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MEMORANDUM Date: January 2, 2013 To: Janine Jordan, City Manager From: Randy Hunt, Community Development Director Subject: Report: Community Development Dept. – December 2012 Code Administration, Building Permits: Here are the permit summary statistics for November 2012: Month YTD 12 YTD 11 Month YTD 12 YTD 11 New Single Family 4 61 79 420,118.00 7,580,989.00 11,171,138.95 New Multiple Family 2 31 2,086,419.00 21,214,275.00 No. Units - YTD 12 (19) No. Units - YTD 11 (90) New Manufactured Homes Residential Remodel 19 248 257 227,174.00 3,004,582.00 2,416,866.31 New Commercial or Industrial 1 3 3 93,543.00 461,229.00 9,372,172.00 New Public Facilities Commercial, Industrial or Public Remodel 4 53 86 1,339,788.00 12,632,264.00 24,768,314.00 Demolition 11 17 84,490.00 420,402.00 Signs 1 16 11 10,000.00 113,959.00 44,432.00 Electrical 25 293 374 169,709.00 3,039,073.00 3,988,030.47 Plumbing 23 337 363 127,410.00 3,828,587.00 9,018,126.00 Mechanical 15 190 235 58,675.00 1,896,510.00 6,803,595.00 Misc. TOTALS 92 1214 1456 $2,446,417.00 34,728,102.00 89,217,351.73 Permits Valuations1 As we close in on year-end data from Code Administration, it is clear that permit valuation this year is more than 33% of last year’s YTD valuation. As noted in last month’s report, the key variable is a slowdown in major capital construction at the University. Anecdotal reports suggest that the 2013 added value on campus will be ahead of this year – primarily due to expected construction for the Enzi/STEM building north of Lewis Street. This project is expected to take two construction seasons, with occupancy in Fall 2014, and it’s premature to calculate how much permitting will take place in CY 2013 vs. CY 2014. City of Laramie Community Development Department P.O. Box C Laramie, WY 82073 Planning: (307) 721-5207 Code Administration: (307) 721-5271 Fax: (307) 721-5248 Engineering: (307) 721-5250 Fax: (307) 721-5216 TTD: (307) 721-5207 ---PAGE BREAK--- January 2, 2013 Page 2 (As President Buchanan noted to Council in September, the Enzi/STEM project is funded through Wyoming’s AML fund share, which Congress cut by 90%. It is not yet apparent to CD Dept. staff how federal cuts will affect the project.) In the February report, I will provide CY 2012 totals for all Code Admin. permit categories, including permit fees collected as well as number and valuation of permits. One expected bright spot is that permit fees are so far running ahead of permit valuations – although fees are below 2012 levels, the discrepancy is considerably less than in valuation. I will have more detail and explanation in next month’s report. Code Enforcement: Here are the Code Enforcement figures for December 2012. This table also includes CY totals for 2012, with 2011 totals for comparison. New Issues for December Type of Violation Total Number Not Resolved Total Number Not Resolved Total Number Not Resolved Total number Not Resolved Offensive Growth 21 6 2 8 6 558 6 426 8 Junk 38 13 25 38 16 228 16 244 18 Junked Vehicles 6 5 2 7 3 52 3 56 14 Abandoned vehicles 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 28 0 Other 15 0 13 13 0 130 0 123 2 Snow removal 0 0 81 81 0 308 0 453 0 Nuisance Totals 80 24 123 147 25 1283 25 1330 42 Volunteer Hours 287 0 287 151 End of December End of November Coordinated and supervised Laramie Community Cleanup Day 2011 Totals Served on Board of Directors for the Colorado Association of Code Enforcement Officials Coordinated and taught Body language Class for Wyoming Code Enforcers' Training Day Coordinated and supervised 8 cleanup projects assisting physically disabled homeowners 2012 Totals Year-end totals are a good opportunity to reflect on trends and patterns over the year. It’s noteworthy that overall nuisance totals are down in 2012, compared to the previous year. Our staff would like to think that efforts to publicize nuisance issues, and encourage cooperation in keeping them at bay, have made a dent. It’s particularly positive that some of our most labor-intensive (and ugliest) nuisance categories have declined this past year – “Junk” and “Abandoned vehicles” are standouts. ---PAGE BREAK--- January 2, 2013 Page 3 Staff cannot take credit for all reductions, needless to say. If the snow doesn’t fall, we have no snow- removal nuisances to abate, and that has certainly been true for most of Sept. – Dec. 2012. The up- side is that our remaining Code Enforcement nuisance lists can be whittled. Volunteer hours are also well ahead of last year. Some of the most visible clean-up tasks, such as highway entrances to the City, were