The Severance Planning Commission on June 18 voted to forward recommendations to Town Council to annex roughly 159 acres known as Bauer North and to apply two residential zone districts that the applicant says align with the town’s long-range comprehensive plan.

Planning staff said the annexation and the proposed zoning are being presented together for convenience but will be considered as two separate formal recommendations under state statute. Shaney (planning staff) told the commission, “the annexation is in conformance with our Town Long Range Comprehensive Plan. It abuts our Town and is a logical expansion of our Town limits.”

The applicant, Justin Hay of Stack Lot representing Platte Land and Water, described a concept plan that divides the site between a western “rural residential” area with larger lots (1 to 1.25 acres, likely on septic) and an eastern “suburban perimeter” with smaller single-family lots, internal parks, trails and attached-for-sale units such as duplexes and townhomes. Hay said the concept “contemplates this mix” and later stated the project would result in “480 total” units on the approximately 150–159 acre site.

Traffic and utilities were the primary operational concerns raised during public comment and staff review. Kevin Rorba of JR Engineering said the project team “have done a complete traffic analysis for this project” and that the study found the intersections would operate within town and county standards; he added the applicant may contribute to signal frontage improvements as the project advances.

On water and sewer, the applicant reported that North Weld Water (referred to in the record as North Weld/Northwell) has lifted a moratorium on service expansion and that the applicant expects to obtain a will-serve letter once design advances. The town engineer (staff) cautioned that wastewater treatment capacity is a separate constraint: all wastewater would be treated at Windsor’s wastewater treatment facility, which the town engineer said “is at capacity, but the town manager has been working with Windsor on an updated IGA to increase that capacity.” Staff told the commission those infrastructure items will be resolved during the preliminary and final plat processes and that building cannot proceed without verified water and sewer service commitments.

Several residents spoke during public comment. Dava Cook, identifying herself as a nearby resident, raised concerns about property values, the potential builder, and the absence of commercial uses in the plan. Lisa Grimes (resident) said she was “concerned about traffic” at the Mount Massive connection and asked whether traffic controls such as signals or roundabouts were planned; the applicant and engineer said the traffic study addressed intersection operations and identified potential signal locations to be considered further.

Commissioners noted that the annexation petition was originally submitted while the North Weld moratorium was still in place and that the applicant proceeded at some risk; staff confirmed the moratorium had since been lifted. The commission also asked whether the applicant had discussed school impact fees with the district; the applicant said they had not held a district meeting but expected to pay all required impact fees and cash-in-lieu at platting.

The Planning Commission made two separate motions, one recommending annexation and one recommending the requested zoning, and both recommendations were forwarded to Town Council. Staff reminded the commission that subsequent steps — preliminary plat (which requires additional hearings), final plat, utility agreements and detailed engineering — remain before any building permits or construction could begin.