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MEMORANDUM Date: October 1, 2012 To: Janine Jordan, City Manager From: Randy Hunt, Community Development Director Subject: Report: Community Development Dept. – August 2012 Building Permits: September 2012 building statistics: Month YTD 12 YTD 11 Month YTD 12 YTD 11 New Single Family 4 53 64 517,015.00 6,509,578.00 8,911,757.95 New Multiple Family 2 17 2,086,419.00 10,314,275.00 No. Units - YTD 12 (19) No. Units - YTD 11 (90) New Manufactured Homes Residential Remodel 24 209 215 611,793.00 2,562,301.00 2,016,407.31 New Commercial or Industrial 2 3 367,686.00 9,372,172.00 New Public Facilities Commercial, Industrial or Public Remodel 6 46 77 398,779.00 10,777,895.00 22,079,714.00 Demolition 9 17 74,490.00 420,402.00 Signs 3 15 10 47,500.00 103,959.00 44,030.00 Electrical 26 219 315 170,125.00 2,800,514.00 3,695,717.47 Plumbing 46 279 297 161,855.00 3,604,002.00 5,895,783.00 Mechanical 19 152 188 60,632.00 1,681,845.00 5,660,036.00 Misc. TOTALS [PHONE REDACTED] $1,967,699.00 30,568,689.00 68,410,294.73 Permits Valuations1 The building-permit situation continues to be less than cheerful. Much of the construction activity for CY 2012 is contained in the statistics so far; October and November may bring some final flurries of job completion, but as a rule, permits for the remainder of autumn have already been obtained by this point. We are standing at less than 50 percent of last year’s figures in nearly all categories, and the trend is reflected in both number of permits and valuations. An exception is the increased valuations (though not permit numbers) in the Residential Remodel category. (As noted earlier, in times of economic uncertainty, homeowners tend to remodel more often and buy less often.) The Finns have a saying, translating as: “When the bear [Russia] sneezes, we catch a cold.” Our bear is the University of Wyoming (a more benevolent bear than Russia has occasionally been to 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--- October 1, 2012 Page 2 Finland, no doubt). As President Buchanan noted in his Sept. 25 Council work session, construction funding for UW in the next year or two is slated to continue. This may or may not lead to improvements in other sectors of the local development economy, but it will help to stabilize the overall picture. The Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals heard no cases in the past month. Code Enforcement: Following are violation and abatement statistics for September 2012, with previous month for comparison: New Issues for Sept 2012 Type of Violation Total Number Not Resolved Total Number Not Resolved Total Number Not Resolved Offensive Growth 216 89 95 184 121 540 121 Junk 28 11 9 20 6 158 6 Junked Vehicles 10 10 2 12 5 46 5 Abandoned vehicles 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 Other 13 0 5 5 0 75 0 Snow removal 0 0 0 0 0 205 0 Nuisance Totals 267 110 111 [PHONE REDACTED] 132 Volunteer Hours 224 0 39 39 0 263 0 Coordinated cleanup of 1 property owned by a disabled citizen using volunteers Holds a position on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Association of Code Enforcement Officials, which includes 6 members from WY Date End of September August 2012 2012 2012 End of Year to The Department conducted 221 nuisance investigations during the past month, including 132 new investigations. Of the total, 110 cases remained unresolved by the end of the month. As summertime winds down, so do the weeds and offensive-growth issues. September and especially October are usually low spells in the Code Enforcement field. Volunteer hours for assisting with clean-up efforts total 39 this past month. The Board of Nuisance Appeals heard no appeals during the past month. ---PAGE BREAK--- October 1, 2012 Page 3 Planning: September 2012 highlights include: • Planning Commission/Board of Adjustment met twice in September holding a hearing on the following matters: o Garfield and 30th (Suburban Residential and Park/Open Space to Auto Urban Multifamily) - Denied o Z-12-03 Southeast of Garfield and 30th (LR to R3) - Recommended Denial o TA-12-02 TO District – Postponed until October 8, 2012 o CPA -12-02 Cirrus Sky Comprehensive Plan Amendment – Postponed until October 8, 2012 o A-12-02 Cirrus Sky Annexation - Postponed until October 8, 2012 o Z-12-04 Cirrus Sky Zoning – Postponed