Council narrowly approves plan amendment and rezoning for Erickson continuing-care campus; preliminary plan wins 4-3 vote after contentious public hearing

Westminster City Council approved a comprehensive-plan amendment and a rezoning request to allow Erickson Senior Living to build a proposed continuing-care retirement community (CCRC) on roughly 75.5 acres of the Hahn Hewitt property at Westminster Boulevard and West 100th/104th Avenue. After a public hearing that drew more than 30 speakers and comments from community groups, council approved the preliminary development plan (PDP) by a narrow 4-3 vote, adding a condition requiring local marketing outreach to Westminster residents before general sales for each development phase.

The proposal from Erickson would create a campus-style CCRC with independent-living residences, assisted living, memory-care and skilled-nursing units, employee housing and on-site medical services. Erickson and its team said the campus would generate hundreds of permanent jobs, thousands of construction jobs over the buildout and would bring an estimated $850 million private investment to the site. Erickson and partners also promised roughly 10 acres of physical public land dedication (PLD) and a multi-million-dollar fee-in-lieu payment to the city’s parks and open-space funding, plus the construction of a new public street (Creekside Drive) and a traffic signal to improve emergency access.

The project prompted sharply divided public testimony. Supporters — including business and nonprofit groups, the Butterfly Pavilion and residents who live in Erickson communities elsewhere — emphasized workforce development, on-site health care, volunteer contributions and the opportunity for Westminster seniors to “age in place.” Several speakers who live at Erickson’s Windcrest community described it as a high-quality, well-run model and urged approval. Opponents — many living in nearby Waverly Acres and other neighborhoods — criticized the proposal’s scale, height, potential traffic and water and emergency-service impacts, and said the campus was not “affordable senior housing.” One resident’s written and oral comments highlighted concerns about loss of open-space views and whether the city should preserve this high-visibility employment site for office/flex uses.

Staff analysis and the council’s deliberations touched on several trade-offs. Planning staff and outside analyses (including a University of Colorado review) showed the proposal would yield less general-fund revenue than a hypothetical office/flex buildout but recommended approval because those office scenarios were regarded as unlikely to materialize soon. Staff also documented PLD and fee-in-lieu amounts that would transfer land and cash to the city and noted the development’s expected impacts on fire and police calls and on park and recreation demand. On water, staff and Erickson’s consultants presented a water-efficiency case showing per-resident use comparable to other CCRCs and argued that the CCRC could fall within the city’s employment-flex water assumptions; opponents and some councilors requested further clarity on reclaimed-water connections, runoff/drainage and long-term demand.

Council action: On 9/8 the council voted to approve the comprehensive-plan amendment and the rezoning to PUD (first readings) by recorded majorities, and later voted 4-3 to approve the PDP with a requirement that Erickson begin local Westminster marketing three months before wider marketing for each phase. The PDP approval included a narrower building setback exception to allow appropriate fire access; staff and the applicant said additional design details will be reviewed at future ODPs (official development plans) and building-permit stages.

What’s next: PDP approval is a key entitlement step but does not finalize architecture, landscaping, phase-by-phase designs or construction phasing; those will return for administrative and council reviews in ODP filings. Council also required further staff follow-up on open-space details, trails connections, water conservation planning and coordination with the Butterfly Pavilion.

Ending: The hearing illustrated the trade-offs local governments face between immediate private investment, jobs and senior housing and the long-term desire of neighborhoods to preserve views, scale and open space. Council approved the land-use changes and PDP while attaching conditions and asking staff to pursue follow-up analysis.