[00:00:01]
I WILL CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER AT 6:02 PM AND WE GET A ROLL CALL.
UH, I AM COMMISSIONER MCKINNEY.
I AM GOING TO ASSUME BASED ON THE LACK OF PEOPLE IN THE ROOM, THAT WE DO NOT HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
WE WILL CALL FOR AN APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF OUR REGULARLY HELD MEETING ON MAY 18TH, 2026.DO WE HAVE A SECOND? ALL RIGHT.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER HOWARD.
ANY DISCUSSION OR CORRECTIONS TO THE MINUTES? ALL RIGHT.
ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES IS UNANIMOUS.
[2. Discussion on alley access and promoting the use of alley spaces for economic vitality. Sponsors: Commissioner Nkiru Gelles and Commissioner Jon Salinas. (Part 1 of 2)]
UM, WE WILL START IN ON OUR DISCUSSION ITEMS. UM, ITEM NUMBER TWO, DISCUSSION ON ALLEY ACCESS AND PROMOTING THE USE OF ALLEY SPACES FOR ECONOMIC VITALITY.THIS WAS SPONSORED BY COMMISSIONER GILLIS AND, UH, CO-SPONSORED BY COMMISSIONER SALINAS.
YOU GOOD TO CARRY IT WITHOUT? WELL, UH, WE CAN, WE, COMMISSIONER GILLIS AND I DID NOT TOUCH BASE ON THIS, AND SO, AND WE DIDN'T REACH OUT TO OUR PUBLIC SPEAKER FROM APRIL, I BELIEVE IT WAS.
SO I THINK WE STILL NEED TO DO THAT, AND THEN WE'LL BRING IT BACK, UH, ONCE WE GET A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION.
WE CAN TABLE THIS FOR A FUTURE MEETING THEN.
YOU NEED A MOTION AND A SECOND ON A POSTPONEMENT.
DO A DATE CERTAIN WHERE YOU CAN WITHDRAW THE ITEM AND HAVE IT PONED AT A FUTURE COMMISSION AGENDA.
I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO POSTPONE THIS ITEM TO THE, WELL, TO POSTPONE THIS ITEM TO THE, WE POSTPONE IS THE NEXT MONTH TO JULY OR JULY MEETING.
IF I MAY, THERE IS NO JULY MEETING.
THE NEXT MEETING IS IN AUGUST 12TH.
UH, SO THERE'S A MOTION TO POSTPONE THE ITEM, UM, UNTIL THE AUGUST MEETING.
DO WE HAVE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND.
SECOND BY COMMISSIONER HOWARD.
UM, ANY DISCUSSION ON THIS? ALL RIGHT.
ALL IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED? ALL RIGHT.
MOTION TO POSTPONE ITEM TWO UNTIL THE AUGUST MEETING IS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED.
[3. Discussion on clarifying the purpose and mandate of the Design Commission. Sponsors: Commissioner Jenny Murkes and Vice Chair Kevin Howard.]
UM, ITEM NUMBER THREE IS DISCUSSION ON CLARIFYING THE PURPOSE AND MANDATE OF THE DESIGN COMMISSION.THIS IS SPONSORED BY COMMISSIONER MEKI AND, UM, CO-SPONSORED BY COMMISSIONER HOWARD.
SO I WILL LET Y'ALL TAKE IT AWAY.
UM, I CAN SPEAK TO IT A LITTLE BIT.
UM, SO JUST, UH, A QUICK SUMMARY OF THE BACKGROUND ON THIS IS, YOU KNOW, UM, ONE OF THE KEY ROLES, THE DESIGN, THE DESIGN COMMISSION PLAYS IS TO, UM, UH, NOT DO A DESIGN REVIEW, BUT MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO, UM, STAFF AROUND, UH, DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAMS. AND WHETHER THEY CAN, THEY SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLY, UM, OR COMPLY WITH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.
UM, AND SINCE THAT, UH, ROLE IS BEING, AND THAT PART OF OUR ROLE IS BEING REMOVED, UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, I GUESS IT, IT CALLS INTO IT, IT ASKS THE QUESTION, WHAT, YOU KNOW, HOW CAN THE, THE DESIGN COMMISSION, UH, PUSH FORWARD, UH, WITH, TO IMPACT POSITIVE URBAN DESIGN ACROSS THE CITY, UM, WITHOUT, WITHOUT THAT TOOL.
UM, AND, UM, SO I, I CAN KIND OF KICK IT OFF WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, A FEW OF MY INITIAL THOUGHTS ON THIS.
I, UM, BUT I KNOW THERE'S, THERE'S OTHER FOLKS THAT ALSO HAVE SOME, SOME THOUGHTS.
UM, DID YOU WANNA KIND OF, YEAH, I JUST WANNA, UM,
[00:05:01]
ADD ONTO IT.SO, UM, THE FACT THAT I THINK IT'S A DEFINITION OF A DESIGN COMMISSION, UH, IS BASICALLY, UM, UM, APPROVE, UH, PROJECTS INTO THE, THE, UH, DENSITY BONUS, UM, UH, PROGRAM.
AND WITHOUT THAT ELEMENT, I THINK WE NEED TO ALIGN WHAT THE CURRENT ROLE OF THE DESIGN COMMISSION IS WITH, YOU KNOW, WITH BASICALLY REMOVE IT FROM OUR DESCRIPTION AND, UM, ALIGN THE REALITY WITH WHAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING.
UM, AND ANYTIME IS, IS A GOOD TIME AS NOW.
UM, SO I THINK I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO DISCUSS IT NOW.
I THINK THE, JUST THE FORMAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMISSION WAS UPLOADED AS BACKUP.
UM, AND SO IS THERE ANYTHING AS PART OF THIS LANGUAGE, UH, THAT WE, UH, THINK SHOULD BE MODIFIED? SO IN MY VIEW, UM, AND THIS DESCRIPTION REALLY COMES FROM, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN PUBLIC DOMAIN, UH, THE, UM, THE DEFINITION, UM, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE DOWNTOWN, UH, I'M SORRY, OF THE DESIGN COMMISSION AND CLEARLY STATES HERE THAT APPLY ONLY TO PROJECTS PARTICIPATING IN DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.
AND, UM, WITH THE CURRENT, UM, RESPONSIBILITY OF THAT REMOVED FROM THE DESIGN COMMISSION, UH, I THINK WE NEED TO REMOVE FROM THE DESCRIPTION SPECIFICALLY HERE.
I DON'T THINK IT'S FORMALLY I HERE PART OF THE DESCRIPTION.
UM, SO WHICH ONE IS, BECAUSE I'VE GOT BACKUP NUMBER FOUR, CLARIFY MAY MM-HMM
MR. COULD YOU PLEASE POINT OUT THE SPECIFIC PROVISION AND THE CODE WHERE IT OUTLINES THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM UNDER CHAPTER TWO DASH 1 1 30? YEAH, THANK YOU.
UM, SO, UH, WELL, IT'S NOT IN THE, IN THE, THE CURRENT, YOU KNOW, UM, CODE DEFINED ROLE.
I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, IT HAS BEEN A PRETTY MAJOR, UM, TOOL THAT THE DESIGN COMMISSION IS USED, UH, TOWARDS THE, UM, TOWARDS, YOU KNOW, URBAN DE DESIGN POSITIVE, UH, OR HIGH QUALITY URBAN DESIGN IN THE CITY.
AND, UM, AND AS YOU KNOW, AS THESE DISCRETIONARY, UH, SORT OF PROCESSES ARE, ARE MOVING TO STANDARDS, I THINK THAT THERE'S A, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A STRONG NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THESE STANDARDS, UM, THAT GET ROLLED OUT, UH, TO REPLACE DISCRETIONARY, UM, UH, THE DISCRETIONARY PROCESS THAT, UH, WAS PREVIOUSLY THERE.
UM, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, WHEREVER ELSE URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS GET ROLLED OUT, THAT, UM, THAT THE DESIGN COMMISSION PLAYS AN ACTIVE PART IN THAT.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN, YOU KNOW, CONSIDERING, UM, THROUGH THE WORK ON THE DESIGN GUIDELINES.
UM, AND I THINK IT IS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NOT ANOTHER COMMISSION, UM, THAT FOCUSES ON, ON URBAN DESIGN SPECIFICALLY.
AND THERE, THERE IS NOT, UM, THERE'S NOT A LARGE, UH, YOU KNOW, DEPARTMENT OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT THAT'S FOCUSED ON URBAN DESIGN EITHER.
IT'S KIND OF, IT IS A, UM, A REALM THAT IS BETWEEN A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS.
THERE'S JORGE'S AND HIS TEAM, UH, THAT HAVE BEEN VERY FOCUSED ON GREAT STREETS, DOWNTOWN REGULATING PLANS, AND THOSE, THOSE WILL CONTINUE TO BE VERY IMPORTANT.
UM, UH, BUT, YOU KNOW, AS THIS IS A, YOU KNOW, A VENUE FOR CITIZEN INPUT, IT'S THE PUBLIC FACING SIDE OF, OF, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR URBAN DESIGN, UM, FOR, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR CONVERSATIONS AT THE CITY AROUND URBAN DESIGN, THAT, UM, I THINK THAT WE COULD POTENTIALLY RETOOL THE DESIGN COMMISSION TO PLAY A MORE ACTIVE ROLE IN, IN PARTICIPATING IN THOSE SORT OF EFFORTS.
UM, THOSE WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, THOSE WOULD BE REGULATING PLANS, EVEN SMALL AREA PLANS, UM, COULD BE, UM, RELATED TO BOTH, UH, DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS AND CAPITAL PROJECTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE, WE'VE HAD A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, AND SOMEHOW WITH THE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, WE, WE TEND TO REVIEW ARE THE ONES THAT DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE TO REVIEW FOR URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.
UM, BUT THE TRUTH IS, IS THAT A LOT OF OUR, UH, TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, OUR MOBILITY PROJECTS HAVE MASSIVE IMPLICATIONS WHEN IT COMES TO URBAN DESIGN.
