Uh good morning and welcome to the downtown review board meeting for March 3rd, 2026.

The downtown review board meets monthly to review downtown development applications using the downtown Colorado Springs form-based code regulating plan.

The downtown review board is comprised of nine members appointed by city council.

Board members are community volunteers with expertise across a wide variety of disciplines.

Each member acts independently, carefully assessing all evidence presented to their decision.

We'll obviously are going to be looking at the downtown review board.

We'll have a presentation by staff.

We'll have a presentation by the presenter.

There'll be an opportunity for the public to comment both in support and opposition.

And at the end, there would be an opportunity for the applicant to respond and do a rebuttal.

And then there'll be a uh close and we would then go ahead and vote on it.

Our first item would be as we call would be Solon.

Will you go ahead and do the uh uh roll call, please?

Board member Nolette.

Board Member Kuzman.

Here.

Board member Coates.

Here.

Board Member Hensler.

Chair Lord.

Here.

Board Member Frisma?

Here.

Board member Mikulas?

Here.

Board Member Sokol.

Here.

Board Member Luciano.

Here.

Thank you.

We have eight members present.

I don't think there are any changes to the agenda or uh postponements.

Ryan will now move to you for any uh communications you'd like to do.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Ryan T for Tiller Urban Planning Manager.

I just have a couple quick communications.

First, it's good to see you all again.

It's been a while.

I think our last meeting was back in November.

Um haven't had a lot of major applications coming through the uh urban planning division that need DRB action.

Um, but we are still quite busy uh seeing lots of administrative reviews, lots of smaller uh permits and those types of things.

So um again, good to see you all.

Um you did get a copy of the 2025 downtown review board annual report sent to you by Solange uh about a month ago when we canceled our um February meeting.

Um and that's just a standard document that the city council likes to see from all our boards and commissions that documents the number of meetings held, the accomplishments of various boards and commissions and those types of things.

So uh hopefully you had a chance to review that.

And if anyone has any questions or concerns, you're welcome to reach out.

Um back in November at your last meeting.

The downtown review board did act on make a recommendation on the Palmer High School project.

Just a quick update that does go to City Council next week, uh one week from today on the 10th.

Um so that is uh still going through our process.

It was heard by the planning commission.

They also recommended approval of all three applications.

Um, but uh next week is uh the formal public hearing and action on all three of those applications.

Um you may see there is a fourth application associated with that project, a development plan.

Uh assuming council approves those applications, you will likely be seeing that development plan in the next month or two.

So keep your eyes open for that.

Um that being said, we don't currently have anything that's going that's gonna be ready for April 7th, uh, but keep that meeting on your calendar for now, uh, just in case the Palmer Development Plan or anything else needs uh downtown review board action uh roughly a month from now.

Last communication is just um reassurance that staff is working on the updates to the form-based code um as we've talked about in the past.

The thought, the process has always been let's update the experienced downtown plan, uh, get the high-level community input, the vision, the goals, policy strategies, etc.

Uh for the future of downtown, and then we will make sure our form-based code updates are consistent with and reflect the values and input from the community in our new um uh uh planning documents.

And so that will be uh we'll be beginning some public process and then bringing those back to the DRB here in the in the coming month.

So um just be aware that that's going on.

Uh I believe those are all the communications I have, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you, Ryan.

Is there any questions for uh Ryan?

Okay.

Uh we'll continue moving through our agenda.

There is no uh consent uh calendar.

Uh there is no unfinished uh business.

Uh our excuse me, Chair.

We would we go to the minutes first.

Thank you for uh uh submitted to us for our approval for uh minutes for the November 4th, 2025 uh meeting.

Um is there anybody who wants to make any uh changes or edits to those minutes?

If not, do I hear a motion to approve?

Somebody want to make a motion to approve them.

Motion um this is Bobby Nicholas uh motion to approve item 48 DRB 2304 meeting minutes for November 4th, 2025.

Thank you, Bobby.

Is there a second?

Uh Sam Friesma's second.

Any uh discussion?

Um go ahead and uh I think we yeah, go ahead and vote on your computers, please.

Amanda Luciano, I'm going to abstain.

My computer's restarting.

I wasn't at the meeting.

I got stuck in Florida, so I need to abstain.

Thank you.

The motion passes with six members um in favor and two abstained.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Uh there is no consent agenda.

So I our first item will be under uh new business.

And the item is going to be NPLN-26-001, the Elevate Downtown Plan, an update to the 2026 experience downtown plan.

Um Ryan, I believe you're going to go ahead and do the staff presentation.

I am uh Mr.

Chair, Ryan Tiefer Tiller, uh Urban Planning Manager with the city's planning department.

Um so it's uh this has been a long time coming.

This this project has been in process for um roughly a year or so.

Uh lots of community dialogue and input and work with the consultant team to produce a document that reflects the current conditions and the future of downtown Colorado Springs.

So we're pretty excited to be presenting this to you today.

Uh, and just as a reminder, uh the downtown review board is being asked to make a recommendation on the plan.

The plan will then go to the city's planning commission for their recommendation, and then ultimately to city council uh for uh adoption.

Um with that, I'm just gonna jump into my slides.

I will say my intent is to be fairly brief and then turn it over to Chelsea Gondekt of the downtown partnership and the downtown development authority.

Uh I believe Chris Lieber might say a few words on behalf of the DDA as well.

And then the planning consultants MIG will uh be giving the bulk of the presentation, going into more detail on the process of creating the plan as well as the details of the plan.

Um, but but again, just to uh set the stage, provide a little context.

Um you see in front of you on the slides, this is a map of the DDA boundary.

The DDA is the primary focus of the elevate plan, although it does cover some issues that span beyond the boundaries of the DDA and are even regional in nature.

Um the roughly one square mile in the heart of our city is the focus of the elevate plan.

Point this way.

Okay.

Um the elevate plan is made up of two volumes.

Volume one is the formal plan of development uh for the downtown development authority.

That is a state required uh document uh that is used to uh provide guidance and direction on the use of tax increment financing, which is the primary tool that the DDA has, uh though they do have uh uh mills for operation as well.

Um the second volume of the plan is the more traditional land use plan.

Uh it provides guidance uh on uh all of all types of issues, and and that is it reflects input from city staff, property owners, downtown advocates, residents, and and all types of folks that are interested in downtown Colorado Springs.

Um, just very briefly, you'll see the image on the screen is uh from volume one, the plan of development.

It includes the vision statement.

Um, and this is notable in that the 2016 experience plan uh did not have a formal vision statement.

It used what was called a vision framework, which was really just a series of um terms that reflected the vision and ideals for downtown Colorado Springs.

