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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 04/15/1997 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL/STAFF WORKSHOP MEETING TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 1997 6:30 PM, HERITAGE ROOM IV 8080 Mitchell Road COUNCILMEMBERS: Mayor Jean Harris, Sherry Butcher-Younghans, Ronald Case, Ross Thorfinnson, Jr. and Nancy Tyra-Lukens CITY STAFF: City Manager Carl J. Jullie, Assistant City Manager Chris Enger, Director of Public Works Gene Dietz,City Engineer Al Gray, Chief of Police Jim Clark, Street Division Foreman Tom Tesch, Street Division Larry Doig, Assistant Fire Chief Chuck Schaitberger, and Council Recorder Jan Nelson ROLL CALL Councilmember Thorfinnson was absent. I. CALL TO ORDER-MAYOR HARRIS Mayor Harris called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. II. DISCUSSION ON STREET INTERCONNECTIONS Dietz said, as a result of the issues that came about concerning the extension of Forest Hills Road, the Council asked Staff to determine what streets we have in the City that are "dead end" streets and to make recommendations about what should be done to promote connections for those streets as development continues. He distributed copies of a list of the dead end streets in the City that was compiled by Larry Doig of the Street Division. He said Staff then put together the recommended action, priority and comments for each of the streets. Shaded items had action taken in 1996, and items with an asterisk indicate an opportunity lost. Dietz said he asked the Public Safety Department to be here tonight because of issues of getting around the City as well as public service issues such as street plowing. Enger asked what the current policy is on street connections. Dietz said we try to connect where at all possible, except in areas where natural features preclude connection. He said in 1980 we had about 350 cul-de-sacs, and by 1995 the number increased to 523. We have slowed the pace of growth in numbers of cul-de-sacs, and many of those could not have been built without a cul-de-sac. Harris asked why Forest Hills Road has an asterisk by it. Dietz said we had an opportunity to act on this and didn't. CITY COUNCIL/STAFF WORKSHOP MINUTES April 15, 1997 Page 2 Tyra-Lukens asked how the list was defined. Dietz said the list includes all dead-end streets for which, at one time, we believed there was a possibility of extension. He said there are some that need a terminus added to them now that there is no possibility for extension. Case asked what criteria were used to make the decisions regarding priority on the list. Dietz said Tom Tesch and he determined the priorities as a Staff recommendation. Case said in terms of traffic levels he saw some big differences in volume. Case said he would like to be able to say these are the high priorities and these are the reasons why. He did not see that with some of the high priority items. Dietz said they did not take the time to go through and do a special study on each one. Case said he was looking for justification verbiage for projects that will come in such as "the street is a collector street" or "it has curbing" or some other reason for the priority. It would be a generalized list so that we can use the criteria when specific projects come up. Dietz said they could make a matrix of reasons for why we would make a street interconnection. Enger said we have recognized a number of different reasons for interconnecting roads. One of the reasons is the ability to get around the City. We need to start with the premise that roads should be connected or we will be fighting an uphill battle. Harris said as density increases people can't travel in the City. Dietz said we have very little opportunity for making more through roads, so we are forced to take advantage whenever we can. Case said there may be cases such as Hilltop and Valley that make sense to connect; however, in the specific situation, it doesn't meet the high priority that another would. Dietz thought if we limited ourselves to high priority locations, we would get the list of 62 down to about ten. He noted Hilltop and Valley is an opportunity missed, and we now have a problem with snowplowing on Valley. There is also no way to exit there if the street entrance is blocked. Enger said we have not had an opportunity to operate to our full potential as a community, and street connectedness helps us operate as a community. We should enumerate the reasons why we value a connected community. Tyra-Lukens said she agreed with that, but she thought we will continue to have neighborhoods that don't want traffic on their street. Enger said we could evaluate what the capacities are on all the roads on a system-wide basis so that connections could be made in those neighborhoods in order to handle more of the capacity. Butcher-Younghans thought that was a strong argument; however, she heard the same argument used the opposite way by the people from Hilltop and Valley. They felt it would affect their sense of community, but they were thinking of community in the smaller sense. Harris thought we want people to think more broadly of community. Al Gray, City Engineer, said people have trouble dealing with change, but we need to remember that people who are here today aren't necessarily the ones who will be here CITY COUNCIU/STAFF WORKSHOP NIINUTES April 15, 1997 Page 3 tomorrow. Dietz thought we also have to consider the cost to make the connections because in some cases there is no particular benefit to justify assessing the property. Harris thought we need to consider the effect on the quality of life if people find it difficult to get from one point to another. Dietz reviewed some of the dead end streets including Darnel, which is currently a stub to the south with a large piece of undeveloped land beyond it. It would be desirable to interconnect Darnel to the undeveloped land as the lots there are developed. Tyra-Lukens asked if there would be an opportunity to connect from Aztec Drive. Dietz said that is a possibility, but it would be connecting commercial to residential. Case thought there are other areas like this that could be designated as top priority based on the criteria that the area has no outlet, and we could show the critical areas that won't function well if things don't happen. Enger thought it might be useful to determine the real "do or die" ones. Dietz thought we might tend to not connect the others if we do that. Tyra-Lukens asked what the philosophy for development has been. Enger said we say all roads should be connected. Tyra-Lukens then asked why we lost the Kurtz Lane connection. Enger said the implementation of the philosophy has decreased over the years. Staff recommended a number of connections according to the policy, but it became too tough to insist that they be connected. Harris thought we could build a broad statement regarding the movement of traffic but have other criteria for specific areas. We also don't want to lose sight of the fact that the trail system is a part of the transportation system. Dietz said he has heard the Council express a need to get some criteria put together from a philosophical and practical viewpoint. Jullie said Staff could be proactive with developers to encourage connections but we will have to be prepared for controversy. There will be times when it won't work, and we need a way to accommodate those situations. Harris said it is important to look at what is best for the City overall, and connectedness will help to reduce congestion in neighborhoods. Enger asked if we are using temporary dead end signs. He would be interested in knowing how many of the total list have signs on them. Dietz said they would make sure signs are put up where needed. III. OTHER BUSINESS IV. ADTOURNMENT Mayor Harris adjourned the meeting at 7:25 p.m.