UM, BUT THERE'S NO ONE REALLY, UH, LOOKING AT IT FROM THAT LENS NECESSARILY.
UM, AND I KNOW, I KNOW THAT'S, THAT'S
[00:10:01]
A BIG PART OF THE CONVERSATION, UM, THAT'S HAPPENING IN, YOU KNOW, UH, WITH DIFFERENT ADVOCACY GROUPS AND, AND FOLKS THAT ARE, THAT ARE ENGAGED IN, UM, STREET DESIGN, UM, CONVERSATIONS.UM, SO I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, HAVING AN ADVISORY BODY THAT COULD, COULD SUPPORT THOSE SORT OF EFFORTS WOULD BE REALLY VALUABLE.
AND I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK Y'ALL PROBABLY HAVE SOME, SOME IDEAS ABOUT THIS, BUT THERE MAY BE, UM, A ROLE FOR COLLABORATION WITH THIS COMMISSION AND OTHER, UH, OTHER COMMISSIONS THAT ARE CURRENTLY PART OF, UM, UH, JOINT COMMISSIONS OR JOINT COMMITTEES, UM, WHERE THEY ARE LOOKING AT, UH, THOSE, THE, UH, URBAN DESIGN FOCUSED THINGS.
AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, UM, THE WAY THAT THE, THE INDUSTRY IS MOVING IS TO, TO REALIZE URBAN DESIGN IS A CRITICAL PART IN SMALL AREA PLANNING.
UH, IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT LAND USE, RIGHT? IT'S ABOUT HOW THINGS ARE PUT TOGETHER AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND, AND THE KIND OF SCENE BETWEEN EVERYTHING.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THE MORE WE UNDERSTAND ABOUT CITIES, THE MORE, UM, URBAN DESIGN NEEDS TO PLAY, UH, NEEDS TO HAVE A BIGGER VOICE IN THE, IN THE CONVERSATION.
UM, WHEN IT COMES TO A LOT OF THESE DIFFERENT EFFORTS AROUND MOBILITY PROJECTS, AREA PLANNING AND REGULATIONS, I WONDER IF THERE WAS A CONVERSATION THAT HAPPENED AT THE GREAT STREETS COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP MEETING LAST WEEK, UM, IN REGARDS TO THE FACT THAT THE SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT ADVISORY BOARD NO LONGER EXISTS.
AND IS THAT SOME, IS THAT AN AREA THAT COULD BE ABSORBED INTO THE DESIGN COMMISSION TO KIND OF OVERSEE THE, UM, NOT OVERSEE, BUT PROVIDE COMMENTARY ON THE, THE URBAN DESIGN ELEMENTS AS THAT PIECE OF THE CITY, UH, GROWS INTO ITSELF? AND THEN I THINK THE FINDING ONE OF THESE, I THINK, THAT LISTS US AS A, A STAKEHOLDER FOR ANYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PLAN AND THE CITYWIDE DENSITY BONUS AREA.
UM, SO I THINK THERE PROBABLY NEEDS TO BE A LITTLE BIT OF, AND I THINK UPDATING THIS, I MEAN, THIS IS AN ORDINANCE.
THIS WOULD REQUIRE COUNCIL APPROVAL TO MODIFY THIS DOCUMENT.
UM, AND IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN, THE COMMISSION WOULD LIKE TO PURSUE, I THINK WE'RE GOING TO NEED TO FIND A SMALLER GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO CAN WORKSHOP WHAT THOSE CHANGES MIGHT BE, AND TALK TO THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS TO TAKE THE TEMPERATURE OF WHAT THAT WOULD ENTAIL.
UM, I DON'T HAVE THE HISTORY ABOUT ONE TWO DASH ONE DASH ONE 30 WAS CREATED, UM, AND VOTED IN BY COUNCIL.
BUT, UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH, WITH GREAT STREETS, IT COULD HAVE BEEN 30 YEARS AGO,
AND, YOU KNOW, THE CITY HAS CHANGED, AND THE WAY WE DEVELOP HAS CHANGED.
AND SO MAYBE IT'S TIME TO TAKE ANOTHER, YOU KNOW, REVIS REVISING LOOK AT, AT THESE THINGS.
SO, UM, CLARIFY, I MAY MM-HMM
LOOKS LIKE THE ORDINANCE, UH, THAT IGN ENACTED, ENACTED CHANGES TO TWO DASH 1 1 30 WAS PERFORMED ON DECEMBER 14TH, 2017, UNDER ITEM 43 ON THE COUNCIL
UM, YEAH, I, I THINK THAT, UM, AND I THINK AT THE LAST MEETING, WE, WE SPONSORED A, UM, UH, UH, WE HAD AN AGENDA THAT WE VOTED ON TO, TO FORM, YOU KNOW, TO USE THE DESIGN GUIDELINES GROUP TO KIND OF EXPLORE THAT.
AND I THINK THAT THAT'S, YOU KNOW, EXACTLY WHAT THAT GROUP SHOULD PUT PUT TOGETHER IS WE, WE SHOULD COME TO COME UP WITH A REALLY CLEAR, UM, PLAN.
UH, THAT GROUP CAN PUT TOGETHER THE FIRST DRAFT, COME TO THE, UM, DESIGN COM, THE FULL DESIGN COMMISSION.
WE MAKE SOME REVISIONS, HOPE, TAKE THAT AS A RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL.
UM, AND, UH, AND, YOU KNOW, AND TRY TO, UM, TRY TO REFRAME, UH, AND CLARIFY OUR ROLE.
YOU KNOW, AND MAYBE, MAYBE THERE'S CERTAIN THINGS THAT WE DON'T NEED TO SEE AS MUCH OF, LIKE AIRPORT, UM, FACILITIES AND, I DON'T KNOW, WATER TREATMENT.
I DON'T ANY, THAT TYPE OF INFRASTRUCTURE THAT REALLY DOESN'T NEED, UH, TO BE LOOKED AT FROM AN URBAN DESIGN PERSPECTIVE NECESSARILY.
I THINK THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF,
[00:15:01]
UH, A MAYBE A, A LACK OF, UH, NOT ONLY CLARITY, BUT COHERENCE IN WHAT, WHAT WE'RE SET TO DO BASED ON, ON THE LANGUAGE THAT HAS BEEN ADOPTED.I DON'T THINK THAT'S ANYONE'S FAULT.
IT'S JUST, YOU KNOW, YEARS AND YEARS OF PRACTICE AND THINGS CHANGE.
UM, UH, SO, SO YEAH, I THINK IT JUST A REALLY CLEAR PLAN AND, UM, COULD, COULD SUPPORT COUNCIL ACTION TO, TO REALLY CLARIFY OUR ROLE AND, AND, AND, UM, UH, SHORE, YOU KNOW, SHORE UP THE, THE ROLE OF URBAN DESIGN MOVING FORWARD IN THE CITY.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF, THERE'S A LOT OF COMMITTEE COMMISSIONS OUT THERE, AND I, I BELIEVE THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE HOPING TO REDUCE SOME OF THEM.
AND I THINK IT WOULD BE A, IT WOULD BE A SHAME FOR URBAN DESIGN TO, UH, TO NOT HAVE THIS KIND OF FORUM.
UM, WE NEED STRONGER, UH, URBAN DESIGN LEADERSHIP IN THE CITY.
ANY OTHER, YES, COMM, UH, COMMISSIONER
UM, LIKE, LIKE THAT, LIKE STREET RE, UH, REDESIGNS.
UM, I DON'T KNOW HOW FORMALIZED THAT IS.
UM, BUT I, BUT IT, IT WOULD MAKE SENSE THAT WE WOULD, WE WOULD BE PUTTING TOGE, UH, THAT WE COULD SUPPLEMENT THEIR EXPERTISE ON SOMETHING LIKE THAT AND FORM A, YOU KNOW, A JOINT, UM, A JOINT COMMITTEE OR COMMISSION, UM, THAT COULD, COULD REVIEW THAT.
YOU KNOW, THERE ARE, THERE ARE PROBABLY FOLKS ON, ON THAT COMMISSION THAT, UM, THAT ARE LESS FOCUSED ON URBAN STREET DESIGN.
UM, AND, AND COULD JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, TAKE A, A RECOMMENDATION FROM A, A WORKING GROUP OR A, A, A SEPARATE JOINT COMMISSION QUICKLY CHAIR MM-HMM
UH, WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THAT COMMITTEE? URBAN, I GUESS WHAT I'M GUESSING IS WHAT, WHAT LANGUAGE IS IT THAT ACTS, YOU KNOW, PUTS THEM ON THE, ON THE MAP FOR THEM TO BE GOING TO SEE THEM, AND HOW CAN WE USE THE SAME LANGUAGE TO ALSO BE, BECOME PART OF THE PRO PROCESS? SO I THINK WE'RE GONNA WANT TO EXPLORE THAT IN DETAIL, KIND OF WITH THIS WORKING GROUP, JUST TO, AS WE'RE PUTTING, I THINK THERE'S SOME RESEARCH, YOU KNOW, THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.
UM, I, IT'S THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION.
UM, I SAID IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, BUT THEN SECOND GUESS MYSELF,
UM, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY PLAY A REALLY IMPORTANT ROLE TODAY.
AND I WOULDN'T WANT, YOU KNOW, I WOULDN'T WANT TO, UH, YOU KNOW, TREAD ON THEIR, ON THEIR TERRITORY THERE.
I, BUT, UH, I DO THINK THAT, UM, THERE MAY BE, THERE MAY BE PIECES OF THIS THAT THEY WOULD, WE WOULD ALL WELCOME COLLABORATION.
AND MAYBE THAT'S PART OF, UM, YOU KNOW, PART OF WHAT WE DO WITH THIS PLAN IS ALSO TO KIND OF TALK TO THESE, UM, TALK TO RELEVANT COMMISSIONS TO TALK ABOUT, UH, OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATION AND WHERE THEY MAY, UM, THEY MAY NEED SUPPORT, UM, AND IN SOME OF THEIR REVIEW.
