Arvada planning staff update council on West 60 Fourth Avenue subarea plan; residents oppose more apartments

Arvada planning staff on Tuesday briefed council members on progress for the West 60 Fourth Avenue subarea plan, describing community input, draft guiding principles and a timeline that staff said aims to finish a draft plan by late fall or early winter and complete the project by the end of the year or early next year. Patty, a planning staff member who led the presentation, said the effort covers two study areas along West 60 Fourth Avenue between Sims Street and Yank Way and includes properties north of the corridor that are currently in unincorporated Jefferson County.

The update matters because the subarea plan will translate citywide policies — the Arvada comprehensive plan and the land development code — into recommendations for a roughly targeted portion of the city where staff expect infill or redevelopment over the next five to 10 years. Patty told council members the plan’s draft purpose is “to create a long term vision and implementation plan to encourage, promote, and support resilient and sustainable community development along West 60 Fourth Avenue.”

Residents and several council members pushed back on draft guiding principles that call for “balanced housing diversity” and possible increased density. “Not all of the principles that are in these founding documents belong everywhere,” one council member said during the discussion, urging the plan to allow for local variation. Multiple community members, workshops and surveys expressed opposition to additional apartments and high-density residential in the study area, saying existing…