Greeley Planning Commission sets stage for massive residential project

GREELEY — The Greeley Planning Commission on Tuesday put its stamp of approval on adding 300 acres to the city’s southwestern boundary but stopped short of zoning it for residential development after neighbors noted their concerns.

L & T LLC has plans to develop a mix of housing types on two 150-acre parcels just west of Colorado Highway 257 and bordered by Weld County roads 56 and 54 to the north and south that could eventually bring 1,500 residents. But the Planning Commission nixed that idea on a 3-3 vote, opting instead to zone it Holding Agriculture until the applicant comes back with a more formalized plan to develop it.

Ken Puncerelli with LAI Design Group in Englewood had submitted a plan to zone it all medium to low-density residential, but planning officials questioned why the zoning would be put in place at the same time as the annexation. Neighbor Mel Callen, who owns the property immediately to the south of the annex with a county-approved 2,500-foot airstrip, suggested residential zoning could create future conflicts and asked for some assurances against that potential. His airstrip is facing north-south and his plane would be taking off and landing just above residential lots.

Planning Commission member Louisa Anderson said she was going to side with the pilots.

“I’m concerned about the airstrip. Since the applicant said he was not aware of it, I would hate for people to wake up and find they’re next to an airstrip,” she said.  

Other neighbors lamented the loss of their agricultural and country lifestyle and the potential problems a planned development of 1,500 homes would have on Weld County Road 54 adjacent to their properties, which is already busy and narrow.

“We seem to be blotching properties together … without the impact being considered,” said Tyler Trostel, who owns property adjacent to the planned development. “It seems to be driven by growth for the sake of growth, and the revenue that comes with it. There’s no plan for how this actually adds value and improves Greeley.”

In approving the annexation, the Planning Commission set a public hearing before the Greeley City Council for the annexation on Dec. 3. At that time, the council also could designate a zoning for the property.

There are no set plans for development on paper, Punerelli said, but preliminarily, the plan was for 78 acres of estate lots, 106 acres of low-density residential and 116 acres of medium-density residential.

In a letter submitted in 2023 by the developer, the property “can be developed with a variety of residential home types in mind. Residential opportunities could include single-family dwellings, two-family dwellings, row houses and small lot homes that will appeal to many different types of homebuyers.”

In all, the proposal would build 105 estate homes, 501 low-density residential homes, and 944 medium density residential, according to the plans submitted to the city. The homes all would be in the Milliken Re-5J School District.

That entire area is scheduled to grow immensely in the future with hundreds of acres of commercial development between Delantero and the Roche property, just south of U.S. 34 Bypass and west of Colorado Highway 257. Commission members asked why there wouldn’t be commercial in the mix of the residential that was being proposed.

“There’s an extensive amount of commercial in Delantero,” Puncerelli said. “Ownership is in discussion with some names you’d all know. In addition to that commercial, the Roche property to the north and west of Delantero has an extensive amount of commercial there as well. This whole area will be very well fortified with commercial.”

This article was first published by BizWest, an independent news organization, and is published under a license agreement. © 2024 BizWest Media LLC.

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