Council approves first-reading rezoning for 174-home Kestrel planned development on 120th Avenue, 6-3

Brighton City Council approved on first reading the Kestrel Planned Development rezoning for roughly 26.21 acres near 120th Avenue and Peoria Street, a measure the council passed 6-3 after a public hearing Tuesday.

The rezoning, presented by Senior Planner Summer McCann, would rezone the property from C-2 (restricted retail and services) and R-2 (mixed density residential) to a plan development (PD) that allows small-format single-family detached homes and duplexes with a proposed minimum lot size of 1,900 square feet. The applicant and partner on the proposal is Boulder Creek Neighborhoods, represented by Mike Cooper.

The PD document shown to council included a conceptual site plan with alley-loaded homes, front porches on all houses, multiple pocket parks and courtyard enclaves, and design deviations from the city’s land use and development code intended to enable “missing middle” housing. McCann told the council the PD would allow front porches and modified massing rules that focus architectural articulation on end units visible from public streets; the PD would also memorialize a six-foot privacy fence along the northern property line and allow up to a 10-foot fence around a city-owned lift station.

Mike Cooper, representing Boulder Creek, said the company would build what it described as market-rate attainable housing and that the proposal would yield about 174 homes at roughly seven homes per acre. “We’re very excited to be here. Boulder Creek is excited to build in Brighton,” Cooper told the council.

During public comment, nearby residents raised traffic and compatibility concerns. Leif Southwell, who lives about three-quarters of a mile away, asked, “How many homes will be developed on that lot? What are you anticipating?” Laurie Evanoff, a homeowner on Racine Court across from the site, said she feared for students’ safety walking to nearby convenience stores during school lunch and asked the council, “Why would anyone approve this?”

Council members questioned parking, traffic mitigation and infrastructure improvements. Council Member Pawlowski, whose ward includes the site, asked whether each unit would have garages; the applicant said each home is proposed with a two-car garage. Staff said more detailed traffic distribution and street-layout decisions will be addressed at later subdivision and site-plan stages. McCann noted that the site is designated “mixed use residential” in Brighton’s comprehensive plan and that planning staff and the planning commission recommended approval; the planning commission gave a unanimous recommendation in December 2024.

The council voted to approve the first reading and send the PD forward; the motion passed 6 to 3. The item was introduced as a first-reading ordinance and public hearing; additional subdivision and final plat approvals will be required before any building may start.

What happens next: If the council adopts the ordinance at second reading in a subsequent meeting, developers must still submit a subdivision plan, final plat and site-plan level design review before permits for vertical construction are issued. Traffic improvements, sidewalk and intersection work were discussed by staff and the applicant as items to be detailed and required during the later engineering review stages.

Votes at a glance: First-reading vote on the Kestrel Planned Development rezoning — outcome: approved (6 yes, 3 no).