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Council favors flex/light industrial mix with solar options for Section 36 subarea
Summary
City planning staff and consultant Kimley Horn presented two land‑use concepts for the Section 36 subarea; council members generally favored Concept 1 (flex + light industrial) with options to include rooftop/leased solar and to use decommissioned ponds for city solar tied to wastewater operations.
Planning manager Becky Smith and consultant Blake Young of Kimley Horn updated the council on the Section 36 subarea plan on May 5, presenting two land‑use concepts and asking for council feedback on vision goals and potential sustainability measures.
Blake Young summarized the project timeline and constraints, telling council the plan grew from the Northglenn 20‑year comprehensive plan and aims to guide redevelopment, improve connectivity and encourage sustainable economic development in the area north of Thornton and east of Broomfield. He described environmental and regulatory constraints including a regulatory floodway, a wastewater force main, and oil-and‑gas setbacks on the Anadarko property; Young noted Colorado’s 2,000‑foot setback for residential uses and that the site currently has a development agreement limiting residential proposals.
Two concepts were shown. Concept 1 emphasizes a mix of flex industrial and light industrial (about 294 acres light industrial and 57 acres flex industrial in one configuration) with distributed rooftop and carport solar on buildings. Concept 2 shifts more land to light industrial and reserves a discrete parcel for a ground‑mounted solar field. Young said both concepts propose a new north–south right‑of‑way connection to Colorado Boulevard and multiple access points along 160th Avenue.
Council members asked detailed operational and feasibility questions. Council member Nowicki raised odor and land‑use conflicts near the wastewater treatment plant and asked about the decommissioning schedule for ponds; staff said pond decommissioning is on the city’s CIP with a target around 2030 and that removing ponds would mitigate a majority of odor impacts. Director Svoboda and staff said the city will disclose proximity to the wastewater facility to developers and that an existing development agreement already limits residential uses.
Members pressed on utilities and energy. Young said data centers were considered but raised United Power capacity limits; he said rooftop solar and solar carports dispersed across new buildings could supply meaningful local generation. Council and staff discussed options for the decommissioned pond area: the city could lease land to a solar developer, sell power back to United Power, or build a city‑run array to offset wastewater energy consumption. Director Svoboda said the plant’s annual energy cost is roughly $450,000 and that feasibility would require a detailed economic analysis.
On transportation and access, council members asked about 160th Avenue widening for heavy trucks; staff replied that widening would require partnership with Thornton and developers. Stakeholder engagement to date has included North Metro Fire Rescue District, United Power, Thornton and adjacent jurisdictions; staff said they canceled a larger open house to run more flexible pop‑up events over the summer to boost turnout.
Council members expressed a clear preference. Multiple members (Burns, Nowicki, Roper, Kondo and others) indicated support for Concept 1’s flex/light industrial mix while directing staff to continue exploring rooftop solar, a solar garden/lease option and city solar to serve the wastewater plant. Staff said it would return with a refined “Goldilocks” concept incorporating council feedback and more detailed feasibility information.
No formal vote was taken at the study session; the item was guidance for subsequent plan refinement and public engagement.
