Council approves 9.9-acre Interstate Innovation Center annexation, zoning and conceptual site plan after developer agrees to neighbor protections
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Summary
Thornton City Council approved annexation, business-park zoning and a conceptual site plan for a proposed 34,000-square-foot industrial building at 15165 Washington Street after the applicant agreed to add a residential driveway, expanded landscaping and decorative walls to address concerns from the southern neighboring property owner.
The Thornton City Council on Feb. 11 approved a package of actions to annex and zone nearly 9.9 acres east of Interstate 25 and to adopt a conceptual site plan for a proposed industrial building called Interstate Innovation Center.
The applicant, Confluent Development, proposed a roughly 34,000-square-foot industrial building on land generally described as south of East 150th Parkway and east of I-25 at 15165 Washington Street. The property — currently in unincorporated Adams County — will be annexed into Thornton and assigned to Ward 4.
Council considered the conceptual site plan after the applicant met with a neighboring property owner to the south (the Sissan family) and made binding modifications to address the neighbor's concerns. Changes secured in writing and referenced during the hearing included:
- a 25-foot-wide paved residential driveway extending to the southern property line and made available to the neighbor at the end of construction; - a widened southern landscape buffer with a double row of trees and low-level bollard lighting along the south side of the building; - a 100-foot-long, 9-foot-high concrete truck-court screen wall north of the residential driveway; and - an approximately 520-foot-long, 8-foot-high decorative concrete screen wall along the shared southern boundary, to be installed at the start of construction.
Kira Stoller, senior planner, told council staff found no long- or short-term stormwater concerns and that the project met fire and life-safety access requirements; Fire representative Francisco Bizu confirmed fire access compliance on the record. The annexation and zoning measures had received planning-commission recommendations (zoning 6-1) and initial city-council votes on first reading. At the continued public hearing on Feb. 11, Stoller said staff received a letter of support from the southern property owner.
Council voted unanimously to approve: (1) a resolution adopting the modified conceptual site plan, (2) an ordinance on second reading to annex the property and assign it to Ward 4, and (3) an ordinance on second reading to establish Business Park (BP) zoning on the parcels. The motions noted several document-date corrections to match the continuance schedule; staff was directed to make the clerical updates required.
Ending
The applicant indicated construction will proceed once final development plan approvals and required permits are secured. Council emphasized appreciation for the applicant's outreach to the adjacent property owner and the negotiated mitigation features that formed part of the approved plan.
