LOUISVILLE MUNICIPAL CODE 17.28.080:
THE CASE FOR MORE OPEN SPACE AT REDTAIL RIDGE
Abstract:
Louisville Municipal Code 16.16.060 requires a minimum public land dedication for non-residential subdivisions of 12%. This stipulation is modified by LMC 17.28.080, which establishes factors for determining whether this allotment is sufficient at any given site. Consideration of these factors show that an allotment of greater than 12% is necessary at Redtail Ridge. An increased dedication of open space will:
▪ respect the healthy biodiversity of the site created by its traditional low-density development;
▪ maintain the rural feel of the city’s southeastern gateway as described in the Comprehensive Plan;
▪ mitigate the environmental impacts of the buildings, parking lots, and roads at the site;
▪ respond to the growing demand for open space driven by increased population throughout the area and an expanding regional trail system.
The General Development Plan (GDP) provides an opportunity to increase the amount of open space in a well-planned, coordinated manner. Determining the open space allotment in the GDP will require integrating GDP requirements with PUD criteria.
INTRODUCTION
History of Open Space in Louisville:
Open space has been a highly valued commodity in Louisville for many years and has played a significant role in shaping the character of our city. The open space we have today is the product of a tumultuous history characterized by the tenacity of city councils and citizens. What we have today was made possible by aggressive comprehensive plans, court rulings, purchases, developer dedications, annexation agreements, an initiative, a referendum and intergovernmental agreements.
The building of today’s acreage started in earnest in the 1970’s when a group of well-known, respected Louisville business leaders purchased the Aquarius property, at the time already described as open space in the comprehensive plan, and requested that the property be rezoned from agricultural to residential. The city turned down the rezoning request and was sued by the landowners. The city won and purchased the property in the early 1980’s. This controversy has been succeeded by many other hard won open space battles in the years since then.
In sum, today’s array of open space has not been the product of passivity by city officials or its citizens.
Louisville Municipal Code (LMC) and City Charter Open Space Provisions:
The required public land dedications for new development are outlined in section 16.16.060 of the LMC. Dedications of a minimum of 15% for residential developments and a minimum of 12% for nonresidential developments are required by this section. “Land dedicated for public use must be suitable, as determined by the Planning Commission, for the type of development and/or the uses for which it is intended.”
Section 17.28.080 of the LMC builds on 16.060. It gives the Planning Commission the specific authority to recommend the requirement of additional open space in a development and establishes factors for the Planning Commission to use in making this recommendation. If the Planning Commission determines that additional open space is needed, the new open space can either be owned and maintained by the city or by the developer. To guarantee the perpetuity of the land as open space, ownership by the city is preferable.
In a similar vein, section 17.28.110 of the LMC provides the city the authority to require additional open space in “excess of public use dedications” as compensation for waivers that may be granted a developer. This provision was added to the LMC to ensure the residents of Louisville received value from the additional benefits provided to developers. It is echoed in the Comprehensive Plan, in which “additional stories [are] permitted if structures are clustered and located out of the public view shed and buffered by surrounding topography and Open Space.”
Sections 17.28.080 and 17.28.110 can be applied in tandem or independently. If height waivers are denied, additional open space can still be required under 17.28.080. If height waivers are approved, the contingent open space may or not be sufficient to satisfy the need for more open space at the site overall; here too more can be required, again under 17.28.080.
The importance of open space to Louisville’s residents was accentuated by their inclusion of factors for its management and retention in the citizen-developed City Charter approved by voters in 2001. Its value to the public was particularly emphasized by the inclusion of a provision requiring voter approval of the “sale, lease, trade, or other transfer or conveyance of any open space land.” The rarity of such specific instructions regarding open space in city charters generally underscores the importance of this issue for the people of Louisville.
TEXT OF LOUISVILLE MUNICIPAL CODE 17.28.080
A. Open space, in addition to the public use dedications specified in title 16, may be required by the city council upon recommendation by the Planning Commission. The requirement for additional open space will be based on the following factors:
1. Comprehensive development plan (including matters of state interest);
2. Topography, drainage, vegetation and other such physical conditions;
3. Anticipated socio-economic conditions;
4. Type and density of development and employment;
5. Overall need for open space and recreational facilities.
Such open space shall be owned and maintained as common open space by the developer or by an organization established for the ownership and maintenance of common open space, unless the city accepts dedication of the open space through mutual agreement between the developer or organization and the city council.
