Longmont City Council delayed a final vote Aug. 26 on a request to reduce the city's 100-foot riparian setback for the 17-acre parcel called Parcel G at 2475 Bent Way, where developer representatives want to build the residences at Alta Vita, a continuing-care senior housing campus.

The variance request would allow construction up to the north edge of the Bent Way bike path instead of the 100-foot setback measured from Dry Creek Number 1's riparian habitat. City senior environmental planner Zach Lasik told the council this is the first riparian-setback variance brought under the city's 2019 code and that staff and the applicant used the new Sustainability Evaluation System tool in the review. Lasik said the applicant's final SES score was 10 and staff's score was 5.

Why it matters: council members and staff said the outcome affects how Longmont balances protection of riparian corridors with infill development and senior housing needs, and whether the SES tool will meaningfully guide future land-use decisions.

The applicant, represented by Parker Macy, said the project would expand Longmont's continuing-care campus and noted a waiting list for the existing independent living building. Heather Houston of Birch Ecology, the applicant's ecologist, said the portion of the setback north of the bike path is dominated by mowed fields and nonnative vegetation and that the proposal would plant native trees and shrubs and install low-impact stormwater features. "Modifying the stream setback to the north side of the bike path is not going to exclude any areas of native vegetation," Houston said, adding the project would "improve conditions over how it is today."

City staff and the applicant disagreed on several SES criteria including aquatic habitat, ecological connectivity, nighttime noise and heat-island effects. Houston said the applicant's concept plan adds "21 native trees and another 154 native shrubs," includes pollinator gardens and bioswales and would remove invasive Russian olive. Lasik advised the council that staff does not make a formal recommendation on these SES-driven variances; Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval on July 16 with a condition that the riparian setback be set at 50 feet measured from the northern edge of the riparian habitat.

Council debate focused on the standard for reducing a riparian setback, whether the bike path is an appropriate, fixed boundary for a reduced setback, and the site's existing landscape context. Councilor Popkin proposed a conditional approval that would allow development up to the bike path if the applicant added additional green-infrastructure measures equal to 25% more than currently proposed to mitigate heat-island and stormwater impacts. That motion failed on a 4-3 vote. Council later voted to table the item to the council regular meeting on Sept. 23 to allow staff, the applicant and councilors more time to refine conditions and review the SES documentation.

The variance request and the SES review will be revisited Sept. 23; staff said the council could also reopen the public hearing at that meeting and accept further testimony.

What was not decided: no variance was granted or denied. The council's tabling preserves the applicant's ability to revise mitigation measures and lets staff refine the SES scoring details before a final vote.

A note on sources and evidence: the applicant presented a concept site plan and an SES worksheet; staff presented a separate SES worksheet and a riparian habitat assessment. Planning and Zoning Commission made a recommendation to council on July 16. The council directed staff and the applicant to return on Sept. 23 with additional information and the packet slides requested by several council members.