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Black Hawk works on annexation

John Scarffe
Posted 5/5/23

The Black Hawk City Council approved adopting the Three Mile Annexation Plan and set hearings for June 14 during a regular meeting at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at 211 Church Street in

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Black Hawk works on annexation

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The Black Hawk City Council approved adopting the Three Mile Annexation Plan and set hearings for June 14 during a regular meeting at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at 211 Church Street in Black Hawk. The Council also approved design services on the Police Station Renovation Project, the grant to acquire a Narcotics Analyzer, parking fees and regulations, and providing funding for 2023 for the Gregory Street HARD District Business Marketing Association.

Vincent Harris and Will Charles with Baseline Corporation presented the City’s Three Mile Annexation Plan B. It included a resolution accepting the petition for annexation on the parcels of unincorporated territory located in Lake Gulch Whiskey Resort Annexation, with Enclave Annexations for unincorporated territory identified as the Quartz Valley / Maryland Mountain.

Harris said they have been working with the surveyor and Proximo Corporation, which owns the distillery. All the land around the enclaves has been annexed for more than three years. All the resolutions establish June 14, 2023, as the date of public hearing for these annexations.

The Council approved the resolutions for the annexation and the public hearing on June 14.

Matt Reed with Public Works introduced approving the contract with PEH Architects in an amount not to exceed $50,220 for Design Services on the Police Station Renovation Project. Reed said he will submit the full set of plans next Wednesday.

The Council approved the grant from the State of Colorado, Division of Criminal Justice, in an amount not to exceed $40,000, to acquire a TruNarc Handheld Narcotics Analyzer and Ductless Fume Hood for the city’s evidence storage room. Police Chief Michelle Moriarty said she was excited to have this. This new device, valued at $24,000, tells the reader the drug that may have been found. It is one unit and two pieces of equipment.

Baseline introduced an ordinance amending the City code regarding parking impact fees, parking regulations, and other minor amendments to the Black Hawk Zoning Ordinance. There are three main changes. Parking regulations will be 250 square feet for a parking space, including short-term rentals.

City Attorney Corey Hoffmann said this is truly the end of an era. The existing parking regulations have been in effect for two decades. Now, the City can eliminate the parking impact fee.

According to background, “As we all generally know, gaming began in Colorado in the early 1990s and once approved, the City of Black Hawk began creating zoning and gaming regulations. One specific standard that needed to be proved over time was the need for off-street parking spaces.

“The development in Black Hawk back in the 1990s and early 2000s revolved around having some private parking lots as well as a large City-owned parking lot on Gregory Hill (previously known as Miners Mesa) with shuttle buses to take patrons to and from the casinos in the City.

“The parking lot on Gregory Hill was funded through a required Parking Space Impact Fee that property owners could pay in lieu of the required parking spaces on their own property. The Parking Fee Trust Fund was created to hold these parking impact fees, which would be used by the City to build public parking spaces and parking lots. With the completion of the St. Charles Carriage House, the Parking Fee Trust Fund has been depleted.

“In addition, larger casino developments in the past 10 to 15 years in Black Hawk have provided structured parking garages built on site, eliminating the need for the previously provided City-owned parking spaces on Gregory Hill. Gregory Hill is now in a transformation mode with the new Artisans Point distillery district, and no longer provides parking spaces for gaming uses in the City. The first portion of this Ordinance proposes eliminating the Parking Impact Fee that is no longer needed in the City.

“The current City parking standards, adopted in 1991, set the parking ratio for gaming establishments at 1 parking space per 75 square feet of gaming floor. Other uses such as restaurants, offices, entertainment, or bars within the gaming establishment followed similar parking ratios as if each use in the building was a standalone business or use.

“This calculation of required parking based on a variety of uses creates issues when gaming establishment owners want to make changes to the interior layout of their building by expanding and contracting casino, entertainment, office, and restaurant uses within the building. The ongoing changes in use within the casinos continually create a need to recalculate parking space requirements.

“With the recent development of the Monarch Casino Hotel and Spa staff have noticed that applying the 1991 parking standard seems ‘onerous’ for today’s gaming operations and needs.

“Staff further completed an analysis of required parking for gaming establishments in other jurisdictions and found that the ratio of one parking space to every 250 square feet of gross building area appeared sufficient.”

City staff recommended the removal of all references to parking impact fees and associated funds related to them. In addition, Staff is requesting a change in parking requirements for gaming establishments to better align the parking ratio with what is currently located in gaming establishments throughout the City. It also simplifies the parking calculation for gaming establishments to include a majority of uses within the casino. Lastly, the staff recommends changes for short-term rental uses.

The Council approved the ordinance. The Council also approved funding for 2023 for the Gregory Street HARD District Business Marketing Association in the Amount of $101,071.

The next meeting of the Black Hawk City Council will be on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. For more information, go to https://www.cityofblackhawk.org/.