Westminster planning commission recommends council approve North Huron PUD preliminary development plan amendment

The City of Westminster Planning Commission on Jan. 28, 2025, voted 7-0 to recommend that the City Council approve the 13th preliminary development plan (PDP) amendment for the North Huron planned unit development, a change staff said aligns the site’s allowed uses with the city’s current comprehensive plan and supports employment and medically related uses.

Jacob Cozza, principal planner with the city’s Planning Division, told commissioners that staff had completed the required public-notice steps and that the amendment was evaluated against the 10 criteria in Section 11.514 of the Westminster Municipal Code. “Staff recommends that you hold a public hearing and recommend that City Council approve the PDP amendment,” Cozza said.

The PDP covers property at the southeast corner of West 140th Avenue and Huron Street, south of the hospital and between Huron Street and I-25. Cozza said the amendment changes permitted uses to align with the comprehensive plan’s employment, office and institutional designations and does not add or change any access points to the site.

Craig Karn, director of design for THK Associates, described the amendment as an update to make project nomenclature and intended uses consistent with the city’s plan. Fred Cook, representing Orchard Lakes LLC, the ownership group for the site, said the ownership expects medical and hospital-related users and described those as “a great addition to the community.”

Commissioners asked staff and the applicant about neighborhood concerns raised at a prior neighborhood meeting. Cozza summarized those comments as general worries about “too much development,” potential impacts to open space (which staff said was unclear because the site borders a flood corridor and detention pond rather than designated open space) and traffic. Cozza said the existing street network, including Huron Street and the nearby interchanges to I-25, was designed to accommodate the anticipated traffic and that the amendment would not create new access points onto Huron or I-25.

Commissioner Tomachek asked about an oil-and-gas well previously noted at the site; Cozza said the well was no longer in existence and that the state had completed cleanup procedures, and that the property is no longer subject to oil-and-gas additional requirements. The date of decommissioning was not specified in the discussion.

There were no public comments at the meeting. After brief discussion, a motion was made to recommend City Council approval of the 13th PDP amendment for North Huron PUD; the motion was seconded and carried on a roll-call vote of 7-0 (Commissioners Kinnear, Jeong, Mayo, Carpenter, Colling, Dunn and Tomachek voted yes). The planning commission’s action is a recommendation to City Council; council consideration was not scheduled or stated at the hearing.

The planning commission adjourned after the vote.

Votes at a glance: - 13th Preliminary Development Plan amendment for North Huron PUD (agenda item 3a): recommendation to City Council to approve; motion passed on roll call 7-0.