[CPN] Minutes, INC Zoning and Planning committee Jan 26

Attached and printed below are the Jan 26th INC ZAP minutes.  Gertie

 

INC ZONING AND PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES

January 26, 2013

By Michael Henry, Committee Chair

The entirety of the ZAP committee meeting was devoted to a get-acquainted session and full discussion with Rocky Piro, the newly-appointed City Planning Director. He is the Manager of the Community Planning and Development Department, which is responsible for citywide and small-area planning, zoning, historic preservation, issuing of building and zoning permits and enforcement of many city codes. He started in his new job on December 10. In addition to the standing-room-only group of ZAP members, we were pleased to have Carolyn Etter, former co-manager of Parks and Recreation, and longtime Denver Post columnist Joanne Ditmer contribute their ideas to the conversation.

Rocky grew up in North Denver and attended Beach Court Elementary School, Horace Mann Junior High School and Regis High School, before obtaining a degree in urban planning from the University of Colorado at Denver, where he did student planning projects in the Sunnyside and Sloan's Lake neighborhoods (one of which resulted in sound barriers along Interstate 70). He also taught languages at Denver's Machebeuf High School. He then worked for many years in regional planning in the Seattle/Puget Sound area before coming back to Denver. He focused there on collaborative planning between multiple jurisdictions and smart growth and helped re-write the state of Washington's planning legislation. He and his wife have purchased a home in the Alamo Placita neighborhood. In his introductory remarks and in response to many questions and comments from committee members, he stated:

·         Planning should be an exercise in democracy, with rich participation and willingness to listen.

·         Plans belong to the community, not to planners or elected officials.

·         Land use and transportation planning must be connected with each other. Dealing with mobility and accessibility depends on how we use our land.

·         The built environment affects the natural environment.

·         Every neighborhood has special issues and needs, as well as common concerns.

·         It all comes down to good design and planning things in the right places.

·         Each community must contribute to mitigating climate change.

·         We need vibrant, healthy, sustainable cities and neighborhoods.

·         I will help facilitate discussions between all stakeholders about sustainability.

·         There should be regular updates of the 2000 Comprehensive Plan and the 2002 Blueprint Denver. In the Seattle area, our goal was to update major plans every 8 years. Plans and the regulatory frameworks must be coordinated.

·         We need to work with neighborhoods to figure what the right thing is. Almost all successful developments are where developers and neighborhoods are in active collaboration.

·         Denver neighborhoods are amazing and make Denver great.

·         I look forward to continuing to meet with Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation and many neighborhood groups in the future.

Carolyn Etter stressed the great importance of collaboration between the Planning, Public Works and Parks Departments, particularly in improving the attractiveness of the "public realm" - the streets, sidewalks, tree lawns, parks, parkways and other public places, which are where citizens interact. She emphasized that citizens and the city need to work together to decide what to change and what to sustain in the city. Many of the comments from committee members stressed:

·         The need to enforce zoning and building codes.

·         The great need for collaborative planning for the Globeville, Swansea and Elyria neighborhoods and Interstate 70.

·         The importance of sidewalks to all neighborhoods.

·         Environmental sustainability is important in all neighborhoods, including solar access and recycling of building materials.

·         Neighborhood volunteers should be encouraged to help with data-collection, analysis and planning.

Representatives from all neighborhoods are welcome to attend ZAP committee meetings, which are usually at 9:30 am on the 4th Saturday of each month. Contact Gertie Grant at gertiegrant@estreet.com to be put on the list to receive monthly e-mail agendas or Michael Henry at michaelhenry824@comcast.net for any questions or comments about the work