STANDARD BLADE B R I G H T O N
SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1903
75cI
VOLUME 118
Issue 8
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2021
Better with age: 800-acre development clears big hurdle Thornton unanimously passes zoning change for Parterre development BY LIAM ADAMS LADAMS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Thornton City Council took a major step towards a nearly 800-acre proposed development in northeast Thornton by unanimously approving a zoning amendment at its Feb. 9 meeting. Located immediately west of Todd Creek, Parterre, the development project, will occupy five parcels and include more than 4,100 residential units as well as commercial property. The zoning amendment council passed is technically a revision to existing rights that the council granted Hines, the main developer, in 2008. If the council had not approved the zoning amendment Feb. 9, Hines could still have built the 4,100-plus units because of a zoning amendment council passed in 2008. Parterre’s anticipated impacts on Thornton, such as water and traffic, wouldn’t have changed either. However, what the council approved on
Part of the nearly 800-acre land that Hines, a developer, will build Parterre, a proposed development, on. It’s located in northeast Thornton, just west of Todd Creek. Thornton City Council passed a major zoning amendment for the project at a Feb. 9 meeting.
SEE PARTERRE, P3
PHOTO BY LIAM ADAMS
Council discusses changes to storm water fee Big-box retailers, industrial complexes would pay more under rate proposal BY SCOTT TAYLOR STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
A change to the fees Brighton charges for storm runoff in large developments, like shopping centers and industrial operations, could mean new revenue for channel and road projects. But City Councilors said they want to try to limit impacts to churches and nonprofits. “The one question I’d like to ask is how this will affect places like
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churches?” Mayor Greg Mills said. “There are a lot of churches that get their rates connected as if they are a commercial user. Are they part of this increase or would they get a residential rate? How are they affected.” Councilors heard a report Feb. 9 on a 2019 study of storm drainage fees the city charges for hard surfaces on developed land. While rain and snow tend to soak in and percolate on open lots and lawns, that water collects on parking lots, roads, roofs and sidewalks. It can either runoff into city-managed drains and canals or it can flood, causing problems. The fee is meant to generate the revenue to maintain that drainage system and to improve and add to it
when that’s necessary. “The monthly storm drainage charges really go towards our storm management program,” she said. “They pay salaries for stormwater inspectors and help us manage the state permits and comply with state law.” No change for single-family homes
Finance Director Maria Ostrom said Brighton currently charges a maximum fee of $5.50 per month to single-family homes and $15.40 for industrial developments, big box retailers and other commercial developments regardless of how big their parking areas are or how much storm runoff they accumulate. “The study is recommending that
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we move to an impervious area measurement system for commercial areas based on the size of the impervious area and how much demand it places on the system,” Ostrom said. Ostrom said the study recommends keeping the single-family rate at $5.50 per month and using that as the basis for calculating all the other fees. Since the average single-family home in Brighton has about 3,164 square feet of impermeable roof and driveway space, the city would make that the standard for larger developments. Labeling that size an “Equivalent Residential Unit,” they would divide larger projects’ total SEE STORM WATER, P4
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