ANALYSIS OF LMC 17.28.080 AS IT APPLIES TO REDTAIL RIDGE
Factor 1: Comprehensive development plan (including matters of state interest)
A. According to Louisville’s Comprehensive Plan, key characteristics of rural subdivisions include the natural resource orientations of their buildings and native landscapes between buildings. In the current GDP, buildings are separated by parking lots. Broad setbacks consisting of undisturbed natural vegetation should be required at parcels D and E in conformity with the Comprehensive Plan’s description of civic and public infrastructure as “separated,” and to provide a visual buffer and maintain the rural feel of Louisville’s southeastern gateway.
B. When the minimum of 12% public dedication was established the concept of Rural designations did not exist in Louisville’s Comprehensive Plan. Fortunately, the use of “minimum” relieves the city of being forced into a “one size fits all” policy which would contradict the values and principles of the Comprehensive Plan.
C. One Comprehensive Plan core value says that the city “promotes biodiversity by ensuring a healthy and resilient natural environment, robust plant life and diverse habitats.” The reduction of what has been for decades a de facto open space of almost 400 acres (excluding the 15 or so years when StorageTek had buildings and activity on 1.6 million square feet at the site) to roughly 40 acres of unencumbered open space is too small to “promote biodiversity” as called for in the Comprehensive Plan.
Factor 2: Topography, drainage, vegetation and other such physical conditions
A. Louisville Municipal Code 16.16.010.D stipulates that “Natural features, historical and archaeological sites, and vegetation of the area, including trees, must be preserved to the extent possible.” A larger dedication of open space than the minimum required, including the site’s valuable water sources, is necessary before the developer can demonstrate that the plan preserves the “natural features” of the site, including wildlife habitat, “to the extent possible.”
B. Prairie dog habitat in Colorado is now only 5% of its historic size. Louisville and its development partners can walk the talk of environmental sustainability and biodiversity by committing to the preservation of the prairie dog towns on the site. The best way to preserve these valued ecosystems is by designating the areas they occupy – or the areas elsewhere on the site where the prairie dogs will be relocated – as open space and placing them under the protection of conservation easements. Healthy prairie dog colonies require at least 75 acres of land and connectivity to other colonies.
C. The pond at parcel C5 is one of the primary water sources for wildlife on the property and in nearby areas. Different species visit the pond at different times of the day and night. It is key animal habitat and requires special protection. Buildings and parking lots, combined with human activity and car traffic during the day and intrusive lighting at night, will significantly disrupt animals’ ability to access the water. For this reason, all of parcel C5 should be donated to the city as open space. If buildings are allowed on C5, these should be sited and designed in consultation with wildlife biologists to minimize their impact on the animals whose existence depends on the pond and the vegetation surrounding it. Other wetlands on the property should likewise be preserved for wildlife habitat or replaced with equivalent acreage elsewhere on the site.
Factor 3: Anticipated socio-economic conditions
A. Louisville can not only afford to acquire and manage additional open space, its residents have proved time and again their willingness to contribute to this important community asset. Open spaces filled with wild animals and native plants are a key aspect of the quality of life in our city, equally benefiting residents of all socioeconomic backgrounds by improving physical health and emotional and spiritual well-being.
B. In addition to the benefits of open space for the community at large, the area adjacent to the proposed Redtail Ridge property has unique and specific needs and stands to benefit in unique and specific ways. For students, faculty, and staff at Monarch High School, wild nature in the form of open space would provide educational opportunities, opportunities for exercise and recreation, and an oasis of calm. For patients and staff at Avista Hospital, access to wild nature in the form of open space would be physically and emotionally restorative.
