SUBJECT: General Business
Title
A Resolution of the Board of Trustees of the Town of Erie Approving an Agreement For Services with DPZ CoDesign, LLC for the Four Corners Master Plan and Unified Development Code Review in the Amount of $380,000
Body
DEPARTMENTS: Planning and Community Development, Economic Development, and Administration
PRESENTER: Malcolm Fleming, Town Administrator
TIME ESTIMATE: 20 minutes
only required for non-consent items
FISCAL INFORMATION:
Cost as Recommended: $380,000
Balance Available: $0
Budget Line Item Number:
New Appropriation Required: $380,000 from unanticipated revenue.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Motion to approve the consulting services contract with DPZ CoDesign in the amount of $380,000.End
SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND OF SUBJECT MATTER:
Town staff have been working with property owners, representatives from adjacent neighborhoods, developers, the Urban Land Institute Technical Advisory Panel (ULI TAP) and others to determine how best to create, given current and likely market conditions in Erie, a unique sense of place and an economically thriving center around Erie’s Four Corners (the intersection of Erie Parkway and County Line Road).
In this area there are four different property owners with development plans, covering a total of 116 acres, in various stages of entitlement. Without delaying projects, the Town wants to ensure these individual developments are complementary and all contribute to creating an attractive community center with the right mix of retail, office, residential, park and open space uses that will thrive in Erie’s market. Further, we want to achieve the goal of an attractive community center while also strengthening Erie’s existing historic Downtown, northeast of the Four Corners area. As noted by Mayor Carroll and Trustees during the Board’s July 23rd meeting, we have only one chance to get this right; the layout and design of streets, buildings and public spaces will affect the livability and economic vitality of this area for decades, if not centuries.
While working on this effort, Town staff are also working to update the Town’s Unified Development Code (UDC). There are many provisions in the UDC that directly influence the design, and therefore the livability and vitality of new development in Erie. We need to make sure the UDC fosters the kind of development the Board and the community wants.
DPZ CoDesign is an internationally recognized firm with close to four decades of experience designing beautiful, economically sustainable, resilient, environmentally responsible mixed-use communities. They apply their expertise through a time and cost efficient “Collaborative Community Design” process that engages all interested parties to produce designs that reflect the community’s vision, and the associated regulatory documents to facilitate that vision.
Based on intensive advance work with Town staff to become familiar with all relevant site, demographic, economic, development and other conditions, as well as existing design and regulatory documents, DPZ CoDesign will conduct a focused 7-day Charrette. This approach moves efficiently and effectively from plan options to the recommended Master Plan and other associated documents in the span of the Charrette. The DPZ team produces plan alternatives from day one, quickly moving forward to the preferred plan, regularly vetted by the Town’s project team, and completed by DPZ by the end of the Charrette. Through the Charrette, and in the presence of the Town’s project team and other decision-makers, the feasibility of alternative planning proposals are tested and revised/refined against economic, infrastructure, transportation, landscape and other criteria. DPZ’s Charrettes are slightly longer, but highly effective in providing immediate feedback to the planners/designers and give mutual authorship to the plan by all those who participate. The Charrettes DPZ orchestrates ultimately accomplish the following goals:
• All those influential to the project develop a vested interest in the design and the shared experience of the Charrette builds broad support for its vision;
• The group of design disciplines work in concert to produce a set of finished documents that address all aspects of design;
• Inputs of all participants are collectively organized at one meeting and thereby eliminate the need for prolonged, sequential discussions that can delay conventional planning projects and lose the momentum of constituents; and
• A better final product is created through the assimilation of many ideas in a dynamic, collaborative and cost effective process.
The illustration below shows the proposed schedule for the Erie Charrette, which would take place from Sunday, November 3, through Saturday, November 10, 2019.
The cost for DPZ’s services is $380,000. Among the specific deliverables DPZ will provide if the Board approves this contract are the following:
1. Development Diagnostics and a detailed Marked Study
2. Conduct an intensive design Charrette with significant public engagement
3. Complete Four Corners Concept options and recommended Four Corners Overlay District Master Plan
4. Illustrative Detail Plans
5. Perspective drawings and 3D renderings
6. Four Corners Parking Plan
7. Schematic Prototype Building Floor Plans and Elevations
8. Regulatory Documents* for
A. Land use, building use, density
B. Thoroughfare Standards
C. Design regulations on use, setbacks, heights, ancillary elements, parking, retail frontage, building entrances and encroachments, signage, storefront specifications.
D. Architectural Standards
9. Phasing/Implementation Documents
*These will be used for both the Four Corners master plan and for updating the UDC.
Although funding for this contract is not currently included in the 2019 budget, the Town has received more revenue than originally projected in the 2019 budget. Consequently, there are sufficient unallocated funds available to cover this previously unbudgeted expense. However, the Board would need to approve a budget amendment as part of the next supplemental budget to appropriate the required funding.
The total engagement with DPZ would last 24 weeks. By comparison, the work on the I-25 Urban Renewal Area Masterplan took about 40 weeks and cost $449,800.
In response to Town staff checking references, Fort Collins staff, who recently worked with DPZ on their Montava Master Plan and Code, had this to say:
“There is no one better at form based code than DPZ. [I] wouldn’t trust anyone, anywhere, more. They understand everything about how to best structure the streets, depths, distances, the geometry. It really matters. They understand how layers work together with buildings, typology, the “system” of creating place.”
Based on all these factors, and to summarize, Town staff recommend the Board of Trustees approve the proposed consulting services contract with DPZ CoDesign for the following reasons:
• It directly addresses the Town’s needs for master planning and updating the UDC
• It is critically important to get the design right for Four Corners
• DPZ’s proposed approach will engage all interested parties to create a master plan that has community buy-in.
• DPZ’s approach is time efficient and cost-effective.
• References say DPZ has done great work for them.
• This work will create the framework for a clear and realistic vision for the center of Erie.
Additional Background
On July 11 and 12, the Town hosted an Urban Land Institute (ULI) Technical Advisory Panel (TAP). During the Board’s July 23, 2019 meeting, staff summarized the results of the TAP. A video of the TAP’s presentation and presentation materials are available at this link <https://www.erieco.gov/1592/Technical-Advisory-Panel>. During that same meeting, staff requested and the Board approved negotiating a contract with the top ranked firm staff believes is necessary to implement the TAP’s recommendation.
Staff concluded negotiations and recommends contracting with DPZ CoDesign. The proposed contract would enable the Town implement the Urban Land Institute TAP’s recommendations summarized below.
• Allow development proposals to move forward efficiently and coordinate with Lumry, Regency, and Ranchwood on public improvements and development cohesion
• Conduct market analysis for uses
• Set vision for town (provide information to facilitate subsequent update of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan)
• Update development review process (update UDC)
• Establish economic development policies (incentives)
• Civic Investments: identify needed connectivity improvements around the Town Center, prioritizing bike and pedestrian improvements
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution
2. Agreement for Services
3. DPZ CoDesign Proposals - Consultant for Master Plan of “Four Corners”