Brighton council pauses on DHI Telluride fee amendment after lengthy presentations; staff recommends denial

Developers of the DHI Telluride project asked the Brighton City Council on Feb. 4 to amend their development agreement so the project would pay the city's development impact fees in effect on April 1, 2024, instead of higher rates that took effect Jan. 1, 2025. City staff urged denial, and council did not make a motion; the mayor advised the parties to continue negotiating with staff.

The request matters because DHI Telluride is a 140‑unit, for‑rent paired‑home community proposed on an 11.18‑acre site immediately west of Telluride Street and north of Eagle Ridge Academy. Developers said reclassification of duplexes and multiple fee increases since the project's initial entitlement work raised the development's fees by about $1.1 million and that site construction and required off‑site improvements prevented them from pulling building permits before the fee change.

City staff, represented by Senior Planner Nick DeMario, told council the city adopted a fee study and related ordinance and fee resolutions after a multi‑year process and that the municipal code and the executed development…