So this uh kind of is a little bit of a pivot uh from the 2016 plan.

And then you'll also see on the slide the five goals, um high level goals for the plan of development.

And again, that is a little bit different in that the 2016 plan had eight goals, um, and these have been kind of consolidated and focused a little bit in the elevate plan.

Again, volume two is the more traditional land use plan providing guidance uh for the city and stakeholders, covers issues like land use, economic vitality, parks, mobility, public realm, community and culture, and infrastructure and utilities.

Again, you'll hear more about the plan itself from our friends at MIG.

Um as you know, this has been uh a work in progress over the last year or so.

The final draft was was finished and issued publicly in February.

Um that uh was out for public uh input.

Uh city has reviewed the final draft as well as previous drafts and work closely with DDA, Downtown Partnership Staff, and MIG to reflect city issues, and obviously the item was ready for public hearing uh last month.

Um we did not as a legislative um broad plan that covers again roughly a square mile.

We did not send postcards or do posters like we would or like we do for a traditional site specific application.

However, there's been significant communication through um social media websites, uh, email, etc.

Um, making sure that folks who participated in the planning process were aware of today's public hearing, and and the same will be done for upcoming public hearings as well.

Public participation has been significant.

I'm not gonna go through all this.

I think you'll hear a little bit more uh about this from MIG, but um there was significant notable effort to involve community input and reflect that input in the draft plan in the plan for adoption.

Um and and that span traditional stakeholder meetings, focus groups, in-person events, pop-up events, as well as uh social media online, uh, emailed surveys, et cetera.

So we really um I think went above and beyond to try to get public input uh for this plan.

It was in the thousands, right?

Um, I believe the just the survey itself had a couple thousand folks, but I I'll let MIG and perhaps Chelsea speak more specifically to that.

But uh my my recollection is somewhere around 2,000 people, I think responded to this surveys.

That that's what uh the number that I remember.

That's great.

Um oops, did I skip ahead?

Oh, uh so public input covered a wide range of issues, everything from small businesses, public safety and cleanliness, housing and homelessness, uh mobility, uh, transportation options, et cetera.

Um, really across the board.

The full range of uh community input covered just about everything in in this plan.

Um, obviously some things more than others, but uh again, you'll hear a little bit more about that later this morning.

Um as I said, city was highly involved.

Uh number of folks from public works, traffic, utilities, uh, police and fire participated in focus groups and had the opportunity to review draft documents.

Um any input that was received from those different divisions um has been incorporated into the final draft.

Um as you uh probably saw in my staff write up, there's significant analysis on how the elevate plan relates to plan COS.

Um, these types of uh neighborhood or uh geographically focused plan documents are primarily reviewed and considered an element of the comprehensive plan.

Um and so we want to make sure they the two documents are consistent.

Um and again, there's significant analysis in the staff report.

Um I'm not sure why if I'm pointing this wrong, or I appreciate your your help.

Uh Melissa, thank you.

Um again, uh staff reviewed the elevate plan for um the six primary chapters, including the the vision of plan COS, and there's uh significant analysis in the staff report.

Um staff does ultimately find that the two plans are uh highly consistent and support each other.

Uh the uh consultant team also did a really good job of looking at uh relevant um plans that uh have been done over the last 25 to 30 years that are specific to downtown or the region or cover issues like arts and culture or transportation, um, stormwater, you know, creek improvements, all sorts of things uh to make sure that we uh that the elevate plan would be aligned with those documents as well.

Um it's all right.

Um staff also analyze the elevate plan for the uh what do we have eight or nine um purpose statements of the zoning code um and to make sure that uh all those were being honored and furthered through the elevate plan.

And you'll see there at the bottom statement of compliance.

Staff finds that uh the elevate plan is consistent with the purpose of the unified development code.

Um just a few simple optional motions for the downtown review board to consider.

Um staff is recommending or hoping, I should say staff is hoping that the downtown review board will feel comfortable with the current draft.

I know a lot of work has gone into it, a lot of refinement.

And uh should the DRB recommend approval, as I said before, it will move on to the city's planning commission next.

And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions, although I will say I think you'll get a lot more information from Chelsea, Chris, and the folks at MIG.

Um, and obviously staff is available to engage in dialogue or answer any questions uh towards the end of the hearing as well, if you like.

Okay, Chelsea, come on up.

Congratulations, by the way, for you and your new leadership position in the downtown partnership.

Thank you very much.

Good morning, everybody.

Thank you, Ryan, for cueing us up for this presentation this morning.

Um, I'm going to echo what Ryan said and say that it's truly exciting to be at this point today after more than more than a year of thoughtful engagement analysis, collaboration, and downright hard work to bring the Elevate Down Plan to you guys today.

As David mentioned, I serve as the CEO of the Downtown Partnership, and we manage the downtown development authority.

And this plan is really the roadmap for the next chapter of our work downtown.

Elevate downtown reflects extensive stakeholder input.

And yes, I can verify there were over 2,000 people that engaged in just one of those surveys.

So throughout the process, um, several thousand people have um shared their input.

And there's also been this shared commitment to keeping our urban core vibrant, welcoming resilient and economically strong.

We see this plan as both a continuation of the progress that we have made and a clear direction for where we're headed.

Positioning us to meet the emerging challenges and opportunities with vision and purpose.

Uh, as I was mentioning to Harrison earlier, right?

The world has changed quite a bit since 2016 when we last updated our plan.

I think one thing I wanted to mention that's been really meaningful to me throughout this process is watching so many people really find ownership in the plan.

And what I mean by that is them seeing their ideas, their priorities, and their hopes reflected in it.

Elevate downtown is about leaning in together to shape a downtown that meets the needs of businesses, residents, and visitors today, but also one that future generations will be thankful that we had the foresight to invest in.

We're proud of this practice of this work and what has gone into this plan.

And before I hand it over to MIG to run through the plan as a whole, I'd like to invite the man who served as the downtown development authorities chair throughout this process to say a few words.

Chris Lieber with NES.

Good morning, Mr.

Chair and members of the board, Chris Lieber, and indeed I had the privilege of serving as the chair of uh DDA throughout the most of the duration, but just two as of two weeks ago, I can now say that I'm um immediate past uh past chair.

Uh but what I wanted to share with you this morning, I'll keep my my comments very brief is really just to share enthusiasm uh with you uh carried forward uh from uh the DDA uh board.

We're very excited to be at this point.

It's been uh it's been a long and and I think uh rewarding uh uh process.

You know, our our primary goal uh and focus is really twofold.

One to really be the catalyst and to look for opportunities to build uh private and public partnerships.

And this plan certainly uh uh does that.

Uh and another, of course, very important role is to really promote uh both the physical and economic growth uh of downtown, and you'll certainly see that uh um in included.

