Council approves Bromley Park PUD amendment to allow single-family attached units, reducing potential density, 8-1

Brighton City Council voted 8-1 to approve a major amendment to the Bromley Park Plan Unit Development that rezones about 8.552 acres west of North 50th Avenue and north of Cherry Blossom Drive to a single-family attached designation.

Associate Planner Stephanie Eames told the council the site was annexed in 1985 and that the applicant, Brookfield Residential LLC, requests the PUD amendment to convert land currently zoned multifamily and single-family detached to single-family attached. Eames said the change would reduce the allowable unit total on the site from 148 units under the current zoning to 113 units under the proposed single-family attached designation.

The amendment introduces design and development standards tailored to attached housing that differ from the Bromley Park land use regulations and the city’s code. Eames described several deviations at a conceptual level: new private residential “motor courts” (drive aisles and alleys) that will be private and may not meet standard city street specifications; front-building-line definitions that change the relationship between front doors and drive aisles; shared entrance features; a 20-foot maximum driveway width; and standards allowing garage faces to be even with or behind the front building line. Staff noted the design choices aim to create compact, walkable attached housing with small private yard areas and courtyards.

Brookfield representative Chris Bremner said the amendment reduces density on the site and better matches current market demand in Brighton. He told the council the company has found multifamily development in that area is constrained by fees and metro district considerations; the single-family-attached model could work either as build-to-rent or as fee-simple product.

Eames and Bremner told council that the change is intended to add “missing middle” housing choices and to serve as a transition between higher-intensity commercial uses and lower-intensity single-family neighborhoods. The staff recommendation, supported unanimously by the planning commission on Dec. 12, 2024, was to approve the major PUD amendment. Eames said staff received two formal comments in opposition prior to the hearing.

Council discussion touched on traffic and visibility at the nearby 50th and Baseline intersection, parking ratios under the Bromley Park regulations (1.5 spaces per 1-bedroom unit; 2 spaces per 2-bedroom unit), and whether residents would have access to amenities such as the Brighton Crossing clubhouse; applicant said the rental model would be professionally managed and that residents would have access to the clubhouse and pool.

The motion to approve the PUD amendment passed 8-1. The amendment reduces potential density on the 8.552-acre site and authorizes the site-specific development standards described in the PUD; subsequent platting, site-plan review and required public improvement agreements will be handled during engineering reviews.