Planning commission reviews draft comprehensive-plan strategies; city-center redevelopment, transit and housing prioritized

The Englewood City Planning and Zoning Commission on March 18 reviewed a staff draft of the city's comprehensive-plan update, focusing on concrete, project-based strategies for small-area plans, transportation and infrastructure, housing and the city-center redevelopment.

John (planning staff) opened the study session saying, "This evening, we're hoping that this is our final, comprehensive plan update study session with you," and described a shift from vaguely worded strategies toward a prioritized, project-oriented set of actions staff will present to City Council.

Why it matters: Commissioners and staff said the update is meant to give Council and departments clearer guidance about which projects to pursue or to require from developers, and to shape upcoming capital-budget decisions. The draft ties individual policies to supporting strategies and ranks strategies as priority 1, 2 or 3 to help focus limited staff and capital resources.

Top priorities and near-term work - Small-area plans: Staff identified three small-area plans as top priorities: the Inglewood Station south area (roughly South of Hampton, north of Canyon, Broadway to Santa Fe), the Inglewood Transit Station overlay (including Inglewood Parkway streetscape and Little Dry Creek flood/greenway issues) and South Broadway/Bridal corridor improvements tied to future bus rapid transit studies. John said the station-area and corridor planning are intended to guide rezonings and infrastructure investments.

- Strategic-plan implementation: Staff noted several adopted strategic plans that need active implementation, including recent stormwater and water-master plans (work underway at Rotolo Park and elsewhere), the Walk & Wheel bicycle/pedestrian plan and downtown/place-making and sustainability strategies. "If we don't plan for ourselves, some departments are going to plan for them," John said, explaining the need to coordinate implementation across departments.

- Transit and mobility: Staff recommended starting work on a transit-oriented-communities implementation process created by last year's state legislation. The draft asks whether the city should include or exempt city-owned parcels and certain industrial parcels from that state framework, and whether to treat some corridors as optional additions. Staff also proposed a transit-district study and exploring micro-transit (on-call shuttle) pilots in coordination with Arapahoe County.

- City-center redevelopment and RTD parking: Staff described ongoing work to reshape the area around the Englewood light-rail station and the city's civic campus. Staff said the city is negotiating with RTD on a shared-parking approach and hopes to reduce the park-and-ride footprint by roughly 50% to support higher-density housing. Staff flagged potential geotechnical or environmental fill/plume issues under the site and said redevelopment likely requires substantial downtown-development-authority tax-increment financing; staff estimated a planning-level figure of roughly $70,000,000 for infrastructure improvements.

- Housing action plan: Following the affordable-housing task force, staff recommended pursuing a housing action plan and outside grant funding (state Department of Local Affairs programs were mentioned) to study funding options and consider inclusionary zoning or other tools.

Discussion and concerns Commissioners pressed staff for clearer prioritization metrics and implementation detail. One commissioner asked how seven items listed as Priority 1 would be compared when limited funds exist; John acknowledged staff had primarily set the initial priorities and said Council and department directors will need to make final funding decisions. Multiple commissioners recommended adding a matrix (for example, impact versus cost/effort) and combining related items (for example, city-center tasks) to clarify tradeoffs.

On Little Dry Creek flood risk, staff summarized recent drainage modeling and said daylighting the creek entirely was unlikely in most urban blocks because a larger floodway would inundate adjacent blocks; staff said alternatives could include a secondary above-ground channel alongside an underground culvert. Staff pointed commissioners to a recent Mile High Flood District presentation made to Council for technical detail.

Staff emphasized the role of plans in enabling development conditions: the draft strategies and adopted plans give the city leverage to require multimodal infrastructure or design elements when developers propose projects.

Votes at the meeting The meeting opened with two ministerial votes unrelated to the comp-plan discussion. The commission approved the March 4 minutes, and later approved an amended findings-of-fact document (the amendment corrected a voting-record entry and a commissioner's name spelling). Both motions were adopted by roll call.

What happens next Staff said the Planning and Zoning Commission's feedback will be carried to a joint study session with City Council and that staff will follow up with more detailed memos, links to the Mile High Flood District presentation and other background. Staff also plans additional outreach, including an online survey to run for about two weeks.

The commission did not take any formal action on the comprehensive-plan text itself at this meeting; staff emphasized that additional interdepartmental coordination and Council direction will guide final priorities and implementation steps.

Ending Commissioners thanked staff for the briefing and urged clearer cost/effort information and consolidation of related tasks before the next presentation to Council. John said staff will refine the strategy list and provide more detail at the upcoming Council study session.