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Sheridan council approves PUD rezoning for John’s Collision Center after heated neighborhood hearing
Summary
Council voted unanimously to rezone three underutilized lots on South Federal Boulevard to a PUD to allow a 7,280 sq ft expansion for John’s Collision Center, including state-of-the-art paint booths, after hearing pro-developer economic arguments and neighborhood concerns about vehicle uses on the corridor.
Sheridan City Council on Dec. 9 approved an ordinance rezoning 4030–4060 South Federal Boulevard to a planned unit development (PUD) to allow John’s Collision Center to build a 7,280-square-foot vehicle repair and auto-body facility.
Planner Ari Snow summarized the staff analysis and planning commission recommendations, noting the PUD would permit a use that the underlying commercial district does not currently allow and that staff found the project consistent with several comprehensive-plan goals for redevelopment, pedestrian improvements and site buffering. The planning commission recommended two public improvements be considered: a widened sidewalk or landscape buffer along Federal Boulevard and bicycle parking for customers.
Applicant Smeet Patel, representing John Whitmarsh, said the family-owned business has operated in Sheridan for more than 30 years and argued the project will replace dilapidated, frequently vandalized structures with a modern facility that would generate jobs and additional sales tax. Patel said 2023 sales-tax contribution was about $98,000 and projected a modest increase next year; he described a roughly $50,000 increase in annual sales tax in the packet estimates and projected additional growth with the new facility.
Residents and planning-commission members asked questions about noise, odors from paint booths, hours and the number of employees. Resident Natasha Kermer opposed the rezoning, saying the community had deliberately tried to reduce motor-vehicle uses along South Federal to encourage more retail and pedestrian activity near new affordable housing (Bonsai Flats). Planning commissioner Laura Callahan and others also urged caution, noting many existing auto-related businesses line the corridor.
Applicant representatives said paint booths will meet Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Arapahoe County air-permitting standards and include HEPA filtration; planner Ari Snow noted the county issues an air-pollution permit and tests paint booths for annual emission allowances. The applicant said cars would be parked and serviced on the rear of the property and that the front would have landscaping and no customer vehicle display; the official development plan calls for a 25-foot landscape buffer and coniferous trees along the frontage.
Council members deliberated on whether permitting the PUD would undermine prior policy attempts to reduce vehicle-oriented uses along Federal Boulevard versus the benefit of redeveloping long-vacant, blighted lots. Multiple council members said that because the business is an existing Sheridan employer proposing to improve the site, they favored approval. After closing the public hearing, the council voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 11.
Next steps: the applicant will pursue site-development and permitting steps, including any required traffic study and county air permits for paint booths.
