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Home My WebLink About5B - Public hearing and consideration of a motion regarding acceptance of a portion of the propretyCITY OF BOULDER PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD AGENDA ITEM MEETING DATE: May 21, 2007 AGENDA TITLE: Public hearing and consideration of a motion regazding acceptance of a portion of the property at 4525 Palo Parkway to expand the existing East Palo Park in northeast Boulder PRESENTERS: Jan Geden, CPRP, Director Pazks and Recreation Alice Guthrie, Pazks and Planning Superintendent John Pollak, Co-Director, Department of Housing and Human Services Cindy Pieropan, Housing Planner EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: At the Apri14, 2006 CiTy Council meeting, Council made a request for the departments of Housing and Human Services (HHS) and Parks and Recreation to coordinate efforts for potential pazk land acquisition neaz Pleasant View Fields and East Palo Pazk, as the property at 4525 Palo Pazkway was acquired for a housing development. The Council agenda item on this topic is available at (add link) and was provided to the PRAB earlier this month in the electronic "Heads Up." The purpose of this agenda item is to inform the PRAB of the condition and status of the land for possible acquisition and to request a recommendation from the PRAB on whether to accept this property. The subject property is located at the eastern end of Palo Parkway, roughly northwest of the Pleasant View Fields, south of the existing East Palo Pazk and south of Fourmile Canyon Creek. The property is located at 4525 Palo Pazkway in Boulder County. The property is undeveloped and has a medium density residentialland use designation. The northern portion of the property is located within the Fourmile Canyon Creek drainage basin, and as a result, approximately 23 percent of the 3.216 acre site will remain undeveloped. (Attachment A.) It is anticipated that the property will be developed as a mixed income, mixed unit type residential project with an emphasis on family housing. Key Issue Identification: The key issue for the discussion is whether the department should acquire less than one acre of the property at 4525 Palo Pazkway for the purpose of expanding East Palo Park. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff does not recommend acquiring any of this property for pazk usage. AGENDA ITEM # V B PAGE 1 BOARD AND COMMI5SION FEEDBACK: No formal Board or Commission input has been received regazding whether the Pazks and Recreation Department shouid accept a portion of this property for pazk purposes. The Boulder Valley School Board approved the sale of this property to the city in Februazy 2006. The purchase of this property by the city has been reviewed and discussed by the former City Council Affordable Housing Committee as well as by the Housing Technical Review Group (TRG) for the 2006 Housing Proyect Fund Round. Through a Request for Proposal Process (RFP), there will be further involvement from the TRG in combination with neighborhood representatives. Through the annexation process, there will be further consideration and public hearings before Planning Boazd and City Council. COUNCIL FILTER IMPACTS: Economir. The additional housing units are anticipated to provide an economic benefit to the community. Impacts to the Parks and Recreation Department would be in the form of costs to develop the azea and additional maintenance requirements. Environmental: The environmental impacts of the proposed development are unknown at this time. If the site were developed for pazk purposes, there would be impacts to the wetlands and a wetland permit and mitigation might be required. Social: This area will provide additional affordable housing to the community. Park amenities in the atea would be open and accessible to nearby residents. OTHER IMPACTS: Fiscal: If this azea is added to the existing pazk land, additional maintenance resources will be needed for maintenance activities, such as weeding, trash removal and other pazk maintenance. PUBLIC FEEDBACK: There has been no public process regarding this specific site to date, however an extensive public process was conducted for the annexation and