Thornton council accepts major changes to Chapter 18 development code after debate over public hearings

The Thornton City Council voted 5-3 to accept a resolution acknowledging major changes proposed to Chapter 18 of the Thornton City Code, a package of updates staff says modernizes the city's development regulations and aligns them with current practices and the comprehensive plan.

City planners said the package updates five draft articles: Article 1 (General Provisions), Article 2 (Development Review Procedures), Article 8 (Landscape Standards), Article 10 (Subdivision Standards) and Article 12 (Nonconformities). Staff emphasized that the council's action was to accept the proposed changes into the public review process and does not constitute final adoption.

Why it matters: The changes affect how new development is reviewed and noticed, how landscaping and new turf are regulated under recent state law, and how subdivisions and existing nonconforming uses are handled. The proposals include moving a detailed early submittal called the 'conceptual site plan' into a renamed, lower-detail 'preliminary plan' and making that application mostly eligible for administrative approval, while adding new neighborhood meeting and public-notice requirements for administratively reviewed applications.

Staff presentation and key details Lori Hite, Senior Planner for the City of Thornton, opened the hearing and summarized the package, saying, "This is a public hearing to consider a resolution recommending acceptance of the major changes identified in 5 new articles of the City's Development Code," and outlining the project's timeline and outreach. She said the city has been working on the code update for about 18 months and plans open houses in May and public hearings on adoption in summer 2025.

Planners characterized the biggest procedural change as renaming the existing conceptual site plan to a preliminary plan, reducing the level of up-front detail required and, in most cases, routing approval to administrative review rather than Planning Commission or City Council. Hite told the council the change is intended to reduce cost and delay for applicants while adding neighborhood meetings, property signs and published notices to increase public awareness.

Kyle Kearns, Long Range Planning Division, summarized technical edits in the landscaping, subdivision and nonconformity articles. He noted the landscaping changes largely codify existing practice, add provisions for tree preservation and introduce 'tree equivalents' for calculation. On turf, Kearns said the draft responds to state legislation on nonfunctional turf by limiting new nonfunctional turf in certain development contexts; existing turf can be maintained. On nonconformities, staff proposed using assessor values rather than contractor estimates in some rebuilding cases to simplify the process for the public.

Planning Commission position and council debate At the March 19 Planning Commission hearing, a majority supported the articles but opposed the process change that would remove preliminary plans from Planning Commission review; commissioners said the public hearing process gives better community participation. Hite told council the Planning Commission "was concerned about community involvement and they want to preserve the community process as it is."

Council debate focused on whether administrative review of preliminary plans would reduce meaningful public input. Council member Martinez opposed the administrative-review option, urging the council to "listen to the Planning Commission" and to keep conceptual site plans as a public-hearing process so residents can present evidence and appeals to elected officials. Martinez said neighborhood meetings are not equivalent to public hearings because planning staff are not directly accountable to voters in the same way elected council members are.

Other council members supported moving forward with acceptance to keep the update on schedule and pointed out that the draft also adds neighborhood meetings and notice provisions that currently do not exist for many administrative approvals. City Manager Nancy Hayward and staff confirmed acceptance is a step toward refinement and final adoption, and that planning staff will continue outreach, including two public open houses planned for May 19 and May 20.

Vote and next steps Mayor Pro Tem Karen Bigelow introduced the resolution for council consideration. After discussion, council approved the resolution 5-3. The council's action accepts the draft articles for the continued code update process; it does not adopt the new code. Staff said the full compiled draft will be posted for final public review before scheduled adoption hearings later this year.

The council and Planning Commission disagree on the procedural change for preliminary plans; staff said it will continue outreach and return with materials for public hearings and any refinements.

Ending note Staff recommended acceptance to move the update into the public-review and adoption phase; council members who voted no said they preferred retaining the existing public-hearing step for preliminary/conceptual plans to preserve community access to elected decision makers.