CCW and Attachments

COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE The Council Committee of the Whole met on January 09, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. with Council President Hare presiding. Members of Council present were Ms. Arndt, Mr. Boggerty, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Neil, Dr. Pillsbury, Mr. Rocha, and Mr. Sudler. Mr. Anderson was absent. Mayor Christiansen was also present. Civilian members present for their Committee meetings were Mr. Iriowen, and Mr. Pugh (Utility), Mr. Shevock (via WebEx), and Ms. Smith (in at 6:32 p.m. via WebEx) (Legislative, Finance, and Administration). ADOPTION OF AGENDA Mr. Neil moved for adoption of the agenda, seconded by Dr. Pillsbury and unanimously carried. UTILITY COMMITTEE The Utility Committee met with Chairman Rocha presiding. Adoption of Agenda Mr. Hare moved for adoption of the agenda, seconded by Mr. Neil and unanimously carried. Evaluation of Proposals – Downtown Dover Upgrades Engineering Design (Jason Lyon, Water/Wastewater Director) Mr. Jason Lyon, Water and Wastewater Director reviewed the background and analysis of the Downtown Dover Upgrades Engineering Design. Staff recommended awarding the contract to KCI Technologies for the engineering design of the Downtown Dover Upgrades Engineering Design, RFP# 24-0010WW, for $233,027. Mr. Neil moved to recommend acceptance of the staff recommendation. The motion was seconded by Ms. Arndt and unanimously carried. Mr. Rocha moved for adjournment of the Utility Committee meeting, hearing no objection the meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m. LEGISLATIVE, FINANCE, AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE The Legislative, Finance, and Administration Committee met with Council President Hare presiding in the absence of a chair. Adoption of Agenda Mr. Neil moved for adoption of the agenda, seconded by Ms. Arndt and unanimously carried.

COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING JANUARY 09, 2024 PAGE 2 Change Order – Mirror Lake Drainage Basin Improvements (Jason Lyon, Water/Wastewater Director) Mr. Jason Lyon, Water and Wastewater Director reviewed the background and analysis of the Mirror Lake Drainage Basin Improvements. Staff recommended approving the change order request from Gateway Construction, Inc. in the amount of $154,559 in accordance with the City of Dover Purchasing Policy & Procedures. The design engineer of the project will split the cost of the change order with the city. Responding to Ms. Arndt, Mr. Lyon stated that when a design firm starts a project, they request the plans and prints from utilities to find the pipe locations. Mr. Lyon explained that the scope of the information provided to them was short of what they requested, thereby not showing the location of the pipe. Mr. Lyon also stated that the reason that the design firm is paying for half is because they should have done more research but again, the city could have provided that information. Responding to Ms. Arndt, Mr. Lyon stated that the GIS information is not provided to the public, and the prints are provided through Miss Utility. Mr. Lyon explained that the design engineer would place the request with Miss Utility, which then gets filtered through the call center to the city and then the information is provided to the requestor. Mr. Neil moved to recommend approval of the staff recommendation for the project. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rocha and unanimously carried. Update on potential revisions to the Zoning Ordinance for C-2 (Central Commercial Zone) per the Transforming Downtown Dover: Capital City 2023 Plan (Dawn Melson-Williams, Principal Planner) Ms. Dawn Melson-Williams, Principal Planner, reviewed the background and analysis of the potential revisions to the Zoning Ordinance for the C-2 (Central Commercial Zone). Proposed Ordinance #2024-01 – Amending Appendix B - Zoning, Article 3 - District Regulations, Section 13 - Central Commercial Zone (C-2), Article 4 - Zoning and Bulk Parking Regulations, Section 4.14 - [C-1, C-1A, C-2, C-2A zones], Article 5 - Supplementary Regulations, Section 6 - Dumpsters for trash and recycling, Article 6 - Off-Street Parking, Driveways and Loading Facilities, Section 3 - Required Off-Street Parking Spaces, Article 12 - Definitions. Responding to Mr. Rocha, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that the proposed ordinance would be adding uses to the C-2 zone such as manufacturing. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that manufacturing, assembling, converting, altering, finishing, cleaning, cooking, baking, and other processing of products is the standard language for describing manufacturing throughout the code. Ms. Melson-Williams stated that there is a size limit on the establishment as a smaller-scale operation would be appropriate for the downtown setting. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that some examples would be a bakery, crafter, woodworker, or glass blower, something that is not a full production line like Kraft Heinz. Ms. Melson-Williams also explained that manufacturing is a broad term with conditional use and specialized conditions and moves small-scale operations into permitted use.

COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING JANUARY 09, 2024 PAGE 3 Responding to Mr. Rocha, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that the potential state legislation and forthcoming regulations on cannabis will provide specific definitions tied to the cultivation, processing, and sale of those items. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that the concern with cannabis sales will need to be addressed specifically in the code but that is not what is intended with the ordinance amendment. Responding to Mr. Lewis, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that the public was involved in a series of opportunities in October. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that two stakeholder meetings were held with a targeted audience of local realtors, developers, and those with downtown Dover business interests. Ms. Melson-Williams stated that a public walk-in workshop was also held for a couple of hours where folks walked in and learned about the C-2 zoning and gave initial feedback on what staff had developed as potential revision ideas. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that the draft ordinance had not had a formal public hearing because that would be part of the review process moving forward. Responding to Mr. Lewis, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that the draft changes are not specific to any individual property, and they would apply to anything zoned C-2. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that the regulations for the proposed changes do not require public notice, but should the ordinance move forward through the review process, there are notice requirements and publication requirements for the upcoming hearings. Responding to Mr. Neil, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that the way the current code reads there are a specific number of dumpsters required based on floor area or unit count. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that many times during development planning the developers are doing the calculations for their project and realize they do not need so many dumpsters. The developers will then build two dumpsters, and reserve space for future needs. Ms. Melson-Williams stated that provision is still in the code, and they can build as many as they think they will need but the reservation requirement is still there and it gives the planner the authority to say that they received trash complaints, go ahead, and build another dumpster on the site. Ms. Melson-Williams stated that what is proposed is to make it clearer for the residential side of apartments and multi-family type units where there is a centralized trash and recycling dumpster area, and for the non-residential units where there is a requirement for two per property for recycling, and solid waste collection. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that the dumpster containers are not necessarily the containers the city collects, they are usually the commercial containers collected by a commercial hauler. Ms. Melson-Williams stated that there is flexibility within the recommended amendments for centralized collection methods. Responding to Mr. Sudler, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that there are no negative effects because the proposed text amendments offer a greater variety of potential uses. So, for business owners who have been looking for tenants, the amendments give them more options for tenants. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that if the business owners are looking towards redeveloping their site, the amendments give them greater flexibility for more creative designs in a potential project. For those happy with the business or the tenants that they have now, the amendments will allow them to have vacant buildings or tenant spaces around them redeveloped into something that brings in more foot traffic, which is needed for all downtown businesses.

COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING JANUARY 09, 2024 PAGE 4 Responding to Mr. Sudler, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that the proposed ordinance does not address the road infrastructure system however, some of the approved items are related to the downtown planning for infrastructure and will start to address what is under the road. Ms. Melson- Williams explained that the truck route ordinance that was adopted last year focuses on trucks moving throughout the city, but it does not prohibit local deliveries. Ms. Melson-Williams stated that the businesses downtown will likely make their delivery drivers aware of the road system so it is likely that there will be smaller box trucks finding their way downtown or traveling during off-peak travel hours. Responding to Mr. Sudler, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that the stakeholder meetings included invitations to the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce, key developers that have either worked downtown or have potential projects for downtown, as well as groups like the Downtown Dover Partnership. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that the information had been posted on the city website, so the information was open to the public. Responding to Mr. Sudler, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that there was at least one group that would classify as a minority, and they are interested in a potential project. Ms. Melson-Williams also stated that there are some in the group that the partnership collectively speaks for as well. Mr. Todd Stonesifer, 15 North State Street, Dover, President of the Downtown Dover Partnership Board of Directors, thanked the city council, committee members, and all the different city departments that have put so much work into the Transforming Downtown Dover 2030 plan. Mr. Stonesifer explained that the goal is to bring pedestrian traffic back downtown and give the people who live there a walkable community. Mr. Stonesifer stated that in order to do that they recommend the additional height restrictions and the ability to be creative with parking so that there can be a centralized parking solution. Mr. Stonesifer stated that the first main project will be at 20 South Governors Avenue and there are potential designs on the Downtown Dover Partnership’s website, which depicts commercial development on the ground floor and five additional floors of residential units. Mr. John Childress, Vice President of Projects, Mosaic Development Partners, thanked the council, Downtown Dover Partnership, and city departments for all their help. Mr. Childress explained that the changes to the structured parking are to make it easier for the developers and folks coming into downtown Dover. Mr. Childress explained that the next key point would be the step-backs. Mr. Childress stated that the goal is to have a nice community that does not create tunnel vision of straight walls going up and there must be consideration of the development because the goal is to bring more developers downtown. Mr. Childress stated that typically wood construction would be used in buildings up to six floors. Mr. Childress explained that they have come up with a proposal to do a step back of two or three feet for six floors and anything six and above move it back to five feet. Mr. Childress explained that this recommendation means that once the building is over six floors it would become concrete or steel construction, which allows for easier step-backs. Mr. Childress continued to explain that the beauty of downtown Dover is that there are incredible anchors in the master plan including the Dover Air Force Base, Bayhealth, Delaware State University, and the state government all within a central location. Mr. Childress stated that if the step-backs go too far back then the plan would lose about one-fourth of the apartments which could hurt financial growth. Mr. Childress explained that the goal is to be able to build quality housing

COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING JANUARY 09, 2024 PAGE 5 that honors the city and the architecture but still encourages developers to go downtown and build (Attachment #1). Responding to Mr. Rocha, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that the step-backs are not currently part of the code, other than the idea of stepping back on upper floors which is one of the design standards for the City of Dover Historic District Zone. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that it was mentioned that on the upper floors, they would do a step back of 10 feet and then an additional 10 feet with each floor over six stories when looking at taking the C-2 zone from a maximum of six stories to a maximum of 10 stories. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that if someone is looking to build a six-story building, four floors could be on the sidewalk, but then floors five and six would have to be stepped back 10 feet. If the building was taller than six stories, the upper floors would have to go back another 10 feet. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that after doing research they tried to come up with something simple in concept that would be respectful of the design standards for the historic district. Responding to Mr. Rocha, Ms. Melson-Williams stated that the design standards do not give a dimension, they only talk about the concept of stepping back the upper floors. Ms. Melson- Williams explained that the text amendment says that it does not have to start on the fourth floor, it could start lower, and it does not have to be the entire width. Ms. Melson-Williams explained that the idea is that visually it will look like the building is shorter than what it is from a pedestrian standpoint at the street level. Responding to Mr. Rocha, Mr. Childress stated that it is not impossible to do with the proposed step-backs but that ideally there would be a shorter step-back on the lower floors because there is only so much width on the block, so as the design is pushed back the front row gets reduced. This would cause a loss of 20 to 25% of apartments on the side with the step-back and cause challenges in the construction of the walls, which would then need to have additional structural support. Mr. Sudler suggested that documentation from an engineer expressing whether the proposed step- back changes would be structurally sound and safe. Ms. Arndt asked if the Mosaic team could provide their comments in writing and provide the resources and justification for what they have proposed. Ms. Arndt also asked that Ms. Melson- Williams review that information and if it meets the city design standards, consider making the changes to the step-backs. Responding to Mr. Lewis, Mayor Christiansen stated that any fire that is above four stories is fought with a standpipe system. Mayor Christiansen also stated that the Fire Marshal’s office is run by a past Chief of the City of Dover Fire Department, who would ensure that all the step-backs would meet the NFPA standards before the buildings are even considered. A written public comment was provided in support of the potential revisions of the C-2 (Central Commercial Zone) by Donny Legans, Rail Haus owner/operator (Attachment #2). Mr. Neil moved to recommend acceptance of staff recommendations to move forward with the provision that staff look at the step-back and a determination will be made regarding the

COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING JANUARY 09, 2024 PAGE 6 step-back going forward in the final documents. The motion was seconded by Mr. Sudler and unanimously carried. Mr. Hare moved for adjournment of the Legislative, Finance, and Administration Committee meeting, hearing no objection the meeting adjourned at 6:56 p.m. Mr. Hare moved for adjournment of the Council Committee of the Whole meeting, hearing no objection the meeting adjourned at 6:56 p.m. William F. Hare Council President Attachments Attachment #1 - Downtown Dover Partnership Board of Directors, Letter of Support Attachment #2 - Donny Legans, Rail Haus Owner, Letter of Support

