Buena Vista trustees deny developer's request to use fee in lieu for parking and park dedication on Northside subdivision

The Buena Vista Board of Trustees voted on March 11, 2025, to deny a developer's request to accept cash payments in lieu of providing 32 required off-street parking spaces and the required on-site parks dedication for a proposed Northside subdivision at 415 North Colorado Avenue.

The planned development covers about 1.14 acres and would include 9 single-family attached row houses and 12 duplexes (33 units total). Town planning staff said code requires 54 off-street spaces for the project; the applicant's plan shows 22 off-street spaces and requests fee in lieu for the remaining 32 spaces (about 60 percent of required off-street parking). The applicant is also not proposing any dedicated on-site park or open space, and instead seeks to pay the park dedication fee in lieu.

Planning director Lorica Cott told trustees the town's Unified Development Code requires any parking fee-in-lieu request to meet four findings: (1) a substantial public benefit; (2) that the relief requested is the minimum necessary; (3) that reduced parking will not substantially impact adjacent properties or the zoning district; and (4) that the request not be for the sole purpose of financial benefit. Cott said staff did not have enough information to conclude the application met those standards.

Applicant representatives, including engineer Tracy Vandenor of the Graduate Group and developer Ken Cook, told the joint meeting the proposal restores an historic block that had been consolidated into a single lot and argued the site's proximity to downtown and multiple nearby parks reduces local parking demand. Vandenor said the project would provide new housing types the town lacks and that the design includes sidewalks and on-street parking built to town standards.

Shane, the town's parks and recreation director, said River Park and nearby civic green spaces already receive heavy use and that Parks & Recreation does not support a request to substitute fee in lieu for on-site park dedication given the proposed density. Shane told trustees the river park registers roughly 175,000 visits a year and questioned whether nearby public parks could reliably meet day-to-day needs of the new residents.

Multiple residents spoke in public comment, including Marybeth Dorici (511 East Arkansas Street), who described parking congestion and safety issues on neighboring streets following recent development and urged trustees to require on-site park space and more parking. Other speakers said the town needs more housing but called for guarantees that additional units would serve local workforce needs.

Trustees debated whether higher density necessarily yields affordability and whether the board should seek written commitments from the developer (deed restrictions or long-term rental covenants) if parking relief were granted. The developer said he would consider deed restrictions or long-term rental commitments but warned that he is a small-scale builder and must weigh construction costs and market conditions.

During the formal action, the board took a motion to deny the request for payment of cash in lieu of parking and payment in lieu of land dedication for the Northside subdivision. A roll-call vote recorded affirmative votes to deny from the trustees recorded on the roll call. The motion passed and the fee-in-lieu requests were denied at this meeting; trustees left open the option of returning to negotiations later with additional commitments or revised designs.

What happens next

The applicant can revise the sketch plan and resubmit, pursue on-site parking and park dedication, or seek a code amendment (which would require Planning & Zoning review and a subsequent ordinance process) if the board and community want to allow counting on-street parking toward off-street requirements. Staff also flagged that the project carries a nontrivial water-equivalent demand: town staff estimated the development would consume about 26.4 single-family equivalent (SFE) water allocations, roughly one-third of the remaining infill SFE allowance in the town's infill category.

Trustees and staff said they were open to continued negotiation but emphasized the town seeks clear, enforceable public benefits if it is to grant exceptions to code requirements.

Ending note

Trustees and planning staff urged the developer and community to continue discussions; any future fee-in-lieu request would need to present binding commitments that address the board's concerns about affordability, infrastructure impacts and on-site open space.