development design issues for this general azea. A publac process is anticipated to be part of the RFP, proposal development and review and annexation process. Simultaneous with preparing for the annexation, staff from HHS will conduct a public process to identify and encourage development partners as well as hold neighborhood meetings to discuss development options. ANALYSIS: At the May 19, 2003 business meeting the PRAB indicated its interest in expanding the existing East Palo Pazk by one acre in order to bring it up to the five-acre neighborhood pazk standard but did not have available funds for such an acquisition. The PRAB expressed a desire to revisit the option of acquiring one acre of the subject site in order to expand the existing East Palo Park East Palo Pazk is a four-acre neighborhood pazk with AGENDA ITEM # V B PAGE 2 a flat grassy flexible-use space that is not programmed for active recreation. There is a playground with benches, picnic table and sidewalks. The Fourmile Canyon Creek and bike path is adjacent to the park. While the park is a four-acre site, it fulfills the requirements for a small neighborhood pazk, as defined in the department's master pian. Please see Appendix I of the Parks and Recreation 2006 Master Plan for chazacteristics of smaller neighborhood parks. Staff reviewed the site to determine if acquiring some additional land on this site would allow the department to provide additional services for East Palo Park. HHS wishes to utilize the flat portion of the site iri order to provide as much housing as possible, including permanently affordable housing. Therefore, most, if not all, of the land that would be donated or conveyed to the department would be in the FEMA 100 year or High Hazazd flood zone. Any new structures or changes to the existing land would require wetland and flood permits, including actions such as construction of new building structures; placement of soil, gravel or other fill material in the stream channel; placement of a significant amount of impervious paving material in the buffer area or stream channel; or removal of a significant number of trees within the wetland or buffer area. The foundation of the city's wetlands philosophy is to avoid impacts to wetlands as the first option. Then, if impacts aze required, loss or impacts to wetlands must be mitigated,' which can be costly. Staff does not believe that the gain of seating or picnic azeas at this site is enough to justify the cost of impacting and developing wetlands in this azea. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff does not recommend accepting this land for the following reasons: 1. The area is served by the adjoining East Palo Park. 2. East Palo Park meets the standazds for smaller neighborhood parks. 3. The additional amenities that could be provided would be limited to picnic tables and/or seating areas and could be provided by a HOA park. 4. Any development would be costly due to fact that a wetlands permit and mitigation might be required. Approved By: Jan Geden, Department Director ATTACHMENTS: ATTACHMENT A: Location Map AGENDA ITEM # V B PAGE 3 4525 Palo Parkway Wetlands, Flood and Storm Utilities ;;~ ,~. o ; ~~-R., -~. ~,~ -; ~~~ . ~ f - ~'~ . ~ . l~~ _: ~ _'=~ .~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~' ~~i. +?,-- ~'. _ ~ -1~~'~ W , ~ ~ ~'p~~I~ _ ~ ~ ......._"" ~. l~~ `s ._. - .. ~S~ L _ ~ 1~ , • ~y~ n ~ ~ t y ~. • ~ ~ ~~~~, ~ '~ ~ 1 0.~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~~ `~ .~ - ' 'J i t ~'~a~Y . ~e1 . +r, ~ - ~ ,'(`. { ~ . ~ . ~ ~~A r : ~ + ;i i ~~~ ~ , ~ ~~ `' ` ~ _ ~i9 1 ~d' . ' w~• V .~F"~ 1 ~,~~ ~,..~: ~~ ~~ ~`` ~; - - ~ ~"" 4525 Palo Parkway ~ _ y ouray Sr 3 E d h a ~ ~ a ~ d c a J p i ~ ~ m ~= 4525 Palo Pkwy Drainage Outfalls WQ ~ 2004 Wetland 50 ft. Bufter ~~p Manholes Accepted 50 k Buffer S Inlets ~~-~~j City 100 Year Ftood Plain Drainage Mafns High Hazard Flood Zone v Dramage Detenuon ~ Area of Parcel 139,4D0 sq.ft or 3.20 acres May 9, 2007 Area within Currently Accepted wetland Buffer = 28,300 sq.ft. or 0.65 acres Area within 2004 Wetland Buffer = 14,360 sq.ft or 0.33 Acres NOTE: Areas Calculated from GIS not Legal Docu ments, 2006 Aerial photography , . Attach~nent A ~} ` ~ AGENDA ITEM # ~`- ~ , PAGE