Planning Commission approves River Park South conceptual master plan; removes planned development overlay

The Littleton Planning Commission on May 29, 2025 approved PC Resolution 6-20-25, a conceptual master development plan (MDP) for River Park South that removes the existing planned development overlay and would allow the site to develop under the underlying corridor mixed zone district. The vote was 5 in favor, 0 opposed.

The MDP covers the roughly southern portion of the River Park property and is intended to create a unified mixed-use project that includes commercial, retail and potential residential uses. Zarin, senior planner with the Community Development Department, told the commission that the application "is approval for a conceptual master development plan for River Park South," and that staff recommends approval because the application meets the MDP decision criteria in the staff report.

Why it matters: The approval sets the regulatory framework for future site plans on a property the applicant describes as part of a roughly 45-acre overall development. It also confirms specific parameters the applicant proposed at the conceptual stage — including a 65-foot height cap for mixed-use and commercial buildings, an administrative waiver allowing certain materials normally classified as secondary to be used as primary facade materials, and required pedestrian and multiuse-path connectivity that will be enforced at the future site-plan stage.

Staff presentation and scope Zarin said the subject site is located near the intersection of South Platte River Parkway and West Phillips Avenue and is currently governed by a planned development (the Santa Fe Park planned development). The southern parcel subject to the MDP is about 7.86 acres of currently undeveloped land, Zarin said, and future detailed site plans "will be reviewed under the corridor mixed zone district" if the MDP is…