Council asked to scope RTD station-area master plans; staff recommends city-led rezoning option

City planning staff asked Thornton City Council for direction to scope two station-area master plans that cover proposed RTD stations north of the current Eastlake end-of-line station.

Kyle Kearns and Karen Wodomski explained that active development interest and recent state legislative work requiring RTD fast-track progress by 2035 make now an appropriate time to plan. Staff emphasized the master plans would include community engagement, market and feasibility analyses, and implementation steps.

Staff recommended scoping a city-initiated legislative rezoning or plan-development overlay as an implementation tool because case studies show proactive rezoning aligns zoning with desired transit-oriented development and reduces barriers that private developers often encounter. "Many of the successful examples of plan implementation have the city-led rezoning baked into the process," staff said.

Council members asked about ward-level impacts, neighborhood buffers around lower-density housing, coordination with RTD for bus and BRT connections, and how grant funding would or would not pay for local infrastructure. Staff said a community kickoff is proposed for mid-April and that the planning scope would include public hearings and planning-commission review prior to council adoption.

Whats next: Staff will proceed with scoping, issue an RFP for a consultant to prepare the two master plans, hold a kickoff meeting in mid-April, and return with an RFP and consultant recommendations; staff also flagged that doctor COG grant outcomes expected in March may influence parallel work on existing station-area master plans.