UM, SO IN TERMS OF GROUP FORMING, THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE NEXT STEP IN FORMING A SMALLER GROUP, I THINK WE, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO SORT OF DEFINE THE SCOPE OF THE GROUP.
UM, AND SO FAR, UM, SO DO WE NEED THE INPUT OF THE ENTIRE COMMISSION, UM, UH, COMMISSIONER'S BODY TO DO THAT? OR DO WE SORT OF PRESENT WHAT WE BELIEVE THE SCOPE OF THE GROUP IS AND THEN MOVE FORWARD? SO WE ARE GOING TO UTILIZE THE WORKING GROUP THAT WE ALREADY HAVE, OKAY.
THAT WAS FORMED FOR, TO CREATE THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.
SO THIS WILL ALLOW A, THIS MAY BE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY PENDING FURTHER DISCUSSION TO SKIP TO ITEM FIVE OF TODAY'S AGENDA, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY DISCUSSING AND TAKING ACTION ON THE MAKEUP OF THAT WORKING GROUP.
BECAUSE THERE ARE SOME COMMISSIONERS WHO HAVE BEEN PART OF THAT WORKING GROUP TO WRITE THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, WHO, UM, MAY NO LONGER WANNA BE PART OF THAT GROUP.
UM, AND THERE ARE COMMISSIONERS LIKE YOURSELF WHO ARE VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS AND MAY WANNA BE SUBBED IN.
SO I THINK THAT'S WHAT ITEM FIVE ON THE AGENDA IS TONIGHT.
[00:20:01]
THEN IT IS UP TO THE WORKING GROUP TO MEET AND KIND OF DECIDE ON WHAT THE SCOPE OF THEIR CHARGE WOULD BE.ANY OTHER DISCUSSION RELATED TO ITEM THREE? IF WE WANT TO? COMMISSIONER WHIR CHAIR, AND I, I, I'M HAPPY TO DEFER THIS COMMENTARY TO ITEM FIVE, UH, PER YOUR RECOMMENDATION, BUT I, I, I THINK THAT IS, UM, AN, AN OBVIOUS NEXT STEP IS TO, UM, IS TO TASK THE URBAN DESIGN WORKING GROUP WITH SOME RECOMMENDATIONS.
I, I, UH, WILL OFFER FOR THE SAKE OF ITEM THREE, THAT I'M, I'M NOT CONVINCED THAT THE CHARTER LANGUAGE ITSELF IS WHAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED.
UH, THERE MIGHT BE OTHER AVENUES THAT WOULD BE MORE EFFECTIVE, UH, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE WORTH A WORKING GROUP COMING BACK TO THIS GREATER BODY WITH SOME MORE SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, AND I JUST WANNA NOTE FOR THE RECORD HERE, I LOOKED UP, UH, ORDINANCE 2017, UH, 1214 OF 43.
THAT SIMPLY RENUMBERED THE, THE, UH, UH, CHARTER NUMBERING FOR THE DESIGN COMMISSION.
THE ACTUAL, UM, LANGUAGE OF OUR CHARTER DOES DATE BACK TO THAT, UH, 2007 ORDINANCE.
THERE ARE CERTAIN DIFFERENT ELEMENTS THAT THE WORKING GROUP WILL NEED TO CONSIDER STRUGGLING WITH THE CODE LANGUAGE, AS WELL AS THE COMMISSION'S BYLAWS, AS WELL AS MULTIPLE COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS THAT SPECIFICALLY NAME THE DESIGN COMMISSION.
SO, THROUGH YOUR WORK, UH, IN THE WORKING GROUP, YOU WOULD BE FORWARDING RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE COUNCIL FINANCE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, WHICH OVERSEES ALL BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, AND THEY WOULD BE THE ONES TO DECIDE WHETHER TO SPONSOR THE ITEM OR POTENTIAL ACTION AND RECOMMENDATION TO THE COUNCIL FOR ADDITIONAL CHANGES THROUGH THE CODE.
AND MORE THAN LIKELY POSSIBLE CHANGES TO THE OTHER ELEMENTS I MENTIONED.
[5. Discussion and action items regarding the makeup of the Urban Design Guidelines Working Group. Sponsors: Chair Marissa McKinney and Commissioner Brandon Wittstruck.]
ON THAT NOTE, DO WE WANT TO SKIP AHEAD TO ITEM FIVE, WHICH IS A DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEM, UH, REGARDING THE MAKEUP OF THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP? UM, THIS WAS SPONSORED BY MYSELF AND CO-SPONSORED BY COMMISSIONER WHIR.UM, SO CURRENTLY THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP IS COMPRISED OF MYSELF, COMMISSIONER WHIR, COMMISSIONER HOWARD, COMMISSIONER CARROLL, AND I BELIEVE COMMISSIONER ELLI AS WELL.
AND, UH, SO WE, AND WE CANNOT HAVE A, THAT, THAT WAS SORT OF, I THINK THAT THAT'S THE MAXIMUM ON TWO.
YEAH, THAT'S THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF COMMISSIONERS WE CAN HAVE IS FIVE IN THE WORKING GROUP.
UH, SO WE DO NOT HAVE WALKING QUORUM.
UM, AND I WILL HAPPILY SEED MY SEAT ON THE WORKING GROUP, UM, OR OTHERS TO KIND OF ENTER IN TO IT.
UM, IF I HAD TO BET MONEY, I WOULD BET COMMISSIONER CAROL MIGHT BE WILLING TO DO THE SAME, BUT, UH, I WON'T SPEAK FOR HIM.
BUT YEAH, I AM HAPPY TO SEED MY SEAT IF OTHERS WOULD LIKE TO BE INVOLVED.
THERE IS NO SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT THAT YOU NAME SPECIFIC COMMISSIONERS TO A WORKING GROUP.
THE COMMISSION CHOSE TO ASSIGN SPECIFIC COMMISSION MEMBERS TO THAT WORKING GROUP, BUT THAT'S NOT A MANDATE.
SO THERE'S NOT A CODE CITATION THAT REQUIRES YOU TO NAME SPECIFIC COMMISSION MEMBERS TO A SPECIFIC WORKING GROUP.
SO ANYONE'S WELCOME TO ATTEND SO LONG AS, AS SHORT THE QUORUM.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER HOWARD.
UM, I, I, WELL, THAT MAY BE TRUE.
I THINK THAT WE'RE, WE COULD PROBABLY ARE AT RISK FOR A WALKING QUORUM.
UM, IF WE DON'T JUST KIND OF FORMALIZE THE GROUP, UM, WE COULD, WE COULD SUB OUT AND SUB IN, UM MM-HMM
UM, UH, AS, YOU KNOW, CERTAIN SUBJECTS COME UP ESPECIALLY.
UM, BUT YEAH, I THINK IT'S PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA FOR US TO AT LEAST CASUALLY, UM, IDENTIFY LIKE A CORE, UH, GROUP OF FIVE.
AND I THINK AS PART OF THIS ITEM, UM, PART OF THE ACTION PROBABLY NEEDS TO BE THAT THE FOCUS OF THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP SHIFTS TO MORE ACCURATELY REFLECT THE PURPOSE AND MANDATE OF THE DESIGN COMMISSION.
UM, SO WHOEVER MOTIONS THIS ITEM THAT MAY NEED TO BE PART OF THE LANGUAGE OF THAT, UM, BECAUSE
[00:25:01]
WE NO LONGER HAVE THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, SO COMMISSIONER HOWARD, UH, IT'S, IT'S POSSIBLE THAT URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES COULD STILL PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE, ESPECIALLY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, YOU KNOW, AND, AND CITY OF BOSTON PROJECTS, UM, WHERE, YOU KNOW, GUIDELINES HAVE MORE, UH, RELEVANCY PERHAPS THAN, UH, YOU KNOW, IN A PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT SIDE, IF IT'S JUST A GUIDELINE, IT'S, UH, TOTALLY VOLUNTARY.UM, IF IT DOESN'T HAVE A BONUS ATTACHED TO IT, UM, WHICH GIVES IT TEETH, SOME TEETH.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, I, AND I ALSO KNOW THAT I, I THINK THAT, I BELIEVE THIS WORKING GROUP WAS C WAS, UM, IS SOMEHOW, IS SOMEHOW FORMALIZED BY COUNCIL ACTION.
IS THAT, IS THAT CORRECT? SO WE MAY NOT WANT TO, WE MAY NOT WANT TO, UH, MODIFY THE WORKING GROUP, I THINK, BUT, BUT IT IS, I, AND I THINK THIS IS DIRECTLY TIED TO THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, IT'S IMPLEMENTATION OF URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.
IT'S JUST THROUGH DIFFERENT MECHANISMS AND, AND KIND OF CREATING A PLAN FOR HOW WE MIGHT IMPLEMENT THEM WITHOUT, UH, HAVING GUIDELINES THAT HAVE MUCH IMPACT.
SO THEN IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE REALLY ISN'T ANY ACTION THAT'S REQUIRED FOR THIS.
IT'S REALLY MORE OF A DISCUSSION ITEM THAT WE'RE SUBBING, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE DISCUSSING, WE, THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP WILL DISCUSS IN THE FUTURE AND WHO MAY WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT.
UM, AND SO, ON THAT NOTE, I THINK WE CAN PROBABLY MOVE THIS TO A DISCUSSION ITEM CHAIR.
I BELIEVE COMMISSIONER WESTBROOK IS SEEKING CONDITION.
UM, UM, UH, POSSIBLE POINT OF ORDER THEN ON, UH, IF, UH, THE WORKING GROUP IS, UM, AN AD HOC GROUP, UM, WITH A CERTAIN PURPOSE THAT I THINK, AS COMMISSIONER HOWARD SAID, THE, AS A FEELING THAT THAT WORK, UH, REMAINS UNFINISHED, UH, I WOULD, I WOULD WELCOME STAFF'S INPUT ON WHETHER IT IS MAKES MORE SENSE FOR THIS BODY TO CONVENE AN ADDITIONAL AD HOC COMMITTEE FOCUSED ON, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE EVOLUTION OF THE ROLE OF THE DESIGN COMMISSIONER, HOWEVER WE WANNA PUT IT, SO THAT THE, THE, THE CLEAR PURPOSE OF THAT HOD AD HOC COMMITTEE CAN BE TRACKED.
