Littleton City Council approved a change to its future land use and character map, a decision that means a 173-unit apartment complex on West Dry Creek Circle will go forward.
In a 6-1 vote, the council approved a motion to change the future land use and character map to allow “suburban residential multifamily” uses instead of “suburban commercial” uses on the site. In approving the change, the city council set the planning commission’s recent approval of the development — which was conditional on the future land use and character map change — into effect.
More than a dozen people attended the meeting to share their opinions on the proposed complex, with many residents opposing the new development.
“I think the developer tried with this, but unfortunately, their plan is simply unmitigable,” said resident Pam Chadbourne. “It is too aggressive, too large to be mitigated.”
Other residents spoke in support of the development, citing the need for more housing stock in Littleton.
“As somebody whose friends — and myself — can struggle to afford housing, I urge you to please allow this,” said resident Keely Quinn. “Housing prices will never stop skyrocketing if we don’t start building houses.”
The development, proposed by Vista Residential Partners, will sit on a 5.6-acre site at 16 W. Dry Creek Circle, which is located south of West Fremont Avenue, east of the High Line Canal and west of South Broadway.
The apartment buildings will be four to five stories tall, with a maximum height of 60 feet, according to a presentation at the November planning commission meeting.
Neighbors who live near the site said they are concerned about the height of the buildings, which they fear would block sunlight and views. They also expressed concern about the complex’s proximity to their properties, added traffic and drainage.
The developers expect the complex to offer a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units across three buildings. Nine of the units will be affordable based on area median income data, as required by the city’s inclusionary housing ordinance.
Besides the units designated as affordable, the average monthly rent for an apartment in the complex is expected to be about $2,300, a representative from Vista Residential Partners said. This is a combined average including studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, so the real rental costs will vary based on apartment type and other factors. The development representative said this number is subject to change with economic conditions.
In addition to the apartments, the site will include a landscaped courtyard, an amenity space with a pool, an additional landscaped residential lot to the north for utility and pedestrian access to the neighborhood, a 221-space surface parking lot and 37 tuck-under private garages, according to city documents.
At-Large Councilmember Pam Grove voted against the future land use and character map change.
“I think to say that putting in (173) units is not going to impact traffic, is not going to impact our quality of life, is being extremely naive,” she said.
She said Littleton has more than 300 new units coming into the pipeline, and this new complex is not necessary to help with the housing crisis.
“To say that we are not worried about housing, that we have not had more development in our community — it’s naive to think that we need more, and more, and more and more,” she said. “I know we have a housing shortage. I know the population is growing, but this is not part of our affordable housing at $2,000 a pop.”
Mayor Kyle Schlachter said the task in front of council was to make a decision about land use, not the specific site plan.
“Our purpose tonight is not to figure out the specifics of retaining walls, or ingress, egress, or height or shadows or things like that,” he said. “We’re just basically trying to say, ‘does multifamily residential make sense there? Does it meet the criteria?”
The city council considered criteria of compatibility, impact mitigation, alignment with the city’s comprehensive plan and consideration of changing conditions.
District 2 Councilmember Robert Reichardt said he was concerned about having a tall complex adjacent to single-family homes. Despite this concern, he voted in favor of the land use map change because he believed it met the criteria the council members were required to consider.
Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Barr said the council was not comparing the proposed development to the currently undeveloped site. Instead, they were tasked with comparing a potential suburban residential multifamily development to a potential suburban commercial development.
“Quite frankly, this is unfair to any property owner that we (would) restrict their ability to do something that is compatible, that is low-impact and that follows our comprehensive plan,” he said.
With the conceptual plan approved, the developers will move to the next step of the process, which is creating a detailed site plan to submit for administrative approval by city staff.