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02.05.19 UHCAMC PacketUNIVERSITY HILL COMMERCIAL AREA MANAGEMENT COMMISSION February 5, 2019 4:00–6:00 p.m. 1777 Conference Room, 1777 Broadway AGENDA 4:00 p.m. Roll Call Staff 4:00-4:05 Approval of the December 4, 2018 Meeting Minutes Board 4:05-4:10 Public Comment 4:10-4:40 Matters from Staff Staff •Introduction: Community Vitality Deputy Director •Commissioner Opening March 2019 •Hill Hotel Project Update 4:40-6:00 Matters from Commissioners Board •2019 Priorities Planning & Budgeting o Funding for Street Lights o Funding for Overtime Officers o Alley Plan Implementation o CU Coordination 6:00 p.m. Adjourn Attachments: -December 4, 2018 Draft Meeting Minutes Commission Members Dakota Soifer, Chair Term ends: 2019 Lisa Nelson, Vice Chair Term ends:2020 Robin Luff First Term: 2021 KC Schneider Term ends: 2022 Cheryl Liguori Term ends: 2023 2019 Commission Priorities 1.Seek funding to replace the aging UHGID street lights 2.Support the Hill Hotel project 3.Continue to pursue strategies to address transients 4.Continue to pursue Alley Plan implementation 5.Collaborate with CU programs and organizations. Upcoming Meetings March 5, 2019 April 2, 2019 Staff Liaison Sarah Wiebenson, Hill Community Development Coordinator wiebensons@bouldercolorado.gov UHCAMC Charter The University Hill Commercial Area Management Commission (UHCAMC) is appointed by the Boulder City Council under B.M.C. Section 2-3-20 to advise on parking and related improvements in the University Hill General Improvement District (UHGID). The five members must consist of three district property owners and two at-large members. All must be residents of the City of Boulder. CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETING MINUTES UNIVERSITY HILL COMMERCIAL AREA MANAGEMENT COMMISSION MEMBERS, STAFF, AND INVITED GUESTS PRESENT: BOARD MEMBERS: Liguori, Luff (arrived 4:06), Nelson, Schneider (by phone), Soifer STAFF: Wiebenson, Dammann PUBLIC: Carol Taylor and Sean McIllwain from Historic Boulder; Nancy Blackwood, UHNA; and Tina Simpson-Lee, resident PERSON PREPARING SUMMARY: Rachel Dammann, 303-441-4191 TYPE OF MEETING: Regular Meeting December 4, 2018 AGENDA ITEM 1 – Meeting called to order at 4:04 p.m. AGENDA ITEM 2 – Roll Call: Completed AGENDA ITEM 3 – Approval of the November 6, 2018 Minutes • Liguori motioned to approve. Nelson Seconded. All present approved. AGENDA ITEM 4 – Public Comment Gena Simpson-Lee asked about the proposed Hill hotel: how people will get in and out of the proposed parking structure. Wiebenson responded that the entrance is proposed to be oriented toward Pleasant Street. Nancy Blackwood provided a UHNA update. There is a new staff member in the CU Off- Campus Housing office, Sara Kaner. They are creating a student ambassador program and working closely with the HRWG. Would like more consistent information on the Community, Culture and Safety Tax public art investments on University Hill. Carol Taylor and Sean McIlwayne from Historic Boulder were also in attendance. AGENDA ITEM 5 – Matters from Staff: Commissioner Application Input Luff asked Nelson if her new employment at CU affects her representation on the board. Nelson clarified she is on the board as an at-large resident of Boulder, not as a CU representative. Wiebenson reminded the board of the one-year gap required between appointments. Liguori said UHCAMC has a small pool of applicants. Soifer said he thinks that anyone who served less than a full term should not have to wait. The commissioners agreed. Wiebenson indicated this would require a code change, but they could include their desire to change the code in the letter to 2 council with 2019 priorities. Luff made a motion to eliminate the waiting period for people who leave the commission before they can return. Nelson seconded. All in attendance agreed (4-0). Luff also suggested council consider appointing a CU representative to the commission, given their expanding land ownership in the district. A CU representative could replace one of the at- large positions. The commissioners agreed to continue a dialogue about recommending changing the commission appointments at a future meeting. The commission supported leaving the application questions the same as 2018. Hillanthropist of the Year Nominations Wiebenson reviewed the Hillanthropist of the Year award that began last year. She asked if UHCAMC had anyone they wanted to nominate. Soifer nominated