Um of the things that I think we're particularly uh proud of is the community engagement process that took place.

And I would say that in many ways we doubled down uh as a board, uh wanting to ensure uh that the resources were there to really provide uh a robust uh uh and inclusive uh process.

Uh so before I turn it over to Ellie with uh with MIG, I want to let you know that uh certainly I will be here for questions if you have questions for the board.

Uh Mr.

Finn, who's also a board member is with me here this morning.

And uh with uh again with great enthusiasm.

Uh look forward to the discussion and uh your your support today.

So thank you.

Uh with that, uh, I'll turn it over to MIG who will be uh joining us uh virtually.

Great.

Thank you, Chris Chelsea Ryan.

Um good morning, everyone.

I'm Ellie Schaefer, a senior project manager with MIG, who's been the lead consultant on the plan effort.

Um let me share my slides here.

I'll get started.

All right.

Um great.

So um this may be a hair repetitive in some sections from what you've heard from everyone so far.

Um, but I will be going into a bit more detail, uh, looking at our process, the plan um content, and in particular changes that uh major changes since the 2016 plan.

Um again, we're really excited to be here today and um it's nice to see you all again.

So um recap of our process.

Um, our scope for this update was to update both volume one and volume two, which is the plan of development um and the master plan and all of the elements therein, including um, you know, the vision and goals, asset opportunities, catalytic sites, and then all the land use, parks, mobility, and market information in the master plan.

Um our charge from the get-go on this project was really to route the planning in community engagement.

And as you've already heard so far this morning, um, we're feeling really proud of that process and um how much we were able to reach the community and incorporate their um vision.

So I'll talk a little bit more about that.

But first, uh just recap on the schedule.

Um, we started this process back in January of 2025 with some data collection um and building our existing conditions as a strong base for the remainder of the project.

Um we also kicked off with some community engagement right off the bat, and that continued throughout the process at kind of key touch points and decision points throughout the year of um developing the plan.

Um, and then yeah, we pushed forward into volumes one and two and really iterated on those with the DDA and city staff and the community to get to where we are today, which is our um final draft plan and um ushering that through the adoption process, including DDA board, um, downtown review board today, and then planning commission and city council.

A little more detail on that community engagement.

Um we conducted 16 different focus groups with um key stakeholders um interested in downtown.

We had two online surveys, um, like was mentioned.

We had over 2,000 responses to those, which we were really excited about.

Those were in March and August.

Um, we also had a series of really five different in-person events, including um a walk and talk, a coffee chat, and then three pop-ups.

So our intent with this engagement effort was really to meet people where they were as much as possible rather than expect folks to come out and talk to us.

So we had a lot of success with those different events and engaging folks who may not otherwise participate in a process like this.

Most recently we had a draft plan public review period where the document was hosted online with an interactive commenting platform where we got some final comments from the public.

Priority topics we heard from the public throughout this process.

There was a lot of a lot of key themes that kind of came up over and over again.

So supporting small businesses, enhancing walkability and mobility, expanding arts and culture in downtown, increasing safety and cleanliness, addressing housing and homelessness, provision of more public restrooms, the discussion around density and building heights, and then the need for a downtown grocery store.

So I'll talk about those in a little more detail as well.

That public review period was for a month from early December to or mid-December to mid-January.

We had over 900 people come and read the plan, look at the document, which was great.

And then about 28 folks left 78 comments.

So some good feedback there, and also just a lot of confirmation that we had already heard a lot from the community, and people were pretty happy with what the plan includes.

A few things we did here during that public review period, continued concerns about homelessness and impacts of that on downtown, support for that downtown grocery store and a public restroom, and then a few smaller comments, like making sure to mention the Acacia Park Ban Shell and some updates to the data that has now been available.

So now I'll give you a little bit more under the hood of everything that's in the plan.

Hopefully, you've had a take a chance to take a look, but I know it's a pretty long document, so I'm going to kind of summarize those different contents for you.

So, yes, the whole plan is called the Elevate Downtown Plan.

It's broken into two volumes, which is the plan of development and then the downtown plan itself.

So the document starts with an introduction, which provides some context and implementation priorities.

Volume one is really more the organizational framework, I suppose you would call it.

So we look at what are those key assets opportunities and challenges for downtown, present vision and goals, uh, define the DDA boundary, and discuss uh tax increment financing TIFF.

The volume two has seven different topic-specific chapters.

Um, three I'll point out are new to this version of the plan, economic vitality, community and culture, infrastructure and utilities.

So we are excited to add kind of make the plan a bit more well-rounded and address these areas where we were hearing community feedback and a need for um specific chapters to address those.

So, starting with volume one, um, the assets and opportunities and challenges.

So, all of these were updated since the 2016 plan.

Some of them are um more minor tweaks, so a lot of them were more extensive.

Um, for example, um flourishing sports economy A8, asset number eight.

Um, the previous plan focused more on Olympic City USA, and this is broadened in this version of the plan to reflect the new sports venues and the impact of that of those uh downtown.

Looking at the challenges, um again, these cover a wide range of topics: housing, transportation, workforce, clean and safe, growing pains, etc.

Um, a few that were added most recently were regarding the cost of development and how that can be a challenge in downtown, as well as um the impact of tax-exempt parcels on downtown funding and the TIFF funding source.

Looking at opportunities, um, again, very broad uh coverage of these opportunities, but these really kind of teed up the plan to know you know, where can we dive in and um recommend more improvements and whatnot?

So as we know, there's been a lot of residential development in downtown in recent years.

So, opportunity number one looks at amenitizing the downtown neighborhood.

Um, so looking at downtown as more of a um a neighborhood and a population center and not just a uh a central business district alone.

Um that's one I'll draw some attention to there.

The vision and goals, Ryan shared this as well, but I'll go ahead and read the vision statement.

Um, downtown is vibrant and inclusive heart of our community where history, culture, and nature meet modern urban living, a hub of creativity, commerce, and civic life.

It thrives through strong partnerships that foster sustainability, equity, and shared prosperity.

Um, yeah, as Ryan mentioned, we've consolidated the goals into five.

And um the goals each have nested action items in the plan that reflect really how to take action and implement the content that comes from in um volume two.

Of those action steps, there's three for each goal that are identified as sort of the top priorities.

Um for goal one, the heart of the Pikes Peak region.

Um the priorities are really to position downtown as a destination, empower local retailers, and um championing downtown as a place for startups and creative enterprise.

Goal number two looks at the region's most vibrant and welcoming neighborhood.

So strengthening and sustaining the clean and safe program, diversifying housing options, and providing that downtown grocery store.

