Broomfield council approves North Park replats amid debate over Huron Street realignment and pedestrian safety

The Broomfield City Council approved two final plats tied to the North Park/Center Street development on motions that cleared land-use procedural hurdles but left safety questions unresolved.

During a public hearing and subsequent debate Tuesday night, council members voted 6–2 (with one recusal) to approve North Park Filing No. 2, Replat J, which dedicates right-of-way for an extension of Promenade Street and creates lots for future construction. Council later approved the Center Street final plat and site development plan by a 5–3 margin with one recusal.

Planner Brandon Roe told the council the replat would dedicate right-of-way for Promenade Street and create four lots and two tracks to accommodate future sidewalks and curb-to-curb road construction. "If adopted, the final plat would then be eligible for recordation, and they could move forward to the process of starting to do construction drawings and permits as necessary," Roe said during the staff presentation.

The applicant, Mike McBride of Real Berry (formerly referenced as Real McWinnie), described Center Street as a “retail core” for the Baseline neighborhood and detailed infrastructure packages that include a Promenade extension, internal streets, and a Highway 7 widening under review with Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). He told council the team split work into design packages so they could begin construction sooner and bond the work as a single coordinated build.

Public commenters and several council members pressed the developer and staff on the timing and safety implications of an interim traffic configuration at the existing Huron Street intersection with Highway 7. Garrett Baum, representing six Palisade Park metro districts and other businesses, urged the council "to require their developer to relocate existing Huron Street to Promenade as part of this project," saying prior commitments had not produced a realignment and calling the current layout unsafe for large vehicles and general traffic.

McBride said the CDOT-reviewed highway widening package includes removing the existing Huron signal and restriping the current intersection to a three-quarter-turn movement, adding that the developer volunteered in its CDOT package to remove the signal and fund restriping: "We removed the existing Huron signal. We restripe the existing Huron to a 3 quarter turn ... and we're kinda doing that all on our dime." He also said the ultimate Huron realignment remains tied to east-side development and triggering events established in existing agreements.

Several council members voiced concern that design decisions — such as 11-foot travel lanes and parallel parking configurations — do not sufficiently protect vulnerable road users. Council member Ward said he would vote no on the first replat because he did not believe "the infrastructure you've put in place and the design standards you've used protect vulnerable road users, bikes and pedestrians, specifically, enough." Other members argued the project must move forward to realize commercial tax revenue and that the interim configuration is temporary while larger corridor projects advance.

Council approval allows the plats to be recorded and infrastructure to proceed toward permitting and construction. Staff and the applicant said they will continue coordination with CDOT and Broomfield engineering on final designs. The record shows the two replat votes with the tallies reported during the meeting: Replat J (Res. 2026-13) passed 6–2 with 1 recusal; the Center Street filing (Res. 2026-14) passed 5–3 with 1 recusal.

Next steps include final engineering and permitting of the dedicated rights-of-way and infrastructure packages; council members and staff said they expect ongoing coordination as adjacent developments and CDOT approvals progress.