Robin Luff and John Griffin for bringing the Conference on World Affairs to the Hill. Sean from Boulder Vapor House was nominated for his work to bring events to the Hill along with Patrice Madurai, the Marketing Coordinator for The Hill Boulder. Luff asked if there was a student who would stand out. Liguori said Ian Frodeson with Z2 Entertainment has put in a lot of volunteer time and effort for 2018 events. Nelson will get back to Wiebenson with UHNA nominations. UHGID Photometric Analysis Preview Wiebenson presented the findings from the photometric analysis of UHGID, including four alternative scenarios for lighting replacement. Schneider reported two poles at 13th/College to which the power was cut when the Community, Culture and Safety (CCS) tax-funded UHGID tree irrigation was installed. Wiebenson said she will look into why these haven’t been repaired. Liguori reported she spoke with Mark Heinritz of The Sink about the pilot alley lighting fixture. He is waiting for the proper mounting block to complete the installation. The mounting block was deemed necessary for installation on older buildings. Wiebenson asked the commission which alternative they would like to pursue so staff can determine funding needs. Luff asked how long it would take to get the poles funded. Wiebenson responded sooner would be better than later and recommended not waiting for the hotel. Would be better to have a well-lit district if and when the hotel is complete. Schneider advocated for new 14-foot poles at existing locations. Trenching the Hill again for new poles would be disruptive. Liguori and Luff agreed. The current poles are 14 feet, but new LED fixtures would be more effective and efficient. Nelson agreed but asked about adding poles at a few spots that are historically dark. Wiebenson suggested the commission could make lighting a priority submitted to Council, to help with funding. Liguori made a motion that the commission pursue the option of replacing the poles at their current location. Nelson seconded. The commissioners voted in favor unanimously (4-0). 3 Liguori asked if they could use some of the $11,000 in remaining CCS tax funds budgeted for the Event Street to install one new fixture to demonstrate what a difference a new light could make. Wiebenson said it may not be possible to dedicate funds from one CCS project to another, but she will look into it. The commission indicated 13th street for greater visibility. Commissioners will walk the district to make a location recommendation at the next meeting. UHGID Parking Utilization Data Wiebenson reported on a recent update to the 2004 UHGID parking study. Preliminary results are provided in the meeting packet. There were some locations and times where parking exceeded peak utilization, but for the most part demand did not exceed supply. Liguori suggested that staff point out to council that there are vacancies immediately adjacent to the Pleasant Street lot (e.g. the former La Iguana). If these were full, customer utilization of the lot might be higher. Schneider added that the results do not change the perception in the past 40 years that there is no parking on the Hill, and the fact that people avoid the Hill because of that perception. Luff said that the study shows a healthy turnover. Soifer supported Schneider’s comment about the parking being insufficient if, ideally, there is an increase of visitors. Wiebenson reviewed the study data. 14th Street lot is above peak utilization on week days with students. Pleasant Street never reaches peak utilization. Most of the users are permit holders. Soifer suggested better signage to increase utilization of the parking on Pleasant. Wiebenson reported that the second part of the study estimates the number of employees desiring permits is eighty. Soifer advised scaling up this number in case the Hill was at full occupancy Staff was asked to inquire whether CU would be parking its employees in the former Meininger lot or would they be using the 13th Street lot as well. Liguori asked if there was a narrative to go with the data. Wiebenson said yes – a final report will be in the packet for the Jan. 22nd council study session on the latest hotel concept. AGENDA ITEM 6 – Matters from Commissioners: Continued Discussion of Hill Hotel/Garage Scenario Schneider pointed to the Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Nichols Partnership to purchase Pleasant Street and his meeting with the developer. Schneider