accomplished thanks to crews of volunteers. We hope volunteer- hour trends will continue to hold up. Planning: December 2012 highlights include: Planning Commission/Board of Adjustment met once in December, holding hearings on the following matters: o FP-12-04 Indian Ridge 1st Addition Final Plat (postponed Until February 25, 2013, pending additional Engineering design and review) o CUP-12-06 UW Storage Building (15th and Gibbon Street) (Approved w/ conditions) o Downtown Development Plan handed out for Commission review; action anticipated in Jan. 2013) o CUP-12-12 1733 Glacier Street – Type 2 Child Care Home (Approved w/ conditions) o CUP-12-11 - 2552 North 15th Street (E-Free Church) - Building /Parking Expansion (Approved w/ conditions) o CUP-12-13 - 1514 Barratt Street- Type 2 Child Care Home (Approved w/ conditions) o PP-12-04 Silver Sage Estates Preliminary Plat (Approved w/ conditions) 5 new development applications were submitted to the Planning Division during the month of December, consisting of: o SSI-12-06 Laramie GM Detail Shop o A-12-03 Silver Sage Estates (East of 19th Barratt) o Z-12-05 Silver Sage Estates (Establishment of R1) o Z-12-06 University of Wyoming Gateway Center (R3, B1 and B2 to B2) o PP-12-06: Spring Creek Village Preliminary Plat (west side of 9th Street between future Bill Nye and Spring Creek Channel. Staff continues work regarding a petition for Municipal De-annexation of the Laramie Country Club. De-annexation requires City Council action within 180 days of filing. The de-annexation petition needs to be presented to the Board of County Commissioners within 60 days of filing. The City is unable to take any action on the de-annexation until the County’s 60-day review period is over. Staff has been in contact with the petitioner regarding the process and ongoing arrangements for City water service. (Although few de-annexations are supportable by the City, this case has merit in staff’s view. Sewer service is approx. two miles away and sewers are unlikely to reach this area anytime soon, to name one example.) The Ad-Hoc Committee established to oversee the update to the Parks, Trails and Recreation Master Plan met on December 5, 12, and 19. The committee is currently working on evaluating ---PAGE BREAK--- January 2, 2013 Page 4 trail and on street bike lane locations. Staff is also beginning to prepare for Town Hall-type meetings to be held sometime early in winter 2013. Staff continues to work with AVI Engineering on preparation of the LaBonte Park and Boulder Addition [Laramie High School] plats. Work on other long term projects continues: o A draft Ordinance on the Tree Area Overlay Zone is anticipated to be ready for City Council in the next couple of months. o Staff continues to receive feedback for future Development Code revisions and expects to bring “Round Three UDC Revisions” forward to the Planning Commission in Spring 2013. The LEDC Industrial Properties working group continues to meet and provide useful assistance to staff in identifying UDC-related development issues. o Staff is proposing amendments to the “mobile home, manufactured home, recreational vehicle park and campgrounds” sections of the Municipal Code in regard to licensing and licensing requirements. A resolution was approved by City Council on December 4, 2012 directing staff to proceed with amendments and retroactively extending presently licensed facilities. Proposed amendments will be brought forward to the Planning Commission in early 2013. o TriHydro continues work on the I-80 Aquifer Protection Monitoring Well Design and Hazardous Spill Detention Pond Design. Albany County is administering the project, with financial contributions from the City and WyDOT. o The Laramie Downtown Development Plan was handed out to the Planning Commission on 11/26/2012 for their review and will be back before them at their January 14, 2012 regular meeting for discussion and potential adoption. City Council is expected to receive the Plan from the Commission in late winter 2013. o Staff has selected Coffey Engineering to survey property being considered for donation to the City of Laramie for open space, parks and trails located along Grand Avenue, south of the Turner Well Field. o The RFP for the update to the Turner Tract Area Plan closed on December 17, 2012. A consultant will be selected and will begin work in January. It is anticipated that this plan will be updated no later than the middle of Summer 2013. Aquifer Protection in the East Grand Business Corridor: Community Development Staff would like to point out what we consider a “qualified success story” in the Casper