UM, JORGE, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR OPINION ON WHETHER THAT'S A CLEANER ACTION FOR US TO TAKE, OR WHETHER THAT'S SIX OF ONE, HALF DOZEN OF THE OTHER.
IF I MAY, IT, IT, IT REALLY IS AT THE WILL OF THE COMMISSION, COMMISSIONER WHIR.
THERE, THERE'S REALLY NO SPECIFIC MANDATE THAT REQUIRES A NUMBER.
A MEMBERSHIP JUST NEEDS TO BE SHORT OF A QUORUM.
YOU CAN REPURPOSE A WORKING GROUP, BUT SHOULD BE RELATED TO A COUNCIL DIRECTION INITIATIVE PROJECT, ET CETERA.
SO, SINCE THE COUNCIL MADE CHANGES TO THE DENSITY BONUS, THE CONSTRUCT OF THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM, AND ESSENTIALLY REMOVED URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, THAT FUNCTION THAT THE COMMISSION DID BY CODE PREVIOUSLY HAS BEEN AMENDED.
THEREFORE, IT WILL NO LONGER EXIST.
SO YOU ARE WELCOME AS A COMMISSION TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, AND THEREFORE, OBVIOUSLY THE COUNCIL ON WHAT WOULD CONSTITUTE CHANGES TO THE FUNCTION PRIORITIES, ET CETERA, OF THE COMMISSION.
THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION.
AND, AND, UH, IN THAT CASE, I, I THINK I AGREE WITH, UH, THE CHAIR THAT IT SEEMS LIKE THE, UH, THE ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE OUTSIDE OF ANY ACTION, TAKEN TONIGHT TO CHANGE THOSE COM.
UH, MEMBERS MAY GO AHEAD AND, AND, AND MEET AND BEGIN THIS DISCUSSION WITHOUT ANY FURTHER ACTION FROM US.
ARE THERE ANY, UH, YES, COMMISSIONER LINAS, DO WE NEED TO IDENTIFY BACKUPS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? 'CAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE, YOU KNOW, THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON, THIS WORKING GREAT'S BEEN FOR A WHILE, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S SOME FOLKS THAT MIGHT WANT TO STEP BACK.
UM, SO IS THERE, IS THERE IS, SHOULD WE GO AHEAD AND IDENTIFY SOME BACKUPS OR ANYONE THAT WANTS TO STEP INTO THAT BACKUP ROLE? FROM A PRIMARY ROLE CHAIR, IF I MAY, CAN'T DO BACKUPS, IF I MAY CHAIR MM-HMM
I WOULD CAUTION AGAINST IDENTIFYING BACKUPS.
'CAUSE THEN YOU'RE NAMING A POSSIBLE QUORUM.
YOU WOULD WANT TO KEEP IT AT FIVE OR BELOW.
AND IF SOMEONE COMES IN THEN AND YOU'RE ABOVE SIX, YOU'LL, YOU'LL, SOMEBODY WILL NEED TO STEP OUT THAT HAPPENS WITH OTHER COMMISSIONS.
SO I WOULD CAUTION AGAINST NAMING SIX OR MORE COMMISSIONERS, BECAUSE THEN IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE NAMING A QUORUM.
I THINK, UM, RIGHT NOW WE WANNA FEEL OUT, BECAUSE SOME OF US HAVE BEEN A PART OF THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP
[00:30:01]
FOR, UH, QUITE A LONG TIME.AS I SAID, I'M HAPPY TO, UH, YOU KNOW, I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED.
I'M HAPPY TO SEED MY INVOLVEMENT, UH, UNLESS THE WORKING GROUP NEEDS ME FOR SOMETHING.
UM, AND SO, ARE THERE ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO BE INVOLVED IN THAT WORKING GROUP IN SORT OF, ITS, UH, YEAH.
SO I AM HAPPY TO SEED MY POSITION.
UM, I'LL NEED ONE OTHER PERSON.
AND LIKE I SAID, WHY I'M AVAILABLE IF ANYONE HAS QUESTIONS ON WHY WE DID WHAT WE DID WHEN WE DID IT.
UM, BUT ARE THERE ANY OTHER MEMBERS WHO ARE WILLING TO SEED THEIR POSITION ON THE WORKING GROUP SO THAT OTHERS MAY JOIN IN ON ITS NEW PATH? ALL RIGHT.
IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE THERE IS I, SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO ROCK PAPER, SCISSORS IT.
WELL, I, I COULD NOT TELL IF SURE IF COMMISSIONER CARROLL WAS IN THE ROOM OR NOT.
I, I CERTAINLY WANTED TO DEFER TO HIM.
I AM OPEN TO THE IDEA OF, OF PASSING UP MY SPOT FOR, FOR, FOR, UH, NEW, UM, ENTHUSIASM, FRESH BLOOD.
UM, ALTHOUGH THAT SAID, I AM VERY INTERESTED IN THIS WORK AND, AND WOULD, YOU KNOW, BE HONORED AND PRIVILEGED TO, TO SERVE IN THIS CAPACITY, UH, MOVING FORWARD.
COMMISSIONER LANS, I'M, I'M WILLING TO TAKE A BACK SEAT 'CAUSE THIS IS THE ITEM THAT YOU BROUGHT UP AND I THINK, UH, YOU SHOW A LOT OF INTEREST IN IT.
IF YOU WANT TO TAKE, UH, CHAIRMAN MCKINNEY'S SPOT, AND THEN IF I NEED TO BE THERE, IF SOMEBODY SAYS, HEY, I CAN'T MAKE IT, WILL YOU FILL IN? SURE.
WELL, I THINK WE HAVE A NEW GAME PLAN FOR THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP.
UM, AND THEN WE'LL JUST HAVE TO ADJUST THE, UH, IN THE MINUTES TO MOVE THIS TO A JUST DISCUSSION ITEM.
SINCE THERE WAS NO ACTION REQUIRED TO CHANGE THE WORKING GROUP, UH, WE
[4. Discussion of Downtown Density Bonus Program (DDBP) Phase I background and context, including discussion of the Design Guidelines Working Group recommendations, and discussion regarding the approach, strategy, and stakeholder engagement process for DDBP Phase II. Sponsors: Vice Chair Kevin Howard and Commissioner David Carroll.]
WILL MOVE ON TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR, DISCUSSION OF THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.PHASE ONE, BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT, INCLUDING DISCUSSION OF THE DESIGN GUIDELINES, WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS, AND DISCUSSION REGARDING THE APPROACH, STRATEGY AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PROCESS FOR DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM PHASE TWO.
THIS IS SPONSORED BY VICE CHAIR HOWARD AND COMMISSIONER CARROLL, AND I WILL LET Y'ALL TAKE IT AWAY.
THIS IS TO, UM, KIND OF BRING BACK DISCUSSION AROUND, UH, THE RESULTS OF PHASE ONE AND THE STRATEGY FOR PHASE TWO.
JUST A, AS A REMINDER, UM, WE MADE A RECOMMENDATION TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION, UH, TO REPLACE STAFF'S DRAFT OF THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINE, THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WITH OUR ALTERNATE DRAFT, UM, PLANNING COMMISSION, UH, TOOK THAT, UM, RECOMMENDATION AND RECOMMENDED OUR, UH, UH, OUR ALTERNATE DRAFT OF THE URBAN DESI, UH, DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS, URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS, UH, TO COUNCIL.
HOWEVER, UM, THAT RECOMMENDATION DIDN'T MAKE IT TO COUNCIL, UM, BECAUSE LAW DID NOT POST THAT.
THEY POSTED, UH, THEY POSTED STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION WITH AMENDED.
UM, UH, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN, UM, CLARITY ON, ON WHY THAT THAT WAS THE CASE.
UM, AND, UH, AS PART OF THIS AGENDA ITEM, WE HAVE ASKED THE NEW PROJECT MANAGER OF PHASE TWO TO COME AND SPEAK TO US.
AND YOU CAN SEE IN THE BACKUP, THEY WROTE, THEY WROTE TO US.
UM, AND AS WELL AS THE, THE, UM, INTERIM PLANNING DIRECTOR WROTE TO US, UH, KIND OF, YOU KNOW, REFERRING TO, UM, COUNCIL LANGUAGE AND, UH, THAT SAID, HEY, WELL, YOU KNOW, WE'LL COME BACK AND, AND AUGUST WITH A, AN ENGAGEMENT PLAN.
UM, WE'RE, BUT WE ARE WELCOME TO REACH OUT TO WARNER COOK, WHO WILL BE TAKING, UH, ON THIS, UH, PROJECT FROM ALAN PONTY, WHO HAS, WHO'S MOVED ON FROM THE CITY.
UM, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW GIG OUT THERE.
UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S THE BACKGROUND.
UM, I, YOU KNOW, MOST OF THIS, UH, IT WAS DESIGNED FOR A CONVERSATION WITH WARNER TO KIND OF LIKE PROVIDE, UH, BACKGROUND, GIVE HER THE CONTEXT OF, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE'VE BEEN WITH URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, WHERE WE, WHERE WE, UH, KIND OF THE PRO THE VERY EXPEDITED EXPEDITED PRICE PROCESS TO GET URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS, UM, PUT INTO THE, UH, THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.
UM, AND KIND OF THE, THE, UM, WHAT, WHAT THE RESULT OF PHASE ONE WAS, WHICH, UM, UH, YEAH.