Factor 4: Type and density of development and employment
A. The Redtail Ridge GDP calls for a mix of commercial and industrial buildings at the site, with an emphasis on industrial (three of the five parcels, or eight of eleven parcels, allow industrial development). These buildings will be surrounded by many acres of asphalt parking lots. Increased open space at the site will help to offset this starkly utilitarian aesthetic by placing it in the context of wild nature – a visual and experiential reminder of the place of human activity in the greater scheme of earth’s ecosystems.
B. Increased open space at Redtail Ridge should be required to offset the effects of climate change and drought. Buildings and asphalt parking lots contribute to global warming by creating heat islands that radiate warm air back into the atmosphere and the surrounding area. Increased open space at the site would allow for better air circulation and cooling. Likewise, increasing the amount of unpaved terrain at the site will allow rain water and snow melt to discharge back into the groundwater, an increasingly fragile resource in this time of historic drought.
C. Parking lots at Redtail Ridge should be realistically calibrated to accommodate the number of vehicles expected to visit the site at a single time. Vast parking lots that never fill, and that sit more or less empty all the time, take up valuable space that, if left unpaved, would benefit site ecology from wildlife corridors to water tables. The area taken up by superfluous parking would be better put to use as undisturbed open space suitable for wildlife habitat. (The city of Louisville should consider reducing the required parking amount for new developments outside of the downtown district, to encourage less SOV use. The city should also amend the parking requirement outside of the downtown district to be a maximum, not a minimum.)
Factor 5: Overall need for open space and recreational facilities
A. Louisville’s open space trails are more crowded than ever these days. This activity clearly demonstrates a keen desire in the community for exercise in the open air and a connection with nature and wildlife. More open space, crossed by trails situated appropriately to protect wildlife habitat, would serve the neighborhoods of south Louisville, students at Monarch High School, employees and patients at Avista Hospital, and workers at Redtail Ridge businesses in particular, and the larger Louisville community in general.
B. LEED’s certification – which, admirably, both Brue Baukol and the city of Louisville agree is a must for buildings at Redtail Ridge – is based on a point system for features that reduce a building’s carbon footprint and waste, and that enhance human and ecological health. The developer can earn one of these points by creating ample open space at the site that “encourages interaction with the environment, social interaction, passive recreation, and physical activities” (LEED Guide, v. 4). To earn this LEED’s point, a minimum of 30% of each building site must be designated open space, with at least 25% of the site vegetated (turf grass does not count as vegetation).
GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN INTEGRATION WITH PUD PROCESS
When the Planned Community Zone District (PCZD) was added to the Louisville Municipal Code (LMC) in 1986, little attention was given to the process of integrating it with PUD requirements. This creates a need for creativity in resolving issues relating to the transition between the GDP and PUDs. LMC sections 17.72.030 and 17.72.050, which address the “character of a development” and the adoption of “supplementary development standards,” respectively, provide an opportunity for integration of these processes.
This complication is especially relevant when it comes to determining open space requirements at Redtail Ridge, because while the GDP is required to show the location of open space, this requirement is insufficient to promote the full value of open space as it relates to undeveloped land created in the PUD process. The proposed Redtail Ridge GDP already creates a link between the GDP and a PUD by identifying contingent open space parcels based on the possibility of waivers that might be granted in the PUD process, per LMC 17.28.110.
The value of open space could be enhanced by creating a relationship between it and the 25% of the land in industrial and 30% in commercial developments that must be left undeveloped per LMC 17.28.080.B. The GDP should have a requirement that whenever a parcel being developed is adjacent to open space, to the maximum degree practical, the undeveloped parcel should be created adjacent to open space.
LMC 17.28.110 gives the city the authority to require additional open space as compensation for waivers granted to an applicant. When a determination of additional open space is needed the open space secured must be “usable or functional open space.” This is because the LMC does not recognize the concept of “private open space,” i.e., open space not available to the general population. The LMC recognizes opens space and common open space. The latter can be owned either by a private entity or the city. Therefore, in the case of the Redtail Ridge development, having knowledgeable management of open space is key to it being useable and functional. Having different entities managing adjacent open space parcels is not conducive for the effective management of such things as habitat and invasive plant species. Additionally, having a trail system that takes into account all trail options would best serve the occupants of commercial and industrial buildings. In sum, the Redtail GDP should require public ownership of all open space.