ATTACHMENT #1 Council Committee of the Whole Meeting of 01/09/2024 Downtown Dover Partnership Main Street Dover 101 W. Loockerman Street, Ste 2B Dover, DE 19904 (302)678-2940 January 8, 2024 Ms. Andria Bennett Dover City Clerk 15 Loockerman Plaza Dover, DE 19903 We wish to provide comment on behalf of the Downtown Dover Partnership (DDP) board of directors regarding the Potential Revisions to C-2 Zone to be heard on January 9, 2024 at the CCOW-LFA. We commend the thorough process of the staff of the City of Dover Planning Department to respond to the recommendation in the Capital City 2030: Transforming Downtown Dover! master plan to revisit current c-2 zoning and design standards in an effort to encourage development in downtown Dover. Their approach was responsive and proactive, as well, in researching other municipalities in the nation. Specifically, we support the majority of the proposed changes, including that of “No parking requirements for existing buildings in C-2 zone” and “No minimum parking requirements for new construction in C-2 zone.” We believe these are appropriate and follow nationwide trends. We propose change to the following: Proposed change: DDP requested change: If not requested change proposed (left): Step back of ten (10) feet Step back of six (6) feet at fourth At most: A step-back not to at/above four (4) floors floor. exceed eight (8) feet on any level, with no more than two step- backs required on a facade. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of the request. CC: DDP Board of Directors Dawn Melson, Principle Planner

ATTACHMENT #2 Council Committee of the Whole Meeting of 01/09/2024 From: Donny Legans To: City Clerks Office Subject: EXTERNAL: Public Comment on C2 zoning changes Date: Tuesday, January 9, 2024 8:24:45 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from donny@railhaus.com. Learn why this is important WARNING: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Hi Dover, I wish to add my comments to C2 changes. I agree completely with the proposed changes to minimum parking requirements. As the owner/operator of Rail Haus we support off street parking of course but the requirement for certain amount was a tedious and expensive process on property owners. One related suggestion if I can add: Can we revisit the once-a-year process for Land Use change? I own an Industrial property in Downtown Dover. That land use has fallen out of favor compared to Mixed Use land use for good reason. An owner has many options once a property is slated for Mixed Use. It doesn’t skip any of the needed steps (DAC, public meetings, pre construction agency approvals) but it does kick start the process for when a developer can start the design process. AS it stands today, Major Land Use change can only be submitted on Dec 15th, so the rest of the year an owner is just sitting on a property in an outdated Land Use until the first hearing in January after submission. Sorry for being off topic but before we can get to C2 zoning (Downtown Redevopment Target area), the Land Use must match the rest of Downtown properties and the recommendations from the city that Mixed Use is the way forward for Downtown Dover. Right now my property can only be zoned for light manufacturing, aviation, and C3 until we change Land Use to Mixed Use. Background detail: Determination by the City Planner Your Request for Rezoning and Land Development Plan Map Amendment will fall under one of the two categories listed below. Refer to the 2019 Comprehensive Plan for more details on the Comprehensive Plan Amendment process (Chapter 15, pages 15-10 through 15-12). Minor Variation - To qualify, the following three conditions must be met: a. The rezoning is of a unique circumstance and cannot set precedent for other lands in the vicinity of the rezoning; and, b. The relative size of the rezoning or the variation from the land use recommended by the Comprehensive Plan is so minor that it would have no impact on the goals and objectives of the Comprehensive Plan; and, c. The proposed zoning is adjacent to or in the immediate vicinity of other similarly zoned lands and would not alter the pattern of development in the area.

Comprehensive Plan Amendment Request – If Request does not meet the conditions of a Minor Variation then it will require submission to the Office of State Planning Coordination’s Preliminary Land Use Services (PLUS) review process. Comprehensive Plan Amendment Requests will be processed annually. Applications for amendments to the Comprehensive Plan must be received by the City Planning Office by December 15th. The City will compile any Requests received into one submission to the Office of State Planning Coordination, regardless of Planning Staff concurrence with the Request. The City will submit Comprehensive Plan Amendment Requests for consideration through the PLUS process in January of each year. Donny Legans Co-Owner Rail Haus Beer Garden 719.440.2870 donny@railhaus.com