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Planning commission recommends new Mixed‑Use Lutheran Legacy Campus zone district for hospital site
Summary
Commissioners voted 6‑0 to recommend an ordinance creating a new Mixed‑Use Lutheran Legacy Campus zone district to guide redevelopment of the former hospital campus; the draft includes tree preservation rules and a minimum commercial square‑foot requirement in certain subdistricts.
The Wheat Ridge City Planning Commission on Dec. 18 recommended approval of an ordinance (case ZOA‑24‑07) to create a new Article 14 in Chapter 26 of the Wheat Ridge Code of Laws establishing a Mixed‑Use Lutheran Legacy Campus zone district for the largely vacant hospital campus.
Senior Planner Scott Cutler and staff presented the draft regulations, which implement the adopted Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan and establish development standards for future rezoning and redevelopment of the site. Cutler said the ordinance is nearly final and will go to City Council for first reading in January, with potential rezoning hearings in March and April.
Two substantive changes since earlier drafts were highlighted: a new focus on preserving existing healthy, non‑invasive trees on the campus (with replacement measured on a caliper‑inch basis if trees must be removed), and a newly proposed minimum square footage requirement for retail or restaurant uses in specific subdistricts (subdistricts 2 and 4) to encourage tax‑generating, street‑oriented commercial uses nearer 30th Avenue. Cutler said the commercial minimum targets areas the master plan identified as most viable for retail and restaurants.
Commissioners queried whether the ordinance could require deed‑restricted affordable housing; staff said the city cannot mandate affordable housing but can encourage it, and any affordable projects would likely be addressed in later subdivision or specific development plan hearings. Commissioners also discussed parking distinctions for deed‑restricted units in the city code and the potential for adaptive reuse of existing campus buildings — for example, the chapel or "Blue House" — as locations for required commercial space.
No members of the public spoke during the hearing. After discussion, a motion to recommend approval of the ordinance carried 6‑0.
If approved by council, the ordinance will allow the city to rezone the Lutheran Legacy Campus to the new district and establish standards that developers must follow in future specific development plans and subdivision applications.
