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Residents ask Lafayette planners to rezone industrial parcel near Aspen Ridge to provide a buffer for homes
Summary
Multiple residents said parcels zoned M1 near Aspen Ridge/Black Diamond corridor contain community uses, not manufacturing, and urged the city to adopt a transitional buffer or rezone 685 Aspen Ridge Drive to avoid industrial service areas and taller buildings abutting one‑story homes.
At a working‑group meeting, neighbors urged city planners to change the zoning on parcels near Aspen Ridge Drive that are currently marked M1 (industrial), saying the existing designation places service areas and potential taller buildings directly adjacent to single‑family yards.
Residents described the site mix inside the industrial designation as community uses — a community service center, a two‑story medical office, a childcare center and an indoor youth sports facility — and said those uses, not manufacturing, are now typical of the block. Speakers asked staff to consider a transition or mixed‑use designation for the block around 685 Aspen Ridge Drive and to apply clearer buffering standards so loading areas and service activity do not sit immediately across a back fence from one‑story homes.
The public comments laid out two central requests: that the city recognize the existing non‑industrial character of the parcels in the zoning conversion map, and that it require a T1 transition or other step‑down that would reduce direct adjacency impacts on private yards. A neighboring homeowner described living against a 5‑foot retaining wall and a 6‑foot fence with an empty lot next door and said any future development must be sited and scaled to avoid creating compatibility problems.
Planning staff and the consultant team said they will post the current draft district map and text online and invited residents to submit the same feedback through the project web page. Bill Fleisler, a city planner on staff, noted that “Clarion released shared this draft zone in app with us today,” and staff encouraged commenters to use the online comment register so their concerns are captured in the revision process.
The meeting did not include a formal vote on the parcel’s zoning. Staff said the draft will be revised based on working‑group and departmental comments and that the adoption draft will be available for public comment before any Planning Commission or City Council hearings.