until October 8, 2012 • 2 new development applications were submitted to the Planning Division during the month of September, consisting of: o DR-12-07 Ivinson Memorial Hospital Remodel o CUP-12-10 401 South 15th Street (Spa) • The Ad-Hoc Committee established to oversee the update to the Parks, Trails and Recreation Master Plan met on September 12th and 26th. The committee is currently working on evaluating service areas for different types of parks and recreations facilities and will begin to prepare for Town Hall type meetings regarding the progress made sometime this fall or early winter. • Staff has began work on updates to the Mobile Home Park licensing provisions of the Unified Development Code. • 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 sometime in October. o Enforcement has picked up with the start of school, specifically related to over occupancy violations, staff currently has looked at or is in process of investigation 7 different cases. o Staff continues to receive feedback for future Development Code revisions and expects to bring “Round Three UDC Revisions” forward to the Planning Commission this fall. o Tri-Hydro Corporation has been selected to complete the I-80 Aquifer protection Monitoring Well Design and Hazardous Spill Detention Pond Design. Council should see a contract for services sometime in November. o Round two Revision and Fire Code revisions are being incorporated into the UDC. A new document will be available in early October. ---PAGE BREAK--- October 1, 2012 Page 4 Report of Engineering Division DATE: October 1, 2012 TO: Randy Hunt, Community Development Director FROM: Larry Ketcham, City Engineer RE: September Activities Development Review • Continued participation with review meetings for Indian Ridge Final Plat Submittal. • Staff is participating in discussions of the future Bill Nye Avenue alignment, and its implications on water, sewer, storm, and street infrastructure. • Met with Consultants on progress of Walker Subdivision fall construction efforts. • Staff is working with the Down Town Business Owners to facilitate requested additional bicycle parking areas. • Staff has participated in various meetings to discuss design parameters for “The Pointe”, a student residential development south of Garfield, near 30th Street. Coordination with other City Departments • Staff met with UW and the Contractor to discuss issues associated with the inlet construction on Grays Gable. • Staff participated with various meetings pertaining to the grant application for the Cirrus Sky Tech Park project. • Staff drafted up an alternative of the “Bolt Parking lot (public parking at 1st and Grand). • An initial meeting has taken place to come up with an approach to formally replace the “berm” that was removed on the west side, to comply with FEMA requirements. Construction Inspections • Inspection oversight for infrastructure improvements within the City’s Right of Ways, continues with as some projects started construction late in the construction season. • Staff has completed various inspections of local development projects erosion control measures. Capital Improvement Projects. • North Laramie Drainage study reached a stalling point on detention needs. Staff is regrouping, and evaluating options. A meeting with Parks, Trails Ad hoc Committee has taken place. • Engineering Staff provided comments to various SPT projects, and has participated in kick off meetings with the consultants. • SPT Phase 2, Schedules 7 & 8, (water and sewer replacements located in alleys in the southern part of the City), has obtained “substantial completion”. ---PAGE BREAK--- October 1, 2012 Page 5 • Staff continues working on the other SPT alleys, and street reconstruction projects that will be bid for construction for next year construction. • A drain tile has been designed in 21st Street (south of Reynolds), and the project was awarded. • Pavement Patch project has been awarded and is underway. Traffic Commission • Staff met with WyoColo Railroad representatives and DOT personnel on removal of rails in the west side of Laramie. This would effectively remove the “wye” that crosses Pine & Cedar Streets. • With the vacant positions on Traffic Commission, obtaining a quorum to conduct business is getting increasingly difficult. It is hoped that additional commission members will be appointed.