June 11th, 2015 Land Use Committee Minutes

June 11, 2015
South Tabor Neighborhood Association LAND USE COMMITTEEMEETING NOTES
Attending Committee Members: Shem Harding, STNA Local Land Use Chair
Hildy Miller, LUC member
Ute Munger, STNA Board Member
Jordan Palmeri, LUC Member
Lindsay Schafer, SEUL LUTC Representative
Attending Guests: Dianne Amico
Joel Seim
Distribution: STNA LUC, STNA Board
1) A request was made that the committee meet on the third Tuesday of each month instead of the
2nd Thursday, to better align with the meeting schedule of the SEUL Land Use and Transportation
committee. The alternate meeting time will be verified with the STNA LUC and board.
2) The pending Single Family Zones Project was discussed. This is a proposal by the Bureau of
Planning and Sustainability to evaluate and revise the existing single family zones. A list of
preliminary zoning change concepts has been circulated via an article on the SEUL website, and
several of the ideas were discussed in detail as described below:
a) Allowing Internal Conversion of Existing Homes to Multiple Dwelling Units – It
was agreed that this could incent preservation of existing homes, but concerns were
raised about property tax increases, damage to historic interiors and parking
capacity. A limit to the number of dwelling units in the home would be appropriate –
maybe 2 or 3 max.
b) Small House ‘Pocket Neighborhoods’ or ‘Cottage Cluster’ Developments –
Cottage developments similar to Hastings Green in South Tabor were seen as
positive ways to achieve density, but there may not be a lot of opportunities in South
Tabor for this type of development.
c) Accessory Dwelling Units – The code revisions may include more lenient rules for
developing ADU’s. This was seen as a potential positive change, and ideas such as
linking the ADU size limits to the average size of the houses in the neighborhood
were discussed.
3) It is believed the percentage of owner-occupied homes in the neighborhood is dropping sharply,
and that this might warrant further research.
4) There is a desire to better regulate the look and feel of new development, but it is unclear how
this can be done outside of creating a historic district or adding a design overlay. More research
is needed.
5) Lindsay reported on the May SEUL LUTC meeting. The Powell-Division Transit project was the
main topic of discussion, and it appears that Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) will be the most likely
scenario. There are currently two routing options around South Tabor: 82nd to Powell and Division
to 50th/52nd. It was agreed that keeping the BRT on Powell would be best for the neighborhood.
ACTION ITEMS Verify proposed alternate meeting time (Shem)
Research information on owner occupied homes in South Tabor (Hildy)
Research ways to regulate look and feel of new development.