HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 4/20/2010 !iPCity
of Glendale
i Council Sustainability Committee
G Minutes
April 20, 2010
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Council Chambers Conference Room B-2
Attendees
Council Sustainability Committee Members:
Present were Councilmember/Chairperson David Goulet (Ocotillo District),
Councilmember Steve Frate (Sahuaro District), and Councilmember Yvonne Knaack
(Barrel District).
City Staff Members:
Ken Reedy, Deborah Mazoyer, Roger Bailey, Becky Benna, Larry Broyles, Jon Froke,
Karen Flores, Ron Short, Stuart Kent, Doug Kukino, Jo Miller, Pam Wertz, Justine
Cornelius, Bob Manginell, and Marilyn Clark.
Approval of Minutes
Chairperson Goulet called for a motion to approve the minutes of the March 16, 2010
meeting. Councilmember Knaack made a motion to approve. Councilmember Frate
seconded the motion, and the minutes of the March 16, 2010 Council Sustainability
Committee Meeting were approved as written.
Land Use and Conservation Presentation
Karen Flores, AICP, Planner presented this agenda item. Ms. Flores stated that in 2012
the Glendale General Plan will be updated, and at that time the environmental,
economic, and social principals of sustainability would be incorporated into the Land
Use and Conservation Elements. Ms. Flores stated that demographics must be
considered. She cited population and land use statistics and indicated that a key intent
in the General Plan update would be to make the highest and best use of land within the
city's jurisdiction and Municipal Planning Area.
Ms. Flores stated the Department of Commerce put together a Smart Growth Program
for Land Use, which established 10 Smart Growth Principles that serve as guidelines for
sustainable development. To illustrate what sustainable land use means, she explained
each of the ten principles and how they benefit communities. The first principle calls for
a mix of land uses, which means including a diverse range of uses, such as businesses,
small shops, restaurants, eateries, and street activities where people meet. The second
is compact building designs where uses are brought together in an integrated fashion
rather than having individual uses on individual parcels. Third is providing for a range of
housing opportunities and choices, which provides a variety of housing types such as
single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums, and multi-family homes with a wide
range of prices. The fourth, smart growth principles call for walkable neighborhoods
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where residents have a safe place to walk within the neighborhood, with pedestrian
connections within and between neighborhoods. Fifth, Smart Growth encourages
distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place. This means attention to
aesthetics and relates to building design and relationships among buildings, enhancing
the architectural beauty with the possibility of incorporating public art into public spaces.
Having a sense of place relates to having the characteristics that makes a place special
or unique. These characteristics would also foster the interaction between individuals
and the community as well as their environment. Sixth, Smart growth principles also
provide for the preservation of open space, natural beauty, and critical environmental
areas. Seventh, Smart Growth principles call for building on existing communities,
which means to increase and diversify uses and activities in areas that are already
developed. Eighth, communities must provide a variety of transportation choices
including both motorized and non-motorized travel modes. These include pedestrian
and bike facilities, public transit, neighborhood circulators, and ensuring handicapped
accessibility. This means creating an equal playing field for all travel modes and all
segments of the population. Ninth, Smart Growth provides for predictable, fair and cost
effective development decisions, which means ensuring consistency in the decision
making process. The tenth and last of the principles is community and stakeholder
collaboration in development decisions. The most successful projects are those that
are supported by the community.
The key to accomplishing these principles lies in creating urban areas. This requires
locating a diverse range of uses into compact urban areas so that residents truly have
opportunities to live, work, enjoy active and passive recreation, shop, go to the dentist,
buy some groceries, and have a cup of coffee in their own neighborhood without having
to get in a car. This represents a life style that is appealing to increasing segments of
the population such as retiring baby boomers, young professionals, single people, and
single parents. It provides flexibility for residents to change housing types within the
urban area as life needs change - being single, to having a family, to the empty nest,
retirement, and later perhaps the need for senior housing.
Benefits of urban areas include an enhanced sense of community through social
interaction. It reduces travel time, which becomes quality time. It makes the highest
and best use of infrastructure — smaller service areas, and lower costs to build, service,
and maintain infrastructure. It can result in a reduced need for new roadway building. It
provides the ability to support mass transit which requires high-density points of origin,
and high-density destinations. Small neighborhood circulators can be provided within
neighborhoods. The environmental and ecological benefits include greater amounts of
open space that may otherwise be developed, as well as cleaner air, water, and soil;
less air pollution from traffic; less water pollution resulting from less runoff, and a
reduced need for stormwater systems. The amount of land and habitat being altered or
degraded would be so to a lesser extent.
Land use and transportation planning must be coordinated to support these desired
development patterns. It is important to consider all desired travel modes, and to
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support mobility and the range of mobility types for all ages and abilities, such as the
elderly, disabled, and youth. Communities also need to include both motorized and
non-motorized transportation such as golf carts, motor scooters, and bicycles. The key
is to have travel modes that are accessible and attractive for all segments of the
population.
One tool to accomplish this is to consider transit oriented development which consists of
creating a transportation hub that is surrounded by a diverse mix of uses including
residential, business, services, and recreation. This will provide ridership for some form
of mass transit such as buses or a future light rail system. This hub must be connected
with the various types of travel modes. We need to facilitate transfer between travel
modes and we are already doing this by providing bike storage on buses and light rail,
and park and ride lots to aid connection with buses. Secure parking must be provided
for small vehicles such as bicycles and golf carts. It is also important to consider the
continuity of travel routes. For example, vanishing bike lanes can lead to confusion and
result in safety issues for bicyclists. The same is true for the pedestrian where the
sidewalk stops or is non-existent.