For goal three, peak urban life with unmatched access to nature.

Uh, the three priorities look at um bringing downtown's public spaces to life, activating the waterfronts and completing the legacy loop, and telling the story of downtown where urban energy meets Colorado Adventure.

Goal number four is culture powered by creativity and sport.

Um there we're looking at celebrating and elevating the arts and culture in downtown, strengthening the creative economy, and activating downtown around sports.

And then lastly, goal five urban design shaped for humans.

So here we're looking at um the priorities being activating downtown with seamless transit and active travel options, making streets safer and more accessible, and promoting connected sidewalks and active ground floors.

So I'll now give some highlights from volume two.

Um I'll go through each chapter.

So chapter one looks at the historic context of downtown and the existing land use.

Um, it also identifies the different districts uh across the downtown area and gateways to those districts and to downtown, as well as identifies um several catalytic sites and big ideas.

This is a section where we've added um we've addressed density and building heights.

This was not in the last plan, but it's been a big topic for the community.

So the plan covers what the benefits of density are and why it's important in downtown, um, considerations like shade and views.

There's two different graphics, like the one on the slide here that show a few of the um approved developments in downtown and what impact those may have on the skyline from a few different viewpoints.

Um then we also recommend upper story design and rooftop activation, so how the form-based code can support um a skyline of buildings that the community um supports, and then activating rooftops or upper stories to help um get more people up and enjoying those views and the benefits of those of taller buildings as they come online.

Um the catalytic sites, these were in the last plan.

Um we have basically broken those down.

They're previously just two categories of catalytic and influence sites.

Um we've broken those down into several more categories, as you can see on the right.

Um those include 20 different 26 different sites and ideas.

So we've got catalytic opportunities, desired uses or market opportunities, reimagined and enhanced use sites, contemporary prospects, and influence sites.

Um, the plan also includes a lot more graphic visualizations to start to envision how those catalytic sites could develop over time and really stitch into their surroundings and provide um public realm benefits as well.

The downtown grocery store, again, this is new to the 2026 plan.

Um, our partner economic and planning systems did a detailed demand analysis and identified potential grocers that you know might select a downtown environment like this for an urban grocery store.

Um so they provided site needs and selection criteria, identified the nine potential sites outlined in red on the slide, and described some different incentive options that could be possible for the DDA and or the city to help partner to make that grocery store a reality.

Districts and gateways, and these were in the last plan.

They've been updated a bit to better align with URA boundaries, um, and the gateways are described in terms of a lot of progress that has been made at these gateway points as well as additional improvements that could still be made.

Chapter two, again, this is a new uh new chapter for the plan, economic vitality.

So here we really look at um businesses, employers, employees, tourism, and that concept of neighborhoodification, um, which I mentioned.

So small business support, really looking at expanding and supplementing current grant programs to help small businesses in downtown, leveraging more funding sources, curating the tenant mix.

So working with brokers to do that and ensure the mix is supportive of what the community would like to see downtown, activating temporary storefronts that are currently vacant, and where relevant, encouraging site cleanup or restoration of particular sites.

With employer employee attraction and retention, the plan recommends incentivizing modern Class A office space, providing amenities downtown that make it a great place to live and work, and working with different partners and educational institutions to attract young and prospective employees and promote downtown's enterprise designation.

Chapter three looks at parks, trails, and waterways.

So we review all the parks downtown and other opportunities for parks and open space, look at connecting the legacy loop trail, activating waterways, and then trail-oriented development.

A few highlights from that chapter.

Legacy loop is obviously a major asset.

Two downtown Colorado Springs, and there has been a lot of improvement on it.

There's one real remaining gap that the plan recommends, prioritizing for completion.

And then waterfront activation.

So elevate downtown plan really builds a lot from the Coast Creek plan, which does a deeper dive into the Fountain Creek watershed.

So the Elevate Downtown Plan recommends implementing and supporting that plan and recognizes the creek as an anchor for downtown and the city as a whole, new new restoration projects, long-term reimagining the Drake site, and creating a gateway park south.

And then trail-oriented development.

If you haven't heard of this concept before, it's similar, you may have heard of transit-oriented development, but trail-oriented development integrates multi-use trails with residential and commercial development.

So really prioritizes prioritizes those frontages on the trail to create really special trail spaces in select nodes along a trail.

So the plan identifies opportunities for that that align with the Coast Creeks plan and Vision Shook's Run plan that started to look into this as well.

It also includes some best practices for those sites where trail-oriented development may be a possibility.

Chapter four, mobility network.

So this chapter has the framework for mobility, including different street types and place making streets.

It adds some content about intersection and safety improvements, promotes active transportation and transit in downtown, and discusses vehicle parking.

So looking at walkability, mobility, this was a major topic for the community as well.

We've updated that overall streets framework and taking a much closer look at safety improvements, including key locations that need safety countermeasures.

There's a recommended recommended bike facility network and an analysis of where there are still some existing sidewalk gaps in downtown.

The plan also provides support for mobility hubs and micro-mobility to connect between different modes of transportation and help people get to and around downtown.

And then better connectivity out from downtown to surrounding destinations.

The street types includes three main different types.

So placemaking streets have a real focus on walkability and supporting adjacent rate retail and employment, active transportation priority streets, our major walking and biking routes, more like a little bit more like through routes, and then connecting to the legacy loop, and then residential garden streets are down in some of the more residential areas of downtown, which are more designed for landscaping, green infrastructure, and more livable outdoor space.

So recognizing that downtown is right off I-25, and there are vehicles coming in from there, as well as Nevada and other major connections.

So we really look at how to slow down traffic as it enters into downtown.

I mentioned intersection and safety improvements, a few that have come out in particular through our analysis have been Kiowa and Bijou, Platt Avenue, Colorado Avenue, and Cimaron.

So we're not recommending specific improvements to specific intersections quite yet.

That would require some additional analysis.

But in general, we recognize certain types of countermeasures that could help depending on the specific issues at each intersection.

So things like pedestrian prioritization of the crossing intervals and different traffic calming techniques.

Chapter five, public realm and urban design.

So here's where we make some recommendations for the form-based code, look at public spaces in downtown and enhancing the identity of those different districts.

So as Ryan mentioned, right now the farm-based code is being updated, and that will be completed after this plan is adopted.

But generally, we're looking at zoning alignment with the downtown districts, increasing clarity around the use definitions, and then encouraging architectural diversity, environmentally sustainable design, and attention to upper floor design.

Community historic preservation was a really important topic for the community as well.

So we've added this section to the plan.

We suggest mechanisms to ensure that downtown remains accessible for neighbors into the future, people that currently live there.

So looking at housing options, tenant resources, community land trust opportunities, and promoting upward economic mobility.

