To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
Through: David L. Corliss, Town Manager
From: Tara Vargish, PE, Director, Development Services
Brad Boland, AICP, Long Range Project Manager, Development Services Department
Title
Resolution Approving a Site Development Plan for a Single Family Residential Housing Project Known as Avilla at Founders Village (Bella Mesa Filing No. 1, Tracts B and C) [located at the north west corner of Mikelson Blvd and Mitchell St.]
Body
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Executive Summary
NexMetro is seeking approval of a Site Development Plan (SDP) for a 105 unit, for- rent community consisting of single family attached and detached structures within the Bella Mesa Planned Development (PD). The 9-acre property is located at the north west corner of Mikelson Blvd and Mitchell St. NexMetro has branded the project as Avilla at Founders Village.
Planning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend approval of the Site Development Plan at their regularly scheduled meeting on March 23, 2023. The Planning Commission had an extensive conversation concerning pedestrian connectivity and safety in regards to Mesa Middle School and the required roundabout.
Notification and Outreach Efforts
Public Notice
Public hearing notice signs were posted on the property on Tuesday, March 8, 2023. Written notice letters were sent to property owners within 500 feet of the property, at least 15 days prior to the public hearings.
Town staff published notice of the Planning Commission and Town Council public hearings on the Town's Public Notice website, and provided information about the proposal on the Town's Development Activity interactive map.
Neighborhood Meetings and Public Notice
The applicant has held three neighborhood meetings. The first meeting held in September 2021 in a hybrid format. A total of 15 attendees between in person and online attended. The second meeting was held in January 2022 in a hybrid format and 3 people attended online. The third and final neighborhood meeting was held online in November 2022 with 4 people from the public in attendance. General questions concerning about the development and how it would operate were asked in the neighborhood meetings. Typical general concerns about development within the Town and traffic were also asked. Traffic in relation to Mesa Middle School was a common theme. The neighborhood meeting summaries are attached for reference along with additional input received.
One item brought up through e-mail and conversations, a resident was concerned about headlights shining east from cars entering the property on Rock Canyon Trail. The applicant agreed to construct a berm at the end of Rock Canyon Trail as shown today to mitigate the concern. Different mitigation may be required dependent on the future development of the PLD property.
External Referrals
Requests for comments were sent to various local agencies and utility service providers, including Douglas County Government, Douglas County Schools, Colorado Geological Survey, Plum Creek Water Reclamation Authority, CORE (formerly known as IREA), Black Hills Energy, Xcel Energy, Century Link and Comcast. Comments received from local agencies and utility service providers were technical in nature and reconciled through the SDP review process.
Discussion
Proposed Site Development Plan
NexMetro is proposing a 105-unit rental community on the 9-acre parcel. The units are comprised of single family attached and detached structures. A mix of 1, 2, and 3 bedroom units are available. While the structures of the development are of the single family attached and detached typology, due to the for rent nature of the property, multi-family development standards were generally applied to the project. The development will have 220 on-site parking spaces distributed throughout the project. Parking is predominantly surface parking, supplemented by a total of 16 garage spaces. Pods of homes are distributed throughout the property and accessed through a sidewalk network originating from the various parking lots. A leasing/community center and community pool are on the property.
The property is accessed from Mitchell Street from two points. A full movement access will be located in alignment with the Rock Canyon Drive across Mitchell Street. This will be at the northern edge of the property and will be accommodated through a shared access easement that splits the property line along the subject property and the PLD property to the north. A second entrance, on the southern portion of the property will be right-in and right-out. The Site Development Plan depicts a roundabout at the south east corner of the property. The roundabout is a required improvement identified in the Bella Mesa Development Agreement. The depiction of the roundabout within the Site Development Plan does not represent the final design. The master developer of Bella Mesa, Fourth Investments, is responsible for the design and construction of the roundabout. The design of the roundabout is under review by Town staff through the submittal of construction documents. The applicant is responsible is to conceptually depict the roundabout on the Site Development Plan to show that enough property is being reserved to accommodate the assumed geometry of the roundabout.
The units are one story structures with a maximum height of just under 20 feet. A total of 9 elevations have been included for the dwelling units broken into three typologies (farmhouse, craftsman, and traditional) with each having three configurations based on the number of bedrooms.
Development Standards
The proposed SDP meets the Bella Mesa PD zoning regulations. The PD zoning allows a maximum of 186 dwelling units on the property versus the 105 dwelling units proposed. Permitted uses on the property include single-family (attached and detached) dwelling units, multi-family units, community centers, and private recreational facilities. The maximum building height proposed, the leasing center, is just under 25 feet which is half of the allowed height of 50 feet. The gross density of the proposed site plan is 11.6 dwelling units per acre (du/ac), under the maximum of 20 du/ac.
The landscape plan for the property meets the Town’s Landscape and Irrigation Criteria for multifamily. A technical criteria variance was approved for street trees along Mitchell Street due to utility easements encroaching into the streetscape area preventing the planting of trees. Additional shrubs and grasses, above the requirement, will be planted within the streetscape as a substitute for the trees. Additionally, trees are planted closely along the property line with Mitchell Street to provide screening and provide a similar effect to street trees. Landscaping along Mikelson Blvd already exists.