AND, AND SO IN ADDITION TO THIS ITEM, WE'VE ALL, WE
[00:35:01]
ALSO ASKED, UM, FOR, UH, LAW TO PROVIDE, UH, YOU KNOW, FEEDBACK ABOUT, UH, ABOUT THE LEGAL CONSTRAINTS, UM, THAT ARE INVOLVED IN WRITING URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS FOR THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAMS. UM, AND, UH, WE HAVE NOT, WE STILL HAVE NOT GOTTEN A RESPONSE FROM LAW DEPARTMENT AT ALL.UM, UH, AND, AND, UH, I ALSO, AS PART OF THAT, THAT AGENDA ITEM HAD HAD REQUESTED THAT WE GET FORMAL COMMENTS ON THE DESIGN, UM, THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINE DRAFT.
UM, SINCE THAT, THAT WAS, UH, SUGGESTED THAT STAFF HAD SOME, UH, SOME CONCERNS, LAW HAD SOME CONCERNS, AND WE REQUESTED THAT, AND FOR FORMALLY IN WRITING AND STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED THAT.
SO I WOULD LIKE JUST TO KIND OF REITERATE THAT ON THE PUBLIC RECORD.
LIKE, WE REALLY NEED TO SEE THOSE TO UNDERSTAND.
WE NEED TO SEE THOSE COMMENTS TO UNDERSTAND WHY THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WEREN'T WORKING FOR THEM, SO THAT WE CAN ADDRESS, ADDRESS THOSE ISSUES.
UM, BUT WE ALSO NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT, UM, OPERATING JUST IN, UH, BLINDLY, UM, AND UNDERSTANDING THE LEGAL CONSTRAINTS THAT ARE INVOLVED HERE.
UM, AS AN ADVISORY BODY, UM, YOU KNOW, WE REALLY NEED TO BE EDUCATED JUST LIKE STAFF.
UM, AND SO, UH, SO, YOU KNOW, I'VE, I'VE DONE MY, I'VE DONE A LOT OF LEGAL DIG DIGGING, UM, AND I FOUND SOME OF THE, THE BASIS FOR SOME OF THE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE THIRD PARTY, UM, SORT OF ISSUES THAT, THAT I'VE HEARD OF.
UM, BUT WE STILL HAVE NOT GOTTEN, UH, RED LINE OR ANY EXPLANATION FOR WHY PARTICULAR, UM, UH, PLANNING, UH, COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS WERE NOT, UH, PROVIDED TO, UM, TO COUNCIL.
UM, THE, THERE WERE SOME AMENDMENTS THAT DISTRICT NINE WAS ABLE TO MAKE ON THE DIOCESE, BUT THEY'RE VERY LIMITED.
UM, AND, UH, AND I WOULD, AND I WOULD ARGUE THAT I, I CANNOT FIND A RATIONAL REASON, UM, UNDER, WITH MY, YOU KNOW, WITH MY EXPERIENCE IN, IN CODE, UM, YOU KNOW, NATION, UH, NATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN, IN WRITING, UH, ZONING CODES AND DENSITY BONUS PROGRAMS. UM, I DON'T, I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE RATIONAL REASON WHY.
UM, FOR, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, A NARROWER, UM, DRIVEWAY SEPARATION OR, UH, OR, OR A REDUCED, UH, FRONTAGE PER DRIVEWAY REQUIREMENT WOULD BE LEGAL WHERE A, AN INCREASED, UH, FRONTAGE, UH, LENGTH PER DRIVEWAY WOULD BE ILLEGAL OR, OR CAUSE UH, UM, LEGAL RISK.
UM, AND SO I, I AM, I AM THINKING THAT, YOU KNOW, AS THE DESIGN COMMISSION REALLY NEEDS TO, TO COME INTO THIS PHASE TWO, UM, WITH THE SAME BACKGROUND AND THE SAME UNDERSTANDING CONSTRAINTS AS STAFF IS SO THAT WE AREN'T JUST FORCED TO TRUST THE SYSTEM AT THE END, WE CAN ACTUALLY PROVIDE REAL ADVICE.
UM, UH, AND I KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF MOVING PIECES HERE.
UM, AND SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, UM, WE, THAT THE DESIGN COMMISSION ALSO IS AWARE OF, UH, THE BROADER LANDSCAPE OF WHAT, OF THE CHANGES THAT ARE BEING MADE.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE, UH, ACCOUNT DISTRICT NINE, UM, GOT A RESOLUTION PASSED THAT IS LOOKING AT URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS CITYWIDE.
UM, I, I KNOW, YOU KNOW, WE SHOULD CERTAINLY SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN THAT CONVERSATION.
UM, I DON'T KNOW, THERE ISN'T A WORK PLAN FOR THAT.
UM, BUT MAYBE THERE IS KIND OF A BROADER ARCHITECT, UH, ARCHITECTING OF THIS SYSTEM HAPPENING THAT WE'RE NOT AWARE OF.
AND SO FAR WE'VE BEEN KIND OF KEPT IN THE DARK, AND I, AND I KNOW THAT STAFF IS, IS WORKING WITH A LOT OF CONSTRAINTS AND, UH, YOU KNOW, JUST, AND COUNCIL OFFICES ARE DOING, DOING THEIR BEST AND EVERYBODY'S DOING THEIR BEST.
BUT, UM, I THINK THAT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, THIS COMMISSION IS, IS BROUGHT IN THE LOOP.
IS THERE A, HAS THERE, TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE, BEEN A TIMELINE PRESENTED FOR WHEN PHASE TWO NEEDS TO BE ADOPTED BY? UM, SO THERE'S THE DEADLINE THAT COUNCIL SET IN, IN THE, AT THE MAY MEETING FOR THE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY, UM, TO BE PRESENTED IN AUGUST.
UM, BUT I, WHAT I'VE BEEN HEARING, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS WRITTEN INTO A RESOLUTION, RESOLUTION LANGUAGE, AND, UM, APOLOGIZE FOR NOT HAVING THAT, UM, HAVEN'T LOOKED THAT UP.
BUT WHAT I'VE BEEN HEARING IS, UH, THAT IT, UH, IT'S INTENDED TO BE DONE BY THE NEW, BY, UM, THE END OF THE YEAR.
UM, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S, UH, FLEXIBILITY IN THAT OR WHAT THAT MEANS EXACTLY.
AND SO WE, JUST TO LOOK AT TIMELINES WE HAD, HOW LONG BE BETWEEN WHEN WE STARTED PHASE ONE TO THE MAY MEETING, WASN'T IT? WE MET AT THE BEGINNING OF APRIL, DIDN'T WE? I'D HAVE TO LOOK AT MY CALENDAR, BUT THAT SOUNDS RIGHT.
[00:40:01]
I WOULD SAY THAT CERTAINLY WAS NOT ENOUGH TIME.UM, EVERYONE WAS SCRAMBLING TO GET EVERYTHING IN.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, AND I WOULD ALSO SAY, UM, YOU KNOW, THE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY MAY BE, UM, PRESENTED TO COUNCIL IN AUGUST.
UM, BUT WITH HOLIDAYS, YOU KNOW, NOTORIOUSLY PLANNING PROJECTS REALLY NEED TO GET WRAPPED UP BY THANKSGIVING.
UM, WE'RE LOOKING AT ANOTHER REALLY TIGHT, UH, TURNAROUND.
UM, SO I JUST, YOU KNOW, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, UM, THAT THAT ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY, UH, ACT IS, IS CONSIDERING THE, UM, COLLABORATION WITH THIS COMMISSION AS INTEGRAL TO THE PROJECT, RATHER THAN AS A CHECKBOX AT THE END OF THE PROJECT AS, UH, OR THE DELIVERABLE AS A LOT OF TIMES PROJECTS COME THROUGH AND THEY GO TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AT THE END AND MAKE SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS.
BUT WE, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT THE, YOU KNOW, THE EXPERIENCE THAT WE'RE BRINGING WITH THE DESIGN GUIDELINES IS KIND OF FOUNDATIONAL.
UM, AND, AND WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND JUST LIKE STAFF, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE THE CHALLENGES WERE IN PHASE ONE TO DO THAT EFFECTIVELY.
IT LOOKS LIKE IT WOULD PROBABLY BE PUNTED TO THE AUGUST 27TH COUNCIL MEETING.
'CAUSE THEY'RE, THEY MEET ALMOST, THEY MEET AUGUST 4TH, AUGUST 6TH, AUGUST 12TH THROUGH 14TH AND AUGUST 17TH.
BUT ALL OF THOSE ARE FOCUSED ON BUDGET, CITY BUDGET, SO IT REALLY WOULDN'T BE UNTIL THE END OF AUGUST PENDING.
THAT ONE DOESN'T ALSO BECOME ABOUT BUDGETS.
UM, AND THEN WE HAVE SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, SO, AND YEAH, THAT WOULD BE THREE MONTHS TO DO A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF WORK WHERE WE HAD A MONTH AND A HALF TO DO THE WORK THAT WE DID FOR PHASE ONE.
AND THAT WAS CERTAINLY NOT ANYWHERE NEAR ENOUGH.
IT COULD BE THAT WITH THE DIRECTION, UH, FROM COUNCIL, THAT STAFF WILL APPROACH THIS PHASE VERY DIFFERENTLY.
UM, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THERE WAS SOME FRUSTRATION FROM COUNCIL THAT, UM, THAT THE ENGAGEMENT ON THIS, YOU KNOW, DIDN'T, DIDN'T GO VERY WELL.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THAT MAKES SENSE.
IT WAS UNDER A VERY EXTREME TIME CLOCK.
AND, UM, THEY NEEDED TO GET THIS BEFORE EVERYBODY WENT ON, UM, RECESS.
SO, UM, I THINK EVERYTHING WAS JUST REALLY TIGHT IN PHASE ONE, AND I WE'RE HOPING TO GET A BETTER OUTCOME IN PHASE TWO.
UM, BUT YEAH, I, UM, IT REALLY DEPENDS ON THE WORK PLAN AND THE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY.
COMMISSIONER WHIR, THANK YOU CHAIR.
