Planning Commission recommends City Council approve North Huron preliminary development plan amendment

The Westminster Planning Commission on Jan. 28 voted 7-0 to recommend that City Council approve the 13th amendment to the North Huron preliminary development plan (PDP), which updates allowed uses on the site to align with Westminster’s current comprehensive plan.

The amendment applies to property at the southeast corner of West 140th Avenue and Huron Street. City staff entered the staff agenda memo, attachments, the PowerPoint presentation, and public notices into the public record and said mailed notices went to 357 property owners and two homeowners associations within 1,000 feet of the parcel.

Jacob Cozza, principal planner with the city’s Planning Division, told commissioners that the amendment reworks the PDP’s permitted uses to match the comprehensive-plan designations currently in force and that staff reviewed the proposal against the criteria in Section 11-5-14 of the Westminster Municipal Code. Cozza said staff found the amendment generally met those criteria and recommended the commission forward a favorable recommendation to council.

Applicant representatives described the amendment as a nomenclature and use-alignment change intended to facilitate employment and medically related uses near the hospital. Craig Karn, director of design with THK Associates, said the proposal was targeted toward employment uses to serve the medical community, and Fred Cook, representing Orchard Lakes LLC (the ownership group), said the owners have potential hospital- and medical-related users for the site.

Commissioners asked staff and the applicant questions about a previously noted oil-and-gas well at the site corner. Staff said the well has been decommissioned and that the state completed cleanup procedures; staff stated the decommissioning occurred in February 2018 or February 2019 (the record provided two possible years). Cozza also told commissioners that no access points on the property are changing with this amendment and that existing street designs (including multiple through lanes on Huron and nearby interchanges) are intended to accommodate traffic from future development.

The Planning Commission opened the public hearing but received no public testimony. Commissioner [name not specified in transcript] moved that the commission recommend City Council approve the 13th PDP amendment for North Huron Planned Unit Development “based on a finding that the preliminary development plan is supported by the criteria set forth in Section 11-5-14 of the Westminster Municipal Code.” The motion was seconded. A roll-call vote recorded seven yeas and no nays; the motion passed 7-0.

With the commission’s recommendation, the amendment will proceed to City Council for final action. The Planning Commission’s next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 11.