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

Standing room only at the planning meeting last week

October 19, 2018 | Local News

By Rudy Hemmann

The Surveyor

The Berthoud Planning Commission played to a standing-room-only audience during the Oct. 11, 2018, meeting.

The commissioners considered final plats for portions of two developments; final plats for the second, third and fourth filings of the Vantage development and a filing of the Farmstead development. The commission also looked at a preliminary plat and the associated concept plan for Lot B of the Heron Pointe development. All three of the items were conducted under public hearings.

Vantage development

Vantage is located in the northeast quadrant of the intersection of Bunyan Avenue and Berthoud Parkway (aka Larimer County Road 17 or Taft Avenue).

The applicant, TB Group acting as agent for Bill Zech, a principal of Access Land Colorado, LLC, requested three Final Plats (FP) on approximately 201 acres. The plans brought forward propose 135 single-family lots for Filing 2, 182 lots for Filing 3 and 156 lots for Filing 4.

The plans submitted call for 40 acres of open space to be maintained by a metropolitan district.

Director of Community Development Curt Freeze gave a thorough introduction to the item, and indicated there were few changes to the plats from the preliminary plat stage. He noted the flooding issues experienced for years by town residents south of Bunyan Avenue centered on Ninth Street and 10th Street have been mitigated and continue to be monitored.

Kristin Turner of TB Group stated she did not have much to add to the presentation except to note the trail and sidewalk systems are very pedestrian-friendly especially for young children walking to Berthoud Elementary.

Commission Chairman Scott Banzhaf opened a public hearing and closed the hearing when no one stood to speak.

Following a brief period of discussion by the commissioners a motion to recommend the town board approve the FPs for Filing 2, Filing 3 and Filing 4 of the Vantage subdivision was made, seconded and approved unanimously.

Heron Pointe development

Lot B of the Heron Pointe development is a parcel of approximately 16.85 acres located at the southeast quadrant of the intersection of Berthoud Parkway and Larimer County Road (LCR) 14.

Freese again gave the introduction to the item during which he revealed the proposal was for five commercial lots, or pads, and one multi-family lot for 142 multi-family units.

The commercial lots will be located along Berthoud Parkway.

Applicant Steve Steinbicker, acting as agent for Bob Dehn of Heron Pointe, LLC, requested approval of a Preliminary Plat (PP) for the property.

Steinbicker spoke to several topics concerning the proposed development, including a proposed club house, which is to be a part of the multi-family complex, and would be available for any resident within the Heron Pointe subdivision, traffic issues, and the timing of the widening of Berthoud Parkway. 

Drainage issues at the south end of both the Lot B property and the portion of the Heron Pointe development directly to the west across Berthoud Parkway. 

Chair Banzhaf opened a public hearing on the item and two residents took the podium to express their feelings concerning the proposal.

A motion to recommend the town board approve Lot B Heron Pointe PP was made, seconded and passed unanimously.

The Farmstead development

It was this agenda item that drew most of crowd to the council chamber.

The applicant, TB Group, acting as agent for painted Sky LLC, requested approval of a proposed plat featuring 221 single-family lots on approximately 80 acres out of a total of roughly 280 acres.

The property is bounded on the west by the Mary’s Farm subdivision, on the north by Transitional/Agricultural, which is adjacent to Highway 56, and on the east and south by primarily agricultural land. Most of the residents attending the meeting were from the Mary’s Farm subdivision.

Freese again gave a detailed introductory presentation for the item. In his presentation he noted the street layout was a modified grid with the extension of E. Nebraska Avenue to the east and terminating at County Line Road. According to the staff report, another east/west street connection will be made at E. Michigan Avenue. The developer chose not to make street connections at E. Colorado Avenue or E. Iowa Avenue. Duplexes, which had been planned along E. Michigan Avenue, have been removed and replaced with single-family homes to reduce traffic on E. Michigan. A third connection, this one a north/south connection, will be made along Dorothy Drive, but Dorothy Drive will need to be upgraded to Colorado Department of Transportation standards.

Turner followed with a brief presentation.

William Edwards, principal owner of Painted Sky LLC, gave a presentation which gave his vision of the kinds of businesses and types of homes he envisions being available in the subdivision. He reported he was working with David Gregg of Mission Homes on cottage home concepts.

Chairman Banzhaf opened a public hearing for the item, and 13 of those in attendance stood at the podium to voice their opinions regarding the proposal. Topics brought up by the citizens ranged from increased traffic on the streets throughout the Mary’s Farm subdivision, to the deterioration of their quiet neighborhoods, to the poor condition that E. Nebraska Avenue is in, to unwanted construction traffic adjacent to their subdivision.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

After a lengthy commission discussion period some suggestions were made that additions be made to the motion to approve the plat, which could mitigate some of the issues.

Three conditions were added to the motion to approve the Final Plat. They are:

Submit a master fencing plan that includes open fencing in the trail-way corridor.

Provide a gravel access drive be built from County Line Road.

And require no construction traffic enter through Mary’s Farm.

With the above conditions in place, a motion approving the FP was made, seconded and passed unanimously.

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