Skyline / Ridgeline Protection Ordinance
The property is not located within a skyline/ridgeline protection area.
Residential / Non-Residential Interface Regulations (Interface)
The property to the north is zoned as a Public Land Dedication (PLD) within the Bella Mesa PD. The PLD use area per the Bella Mesa PD allows for neighborhood parks, public open space, soft surface or paved trails, elementary or K-8 school, and school related support facilities that are office in nature. PLD use areas within a PD are anticipated to be located adjacent to, and within, residential areas. Therefore, the residential/non-residential interface regulations do not apply.
Dissimilar Residential Interface Regulations
The Dissimilar Residential Interface Regulations are not applicable to this project regardless of how the project is classified as single-family attached, detached, or multifamily. The interface does not apply to the properties to the south and east as their respective right ways, Mikelson Blvd and Mitchell Street, have right of way widths greater than 50 feet. The interface does not apply to the west as the distance across the open space is greater than 50 feet.
Open Space, Trails and Public Land Dedication
In 2006, 11.2 acres to the west of the property was dedicated to the Town to meet the open space requirement of the 2004 Founders Filing 24 SDP, of which this property was part of. In 2021, a plat of the remaining Bella Mesa South property conveyed to the Town the remaining 3 acres of open space to satisfy the open space requirements of the Bella Mesa South portion of the Bella Mesa PD. In addition, the 12.3 acre PLD tract was conveyed to the Town with the 2021 PLD. Thus, the applicant had proactively satisfied the open space and PLD requirements of the PD prior to seeking SDP approval.
Roadways, Traffic Impact Analysis and Mitigation
Vehicular access for the proposed Avilla development will be provided via a private internal roadway network with connectivity to the external transportation system at the following locations:
A right-in right-out driveway intersecting N. Mitchell St. approximately 200 feet north of Mikelson Blvd forming a “T” intersection and providing access to the southern end of the site.
A full access driveway intersecting Rock Canyon Trail. This newly proposed segment of Rock Canyon Trail will be extended west from the existing roadway, thus expanding the Rock Canyon Trail/N. Mitchell St. intersection from a “T” intersection into a full four-legged intersection. A continuous turn lane on Mitchell St. allows for left turns into the site.
A traffic impact analysis (TIA) has been prepared to determine the impacts to the existing roadway network. Although the Founders Village Filing 24 development agreement (DA) includes Avilla and Bella Mesa (Sunset Pointe) to the north, the TIA has separated the 105-unit Avilla project to address its individual impacts.
The stop-controlled Mikelson/Mitchell intersection is projected to experience a failing (LOS F) level of service by the 2040 long-term analysis horizon. The mitigation is to construct a 3-leg roundabout at this location, based on the DA requirement, the TIA and the Transportation Design Criteria Manual (TDCM) that all collector/collector intersections include analyses for roundabouts. The roundabout will be designed and constructed by the Master Developer Fourth Investments. Construction is required to start on the roundabout prior to building permits being released in Avilla, and it’s construction is anticipated to last a year or so.
The SH86/High Point Rd./Enderud Blvd was analyzed and the overall intersection is also projected to experience a failing (LOS F) level of service during the a.m. peak period by the 2040 (long-term) analysis horizon. Staff, including Legal Department, has determined that the Developer will provide cash-in-lieu as a pro-rata share of its project generated traffic to construct an additional northbound left turn lane from Enderud Blvd to westbound Hwy. 86. Coordination with CDOT will be required to determine time of construction when warrants are met. All other intersections will be addressed when the Bella Mesa (Sunset Pointe) development submits an application and TIA.
Based on the analyses, the geometric and operational improvements/modifications to the study area roadways and intersections will sufficiently mitigate and/or off-set the impacts created by the traffic generated by the proposed Avilla development.
Utilities
The Bella Mesa water bank has sufficient single family equivalents (SFE) to be allocated to this development. The existing water, wastewater and storm sewer infrastructure has the capacity to serve the property and the developer is responsible for sizing and constructing the onsite infrastructure and connections to the existing systems.
Budget Impact
Development of the property will generate the standard review, permit and impact fees.
Staff Recommendation
Planning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend to Town Council approval of the Site Development Plan, as proposed, at their regularly scheduled meeting on March 23, 2023.
Proposed Motion
Option 1: Approval
“I move to approve the Resolution, as introduced by title.”
Option 2: Approval with Conditions
I move to approve the Resolution, with the following conditions:” (list conditions)
Option 3: Continue item to next hearing (need more information to make decision)
I move to continue this item to the Town Council meeting on [date], at [time].’
Attachments
Attachment A: Vicinity Map
Attachment B: Resolution
Attachment C: Neighborhood Meeting 1 Summary
Attachment D: Neighborhood Meeting 2 Summary
Attachment E: Neighborhood Meeting 3 Summary
Attachment F: Resident Input