannot do that because of buried utilities so it is accurate in our opinion and our engineers took Google Map searches and used the site plans to make it accurate thank you Garrett doesn't show this this uh drawing they had ample opportunity to be able to create this but they never did thank you further questions of Staff either staff applicant or either repellent council member thank you I had forgotten to ask to staff on fire access did that meet all the the requirements for the fire truck to be able to get into into the development from either either access point yeah I believe so so they have to get fired the filing access comes from that internal Lane that internal Street the one in the middle yes the one in the off of Aurora Parkway yep and then there's also an additional point of fire access that we'll go through Eagle Bend that's already pre-existing and that will be gated by cuomoy no it's not by komoy it's on the back side of the site um into Eagle Bend okay is it um is there somebody else maybe from the um appellant um that because I know you guys worked on the fire access so maybe I don't know Metro District did you do you have any information on the fire access my name is Steve Hungerford from Heritage Eagle band there is a fire access gate on Canyon Place which runs east and west on the back side of the development okay and it's been there for years and it is part of the fire access Plan and there's a gate there is a I think it's a chain a chain yeah yeah so will that we have those in different places throughout the community one between us and inspiration one between us and trovoy so that in dire emergencies that the fire department can access great thank you okay and then for for staff um I would imagine there'll be children in the apartment complex we've already talked about uh there's no park but what about school bus access where would that where would the bus access over to the airport I'm going to let them they've spoken with okay thank you sorry yeah we do reach out to Aurora schools after this question was raised to us and they have not responded with the school bus location so we're a bus stop location we know that the um the Heritage at Eagle Bend residents do not want it to be on komoy so we will work to find a location within the community that's acceptable to the schools Okay so I mean there is no you have you have to take a car to get anywhere so I'm trying to think yeah staff you you can't tell me where there's a bus stop I mean a school bus stop right now in the area closest to it no that's good okay Cherry Creek School District so it's up to Cherry Creek School District so um when for the applicant when would you get that information before you start building we contacted the school district to ask them if they could work with us on a school bus stop location and they said it was too early we will continue to reach out to them as we develop our civil CDs and work to establish that spot I'll we'll continue to follow okay all right thank you thank you further questions of uh staff the applicant are either repellent mayor council member yeah I we've heard the 825 residents have signed that they're against this Heritage Eagle Bend from anybody there's 1442 homes and approximately 2500 residents so I I just would like to State I mean I see all of you here tonight um and and obviously you know you guys are the ones most passionate about this um I have received several emails from Heritage Eagle Bend um residents supporting this development um so I just want I I just want to make that known um I understand your own board your own HOA board supports this development so you know it kind of kind of puts kind of puts all of us in a tough place and maybe you know they're they're like the silent majority or something like that I don't really know what to say but but publicly I am saying um if there's 2700 residents and 825 have signed that they're against this there are emails supporting this development further questions of Staff the applicant or either repellent mayor uh councilmember thank you sir uh this is Jermaine to the rendering that's still up about in front of us and those of y'all know that my background's in aec so there are a lot of issues with this rendering as presented I think that the applicant mentioned that their engineer was utilizing uh public domain GIS data this wasn't actually surveyed professionally and I just want to draw your attention to the building on the rightmost portion of the rendering you can see that it is floating with the window sills for the bottom floor units if I had to eyeball it I'd guess somewhere about 10 to 15 feet off of the ground no one builds that way I think these are going to be a lot lower due to all the site work that's going to be done there so I'll say they did a great job replicating the elevation in terms of the design of the overall building but the height I don't think is I think that's a real really rough guess further uh I'm sorry um further questions of uh staff the applicant or either repellent seeing none I have one more I'm sorry okay on traffic again for the access from Aurora Parkway into the development will there be a signal no there will not um and Carl I'm gonna let Carl speak to that he is with our traffic okay I'm Carl Arlene I'm a principal engineer of the traffic engineering division of public um right now the tis that was reviewed and approved by staff does not indicate that a signal will be warranted by the year 2045. okay so if it's there's no signal and you are you are you're coming in from Aurora Parkway um I guess if you're making a left if you're going south of making a left turn you're probably okay but if you go the other direction would you be constrained by trying to make that turn are we speaking of the access that is directly onto Aurora Parkway so the uh westbound left in would be stop controlled so that would be a yield condition for that westbound left turn in to oncoming Aurora Parkway traffic um and they would have to yield that Ingress yes okay thank you very well further questions of uh the applicant of Staff the applicant now the repellent I seeing none um the public hearing is closed and emotion is in order I'm sorry um Mr Mayor I believe that we were entitled to a short rebuttal and I would just make this a couple of comments that much of the conversation tonight is about this document from 2006. that U.S city council approved and this document the GDP allows for 25 units to be anchored and allows multi-family on this site and I understand the some of the questions tonight councilwoman Lawson speaking to can't you just reduce the height and the reality is is we deal in a world where we're not the property owners and so the property and its value is a creation of that which you gave to it back in 2006. because you as a city council and not actually you but your predecessors you did this and so you created in 2006 this entitlement can they build less