And then it also looks at maintaining the character and cultural identity in the public realm.

So in particular, historic buildings and downtown's historic medians.

And then chapter six, community and culture.

This section is a little bit more focused on people, you might say.

So we know that public art and creative economy are major efforts of the downtown partnership.

So we wanted the place for that, as well as events and activation to live.

This chapter includes a section on housing and homelessness and public safety.

So a couple highlights from this chapter.

Things like within the streetscapes, rotating playful interactive, supporting local artists, different ways to do that.

The plan advocates for venues and development that support the creative sector, fostering partnerships and expanding event offerings in a targeted way.

With housing and homelessness, really we recognize that the DDA and downtown partnership are one important partner amidst many that are addressing this challenging issue.

So the plan added this section and really supports their work as a as a partner within the Pikes Peak Continuum of Care.

It also mentions recommendations like building social infrastructure, educational campaigns, human humanizing issues, and having trainings for staff and local businesses as to how for how to appropriately handle any conflicts that can arise.

And then talking about homelessness, you know, really requires talking about housing at the same time.

And so this section of the plan talks about advocating for and potentially supporting affordable housing development as a priority in downtown.

Public restrooms.

So the plan looked at recommendations for how those could be strategically added in downtown beyond those that exist today, like in the parks, but we looked at some facility characteristics, maintenance and operations considerations, and provided a few models that the city could consider to expand access to those essential facilities.

And then safety and cleanliness.

Right now, the downtown partnership has a clean and safe pilot program going.

So the plan really recommends learning from that program as the pilot is completed, and then you know, implementing a permanent version of that program.

Regarding safety, we know that activation can also go a really long way, as well as crime prevention design tactics.

And then it recommends coordination and collaboration on safety training and neighborhood advocacy and relationship building with law enforcement in downtown.

And then lastly, chapter seven, infrastructure and utilities.

This chapter is new to the plan as well, touches on electric, um, stormwater and public services.

So, in terms of enhanced infrastructure, we know that you know downtown is um primed for new development and and more density.

So this that's sort of how this came up in conversation is can the infrastructure and public services support that um additional density.

So the plan kind of covers how generally, yes, the infrastructure is in place.

Um and that's part of what makes downtown a great place for growth.

But um, you know, there's fiber construction coming into downtown.

Uh, there's some opportunities for public Wi-Fi that the plan articulates.

There's several electric vehicle charging stations downtown and the requirements for them with new development.

Um there's ongoing processes to underground overhead utility lines.

And um, we also dove a little bit into stormwater management efficiencies that might be possible to reduce barriers on site-specific projects and look at a more district-wide um strategy for downtown drainage and ensuring water quality for adjacent waterways.

And then lastly, public services.

So here we we look at emergency response and schools in particular, um, and sort of outline how those um departments handle growth, population growth, and how they're well suited to to handle that in downtown, um, and also largely recommend collaboration between key partners for successful development and a couple of specific um items like the construction and redevelopment task force and the rapid response program.

So, with that, and that's uh that's the detailed overview of everything in the plan.

Happy to um stop there and open it up for any questions or comments that you might have.

Thank you very much, Ellie.

Um are there uh questions that uh colleagues on the board would like to ask.

I'll go ahead, Ellie.

This is David.

Um one of my questions would be, and and you partly addressed it.

Um one of the issues that we've had to deal with a little bit is uh height and and density.

And um you uh obviously dealt with it in the report.

I think the current form-based code has an area in the downtown.

I guess my question to you, and I think you talked about design, corridors.

Um at this point, did you do anything that would want to restrict height in the future or not?

I know that's been a question that's come up in the past.

Yeah, thanks for asking that.

Um, the plan does not recommend restricting height anywhere in particular.

Um, ultimately, the the code is the regulating document that determines you know what height is actually allowed in downtown.

So, really what we were looking at doing is understanding what some parts of the community's concerns were with height and thinking about how we can address that.

So I mentioned like view sheds being a major one, and then architectural character, um, feeling like it fits into downtown.

So we more so touched on the height from a qualitative way and recommended that those are major things to be considered.

Um, and we also dug into the economic benefits of that density in downtown, just to give a little bit more context as to why um downtown might be a suitable place for tall taller buildings.

Um, but again, I would defer to the form-based code in terms of uh actually regulating the height.

Thank you.

Uh yeah.

Uh second question I was wondering that uh I think we sort of indirectly deal with some is you obviously uh very nicely talk about in the report uh work around housing and homelessness.

But I think one of the areas that we often find when people are bringing uh projects before is we're finding more and more people are having to deal with uh security issues on their property.

So they begin to look at uh fencing, um, you know, I think there is concerns at time about uh public seating.

I was just wondering a little bit in the plan, how did you balance the mix from some of the realities and concerns that people are looking at around safety and security when they do build build businesses in the downtown and the homeless issue?

Sure, yeah.

Um, you know, homelessness is such a complex issue.

People are homeless for a lot of different reasons.

So we really um try to hit touch on the topic from a few different angles.

Like you said, the housing component, um, affordable housing options is a big one, partnering with other organizations to um help folks experiencing homelessness from the safety side of things.

Um there's there's a few things we included.

One, you know, there's the the clean and safe pilot program that the partnership is currently doing, which is um really addressing those concerns pretty head on.

So um we're supporting, you know, the plan supports that effort and continuing that um based on lessons learned after the pilot is complete.

Um the the plan also talks about public safety um, you know, from the community and community building lens.

Um so I mentioned um like potential trainings for businesses and property owners for when they do have conflicts, um, you know, building those relationships with law enforcement for when law enforcement does get involved, um, as well as some different sort of um maybe educational campaigns where we're really humanizing those those issues and um trying to address fears that people may have and support those.

Um, you know, make sure people downtown feel supported and safe is a huge, hugely important thing to do, um, as well as you know, addressing um what how we can reduce those fears and just create a safer environment.

So um yeah, the plan talks about those programs as well as design solutions to you know, increase eyes on the street, activation and parks, visibility, lighting, those sorts of things.

So it's really a multi-pronged um topic.

Thank you, Allie.

Are there questions by board members?

Uh board member Friesma.

I have two questions.

I'll ask them and then I'll ask them both and let you respond.

Um, in your street network analysis, uh, were you able to identify any candidates for car-free pedestrian streets?

Um second question did you take a look at our form-based zone, kind of the different areas with the different uh like the core and the transition areas and the corridors.

And do you have any suggestions on how we might change those or maybe even expand the core area that does not have building height risk requirements?

Um yeah.

So starting with your first question, um, pedestrian focused streets.

