Buena Vista trustees deny developer’s request to pay fees instead of on-site parking, park dedication for Northside sketch plan

The Town of Buena Vista Board of Trustees on March 11 voted to deny a developer’s request to use fee‑in‑lieu payments instead of providing most required off‑street parking and any on‑site park land for a proposed Northside subdivision at 415 North Colorado Avenue.

The denial came after a nearly three‑hour joint work session and public comment period with the Planning and Zoning Commission, during which town planners, parks staff, the applicant and residents debated density, parking availability, drainage, future annexation and whether the proposal would deliver housing affordable to local workers.

Planning Director Lorica Cott opened the presentation and said the applicant was requesting fee in lieu for about 60% of required off‑street parking — 32 spaces — and for parks/open‑land dedication. Cott summarized the town’s four criteria for approving parking fee‑in‑lieu requests: a demonstrable public benefit, the relief be the minimum necessary, no substantial impact on adjacent properties or zoning character, and the relief not be purely for financial benefit.

Tracy Vandenor, an engineer representing the applicant, and developer Ken Cook said the project would reconstitute an historic block into 33 units: nine single‑family attached row houses and 12…