than 50 feet in height yes they can and we actually have five buildings that are less than 50 feet in height and we've placed five of those buildings in closest proximity to our point of order so um council member Morgan we don't have rebuttals during public hearings [Applause] okay please conclude your remarks did you say no please conclude oh okay again I I'm it's it's just an important fact to note that the density is all allowed the height is allowed and although okay please thank you okay very well public hearings out closed motion is in order mayor uh councilmember McConnell thank you sir move to approve 11a removed by councilman McConnell seconded by zavonic somebody council members wanted to approve item number 11a uh discussion mayor um council member McConnell thank you sir first I want to thank the community for getting organized and coming out to testify before us and for this presentation I actually found this very very helpful um as I mentioned my background is in architectural engineering and Construction Services I took some time to run through this packet that you provided here and I am very grateful because what this allowed me to confirm was that the architectural style is actually very much in harmony with a lot of the developments that you put in here you have similar slopes you have similar Eaves materials reveals glazing muntins framing Etc virtually identical especially when you get into the town homes um so from my perspective and maybe we just have a point of disagreement here but I think this is actually very much in harmony with what's already built around here the challenges of the site that's fine you're free to disagree the challenges of the site here um I I understand I also want to point uh to exhibit D here which I appreciated the height is the common factor between the building here presented to us in exhibit D and that's pretty much it the color palette the materials the general Styles all of that is different this has cornices it has a flat roof it has molding that is not present nowhere on the existing developments or in Echelon um there are no balconies there are no reveals there are arches and this is kind of like a low rent Santa Fe style if I had to give it a quick name here um as opposed to what the proposal before us with Echelon is which is again very much in harmony with the prairie style it's just taller for the four-story buildings the three-story buildings look even more similar to the town homes and some of the other developments in the area so I appreciate all of the effort y'all put into this and thank you for the information further discussion mayor councilmember Bergen thank you um and it meets all the requirement for the code for the from the Planning Commission from the planning staff I personally have issues with the fact that we are supposed to guide be guided by the GDP and there are some inconsistencies between the GDP and the Udo and obviously the Udo came way later um and and really Planning Development documents um are supposed to be the guiding uh The Guiding document my issues are with the height primarily if you have been to this site you will see that the Topography is very challenging it is difficult that's why you will see no park there you have the detention Pond that I I do have an issue that that we and again it's not towards the app the applicant I know this is in our code that staff is allowed to take money in lieu of requiring a park it causes a lot of problems I'm the council member the ward council member for this area I will get the complaints um when you know when the traffic is is causing problems I will get those complaints I will get the complaints that kids have no place to play that they're you know going into the detention Pond and I just think you know taking money when we're not even considering the quality of life for our residents that again it's not on the applicant it's on it's on our code that we probably need to change I don't think that's that's right I do think the traffic is going to be a huge issue we did not we're not planning for future traffic which is which is um going to happen when Kings Point North comes in and it's going to it's going to cause a lot of problems certainly if there's not going to be a signal there we're going to have have those issues I also think the problem with the fact that no it's not near any kind of Transit the you know you I guess you could walk to Southlands shopping mall but that's quite quite a track and so again it's going to require people to be in their cars I don't think that parking is sufficient I know it meets code everything meets code but it's not sufficient there's no street parking allowed so where are those cars going to be where are the guests going to park when they come to visit and [Music] um the yeah it's also the you know it's not an age restricted um complex which means again there'll be children in that in that area or in that apartment complex um so for those reasons I am I am not in favor of upholding the planning uh commission decision I don't think it is compatible further discussion further further discussion I've seen not seeing no further discussion uh call for the question on item number 11a And to clarify this is to uphold the planning commission's approval of the site plan and adjustments oh is there a mo was there yes just clarifying okay uh mayor Kaufman um council member Mario thank you the motion passes with eight yes votes and three no votes the no votes from mayor Kaufman councilmember Lawson and council member Bergen to uphold the planning commission's approval the um look pleasure the title of item number 13A item 13A is finalizing ordinance 2023-11 rezoning a parcel of land measuring 2.14 Acres more or less located at the southwest corner of Smith Road and Sable Boulevard city of Aurora County of Adams state of Colorado from mixed-use Corridor Zone District to business Tech Zone district and amending the zoning map accordingly the the time is now 9 15. Council will stand in recess until 9 30. [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] enough [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] tell you oh baby it's time [Music] [Music] people like this is birthday it's true it's true thank you [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] 2.14 Acres more or less located at the southwest corner of Smith Road and Sable Boulevard city of Aurora County of Adams state of Colorado for mixed use quarter Zone District to business Tech Zone district and amending the zoning map accordingly Brandon camarata with the planning department I'm here to answer any questions on second reading of this rezone amendment mayor I don't think your microphone is on questions to staff uh seeing none motion is in order motion to approve 13A move by mayor Pro tem second by second by councilmember Lawson to provide a number 13A uh discussion I'm seeing no discussion question before us is adoption of item