Berthoud Weekly Surveyor | Covering all the angles in the Garden Spot

Heron Pointe is officially part of Berthoud

April 09, 2015 | Local News

By John Gardner
The Surveyor

It appears as if the dust has settled on the Heron Pointe development dispute between nearby residents and the developer proposing a new subdivision for the property. And now the dirt may begin to move as soon as the developer brings forth a preliminary and final plan and the Berthoud Board of Trustees approve the final project.

That approval may be a few months out, but developer Bob Dehn is looking to move forward after Berthoud’s Planning Department recorded the annexation plat, zoning map and associated ordinances for annexation and zoning the week of April 1.

“This means that the Heron Pointe property is officially annexed and zoned into the town,” reported Berthoud Planning Director Sherry Albertson-Clark in an email to the Surveyor.

Dehn said that after the months-long dispute he’s ready to get things moving again.

“We will now go forward with the preliminary plat and get ready for final plat,” he said.

Dehn met with members of the opposition on April 1 to continue a dialogue about the project, according to Dehn. However, that meeting ended with the Heron Pointe opposition somewhat accepting defeat and Dehn looking toward the future.

“The dispute over Heron Pointe is over for some of us,” wrote opposition spokesman Ed Kahle, in an email to neighbors on April 3. “There were many issues with politics that we as a community could not overcome.”

Kahle said the main reason for retreating was mounting legal debt to continue to pursue the dispute. However, Kahle expressed good faith that the proposed development would be done professionally and that he has no ill feelings for Dehn. He said that he and at least some other residents are ready to move forward, but he wasn’t sure all were ready to accept defeat just yet.

“It’s not what everyone wanted, but that’s life,” Kahle said. “The residents in the area lost the disagreement, but my main thing is that I’m not going to be a sore loser about it. I’m moving on and I hope I’ve got some input as to what goes on out there.”

The next step for developers is to undergo a preliminary plat as required by the town. The preliminary plat and related documents (traffic study, soils report, drainage report and plan) will be submitted to the town at some point and will then go through the development review process. Each round of development by the town takes approximately one month, according to Albertson-Clark. Most projects go through two or more rounds of review. During the review process, town staff, as well as all of its referral agencies, review the project documents to make sure they meet standards and requirements.

The town requires resubmittals until all issues and comments of the Technical Review Committee, comprised of town staff and outside referral agencies like the utilities, fire district and Larimer County, are addressed, Albertson-Clark wrote.

Next, the town schedules the project for a public meeting with the planning commission and a public hearing with the town trustees. The planning commission will make recommendations to the trustees before trustees make a final decision.

Once the preliminary plat is approved by trustees, the developer will start the same process over again with a final plat.

“The Final Plat and related documents provide greater detail than the preliminary [plat] and it also goes to the planning commission and town board,” Albertson-Clark said. “The applicant can choose to bring in a preliminary for the entire property, or for a portion of the property, and the same thing applies for a final.”

Final plat and construction drawing approval, along with a development agreement approval, are all required before any construction activities can begin on any property, according to Albertson-Clark.

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