I, I WOULD OFFER HERE THAT IF FEEDBACK I GOT FROM COUNCIL ON PHASE ONE WAS THAT THE RECOMMENDATIONS PROVIDED BY THE, UH, URBAN DESIGN, UH, WORKING GROUP GUIDELINES, WORKING GROUP WERE, WERE VIEWED FAVORABLY, BUT WERE NOT WRITTEN YET INTO A FORMAT THAT WAS USABLE FOR THEM TO INSERT INTO CODE.
UM, AND THAT, AND, AND NOTED TO THE, SOME, THE, YOU KNOW, FAIRLY SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF EFFORT THAT IT WAS GOING TO TAKE TO TAKE OUR DRAFT AND GET THAT INTO KIND OF AN ORDINANCE FORMAT.
AND I, I PAUSE IT TO, TO THE GROUP AND, AND, AND, AND COMMISSIONER HOWARD, I MAYBE ONE THING THAT THE WORKING GROUP COULD START NOW, UH, DURING THE BUDGET LAW WOULD BE TO TAKE THE WORK THAT ALREADY WENT BEFORE, BEFORE THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND BEGIN TO DRAFT THAT IN A FORMAT THAT WOULD BE MORE FRIENDLY TO COUNCIL, UM, FOR INSERTION INTO THE ORDINANCE, INTO AN ORDINANCE.
UM, I WOULD, I WOULD, I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT THAT BE, COULD BE A POSSIBLE COURSE OF ACTION FOR US TO GET OUT IN FRONT OF THAT TIMELINE.
I, I MEAN, I, I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.
SOME CLARITY AROUND WHAT THAT FORMATTING, THE, YOU KNOW, THE, UM, UH, WHAT, WHAT THAT FORMATTING NEEDS TO LOOK LIKE SO WE'RE NOT JUST, UM, SHOOTING IN THE DARK, UM, BASED ON PRECEDENT, UH, WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL.
YEAH, OBVIOUSLY WE, WE WILL FORMAT IT TO WHATEVER FORMAT WE NEED TO, UM, TO, TO MAKE IT EASY FOR EVERYBODY TO, TO ADOPT.
UM, I, I, YOU KNOW, I HAD A LOT OF DIFFERENT CONVERSATIONS, UM, WITH FOLKS AND, AND HEARD THIRD AND FOURTH HAND, UH, ABOUT, UH, ABOUT WHAT SOME OF THE CHALLENGES WERE.
UM, AND, AND THOSE, AND SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT I HEARD OF WERE, HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH FORMATTING, UM, BUT THEY WERE REALLY, BUT FOLKS WERE HAVING A REALLY, UH, DIFFICULT TIME ARTICULATING EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE.
UM, I'M USED TO LEGAL CONSTRAINTS, UM, WORKING IN, IN WRITING ZONING CODES AND, AND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I COLLABORATE WITH, UH, CITY, UM, CITY LEGAL TEAMS A LOT.
UM, AND SO WHAT I'M, WHAT I'M HEARING BACK ISN'T MAKING A TON OF SENSE.
UM, BUT THE, BUT REGARDLESS, THE, THE CONSTRAINTS THAT ARE BEING, UM, UH, RELAYED BACK TO ME, UH, HA WERE
[00:45:01]
IDENTIFIED AS A MAJOR BARRIER TO ADOPTING SOME OF OUR, UH, TO INTEGRATING SOME OF OUR, UM, URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS INTO THEIR FORMAT.WELL, WE, THIS IS JUST A DISCUSSION ITEM FOR THE EVENING.
SO IS THERE ANY OTHER DISCUSSION RELATED TO THE BACKUP THAT WAS PRESENTED FOR ITEM NUMBER FOUR? COMMISSIONER HOWARD? UM, WE, WE COULD, AS A COMMISSION, UH, REACH OUT TO WARNER, WARNER COOK, WHO WILL BE THE PROJECT MANAGER, UM, FOR THIS, FOR PHASE TWO.
UM, YOU KNOW, THEY MENTIONED THAT IN BOTH OF THE LETTERS THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, UH, WE CAN SEND, UH, KIND OF, YOU KNOW, BACKGROUND OR WHATEVER WE NEED TO, TO, TO WARNER.
UM, YOU KNOW, IF WE FEEL LIKE IT'LL HELP, UH, SET WARNER UP FOR SUCCESS IN CREATING THAT ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY COULD BE, COULD BE USEFUL.
UM, UH, I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT COULD BE HELPFUL FOR US TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO ARTICULATE EXACTLY, UM, UH, WHAT THE, UM, WHAT THE GAPS IN OUR UNDERSTANDING ARE AND KIND OF, UH, HOW TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED, UM, SO THAT WE CAN, UM, YOU KNOW, UM, START, UM, START ON A BETTER FOOTING AND THAT SH SHE CAN BRING THAT KNOWLEDGE INTO HER WORK PLAN SO THAT SHE'S NOT HAVING TO ADAPT IT, UM, TO WHAT WE, YOU KNOW, OUR COMMENTS LATER ON AS A MEMBER OF THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP.
IS THAT SOMETHING YOU'D BE WILLING TO DO? UH, YEAH, I CAN DO THAT.
AND YEAH, POTENTIALLY THE GROUP MEETS AND, UM, UH, RECOMMENDATION OR AN EMAIL COMES TO, TO HER ABOUT THAT.
THAT, THAT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING THAT'D BE RELATIVELY EASY.
I, I DID DRAFT AN EMAIL NOT REPRESENTING THE DESIGN COMMISSION TO PLANNING COMMISSION AHEAD OF THAT, JUST TO GIVE SOME BACKGROUND.
SO WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO ADAPT THAT TO SOME, TO SOME LEVEL AND, AND UPDATE IT WITH THE, THE LATEST CHAPTER.
ANY, UH, YES, COMMISSIONER GALLES.
JUST A QUESTION ON THE LETTER FROM, UM, WARNER COOK THAT YOU REFERRED TO.
I'M NOTING THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF NOT BEING ABLE TO ATTEND THIS JUNE SESSION OF THE DESIGN COMMISSION, BUT, UH, POTENTIAL FOR, UH, FUTURE DESIGN COMMISSION COMMISSION MEETING WHERE STAFF COULD ATTEND AND PRESENT THE PUBLISHED PROPOSED WORK PLAN.
SO GIVEN THE TIMELINE TO THE AUGUST, UH, MEETING DATE THAT CHAIR REFERRED TO, WHEN WOULD YOU PROPOSE, UH, WOULD BE A SUITABLE MOMENT FOR INVITING, UH, WARNER COOK HERE? I'M ASSUMING THAT WOULD HAVE TO TAKE PLACE IN JULY.
AND SO WE HAVE ONE, ONE UPCOMING MEETING.
WE DON'T HAVE A JULY MEETING, SO THEN WE DON'T HAVE A OPPORTUNITY.
IS IS WHAT I'M SEEING BETWEEN THEN AND, UH, NOW.
AND THEN, WOULD THAT ALSO BE YOUR INTERPRETATION? AND, AND THEN ALSO, UM, IS IT WORTH TRYING TO ALSO, UH, TARGET AUGUST AT ALL, OR WOULD IT THEN JUST BE TOO LATE? I DO THINK THAT WE ARE TARGETING THE AUGUST MEETING OR PRESENTATION ON THE WORK PLAN, UM, IS MY UNDERSTANDING.
COMMISSIONER HOWARD, I, I LOOK AT THE LETTER, UM, AND THE DEADLINE IS AUGUST 31ST, SO I KIND OF WOULD EXPECT WARNER IN SEPTEMBER.
UM, BUT I, I THINK THAT OUR CO OUR, UH, COMMUNICATION WITH WARNER DOESN'T HAVE TO EXIST ONLY WITHIN THESE MEETINGS.
SHE CAN PRESENT HER WORK PLAN IN POTENTIALLY IN OUR AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER MEETING.
UM, BUT WE CAN, WE COULD SEND HER AN EMAIL TOMORROW.
UM, WE JUST HAVE TO, I THINK WE'D HAVE TO, UM, AUTHORIZE THE WORKING GROUP TO APPROVE A LETTER, UM, FROM, UH, FROM THE DESIGN COMMISSION.
I THINK IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THE COMMISSION.
I THINK IT'S JUST COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE WORKING GROUP WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR OKAY.
THIS PURVIEW ITEM, UM, TO COMMUNICATE WITH.
YEAH, THAT MAKES SENSE CORRECTLY.
SO I, I THINK WE SHOULD JUST, WE SHOULD REACH OUT TO HER, UM, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, SHE HAS FULL BACKGROUND, UM, AS SHE'S PREPARING THE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY.
IF I MAY, JUST TO CLARIFY THAT RECOMMENDATIONS FROM A WORKING GROUP ARE NOT RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE COMMISSION.
SO A WORKING GROUP SENDS RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE FULL BODY.
YOU'RE WELCOME TO SHARE THOSE WITH STAFF, BUT THAT IS NOT ACTION BY THE COMMISSION.
I DON'T THINK IT SHOULD BE AN ISSUE.
I THINK THIS IS JUST ABOUT EDUCATION.
UM, WE DON'T NEED TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION.
WE JUST NEED TO OPEN A CONVERSATION.
UM, SO I THINK, I THINK WE CAN DO THAT WITHOUT, UM,
[00:50:01]
WITHOUT MAKING A FORMAL RECOMMENDATION FROM CAMP, FROM THE DESIGN COMMISSION.ANY OTHER, ANY OTHER DISCUSSIONS RELATED TO ITEM FOUR?
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
ALL RIGHT.ARE THERE ANY FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS THAT ANYONE FROM THE COMMISSION WOULD LIKE TO SEE PRESENTED? COMMISSIONER HOWARD? UM, I, I WOULD LIKE TO, UH, REQUEST THAT LAW COME AND KIND OF, AND DISCUSS THE, UM, LEGAL CONSTRAINTS AND RISKS, UH, AS, AS IT RELATES TO URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS AND DENSITY BONUS PROGRAMS, UM, AND POTENTIALLY CITYWIDE, UH, SO THAT WE CAN, WE CAN HAVE, UH, RECORD OF, OF EXACTLY THE CONSTRAINTS THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH, UM, AS A GROUP.
