Red Feather Lakes Planning Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes

February 8^, 2007

 

Members in Attendance: Bud Thomas, Lucille Schmitt, Gene Barker, Dennis Frydendall, Bill Gilbert, Michael Sledge, Roger Svendsen, Eunice Michalka, Gene Allen, Terry Ferebee

 

Others Present: Jill Bennett – Board Liaison (LarCo Planning Dept.), Mark Peterson – County Engineer, Martina Wilkinson – County Traffic Engineer,

 

The meeting was called to order by Jill Bennett at 1:36PM. Jill stated that the Board must elect a Chair, Vice-chair and Secretary before the Board could proceed.

 

A discussion occurred whether to elect the officers for a period of one year or for a shorter period. After a period of discussion, a motion was made and seconded that initially the Board elect officers for a period of three (3) months. The motion was passed 8 yeas, 2 nays.

 

A motion was made and seconded to nominate Eunice Michalka for Chair. The motion was passed unanimously.

 

A motion was made and seconded to nominate Lucille Schmidt for Vice-Chair. The motion was passed unanimously.

 

A motion was made and seconded to nominate Bill Gilbert for Secretary. The motion was passed unanimously.

 

A discussion occurred about the meeting day and time. A motion was made to hold the meetings on the 2^nd Thursday of each month, from 4:00PM to 6:00PM and to schedule Saturday meeting as needed. The motion was passed unanimously.

 

A discussion occurred about the location at which meetings would be held. A motion was made to hold the meetings in the Fire Barn meeting room. The motion was passed unanimously.

 

Since there were many members of the public in attendance that wished to discuss the draft of the “Directional Signing in Rural Larimer County” proposal, it was decided to table discussion of drafting bylaws for the Board until the March meeting.

 

Jill Bennett then gave a presentation that included a short history of sign ordinances in Larimer County as well as brief overview of the draft of the proposed ordinance titled “Directional Signing in Rural Larimer County.”

 

The signage in the past has been based on how the area in which the sign was to be placed was zoned. Directional signage is only allowed in areas zoned C-Commercial and I-Industrial.

 

In 1992 the Larimer County Commissioners banned all off-premise signage in Larimer County.

 

In 2002 a new, comprehensive sign ordinance was put in place due to the fact that the 1992 sign ordinance was more restrictive than similar ordinances in Fort Collin, Loveland, and other incorporated areas in the county.

 

Then it was recognized that directional signage was needed in the rural areas of Larimer County. This led to the inception of the proposed ordinance.

 

An informational sheet explaining the origins of the proposed ordinance was handed out to the PAC members and guests.

 

Mark and Martina gave a short presentation based on the information is the handout.

 

Martina explained that the ordinance must be applicable throughout Larimer County. There are two components in the proposed ordinance:

1.  Adopt the present Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) ‘Tourist Oriented Directional Sign (TODS)’ program;
2.  Adopt a similar county ordinance that would operate in parallel with TODS and be as similar to TODS as possible.

 

The meeting was then opened for comments and questions from the public present.

 

Some of the comments and questions follow and does not include all statements that were voiced.

 

• Lack of communication from Larimer County.
• Recommended additional public meetings on the ordinance
• Code enforcement person hard to communicate with, left note on door of business about sign removal.
• There were several questions about the number of signs that will be allowed as well as how many panels are allowed on each sign.
• There was a question about how the percentage of income requirement would work.
• There were several comments and questions about the removal or destruction of signs before any discussion of a sign issue.
• One business owner feels he is now an information center for area visitors since some of the signs had been removed.
• There was a question about where the TODS signs will be located, which resulted in the suggestion that the possibility of adding something in the zoning ordinance that is being updated for Red Feather Lakes. This addition might allow for a sign plaza to be allowed.
• A question was asked about signage for single day events. Signs allowed for the day of the event!
• There was a question about locating signs adjacent to property and whether the property owner would be notified.
• There was a question about ‘Construction’ signs. These are allowed for the period during which construction on the property is occurring.
• There was a question about how the TODS ordinance would be administered. The County administers the ordinance.
• There was question about filling in the gap that will occur until the new ordinance is passed.
• There was a question about how ‘vague’ areas will be signed. The answer was that community directional/intermediate signs would be allowed.
• There was a question about whether or not additional signs may be moving the Red Feather area closer to looking like Estes Park.
• There was a question about whether the Lion’s Club should continue putting up street signs in light of the County’s new Rural Addressing System.
• There were several questions about the outright destruction of some existing signs.
• One business owner voiced concern about the destruction of the sign for his business and how the number of visits to his business had dropped to nearly zero.
• A comment was made that the challenge is adopting an ordinance that will work for all Larimer County.
• There was a comment about the fact that there are 3 separate business areas and the challenge may be to create an ordinance that would cover all areas.
• A comment was made that the Red Feather Lakes area should be the example on which to develop the ordinance since the area is so unique and complicated.

 

It was decided that an additional meeting to discuss the proposed ordinance will be held, with Gene Allen, Janice Weixelman, Tony Kosmicki and Martina Wilkinson.

 

There was a question about whether there is any money in a budget for the PAC. The Planning Dept. has a small budget to cover the costs of mailings, etc. for the many similar committees in the county.

PAC members were asked to send any items to be placed on the agenda for the March meeting to Eunice or Lucille.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 3:50PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

William W. Gilbert , Secretary