So the mobility framework of the plan includes these um placemaking streets, and those are broken into three types signature streets, activity streets, and downtown alleyways.

So the plan identifies those on the map.

Um and the downtown alleyways in particular are it's not every alley in downtown, it's really those that we think are the best priority for uh pedestrialization and um making those more occupiable spaces, not just functional spaces.

So for each of those types of streets, the plan has street sections, um graphics that show sort of how those could be designed and identify key elements of um the streetscapes that will help make those more pedestrian-friendly.

Um with form-based code, um, the plan does not recommend um changing the sector's designation.

Um really we talk more a little bit more detail about um the what the objectives of the code should be in downtown.

So um more specifics, like you know, the upper story um design articulation, um, refining those use categories, um, and how the form-based code can support the public realm.

But um, and I'll defer to Ryan if he wants to say anything else specific to form-based code, but um, yeah, at the moment, we're not recommending a change to the sectors themselves.

Thanks.

Mr.

Chair, if I could just add uh Ryan T for Tiller.

I I think Allie said answered both those questions perfectly.

I'll just state that the form-based code actually does include some language that the city is to evaluate sector designations whenever updates to the code are addressed or every 10 years.

Um, and we're actually over 10 years at this point.

So we can certainly have more of that discussion about sector designations when the form-based code comes in front of the DRB.

Um, but I think certainly we would use the elevate plan as a resource and the community input and the professional input that went into it that would lead us to think the sector designations are pretty good as they are today.

Obviously, there will be a little bit of change with, for instance, the Palmer High School project being added to the form based zone.

We've talked about a couple other properties being added to the form-based zone that aren't currently shown in this plan because those actions haven't taken place yet.

And to the other question, again, I think Ellie's answer was great as far as the signature streets.

I will just point out that I don't believe the plan makes recommends any particular locations where streets would be converted to pedestrian only.

I think all of our street types include our are multimodal and that they include vehicles, um, bikes, scooters, pedestrians, uh the full range.

So we're not the plan doesn't recommend any six 16th Street Mall or Pearl Street Mall type pedestrian only um roadways.

I'm not sure what's going on with this mic, but uh I hope that I hope that helps.

I may uh Chelsea Caldeck.

One thing I do want to point out that is in the plan of development as opposed to in the land use plan of volume two.

We don't identify specific areas uh per se that we think should be incorporated into downtown, but we do identify that we should look at other opportunities of things that might be incorporated into the downtown boundary and relatedly, obviously we would want to pursue the opportunity to fold that into the form based code as well if it's downtown development.

So again, not something that has done that additional analysis to identify which makes sense, but again, that high level of um there are opportunities for additional properties that would make sense to be folded into the form-based code, and that's kind of a next step of analyzing and looking at that.

Hi, this is Harrison Sokol.

I just wanted to say first that it's a I think a pretty uh expansive plan and inspirational.

I had a really good time reading through it yesterday.

Um there were a few things that stood out to me that I would just like to kind of have on the record and if anybody would like to respond to them.

Um I I like that the plan talked a lot about our intentions for developing downtown parks further, especially along the creekside.

Um, one thing that I've just thought that I haven't really seen mentioned anywhere is um sound mitigation from the interstate.

So I maybe would have appreciated a little bit of dialogue on that.

Um, just because especially Monument Valley Park is pretty much right up against um I-25.

Um, one other thing is that the plan briefly mentioned that there are parking minimums for part of downtown, or that there are no parking minimums for part of our downtown.

Um, but it didn't really make a recommendation or have any dialogue on if that should be expanded, because currently that's only in our um core zone, not in any of the other parts of the form-based zone.

Um, and the last thing is that the plan briefly touched on the lowell neighborhood as a kind of site adjacent to the boundaries of the study.

Um, and it refers to Lowell as the only new neighborhood in downtown.

And I Lowell has a really long history and is one of the oldest neighborhoods in downtown.

So I think that sentence maybe could be rewarded.

Other comments, questions.

Uh one comment I was wondering um a little bit, and didn't read all the details, so it may be in there.

Um, and you talk a little bit about the uh streets.

Um obviously over the years with the growth of uh apartment complexes, especially along Wasatch and Weber.

So often, of course, the project would come in uh to us if we had to review it, and we would look at the apartment complex and their direct uh kind of situation.

I was wondering, um but there was never any like somebody stepping in and saying, here's the plan for these corridors.

Obviously, the individual owners won't.

I know at one point the parking administration was the source for some streetscape and funding.

I guess my question, Chelsea, um was there anything to sort of try to activate a more comprehensive plan with the street than just sort of leaving it to individual developers.

Thank you.

And uh forgive me, I don't know where in the 250 pages it's referenced, but we do talk about kind of an ongoing effort with the parking enterprise, both in terms of a streetscape prioritization for updates, but also looking holistically at the system.

So when we do have individual developments that come across, we recognize what's been identified or as um the preferred um type of infrastructure that'll go within that streetscape, which I think really aligns with the mobility framework that's laid out in the plan itself.

So that is uh I know probably briefly noted at some point in the plan, but that is an ongoing effort that um our staff uh works directly with the parking enterprise urban planning at the city um to recognize and make sure that those things align when they come forward.

Thank you.

And you know, I I obviously at times I think there's other resources, you know.

I really appreciate uh the work, the partnership between the city and to come up with a country, a comprehensive plan for Tejone Street.

So I, you know, in the different buckets over the time, I I think it would really be great if we could be doing a little more of a comprehensive uh blueprint for some of those roadways.

Thank you, Chelsea.

Yeah, I'll I'll just note on the Tejone itself, right?

That was a directly a product of it being identified as a signature street in our prior experience downtown plan.

So another opportunity where we can partner when there's available funding to pursue those enhancements.

It's a direct product of the work that comes out of these sorts of plants.

Any other questions that board members would like to bring up?

I um I'd like to say I enjoyed reading it over the weekend as well.

And I'm wondering if you can just expound a little on the dialogue with the creek trail system safety and potential for um for development along the trail system that I read a little bit about, like you know, facing with potential um restaurants, you know, like you see in Denver at Confluence.

I think something like that would be, you know, there were some pictures that I saw.

I just think you know, something like that would be really cool to see, you know, we have a couple of pockets there where it could be pretty special.

Um, I just wondered if there was any dialogue along those lines.

And then um discussion about safety, like I live on the west side and I run over people getting downtown.

Uh I actually did.

I yeah, like I come under the bridge by Walmart and there are people laying there and I run through glass and I pick it up a lot, but you know, it's it's kind of scary getting down here.

So what discussions were had about that?

And I volunteer at the rescue mission and my wife's been on the executive board there, so we try and do our part.

We get all that, but it's can be scary.