Aquifer Overlay Zone regulations. As many will recall, Laramie Ford wished to add onto their current building in Spring 2011. Because the Site-Specific Investigation (SSI) mapped one vulnerable feature (Quarry Anticline) within 100 feet of the addition, and another vulnerable feature (Spring Creek channel / City Springs) was not much farther away, a variance to the CAPO regulations was required. The variance request was denied by the Board of Adjustment, primarily because of risk to the City Springs area – a known major conduit to the Aquifer. Laramie Ford was unable to expand and felt obliged to look elsewhere in town for a new location, which among other concerns would have left an empty, highly visible site along East Grand with few redevelopment options. In early 2012, Wyoming State Bank filed for an expansion project across Grand Ave., which also required an SSI. This study found that the Quarry Anticline was not in the location previously ---PAGE BREAK--- January 2, 2013 Page 5 identified on general geologic maps of the Laramie Valley; thus, the Bank did not need a variance. Staff suggested to a Laramie Ford project-team member that their SSI might bear revision in light of this new information. That SSI was refined on the basis of the new information, and it was concluded that the Quarry Anticline was not underneath the Laramie Ford site either – meaning that the variance was no longer necessary. Subsequently, Laramie Ford has provided an engineering solution for the City Springs concerns noted earlier – an oil-water separation device that can capture petroleum contamination in the parking lot before it reaches the Aquifer. The solution has been reviewed and found adequate by the Engineering Division. It is unfortunate, but not unusual, that the earlier Laramie Ford SSI found the Anticline to be within 100 feet. In fact, this episode illustrates precisely why it’s helpful to have SSI information accumulate over time. Existing geologic mapping in the Aquifer Protection zone is generalized by necessity. A detailed examination of the entire Aquifer zone would be needed to find precise locations for features such as the Quarry Anticline. Such a study would probably cost more than the City’s entire annual budget. Recognizing this, SSIs were required beginning in 2007 for individual sites. Each additional SSI completed (there are around two dozen so far) adds to the overall knowledge base. The addition of Wyoming State bank’s SSI allowed for a refined SSI for Laramie Ford. This would not have occurred except for the accumulation of geologic (SSI) information over the last five years. At this writing, it is not clear to staff how and when Laramie Ford might wish to proceed, as the Aquifer issue is one part of a larger project – hence the label, “qualified success”. Long-range, however, these recent refinements now mean the site can be redeveloped, and that redevelopment can actually decrease risk to the Aquifer. (We would also point out that the City played an active role in alerting Laramie Ford representatives to these new possibilities.) Engineering: December 2012 Activities: Development Review Met with the Developer’s Team for clarification of previous Indian Ridge Final Plat comments. Met with the Developer’s Team for discussion of previous Silver Sage comments. Staff conducted an initial subdivision walk thru for the Spring Creek Tract (Ivinson Memorial Guest House project). A list of items remaining was issued, and the start of the one year warranty has commenced. Staff had meetings and phone calls with consultants working on the proposed high school site in the Turner Tract parcel. Staff met with Rocky Mtn. Power and UW personnel on proposed power feeds to the west side of the core campus. Met with the Developer of Coughlin Pole Mtn. 3rd as a preliminary concept discussion. ---PAGE BREAK--- January 2, 2013 Page 6 Construction Inspections Staff continues inspections of local development projects for erosion control measures. Staff has had various meetings with DEQ, to move the Banner Road lift station and outfall sewer projects forward. The lift station project is back on track for completion early of 2013 Capital Improvement Projects. A work session with the City Council is anticipated in February on the North Laramie Drainage Study. It is hoped the study will be finalized by the spring of the year. Staff continues working on the one remaining SPT alley and utility reconstruction project that will be bid for next year construction. Traffic Commission Traffic Commission has recently been brought up to full membership, after a long period of having vacancies.