- Meeting Agenda
- Watch the meeting streaming live starting at 6:30PM
- Attend the meeting @ City Hall Council Chambers - 911 10th Street - (map)
- Send comments on any of the following topics to planning@cityofgolden.net BEFORE 3PM, or
- Provide in-person comment during the meeting, at 6:30PM.
Business Meeting
The Planning Commission will approve the minutes from their previous meeting. They will accept public comment at the beginning of the meeting, then vote to reschedule the business part of their meeting until October 24th at 6:30. They will then adjourn to study session (no public comment during the study session).
Study Session
They will review staff recommendations on parking requirements. Current standards require 1 parking space per 5 seats of inside seating. They recommend changing the standard to be based on square feet, rather than number of seats. In some cases, this will allow businesses to provide fewer parking spaces. As an example, a projected restaurant in the Clayworks project would currently require 50 spaces for 242 seats. The new method would allow them to reduce required parking spaces from 50 down to 42 for a 10,343 sq ft space. The plans for Clayworks are still subject to change and may result in an even lower parking requirement (meeting memo, p. 2, paragraph 3).
They will review proposed use standards for Phase 3 of the zoning code rewrite. Recommendations include allowing the Planning Director to approve Group Homes* without a public hearing. The standards recommend placing Group Homes within 1/4 mile of a transit service or line, which means that most of the city would not be vulnerable to having Group Homes placed in their neighborhoods (bottom of p. 2 of the meeting memo). Likewise, the recommended standards call for placing Group Homes within one mile of a grocery store, food bank, or "comparable establishment."
*As discussed in the 9/4/24 PC meeting, "Group Homes" can include "residents with behavioral or mental health disorders, substance disorders, and up to one sex offender."
New proposed standards may make it harder to build a business with a drive-through (p. 3 of the meeting memo).
The Commission will also review staff's proposed processes for fast-tracking affordable housing projects. I'm unclear as to whether the process allows the Planning Director to approve projects without public hearing or referral to Planning Commission or City Council. See the flow chart provided and draw your own conclusions (or better yet, watch the meeting).
