Council hears first reading of Remington Farms PUD; questions focus on traffic, sewer and school site

Mayor opened new business with the first reading of an ordinance to rezone roughly 158 acres on Union Street to a planned unit development for the Remington Farms project. The ordinance text read the parcel descriptions and said the change implements the planning commission recommendation and updates the official zoning map.

Tom, speaking for planning staff, described an amended plan that reduces the original unit count by about 200 (from an earlier 715 down to 535 units). The plan proposes a mix of single‑family homes and townhomes, reserves about 20 acres as a potential future school site and allocates roughly 9.83 acres for commercial use. Tom said the submittal shows gross densities of about 3.49 single‑family units per acre and 9.57 townhome units per acre and that the development would phase in over 11–12 phases.

Council members focused on three mitigation areas Tom and staff had highlighted: traffic impacts, open‑space calculations, and adequate public facilities (water/sewer). Tom said open‑space calculations needed clarification because the applicant used the school site in calculations and staff asked for an updated open‑space plan. On traffic, Tom explained the traffic study was originally based on the higher dwelling count but the developer has committed to additional improvements and the city can request updated traffic analyses at different phases and when warrants for signals change.

During Q&A, Council Member (name withheld in the transcript) asked whether the applicant remained committed to a previously stated $1.4 million contribution for sewer upgrades. The applicant, identified as John, said the reduced unit count lowered that figure: "the unit number went down, that number went down too, but it's still over $1,000,000," and said the sewer funds will be used for off‑site sewer work tied to the subdivision. John also said water installation would be phased and that the developer would construct a three‑lane road from the development entrance to the donated school site and set utilities for that school site; the 20‑acre donation carries a 20‑year agreement with an option for a five‑year extension.

Tom and the applicant described traffic mitigation the developer agreed to provide, including a two‑way turn lane and other intersection improvements along the corridor to help operations at about 10 intersections and driveways. Tom said the Colorado/US‑41A corridor is already stressed and that TDOT and staff have discussed warrant thresholds for a future signal; the developer has committed to funding improvements as part of phased mitigation.

Planning staff told council that, under current local code, the application would not meet the updated 30% open‑space requirement because the application predated the code change (staff said the applicant’s effective open space was closer to 10% under prior submission rules). Staff and the developer said they would produce a revised open‑space plan that clarifies active and passive open space if council wishes to move the ordinance forward.

The ordinance was presented for first reading; no council vote on final adoption was recorded at the study session. Council members and staff requested additional details on the open‑space calculation, the precise sewer contribution amount tied to the reduced lot count, firm timelines for the three‑lane road construction, and a phase‑by‑phase plan for traffic‑study updates. Council will consider the ordinance again at a future meeting where staff and the developer are expected to provide the requested clarifications.