November 8, 2023 Joint Planning Commission & Variance Committee Minutes

Call to Order

The regular meeting of the Joint Planning and Variance Commission of the Town of Kiowa was called to order at 6:13pm by Wendy Frenzel.

Roll Call

Present: Chairperson Wendy Frenzel, Co-Chairperson Todd Lane, Member Shannon Lane, Member Lori Rafferty, Director Andrew Lowry, and Mayor Rick Kolm. Town of Kiowa Board Member Terry Howard was present on Zoom.

Absent: Commissioner Sandy Kalisch, Member Julie Mizak and Mayor Pro Tern Trevor Smith.

There was a quorum to conduct business.

Also present: 

Ruth Borne, Town Legal Counsel on Zoom 
Kim Boyd, Town Administrator

Public Comment

None. 

Consent Items

1. Approval of agenda
   Chairperson Wendy Frenzel asked for approval of the agenda with no amendments. Co-Chairperson Todd Lane made a motion to approve the agenda. Shannon Lane seconded, and the motion carried with no discussion.
2. Approval of minutes from October 25, 2023, meeting
   Co-Chairperson Todd Lane made the motion to approve the minutes from the October 25, 2023, meeting. Shannon Lane seconded, and the motion carried with no discussion.

New Business

1. Update on Zoning Code
   1. Definitions will be included in the December meeting.
   2. Part 2 - Non-conforming uses. Supplemental Regulations - Change to Parking Requirements. Design Guidelines section also in Supplemental Regulations - is getting lost so will be moved to another area.
   3. Under Administration - Zoning Permits - move to a place that is more prominent - Should be more general so people know you must get a permit and approval. Certificate of Occupancy will remain under Administration as a different section. Need to look at Code Enforcement and distinguish from Building Official. Need to add definitions for those.
   4. Cost Reimbursement Agreements/Requirements - Under Supplemental Regulations also - needs to be moved so it is more prominent and easier to find.
   5. Public Notice- Hidden in Code - needs to be clearer about when notice is required and moved to a more prominent place. Needs to be a more comprehensive list.
2. Planning Commission
   1. It was suggested that it be changed to at least 4 town members and no more than 1 business owner/non­resident. The Commission agreed on this issue.
3. Fee Schedule
   1. Increased fees can be done by resolution, instead of an ordinance.
4. Board of Adjustment
   1. Too many titles in code - need to be cleaned up. Code enforcement officers are enforcing ordinances - same as laws in town and this body does not have the ability to change. Only a judge can alter those. The Municipal Court will be included at some point with the ability to assess fines. This needs to be moved somewhere else because it is confusing.
   2. Appealing to the board of adjustments really deals with building officials and zoning/building and not code enforcement. Code enforcement cannot stop building issues. Only building officials can issue "red tags" to stop building. Regarding zoning issues, the zoning officer could issue a fine for a violation. Fines that are issued need to go in front of a municipal judge.
5. Revenue and Finance
   1. Enterprise Fund and Water Enterprise Fund -Dola said we do not need to have sewer/water enterprise funds, so they were removed.
   2. Development Impact Fees - Elizabeth's proposed impact fees -Town of Elizabeth approved ordinance which is extensive and was researched thoroughly. Our fees go back to 2004 so we may want to look at this and update our code since theirs is based on 2023 numbers. We currently do not have commercial numbers at all, so this would be a big help. So, we need to reach out to Elizabeth's administrator to see if we can use their plan. School impact fees and fire impact fees collections are currently in our code, and those would go into this section also.
   3. Annexation - Need to clarify -KWW A -include as water/sewer. Town has responsibility for zoning/planning dealing with this and KWW A gets the agreement. Kiowa and KWW A do not incur any costs for water and sewage services.
6. Subdivision Code
   1. Streets/Roads/Curb and Gutters/Drainage/Public improvements -might want to look at Elizabeth to see if there are any things that we might want to include in ours. ADA compliance needs to be looked at, especially for sidewalks - because they are only a foot wide. CDOT put in some ramps, but they are not necessarily in the most effective places. Grants have been asked for from CDOT and Dola to help with road/sidewalk improvements.
7. Town Council
   1. January 25th, 2023 is the current end to the moratorium, and it was suggested that we extend this another 90 days and recommend it to the Kiowa Town Board. A suggestion to give the board the information in thirds was also recommended.
   2. A motion was made to send to the Kiowa Town Board a recommendation to extend the moratorium another 90 days. Member Lori Rafferty made a motion, Co-chairperson Todd Lane seconded, and the motion carried with no discussion.

Old Business

Correspondence/Information/Review/Discussion

Adjourn 

Member Lori Rafferty made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Member Shannon Lane seconded. The meeting adjourned at 7:l7pm with no further discussion.

The next meeting will be on November 29, 2023, at the Town Hall at 6:00pm.