Ms. Flores described how and where Glendale could focus on development and
redevelopment. Growth can be focused into existing urban areas, such as Glendale
Centerline, Bell Road Corridor, Thunderbird Medical Corridor, and the Sports and
Entertainment District, and also into major transportation corridors such as Grand
Avenue, Loops 101 and 303, and Northern Parkway.
The Glendale Centerline provides opportunities for infill and redevelopment. A
compact, diverse mix of desired land use components should be considered for this
area. Roads, streets, and pathways (such as alleys) can be designed to accommodate
a full range of travel modes. The old historic downtown can work in complementary
fashion with newer or redeveloped areas. This represents a part of Glendale's diversity
and will appeal to a range of tastes and needs.
On Bell Road, the focus can be on infill in vacant parcels and possibly the
redevelopment of older and existing buildings and uses as needed. The notion here is
to maintain this as a regional attractor for businesses and consumers alike. The
Thunderbird Medical Corridor offers opportunities for creating a greater mix of uses
including residential and a wider range of businesses that are associated with or
support the desired medical uses.
The Sports and Entertainment District — a large area both east and west of Loop 101 —
provides a great deal of development opportunity. This represents an opportunity for
another urban area operating in conjunction with the large-scale sporting and
entertainment events.
Glendale's major transportation corridors are regional corridors by design, and are
intended to support regional attractors, commerce, and industry that need access to
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regional or national roadway systems. These include Grand Avenue, Loop 101 and
Loop 303, and Northern Parkway. Grand Avenue offers great redevelopment potential
as an employment corridor, Loop 101 for key development associated with the Sports
and Entertainment District, Loop 303 for development compatible with Luke Air Force
Base, and Northern Parkway as an important employment and economic development
corridor
Sustainability also calls for protecting community assets such as Luke Air Force Base,
the Glendale Municipal Airport, and historic resources. Luke Air Force Base is a major
economic asset for Glendale and the Valley. Glendale Municipal Airport is an important
economic development asset for the community and especially for the Sports and
Entertainment District. Appropriate land use controls are required to protect both Luke
and Glendale's airport.
Historic resources provide a quality of life factor to the community. Much of Glendale's
identity is tied to historic resources, especially in downtown Glendale which is the
setting for a wide range of well attended community events. As such, our historic
resources contribute to tourism and the economy. The focus for historic resources /
buildings should be on adaptive re-use to the extent feasible. It is also important to
maintain the character of historic areas, because once historic character is lost, it is lost
forever.
Conservation will be addressed by incorporating sustainability principles for water
resources, waste reduction, energy conservation, and open space and recreation areas.
Regarding water resources, the city provides reclaimed water from the Western Area
Water Reclamation Facility to the Coyotes Arena and other developments in Westgate
for turf and landscape irrigation needs. The city is already doing a great job with water
conservation through classes, programs, and outreach efforts in the community. The
city also supports a green website and hosts an annual green festival.
Regarding waste reduction, extensive work is being done with recycling, which results in
maximizing landfill space. The city has had a curbside recycling program since 2000,
and supports a recycling program for city facilities. Over ten tons of hazardous waste
collected through the Household Hazardous Waste Program has been averted from the
landfill. The White Goods Recycling Program pulls large appliances such as
refrigerators, stoves, and washing machines from the landfill for recycling. The city also
works collaboratively with the community to increase participation in recycling programs
through initiatives such as the Grandma Glendale Program for school children.
Energy conservation involves the inclusion of energy saving principles into the site
planning process (building orientation, materials compatible with the desert
environment, etc.). The city also should consider working with the private sector to
encourage energy-efficient site design through the development process.
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The ongoing provision of open space and assurance of this amenity for future
generations can be achieved by acquiring land and easements. In its master plan
update, the Parks and Recreation Department envisions open space for parkland and a
comprehensive multi-use trail system that would include off-street pathways for bike and
pedestrian and equestrian use. Major assets currently include: Thunderbird
Conservation Park, which provides for hiking picnicking, mountain biking, jogging,
horseback riding, and bird watching; Thunderbird Paseo Park, which is a linear park
with playgrounds, sport fields, and trails for bike, pedestrian, and equestrian use; Skunk
Creek Linear Park consisting of a trail system running along Skunk Creek; and the
Glendale Grand Canal Linear Park which contains nodes with armadas, picnic areas,
drinking fountains, playground areas, and facilities for bikes, pedestrians and equestrian
use.
Ecology must be considered when planning development along washes and river
corridors to minimize disruption of habitat to the extent feasible. Appropriate
reclamation along the Agua Fria upon completion of mining activities must be ensured.
Chairperson Goulet thanked Ms. Flores for her presentation, and as this was an
informational item, no motion or vote was called for by the committee.
Staff Updates
Jon Froke, AICP, Director of Planning provided information to the committee regarding
the Planning Department's new green website, and Jo Miller, Environmental Program
Manager, gave a progress report on the community outreach survey which was
completed in March 2010. The committee was very pleased with both updates, these
items were for informational purposes, and no action was required.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at approximately 11:35 a.m.
NEXT MEETING: June 15, 2010
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Council Chambers Conference Room 6-2
TOPIC: Renewable Energy
Respectfully Submitted,
Y
Marilyn Clark, Recording Secretary