number 13 a call for the question the motion passes with six yes votes and four no votes the no votes from council member Medina Marcano Combs and Mario to approve ordinance 2023-11 thank you um uh reports uh want to say that um very concerned about the public invited to be heard against council member sunberg and I've asked the City attorney to to draft a memo as to what is permissible and what is not given the first amendment I don't want to be baited into litigation against the city but um but I look forward to that memo from the city attorney the um I was at um I had the opportunity last weekend to be with AFR and in Station 8 on a 24-hour shift and um just very proud of the professionalism of our firefighters at the um it was a slow night which was very unusual we only had four emergency calls between the ladder truck and the engine truck and I want to say that I actually made all those calls and it wasn't like the first time I did a 24-hour shift and I missed the first call at night late at night but it was a slow it was slow which is great for the City Firefighters don't like it but it was great for the city for the for their area for station eight and when it was slow they engaged in training and it was interesting to observe that and to upgrade the professionalism you know to maintain their professionalism um councilmember Lawson thank you mayor for about committee report Senate bill Senate building the land use bill was laid over for further discussion and Senate Appropriations today and has not yet been rescheduled the legislation that was an emailed to council members and the mayor Senate Bill 23 291 utility rates was taken to Pfizer on April 21st and will be brought forth at a study session on May 1st for discussion HUD assistant secretary Dr Kimberly McLean will be visiting Aurora to tour some of the city's affordable housings and I think they're coming tomorrow and myself along with councilmember Bergen and councilmember jorinsky we attended the Tuesday Aurora scholar so it was a very great event as always and that's my report for this week thank you mayor and I just want to thank the the library and cultural services for the extraordinary job they did in the Scholars Program for over two nights and just amazing the families that really appreciate that and mayor just to say something loose looking at the pictures you're on every single one I think is playing that way um see uh council member jerinsky I'm sorry mayor Pro tem Gardner no report councilmember no report uh councilmanik now report councilman Rio thanks thanks mayor um I'm losing my voice I'll keep this short My Town Halls is Thursday at 6 00 PM I hope you're able to join we'll be at the MLK Library and this Saturday is the second annual strategic Retreat for food Justice Northwest Aurora so if you live in Aurora want to learn more about food ACCESS food sovereignty please join us at the Moorhead Recreation Center thank you councilmember December thank you sir had a great Town Hall packed with a lot of information we talked about the consent degree the drought conditions oil and gas and Ward 2 nearly 12 000 barrels a day are produced in Ward 2 these days a new innovation is electric drilling rigs which are very quiet we talked about solar solar arrays and research for alternative energy in Ward 2 which is abundant and with that if we just magically put electric cars in all neighborhoods and households our electric grid is likely not to support that so we need to have Innovation and efficiency and investment in our grid system and of course the need for a plethora of energy sources let's see Police Graduation I always try to attend a Police Graduation we had 11 grads seven laterals and four new recruits very sharp sharp folks enjoyed that Irene Chase is a centenarian you and I both visited with this hundred-year-old lady that has deep history and in Aurora and I think the mayor used to run with her when she was a younger young so lastly uh councilmember Combs and I went to Hinckley high school and talked to the youth there about how city government works and answered a lot of questions that was very enjoyable councilmember Medina thank you mayor uh yeah just uh my town hall will be next Wednesday May 3rd from 6 30 to 8 here at the AMC and we'll be talking with planning and the consent degree office thank you councilman McConnell thank you mayor our next word for meeting is going to be on Thursday May 11th at 6 30 pm at Colorado early colleges that's at 1400 South Abilene you won't want to miss this one because we're going to be talking about water drought and watering restrictions with Greg Baker from Aurora Water followed by an update on the community advisory Council for the consent decree with Becky Hogan so I hope to see you all there have a great night councilman raccoons thank you mayor our next Ward 5 meeting will be May 16th and we will be discussing the budget so I highly encourage folks to come and talk about your budget priorities and interests we also have the charter Review Committee on the council ad hoc Charter Review Committee continuing to meet as well as the citizens ad hoc Charter review commission to review proposed changes to the city Charter we are going to be working to schedule an additional public hearing because we have had a number of Public Safety related items sent to the council committee that will also be going to the citizens committee so we want to make sure that there's an opportunity for a public hearing on all Charter items that come forward I did certainly enjoy as council member Sundberg mentioned the opportunity we had to speak with the students at Hinckley and I attended the Wednesday Aurora Scholars celebrate operation which was indeed wonderful and I'm very proud of the students that we have here in our city I also had the opportunity to attend the city of Aurora libraries and cultural Services cozies Awards and it was really awesome to just see the dedication of our library and cultural services staff and the work that they do every day for our city as well as the Aurora fire rescue Awards Gala and of course there are some really impressive actions from our Aurora fire rescue members on behalf of our city so that is all thank you councilmember Bergen thank you mayor I also want to Echo what councilmember Lawson said about Aurora Scholars we attended on Tuesday evening and it was always a great event to see all the the young kids get their you know get their award and and be congratulated so congratulations against again to all of them and then my next town hall is May 17th from 6 to 8 pm at the southeast Recreation Center the main topics will be the budget as well as all issues related to water learn about why we're in drought conditions why you know water rates have gone up and so forth so hope to see you there on May 17th thank you so you know for the business before the Aurora City Council of many years adjourned thank you foreign [Music] [Music]