identified three positives: eliminating the underground garage shortens the hotel construction time 8-12 months. Second, the proceeds from selling Pleasant Street could help finance a parking structure on 14th Street, which has the benefit of giving customers a reason to walk through the historic core to patronize the hotel. Third, the city won’t need $22 million dollars to finance a garage. Schneider said the developer will have a much more do-able project, and he should pursue the purchase of the private parcels as well for fee simple ownership of the land. Soifer expressed appreciation for Schneider’s work before leaving at 5:20. Liguori liked that a walking route through the commercial district between a 14th Street parking garage and the hotel reduces the importance of alley improvements to connect to the hotel. 4 Luff said there would be less hardship on the neighborhood if construction time was shortened. Wiebenson suggested the commission may wish to make a formal recommendation to council regarding the sale of Pleasant Street since it is a UHGID asset. Commissioners discussed whether it was better to make a recommendation prior to the council study session on the hotel, or if it was better to wait until the full commission was present. Luff asked if the LOI was binding. Schneider responded it was not. Before Schneider left via phone, he supported the commissioners present voting in favor of recommending the sale of Pleasant Street. Nelson had questions about the process to recommend the sale to council. Wiebenson indicated that staff would be sending out an invitation to the December 20, 2019 quarterly HRWG public meeting, at which the current hotel concept would be presented for public feedback. Lu ff asked about land valuation for the two lots. The commission recommendation and public feedback could be included in the memo for the January study session with council. Wiebenson reported that Schneider is looking at comps since he just sold a property in UHGID. The exact fair market value is still being determined. Commissioners decided to vote on the motion in lieu of scheduling a special meeting for the vote. Nelson made a motion to recommend that the council authorize the city manager to enter into an LOI to pursue the sale of the UHGID Pleasant Street parking lot parcels in support of moving forward with the Hill hotel project. Luff seconded. All commissioners in attendance were in favor (3-0). Nancy Blackwood offered to reach out to the Academy to host the Dec 20th HRWG meeting. Continued Discussion of 2019 Priorities Liguori suggested replacement of the street lights as the first priority (fiscally conservative approach, 1-for-1 replacement, no trenching); support for the Hill hotel second; continue to pursue strategies to address transients, including funding for OT police officers third. and implementation of the Hill Commercial Alley Enhancements Master Plan fourth). Response to Council Questions It was noted that nothing related to the Hill was present in the draft 2018-19 council priorities. Commissioners suggested it was important to express the commission’s wish for continued support, to ask council to re-commit to Hill revitalization as a priority. Nelson offered to write the response to Council’s questions. Preliminary responses to the two questions included: 1. How well has council done over the last two years in incorporating the priorities of your board/commission? Council has done a good job hearing that the commission wants the hotel and there has been a lot of good conversation. The commissioners are hopeful that with if the hotel 5 proceeds, they can make progress with other UHCAMC goals. If new revenues generated by the hotel are captured, these funds can be used to support other UHCAMC priorities. 2. Taking into account the current work plan and your board/commission feedback from last year, what additional priorities do you think council should focus on, over and above those on the draft list? The commission would like council to re-engage with its goals from 2014-2016 to improve quality of life on the Hill. Nancy Blackwood offered to have UHNA write a letter of support as well. Meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m. – Nelson made a motion to adjourn. All commissioners in attendance were in favor. Next Meeting: January 15, 2019 APPROVED BY: UNIVERSITY HILL COMMERCIAL AREA MANAGEMENT COMMISSION Attest: Rachel Dammann, Secretary Dakota Soifer, Chair