THE LAW DEPARTMENT IS AWARE OF THE REQUEST AND THERE IS NO NEED FOR CONTINUED ADDITIONAL FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. THEY'RE AWARE OF THE REQUEST AND THEY'RE CONSIDERING THAT.
ANY OTHER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS THAT ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO SEE? COMMISSIONER HOWARD? I JUST WANTED TO, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MAINTAINING SORT OF THIS, UM, THIS IMPLEMENTATION OF THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WORKING, UH, GROUP A DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEM AS A, OR JUST REITERATE THAT AS AN ONGOING AGENDA ITEM.
SO, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE, UM, AS THESE, UH, AS THESE CONVERSATIONS HAPPEN, THAT THAT, UH, WILL CONTINUE TO BE A CONVERSATION WILL NEED TO HAVE ON, ON THE DIOCESE, I THINK AS THE WORKING GROUP CONTINUES TO MEET, UM, IF THAT, IF THERE, I THINK IT NEEDS TO BE SPECIFIC EACH MONTH.
UM, SO AS THE WORKING GROUP MEETS, IF IT'S JUST UPDATES THAT ARE COMING, IF SOMEONE FROM THE WORKING GROUP CAN EMAIL STAFF, UM, AND JUST NOTING IT AS A DISCUSSION, IF IT'S GONNA BE JUST A DISCUSSION ITEM FOR JUST AN UPDATE.
UM, BUT I DO THINK AS WE GET DEEPER INTO THE PROCESS, THAT THERE MAY BE TIMES WHEN A VOTE IS REQUIRED AND A RECOMMENDATION IS PROPOSED, AND WE JUST NEED TO MAKE SURE IT'S NOTED CORRECTLY.
SO IF, IF THE WORKING GROUP CAN DESIGNATE SOMEONE TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, BEFORE BACKUP IS POSTED, IF IT IS A, UM, DISCUSSION OR A DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEM, I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT.
UM, HEARING NO OTHER FUTURE AGENDA, UH, THERE WAS HESITATION.
ANY OTHER FUTURE AGENDA ITEM? ALL RIGHT.
UH, WELL THEN I THINK WE ARE ALL DONE FOR THE EVENING.
[2. Discussion on alley access and promoting the use of alley spaces for economic vitality. Sponsors: Commissioner Nkiru Gelles and Commissioner Jon Salinas. (Part 2 of 2)]
HARRIS, I MAY APOLOGIES IF I MISSED THE, UH, AGENDA ITEM NUMBER TWO, DISCUSSION.UH, WE TALKED ABOUT IT VERY BRIEFLY, BUT BEFORE WE ADJOURN, IF WE WOULD LIKE TO RETURN TO ITEM TWO.
UM, COMMISSIONER SALINAS GAVE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION, BUT THANK YOU, CHAIR.
UM, ALL, ALL I SAID IS THAT WE DIDN'T COMMUNICATE AND WE, I HADN'T REACHED OUT, AND SO WE WERE POSTPONING IT TILL OUR AUGUST MEETING.
UM, BUT IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION, UH, I KNOW THAT WE DIDN'T COMMUNICATE, SO I DIDN'T KNOW IF YOU HAD ANY.
UH, FELLOW COMMISSIONER SALINAS AND I DO HAVE, UH, GENERAL STATEMENT ABOUT THE DISCUSSION THAT I'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE COMMISSION, IF I MAY CHAIR.
SO, UH, YOU KNOW, AS IT RELATES TO THE EARLIER DISCUSSION, I BELIEVE THAT THIS GROUP IS INTERESTED IN, UH, EXPANDING THE, UH, REACH, I THINK OF THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.
IT SOUNDS AS THOUGH THERE'S ALREADY GROUPS LOOKING AT, AS WAS AFOREMENTIONED DISTRICT NINE, UH, EXTENDING SOME OF THE, THE GUIDELINES, UH, CITYWIDE.
UH, BUT I, I WANT TO TOUCH ON ALI'S, UH, IN, IN REGARDS TO THE, UH, DOWNTOWN CORE SPECIFICALLY, AND NOTING THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS DOES EXTEND OUT TO SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOODS, BUT SPECIFICALLY WITHIN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT, WE HAVE, UH, PROBABLY, AND NOT THAT I'VE SPECIFICALLY GONE THROUGH AND MEASURED, BUT OVER HALF A MILLION SQUARE FEET OF UNDERUTILIZED PUBLICLY OWNED LAND, UH, WITHIN THE HISTORIC CITY GRID, UH, THROUGH ALLEYS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THESE CURRENTLY SERVE AND SERVICE FUNCTIONS FOR LESS THAN 1% OF THE ENTIRE DAY.
AND PRESENT AN UNMATCHED OPPORTUNITY TO, TO BE REIMAGINED, UH, WITHIN A DYNAMIC
[00:55:01]
PUBLIC SPACE TO ENHANCE THE CITY'S UNIQUE CREATIVE CULTURE AND CHARACTER.AND RECENTLY WE HAD A SCHEME, UH, PRESENTED TO US, UM, THROUGH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINE, UH, SORRY, THROUGH THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM THAT ACTIVATED THE ALLEYS IN A VERY POSITIVE MANNER THAT I THINK EVERYONE HERE RESPONDED TO AND REACTED TO, UM, IN, IN A VERY, UH, ENERGIZED AND CREATIVE WAY.
THERE WAS DISCUSSION OF CHANGING THE PAVER MATERIAL, ADDING LIGHTING, AND ACTIVATING THAT SPACE FOR, UM, SEASONAL FESTIVALS, UH, FOR FARMER'S MARKETS WEEKLY.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, DEALING WITH THE UTILITARIAN NATURE OF THE ALLEY IN A, IN, IN A VERY DIFFERENT MANNER THAN, THAN WE'VE SEEN COME ACROSS US IN IN THE PAST.
AND I WANNA PAUSE IT THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS BECOMING MORE OF A TREND, UM, JUST GIVEN THE COST OF DEVELOPMENT IN DOWNTOWN.
I THINK THESE STARTS TO, THESE START TO PRESENT THEMSELVES AS UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, THERE ARE OTHER GROUPS WITHIN THE DOWNTOWN AREA CURRENTLY UTILIZING THE ALLEY.
UH, IF WE LOOK AT, UM, GROUPS ALONG, UH, COLORADO AND LA VACA, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, THE GINGERMAN IS ALREADY, UH, REQUESTING ACTIVATION OF THE ALLEY, UH, AS A, A SAFETY MECHANISM, EYES ON THE ALLEY, UH, TO TRY TO DETER SOME OF THE NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR THAT THEY'RE SEEING THROUGH EXISTING BARS, UTILIZING THE ALLEYS AS ENTRANCES AND HAS REQUESTED MORE LIGHTING AND, UM, MORE VISIBILITY TO BE BROUGHT TO THE ALLEYS TO TRY TO, UM, HAVE A, A MORE SAFE AND, YOU KNOW, CIVIL CENTERED CORRIDOR ALONG THAT FRONTAGE, WHICH I BELIEVE IS KNOWN AS BLOCK 28, BORDERED BY THIRD, FOURTH, COLORADO AND LA VACA.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE IS WHERE SULLIVAN'S STEAKHOUSE IS CURRENTLY USING THE ALLEY AS A, A VALLEY PARKING OPPORTUNITY ACTIVATING ALL ALLEY FACING OUTDOOR DINING, AND, UH, U REALLY TAKING OPPORTUNITY OF MICRO RETAIL FOOD TRAILERS.
LARGE ORGANIZATIONS, UH, COMMUNITY ENTITIES, I WOULD SAY SUCH AS, UH, UH, AUSTIN PARKS HAVE INDICATED A WILLINGNESS TO FUND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ALLEYS, BUT, YOU KNOW, IS WAITING FOR MORE, UM, DIRECT SIGNALING FROM THE CITY THAT THIS IS A SHARED INTEREST.
THERE IS OPPORTUNITY FOR GREENING, UH, ACROSS THE ALLEYWAY CORRIDORS THAT COULD BE HAPPENING, BUT CURRENTLY ISN'T, ISN'T HAPPENING.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, OUR POSITION ON THIS REALLY COMES THROUGH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES AND WHAT WE'VE WRITTEN AND SAID, AND, AND CURRENTLY DISCUSSED, UH, AS IT RELATES TO ALLEY'S HAS PRI PREDOMINANTLY CENTERED AROUND, UM, REALLY LOADING WITH VEHICULAR ACCESS TO TRY TO MOVE, UH, SOME OF THAT VEHICULAR, UH, ACTIVATION FROM THE PRIMARY STREETS TOWARDS THE ALLEY.
AND, UH, REALLY, UM, TRYING TO REDUCE CURVE CUTS AND HA HAZARDOUS DRIVEWAY, UM, DRIVEWAY ACCESS PRIMARILY ALONG PEDESTRIAN AND TRANSIT ORIENTED STREETS TOWARDS THE ALLEY.
AND, AND I, I WANT TO QUESTION AND OPEN DISCUSSION ON HOW WE CAN TALK ABOUT THESE ALLEY SPACES MOVING FORWARD.
AS YOU KNOW, WE FURTHER DEFINE AND DESCRIBE AND, UH, BECOME MORE CONCRETIZED ABOUT HOW THESE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES CAN BE IMPLEMENTED CITYWIDE, UH, UH, IN A, ON A RESIDENTIAL SCALE, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD.
FOR EXAMPLE, WE MAY HAVE A TOTALLY DIFFERENT, AND I WOULD EXPECT WE WOULD HAVE A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO WHAT WE WOULD WANT TO SEE, UH, ALONG THE ALLEYWAYS.
UM, WE PROMOTE BUILDING SERVICE FUNCTIONS A ACROSS THE ALLEYWAYS, INCLUDING REFUSE COLLECTION AND, AND OF COURSE, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY VAULTS AND, UH, ANY, UH, I WOULD SAY BACK OF HOUSE FUNCTION TYPICALLY RELEGATED TO THE ALLEY.
