Westminster Planning Commission denies Mountain Range High School nutrition center ODP over design conflicts

The Westminster Planning Commission voted 5-2 on July 14 to deny the official development plan (ODP) for the proposed Mountain Range High School Nutrition Center, citing noncompliance with the city’s development-criteria in Westminster Municipal Code §11-5-15.

Reb Bates, senior planner with the City of Westminster, told the commission staff had found the application out of compliance on architecture, retaining-wall design and some landscaping elements and therefore recommended denial. "Staff finds that this application does not comply with the criterion section 11 5 15 of the Westminster Municipal Code," Bates said, adding staff’s alternative was to recommend conditional approval subject to revisions to architecture, plantings, retaining walls and a return to technical review.

The proposal would build a 44,550-square-foot nutrition center at 12450 Delaware Street on the Mountain Range High School campus. Adams 12 district representatives said the facility is intended to centralize meal preparation for the district and support meals for roughly 29,000 students across 47 schools. "A hungry student cannot learn," Molly Brandt, an Adams 12 nutrition-services representative, said as she urged the commission to consider the project’s student-support purpose while noting the district’s constrained bond-funded budget.

Central points of contention were the applicant’s requests for three exceptions: use of insulated metal-panel siding with a masonry base instead of full masonry, a tree-to-shrub substitution that would reduce required tree counts, and retaining walls taller than the city’s usual 4-foot guideline for certain internal yard locations. The applicant’s design team said the metal panel system is an industry standard for secure food-production facilities and that deep foundations (helical piers) were included to ensure structural stability for walls that could be up to 10 feet in places to accommodate truck turning and loading.

Commissioners pressed whether the district had adequately shown those exceptions were "feasible" under the statutory and code standards. Commissioner Kinnear, who moved to deny, said the first exception on exterior materials had not been demonstrated as infeasible to meet the city standard. "I'm not convinced that the first issue that was raised really has been adequately explained as a feasibility problem," Kinnear said before moving to deny the ODP.

Legal counsel Greg Graham advised the commission on statutory scope, reading from Colorado Revised Statutes regarding how the word "feasible" appears in the school-siting provision, and clarifying that some items (stormwater, drainage, landscaping) fall within the city’s ODP authority while building and fire inspections and permits for schools are handled through state review.

Public testimony at the hearing included Aaron Contreras of Carpenters Local 555, who used his time to call for greater construction transparency and apprenticeship reporting on public projects; Contreras said he was not taking a position for or against the nutrition center itself.

After discussion, Vice Chair Carpenter and Commissioner Pegg voiced support for granting the exceptions—citing truck-circulation constraints and the district’s water-conservation landscaping plan—while Commissioners Kinnear, Dunn, Bosher, Jeong and Colling voted to deny. Secretary roll call recorded yes votes from Commissioners Kinnear, Dunn, Chair Bosher, Jeong and Colling; Vice Chair Carpenter and Commissioner Pegg voted no. The motion to deny passed 5-2.

Mr. Casa explained the appeal process: the district may submit a letter to the city manager within 10 days requesting that the matter be appealed to City Council. The commission closed the hearing, noted the decision, and adjourned at 7:52 p.m.

The denial means the district must either revise the ODP to address staff concerns and the commission’s findings or pursue an appeal to the City Council within the statutory timeframe.