So yeah, I mean, we agree that it's a super exciting opportunity for our downtown.

Um, I think the common notion that we share is that we've really turned our back to our creek, and here we're really advocating for doing the opposite.

And I think Ellie uh touched on it in her presentation, right?

That we kind of have this continuum of resources that are needed to address a variety of the issues that you brought up.

Certainly um opportunities for activations, ways that we can create the built environment that enhance that sense of safety, and of course, just the activation in general, having more eyes out there.

Um we lean heavily on this project as a catalytic opportunity for our downtown.

Uh essentially, right?

These creek corridors are about half of the boundary of our downtown.

And that is a mega project if there is one that's identified in in this plan.

And I'll say that this is where we're also working in partnership with other entities that are actively pursuing opportunities for the Creek Corridor because it's not something that we could take on as our own, um, but certainly something that we activate for and can bring resources to the table for.

And that's really how we identify it in the plan itself.

And I think back to um David's point about uh looking at things comprehensively as opposed to doing a project-by-project basis, really our intention is that and to align with our partners who are taking a comprehensive look in order to write, you don't activate or address a certain area and that just pushes an issue to another area.

So yeah, looking at very holistically recognizing this is a very long-term project and one that there will be many partners that we'll work and will align with in order to address it.

Yeah.

Bobby Mikelis, similar question.

Um, I guess just first comment.

One of the things that was really delightful to read was all the accomplishments since 2016, how much of that is not as relevant because we've worked really hard the last decade.

So great job on that to the community.

With the language in here about trails and outdoor, there's um talk of Colorado adventure and unmatched access to nature is in one of the five pillars or the vision statement there.

I can't remember.

It's one of the goals.

The goals, one of the five goals.

You know, that phrase unmatched access to nature.

We've also really tried to embrace our natural environments downtown, and we've kind of stopped doing that in recent years.

We've stopped suggesting our hotel guests enjoy the access to nature in the downtown.

So if we are going to lead with that goal, I do think we will be held accountable to that goal.

So whether that's a wording change or a significant commitment to that goal, I think that's something that will come up in the future.

There are many cities in the world that we can point to that have unmatched access to nature.

I think we are absolutely one of those communities if we consider access, meaning 10 minutes away.

We've got world-class access, just 10 minutes away.

But if we are talking about walkable access to nature, I think that's a pretty ambitious goal.

And hopefully it's it's one that we're really willing to prioritize as projects come through and we use these five goals.

I remember with the 2026-2016 plan, those goals were really an initial framework for decision making when projects came.

You know, did they accomplish some or more or even all of these goals?

And with only five now, that's going to be one that you know, we will need to kind of evaluate seriously with that language on mass access.

So I guess that's a question.

Uh, if you can fish one out of there, and we've got a couple other questions as well.

Yeah, I like our goals ambitious.

So I'll start with that.

So I'm glad that you feel that that's an ambitious goal.

I think in terms of literal access, part of that is certainly just um having it be within 10, 20 minutes from world-class outdoor opportunities.

Uh, and I think we address this in a multitude of ways throughout throughout the print plan, most notably really identifying opportunities to make it more walkable, to make it more bikeable to get from our core to some of these assets.

So that's certainly identified more in the land use plan.

And I think, right, talking about safety, um, the the clean and safe pilot program has certainly elevated this discussion a lot of the stakeholder input, even some of the comments from the DIES today have um noted that that's an important priority and kind of my prerogative around that, and certainly the prerogative of our team and um really experts in this field, uh, I call it the Maslow's hierarchy of needs, but placemaking hierarchy of needs, right?

If it's not clean and safe, none of the rest of it matters.

And so I think we've really invested with this clean and safe program and are continuing to iterate to figure out what works best for our community, and then being able to identify how we do that in perpetuity, um, recognizing that it's such um uh a high need, high priority that's been identified because I hear that every day and recognize it and feel the same.

Got it.

Thank you.

Um yeah, appreciate that.

We we have world-class uh outdoors downtown.

It's really wonderful, some of the spaces we have there.

Second question, did we look at uh the bid boundaries?

I will continue to be a broken record on this question, but did that consideration come up?

Yeah, I wouldn't say specifically to the bid in this uh planning process and that you'll find in this document because it is really the plan of development for the downtown development authority.

Um, that is not to say that it's not something that we as the downtown partnership have not identified as an opportunity to expand, which I think goes back to similar to what we've said for DDA.

Are there areas where it makes sense as right?

Uh a majority of historic investment has been in the core, and we are seeing kind of the expansion of downtown.

It's certainly something that we're analyzing, looking into and what was identified in I believe one of our opportunities or challenges, right?

Just um being able to expand and increase the resources to address the issues at hand.

So yes.

Okay, got it.

Thank you.

I'll just uh color in a little bit on that comment or that question is I think it's important to consider those boundaries and maybe even reference those in this plan because that might nudge some of the other planning committees in that direction.

And then in addition, or even different than expanding the boundaries, one of the observations, and I understand the challenge with this suggestion, but is to consider boundaries that cross through alleyways rather than on main corridors or arterials because you get this uh half of the street has got great streetscape.

The other half of the street has different criteria and doesn't create a really seamless user experience.

So that's a comment I just want to put in the last question.

Was there um much dialogue in your time in the listening sessions of surveys or in the internal dialogues around the potential increase of mobility via rail.

Yes.

So certainly identified in the land use and incorporated into maybe not one of the top three priorities that was thrown up on the screen today, but um the opportunity for front range passenger rail, we worked very closely with the city when they did their station relocation study.

Um I actually previously served on the districts, uh, the district's board of directors to advocate that um when that opportunity comes, that it certainly makes sense to have that station within downtown.

And I think one thing that we highlighted in the slides today is really the idea of a mobility hub and having all different types of mobility options within our core.

So both write the quite literally identifying a location within downtown for a um a state uh rail station to to go, but also how do you move people to that station and um out of that station throughout downtown are all identified as priorities within this plan.

Okay, thank you.

Last uh comment, the section on TIFF, I think is pretty good, pretty very consistent with the old plan.

Um I would maybe just be interested to see some more objective criteria when making decisions about expanding TIFF beyond what's called out in the plan.

That does happen, and we want to incentivize projects a clear benchmark for how that extension is approved, would be helpful for future developers to kind of see the path to that.

So that's just a comment.

That's that's all.

Thank you.

This is really well done.

Hi, Amanda Luciano.

I uh just want to echo what everyone else has said.

I think that it the plan is very well executed, you know, very well developed and exciting.

It's really exciting to see how far we've come and you know what the future might bring.

Um I also want to echo that I I would be interested in seeing um a discussion about where boundaries could be expanded.