UM, HOWEVER, THERE'S ALSO A MOVEMENT TO TRY TO COMPRESS SOME OF THOSE FUNCTIONS THROUGH RESOURCE RECOVERY THAT'S HAPPENING IN, IN OTHER CITIES WHERE, UM, WASTE MANAGEMENT SCHEME SCHEMES ARE, UM, SHIFTING FROM LARGE SCALE REFUSE COLLECTION TO MORE LOCALIZED, UH, CONSOLIDATED, YOU KNOW, BLOCK AND COMPACTORS.
AND, UH, THE SAME VEIN, AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, IS ALSO POTENTIALLY MOVING TOWARDS, UM,
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LOW PROFILE UTILITY LINE ROUTING AND, YOU KNOW, OTHER METHODS FOR FIRE, UH, ACCESS RISERS THAT CAN BECOME A LOT MORE RECESSED.WE'LL SLOWLY SEE THESE UTILITIES DIMINISH, UH, IN PRESENCE FROM THESE, THESE ALLEYS AND, YOU KNOW, OPEN UP POTENTIAL FOR ACTIVATION.
AND SO, WHILST I THINK GREAT STREETS IS STILL, UM, IN, IN PROCESS OF BEING REWRITTEN, I THINK, UH, WE COULD AS A GROUP LOOK TO, UM, ENGAGE THE GREAT STREETS TEAM TO, YOU KNOW, REEXAMINE HOW THEY ARE DEFINING ALLEYS WITHIN THAT GREAT STREETS MASTER PLAN TO, YOU KNOW, FURTHER DOUBLE DOWN ON SOME OF WHAT WE'VE DISCUSSED IN THE PAST AS HUMAN SCALE ENVIRONMENTS THAT, UM, EXPLICITLY ENHANCE THE PUBLIC REALM AND ACTIVATE THE DOWNTOWN CORE.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, FURTHERMORE, ENCOURAGE THE CONVERSION OF THESE SPACES INTO POTENTIALLY VIBRANT LINEAR GREENWAYS THAT WILL INTRODUCE VITAL, YOU KNOW, EYES ON THE ALLEY AND, UM, IMPROVE THE SAFETY OF, OF THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN DOWNTOWN AREA.
AND, AND SO IF, IF THERE IS AN APPETITE AMONGST THIS GROUP TO TRY TO TAKE THIS FORWARD, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO SPEARHEAD SOME OF THIS DISCUSSION, UH, AND, AND REALLY USE THIS AS A, A CONDUIT BETWEEN WHERE THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WERE, WHAT THE, THE GREAT STREETS MASTER PLAN IS CURRENTLY DOING, AND THEN HOW, LOOK, PERHAPS WITH THE WORKING GROUP AT HOW WE START TO SPREAD, UM, WELL, I DON'T WANNA USE THE WORD SPREAD, BUT POTENTIALLY GROW THE PURVIEW OF THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES TO OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY.
SO I THINK THE BEST PLACE TO START MAY BE WITHIN THEIR URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP.
UM, I AGREE THAT GREAT STREETS WOULD PROBABLY BE A WONDERFUL PLACE TO START.
UM, I KNOW WE JUST HAD OUR SECOND, MAYBE THIRD, NO, IT WAS OUR THIRD WORKING GROUP, UH, COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP MEETING FOR GREAT STREETS LAST WEEK.
UM, AND I THINK THERE IS AN UPCOMING MEET THERE, THERE, THERE ARE OTHER MEETINGS THAT ARE COMING UP.
UM, AND SO I THINK IF THE WORKING GROUP WERE TO FORMULATE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS AND THEN, UM, POTENTIALLY BRING THEM BACK TO THE, THIS GROUP IN AUGUST, UM, TO VOTE ON A FORMAL RECOMMENDATION THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE THE BEST, BEST PATH FORWARD FOR THAT.
I, I THINK THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.
I, UM, IT, I, I KNOW, YOU KNOW, I KNOW DURING THE, UM, THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS CONVERSATION, UH, WE MADE A REALLY STRONG DELINEATION BETWEEN WHAT URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES HAPPEN IN GREAT STREETS VERSUS WHAT URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES HAPPEN IN THE DENSITY BONUS, UH, URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS.
AND, UM, AND I, I ACTUALLY WASN'T AWARE THAT GREAT STREETS HAD KICKED BACK UP.
SO I THINK, UM, I THINK WE NEED TO START THAT CONVERSATION TOO.
I MEAN, IT'S KIND OF A BROADER CONVERSATION EVEN, UM, ABOUT HOW, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE SHOULD BE REQUESTING THAT THE GREAT STREETS, UH, TEAM COME AND, AND KIND OF GIVE US A, AN UPDATE AND ALSO TALK, UH, YOU KNOW, HAVE A DISCUSSION OF, UM, HOW THEY'LL BE INTEGRATING THE, UM, URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES DRAFT, UM, INTO GREAT STREETS.
YEAH, WE JUST HAD CAG MEETING NUMBER FOUR LAST WEEK, AND LET ME SEE IF THIS STATES WHEN THE NEXT MEETING IS.
I'D HAVE TO DIG THROUGH MY EMAILS A LITTLE BIT TO FIGURE OUT WHEN THAT NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR.
BUT THEY ARE, I MEAN, THEY HAVEN'T FORMULATED, THEY HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEY PRESENTED, WHICH WAS, UM, VERY, THEY WERE, THEY WERE WRITTEN RECOMMENDATIONS, MORE NARRATIVIZED RECOMMENDATIONS THAN, UH, TECHNICAL RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND SO I THINK, UM, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, IT WAS GOING TO BE SOMETIME THIS FALL
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THAT THERE WAS GOING TO BE CAG MEETING FIVE WHERE THEY, UH, WERE HOPING TO HAVE, AND WHERE THE REQUEST FROM THE ADVISORY GROUP WAS TO HAVE MORE SORT OF TECHNICAL, MEATY ITEMS TO, TO TALK THROUGH.SO YES, COMMISSIONER HARD, UM, I, I GUESS I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT WE, WE START THAT CONVERSATION WITH THEM BY REQUESTING THAT THEY COME TO THE AUGUST OR AUGUST MEETING, UM, FOR, TO PRESENT WHERE THEY ARE.
UM, AND, UH, SO THAT, THAT AS THEY MOVE FROM KIND OF NARRATIVE BASED TO MORE TECHNICAL, THAT THEY'RE MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE KEEPING AN EYE ON THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINE DRAFT AND, UM, AND INTEGRATING THOSE, UM, THOSE GUIDELINES.
YEAH, IT WAS MENTIONED DURING THE ADVISORY GROUP MEETING, UM, THAT I, I MENTIONED THAT KIND OF THE DELINEATION THAT WE HAD LOOKED AT, THAT, THAT AS THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP, WE WERE LOOKING PRIMARILY FROM THE RIGHT OF WAY INTO THE PROPERTY LINE, UM, AND THEN THINKING THAT THE, YOU KNOW, GREAT STREETS WOULD HAPPEN, WOULD, WOULD HAVE A PURVIEW ON ANYTHING WITHIN THE RIGHT OF WAY.
UM, AND THERE WAS, THERE WAS NODS FROM, FROM JILL ABOUT THAT AS A STRATEGY.
UM, BUT YEAH, IF THERE IS A, IF YOU'D LIKE A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM YEAH, I'LL, I'LL, UM, I'LL SPONSOR AN AGENDA ITEM TO, TO RISK REQUEST THAT THEY COME PRESENT TO US AND HAVE A DISCUSSION ON, UM, INTEGRATING URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES INTO THE GREAT STREETS, UM, FUTURE GREAT STREETS DRAFT.
IS THERE A CO-SPONSOR FOR THAT? ALL RIGHT, COMMISSIONER GILLIS.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? UH, SO THIS, ADD SOME DISCUSSION TONIGHT.
UH, DO WE WANT TO, THERE WAS A MOTION TO POSTPONE THIS ITEM TO THE, UH, AUGUST MEETING.
DO WE STILL NEED THAT POST? DO, DO WE STILL WANT TO DISCUSS AGAIN IN AUGUST? YES.
I DON'T BELIEVE HE TOOK ANY ACTION ON THAT ITEM.
SO YOU CAN, YOU CAN TAKE ACTION NOW IF YOU WISH TO OFFICIALLY POSTPONE TO A DATE CERTAIN, AND THEN WE CAN BRING THAT BACK WITHOUT HAVING TO PON THE ITEM.
WELL, I'M NOT SURE I UNDERSTOOD THAT.
UM, I'M, I'M QUITE SURE WE VOTED TO POSTPONE IT TO THE AUGUST MEETING, BUT WE DISCUSSED IT THIS EVENING, SO WE, YEAH.
SO I DON'T KNOW HOW MY, MY APOLOGIES CHAIR.
UM, DO, DO WE WANT TO, I THINK WE PLAY BY EAR AND THEN IF SOMETHING COMES UP, I THINK WHAT I WANNA DO IS, UH, DIG INTO OTHER GROUPS THAT ARE ALREADY MOVING INTO THESE SPACES AND, AND LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT IT.
SO I CAN STILL DO THAT, AND THEN I'LL BRING IT BACK UP.
YEAH, I, I THINK WE SHOULD, I THINK IT'S A BIGGER TOPIC AND WOULD DEFINITELY SUPPORT THAT WE CONTINUE TO TALK ABOUT IT AS WELL.
IN PARTICULAR, WE CAN HEAR FROM, AS YOU'RE SAYING, SOME OF THESE GROUPS WHO ARE ALREADY CALLING FOR THIS TYPE OF ACTION AND UNDERSTANDING MORE.
ANY OTHER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS OR DISCUSSION FOR THE EVENING? ALL RIGHT.
I WILL CONSIDER US ADJOURNED 7:11 PM THANK YOU ALL.