STUDY SESSION AGENDA CITY COUNCIL CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO 7500 W. 29th Ave. Wheat Ridge CO May 4, 2015 6:30p.m. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to participate in all public meetings sponsored by the City of Wheat Ridge. Call Heather Geyer, Administrative Services Director at 303-235-2826 at least one week in advance of a meeting if you are interested in participating and need inclusion assistance. Citizen Comment on Agenda Items .1. DRCOG Sustainable Communities Initiative 2. Staff Report(s) a) ADA Transition Plan: Program Status/Update b) Code Enforcement Strategy Update c) 1-70/Kipling Corridor Crime/Traffic Update 3. Construction Defects 4. Elected Officials' Report(s) ADJOURNMENT ~ . ... City of ~ Wheat&_dge ..JVc"oMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Kenneth Johnstone, Cornrnu~) Development Director THROUGH: Patrick Goff, City Manager ~ DATE: April 24, 2015 (for May 4 study session) SUBJECT: DRCOG Sustainable Communities Initiative ISSUE: Denver Regional Council of Governments' (DR COG) Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) grant from US Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is concluding. The project has been led by the DRCOG Board and an executive oversight committee, including private sector and non­ profit representation. Mayor Jay is a member of the executive committee. City staff members from Public Works, Planning and Economic Development have been actively participating in various aspects of the process for more than two-and-a-half years through a group known as the Gold Line Corridor Working Group (CWG). As part of the project wrap-up, Paul Aldretti, DRCOG's project manager for the grant, is presenting an overview of project results to all local governing boards that participated in the project. PRIOR ACTION: City Council passed Resolution No. 26, Series 2011 on August 22, 2011 , strongly supporting DRCOG's joint application for the funding request to help implement their Metro Vision Plan. On September 22, 2011 , Mayor DiTullio signed a letter to HUD Secretary Donovan further supporting the grant application and committing to provide $18,000 of in-kind contributions to the project, mostly in staff time. FINANCIAL IMPACT: As noted above, the City committed to an $18,000 local match to support the project, comprised of staff time, use of City meeting facilities and the City's $10,000 local match for the recent ULI Technical Advisory Panel. The City's local match has been approximately $33,000 over the past two-and-a-half years. The documents prepared through the project have been of great value to the City and far exceed that local match. Those include: • Market Study • Housing Study • Ridge Road multi-modal preliminary design documents 1 • 50 h Place/Ward Road traffic analysis and signal warrant study Staff Memo - Sustainable Communities Initiative May 4, 2015 Page2 BACKGROUN D: The overall goal of the grant application was to further regional and local sustainability goals as reflected in the regional master plan, Metro Vision 2035. In particular, the project sought to maximize the benefits and leverage the investment the region is making in mass transit through the FasTracks program. The Denver Metro region has a long history of working collaboratively as represented by Th e Mile High Compact, a voluntary agreement signed by 46 communities representing 90% of the region' s population. The Compact is an agreement to manage growth in a manner consistent with the vision and goals established in Metro Vision. This grant-funded project took a regional focus on issues related to housing, multi modal transportation, economic development and job creation. The project also sought to reach out to a broad representation of regional populations through a comprehensive public outreach process guided in part by a stakeholder committee, which included Wheat Ridge representation. In addition to the regional focus and regional level of analysis and recommendations, the project also had a specific focus on four FasTracks corridors: West Line, Gold Line, East Corridor (DIA train) and Northwest Rail. Each of these corridors, through their CWGs and stakeholder committees identified corridor-specific project goals and objectives. For the Gold Line, several of the specific goals and objectives included the preparation of the following: • Affordable Housing Preservation and Creation Strategy • Market Readines~ Study • Economic Development Strategy Each of the corridors also received funding for a catalytic project. These projects were intended to be design projects that could be moved forward to implementation and would assist and "catalyze" transit-oriented development near a station. For the Gold Line, the City of Wheat Ridge was awarded the catalytic project, which was a design study for potential multi-modal transportation improvements to Ridge Road between Miller Street and Ward Road. RECOMMENDATIONS: DRCOG will present a broad overview of the findings for Council's consideration at the meeting. The Corridor Blueprint (attached) is the summary document and there are several additional documents and work products that are cross-referenced in the Blueprint. DRCOG and City staff will be available for questions. Given the depth and breadth of material included in the Blueprint, staff would request direction from Council whether any of the supporting documents or topics should be brought back to Council for further discussion and action. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Sustainable Communities Initiative Gold Corridor Blueprint Sustainable Communities Initiative Gold Corridor Blueprint Background In November 2011, as part of a coordinated effort with 86 partner organizations, the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) was successful in securing a $4.5 million Regional Planning Grant for the benefit of the region from the Sustainable Communities Partnership, a federal collaboration of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development {HUD), Department of Transportation (DOT), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With this grant a consortium of municipalities, counties, state agencies, economic groups, housing authorities, and corporate interests joined with nonprofit, philanthropic and academic organizations to address one of the region's most pressing and exciting challenges: leveraging the planned multi-billion dollar expansion of the FasTracks transit system to meet other regional needs and opportunities. The overarching goal of the Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) is to align investments, programs and policies to maximize the benefits that result from the region's investment in transit. SCI anticipates a region with greater access to job opportunities across the entire income spectrum, lower combined transportation and housing costs, reduced consumption of foss il fuels, reduced strain on our air and water resources, and ultimately the development of concentrated, mixed-use, pedestrian- and bicycle­ friendly "urban centers" along transit lines that allow residents to easily access their daily needs without having to get into a car. The introduction of transit provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to achieve this vision. The work plan is divided into five main activities. The first three represent distinct but interrelated planning levels- regional, corridor and site-specific (Catalytic Projects). The remaining two ­ Stakeholder Engagement and Outcomes Assessment and Knowledge Sharing (OAKS) - cut across and support planning efforts at all three levels. Corridor Planning This Blueprint serves as the final report of the Corridor Planning efforts. It is designed to support on­ going collaborative cross-jurisdictional and inter-agency planning and development along the three transit lines currently under construction as part of the Eagle P3 public-private partnership {Northwest Rail Line, East Ra il Line, and the Gold Line), as well as US 36 Bus Rapid Transit {BRT). The corridors are defined as the area within one mile of these lines. long-term desired outcomes include thoughtful planning for development along the new transit corridors that maximizes the benefits of the region's investment in FasTracks. Specifically, these efforts are intended to help increase access to employment and educational opportunities (particularly for low-income households), decrease combined housing and transportation costs, support active living and healthy aging, reinvigorate existing neighborhoods, Attachment 1 , I "' set DRG-Ci 0 ~- -- . [ j ,,,,,,;,·.,,.,, enhance economic competitiveness, reduce pollution, and improve the efficient use of natural resources including energy and water. The Gold Corridor follows RTD's Gold Line (G Line). It consists of seven stations after Denver Union Station ~ Line 88t;J) 80th Ave ~, ------~------~ 74th Ave ARVADA 84th Ave 58th Ave ~ J?ve- ' i ~ EAT RIDGE c: 38th Ave a. Q ~ 41st-Fox 32ndAve 1 CJ) 26th Ave 20th EDGEWATER A N Each corridor established a Corridor Working Group (CWG) comprised of staff from jurisdictions along the corridor including those representing planning, public works, economic development, and public health departments. The CWG also included housing authorities, transportation management associations, the Regional Transportation District (RTD), and other key stakeholder to conduct corridor planning activities. These activities included: 1. Developing a corridor vision and identifying a set of goals to achieve that vision 2. Identifying a corridor-wide issue that would benefit from technical assistance funding available through the SCI