Uh I was a little surprised that there wasn't more of that.

Um just because I do think that if we're going to be addressing the form-based code next, it would be good to know if that's you know, if this is the guiding plan for that, it would be nice to have uh more discussion about where the boundaries fall.

And then I've got one other question, but you can address.

I mean, yeah, that by my I feel like you've already talked about that.

That's fine.

Uh no, but in the the TIFF section itself, it does look at kind of high-level criteria of when we're looking at things that might make sense.

Um, so I think it actually might help facilitate that discussion as we look forward to updating the form-based code to identify and you know, just in terms of the sequencing of things, it might make sense for some of those things to be built into form-based code, recognizing that they are identified criteria, certain criteria met to potentially bring it into the DDA in the future.

Uh not to say anything is easier than another, but I think the opportunity to update the form-based code and kind of do that in a swath uh has a little bit fewer logistics than determine depending on how the property comes in, the opportunity to bring a property into the downtown development authority boundary.

Thank you.

Chelsea, a little bit related to the to that issue.

Again, I realize for the DDA, of course, voters have to vote it in, but with a lot of development, you know, being over the years being talked about from downtown all the way to printer's home.

And again, knowing that one of the next steps will be for us to do the form-based code.

I guess my question is is there any plan to sort of look with you know some of the landowners, especially to the east, to see if there are desires before we go to the finalizing the form-based code?

Because I think there's that sort of eastern part of the uh DDA that might be the most likely to want to expand or possibly take advantage of some of the uh taxing.

Yeah.

Uh so those are all ongoing conversations that were happening when we know there's the potential for um development on a site, whether there's something active or something that has been identified in this plan is um parcel parcels that would make sense to get brought in.

Um again, I think as the sequence of being the sequencing of how these things might roll out, um, those would be continued conversations.

Okay.

So one other topic um I really appreciated the section on the the diversity of housing and need for greater diversity of housing.

And I guess could you just expand you know on uh especially affordable housing and then how we might be able to encourage housing for ownership given the state legislation.

Yeah um so uh hopefully shocking to none of y'all as you've approved a lot of the developments that have come in the last decade or so we have done a major push for just bringing residential into downtown and we've seen immense success on that.

Um I think we're just over about 3,000 units that have been brought on in the last 12, 15 years or so.

And um again part of this process even before this process really hearing about having diverse options both ownership and more affordable affordable or attainable and um we have already tweaked some of our resources to better incentivize some of that and I think from here recognizing it is an identified goal we would continue to tweak some of those resources and that is kind of continued conversation at the board level of how do we set policy that really incentivizes some of those things.

So those um those specifics in terms of language of policy aren't built into this but it's kind of the kickoff of this is something we prioritize now let's take a look at the resources that we have and figure out how we tweak them in order to incentivize that incentivize that.

Yeah.

More to come thank you.

Thank you Chelsea I think the next and I don't know whether we have uh anybody either online or in the audience who uh wants to make some comments in support of the plan is there anybody we do not have any members of the public register to comment if there's anybody in the audience that would like to step forward now.

If there's anybody online that would like to speak in uh support of this item please press star seeks to unmute yourselves now there's nobody online and uh I think the next one is there any public comments in opposition we do not have anybody registered um to speak in opposition if there's anybody in the audience that would like to speak in opposition please come to the podium and if there's anybody online that would like to speak in opposition of this item please unmute yourselves there's nobody online okay Chelsea do you want any do you want to add any comments there's any uh wrap up or any of your team um before we go to the next step of a vote I would just like to reiterate that I appreciate um all of the input that we've received throughout this process it's truly made a better plan.

I know we came before you guys with some suggestion suggestions that came from that as well and certainly have incorporated those so I just appreciate especially that some of you quite literally read all 252 pages of this plan.

I've done it entirely too many times and now I can't see straight but um no I just really appreciate your guys' insight and support for this and great questions.

I I genuinely believe it makes a stronger and better plan when we do have that dialogue.

So I'll leave it with that.

Thank you.

Great.

Thank you Chelsea um I you know one of the things I I've been around for a long time and have been around our downtown prior to the DDA when it in the 80s was in the doldrum and I just want to say that I you know um I really appreciate the work that the DDA the downtown partnership uh may get has done to try to take uh this excellent report and try to address so many um different topics but really to give us a good roadmap and to give us in our work in our downtown uh as future people are looking at coming in and investing in our downtown I think it helps them to address we've got some really exciting different things going on between um nature um historic buildings uh art and culture and and sports so uh I'll obviously be uh very much in in favor of the plan I don't know if anybody wants to go ahead and uh make a motion I think um uh Ryan suggested several that could be made um yeah I just have a comment and then I I'll make a motion um yeah I think this is a a really exciting update to the plan and I think the plan gives uh gives this board and staff really powerful leverage we need to um push hard for some bold updates to the form based code so that the tools can match the vision um I'm um on a side note I'm also kind of excited that to to showcase how a place specific plan with place specific zoning can be a powerful tool

Um yeah, I think this is a really exciting update to the plan, and I think the plan gives uh gives this board and staff really powerful leverage.

We need to um push hard for some bold updates to the form-based code so that the tools can match the vision.

Um on a side note, I'm also kind of excited that to showcase how a place-specific plan with place specific zoning can be a powerful tool uh that hopefully other neighborhoods in the city will uh look at using so we can have really distinct nodes of character all over the city.

Um so yeah, thank you for all your work on that.

Um, and with that, I'd like to make a motion to approve item 8A and PLN 26001, the elevation downtown plan update to the 2026 experience downtown plan.

Thank you, Sam.

And somebody wanted to make a second.

I'll second.

There's a second.

And uh is there any uh comment or further discussion before we uh take a vote by any of the board members.

Okay, you guys want to put the uh motion and we'll take a vote on our computers.

Thank you.

The vote the motion passes unanimously.

Well, step number one, and congratulations, uh Chelsea, Chris, Jeff, and Ellie.

Uh appreciate all the many, many hours of of your hard work and then hope uh the next two steps go well.

Uh and we look forward to working with the downtown partnership and Ryan on the next step, and that's sort of putting the form-based code in place, which has been a real helpful tool for our uh development.

And Ryan, we've been lucky over the years.

You have been sort of the ongoing expert in downtown and your leadership and work on helping us come up with good plans and good plans to develop our downtown are very much appreciated.

So thank you.

Thank you, Chair Lord.

I and I do just want to reiterate today's minutes, uh the great dialogue and questions and comments from the board will be uh documented and provided to planning commission when they have a similar hearing next month, and then obviously on the city council.

Um so I just want to thank the board for all your time and and thought and consideration into this effort.

Thank you.

With nothing else.