Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Annexation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Severance council approves Bauer North annexation, sets commercial minimum
Summary
Town council voted unanimously to annex about 150 acres known as Bauer North and to zone it suburban perimeter and rural residential, with a condition that at least four acres be reserved for neighborhood commercial use.
Town of Severance officials voted unanimously Aug. 12 to annex and zone a roughly 150-acre tract known as Bauer North, approving both an annexation ordinance and a companion zoning ordinance that split the site between rural residential and suburban-perimeter designations.
The approvals require the developer to include a minimum of four acres for neighborhood-level commercial uses as a condition of the annexation. Town staff also required that the applicant address all staff comments before recordation.
Shaney Porter, director of Planning and Community Development, told the council the property is vacant farmland immediately west of Weld County Road 21 and south of Hunter’s Crossing. “The site itself right now is a farm land vacant farm ground and it's approximately 150 acres in size,” Porter said during the presentation. She reviewed the land-use process for council — concept plan, preliminary plat, then final plat and development agreements — and said additional engineering and traffic work would come at later phases.
Justin Hay, project manager for Stacklot and the applicant’s representative, said the developer expects about 30 rural estate lots, roughly 275 single-family detached lots and about 170 attached units (paired homes or townhomes) in the denser portion near the east side of the site. He also showed a concept diagram that included about 18.5 acres of open space and an initial four-acre pad that the applicant proposed for neighborhood commercial uses.
During deliberations, several council members said they favored keeping the commercial component to ensure nearby services and sales-tax revenue for the town. Councilmember Lehi Bruin noted the town could require a minimum acreage for commercial as part of the annexation agreement; the council included that requirement in its motion. The motion to approve the annexation ordinance with the condition (minimum 4 acres for commercial and all staff comments addressed prior to recordation) was moved by Mayor Pro Tem Lindsey Vandermark and seconded by Councilmember Gallardi; the roll call vote was unanimous.
The separate motion to adopt the zoning ordinance that establishes the rural residential and suburban perimeter designations also passed unanimously. Council members and staff emphasized that detailed layout, traffic mitigation and utility timing would be addressed during the preliminary- and final-plat phases and that the rural residential area could be served initially with septic and water while sewer-dependent phases would wait on town wastewater capacity and agreements.
The annexation and zoning approvals do not authorize construction; they allow the developer to proceed to the next approval steps in the town’s land-development process.
Porter said staff would return with additional details and that the planning commission had reviewed the application in June. She also entered into the public record an email from an adjacent property owner, Shane Bowers, who raised concerns that will be addressed during subsequent reviews.
The council vote was the latest step in a process that town staff described as aligning the property with the town’s comprehensive plan and phasing infrastructure work so existing residents will not bear additional costs.
