Education November 17, 2020 8:26:12 pm

Fort Collins City Council set to view petition demanding purchase of Hughes Stadium land

The Colorado State University System’s concept plan for a neighborhood on the former Hughes Stadium site in Fort Collins. Courtesy CSU System

By Dan Mika

FORT COLLINS — Fort Collins’ City Council is scheduled to have a private executive session during its meeting Tuesday night to discuss a citizen petition requesting the city buy the Hughes Stadium property and keep it as open space, more than a month after Colorado State University’s Board of Governors cut the city out of its future development plans.

Under state law, the council is required to either adopt the citizen petition as a city ordinance without changes or put it on the ballot in the next municipal election in April.

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After a tie at the city council killed a rezoning proposal for the area in May, CSU’s board of governors voted unanimously to invoke a legal clause that allows state entities to develop properties on their own. While city officials can provide input and hold public hearings, they no longer have sway in CSU’s decisions.

Staff from Fort Collins’ planning department will have its first public meeting on Colorado State University’s plans to develop the former Hughes Stadium property on Thursday.

CSU’s plans for the property calls for 632 residential units, split between 242 single-family detached homes, 112 duplexes, 108 townhomes and 170 apartment units. It also proposes 34,000 square feet of commercial space and a new park on the northwest corner. The disc golf course at the northwest corner of South Overland Trail and Dixon Canyon Road would not be affected.

The proposal in May would have allowed up to 550 homes to be developed on the site by national homebuilder Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN), down from the original plans for 600 to 700 homes. It faced heavy opposition from locals who were worried about additional traffic loads, along with environmental groups that wanted the area to remain as open space and a habitat for wildlife.