A proposed 173-unit apartment complex in southeast Littleton is receiving pushback from neighbors who are concerned the development would cause traffic problems, drainage challenges and unwanted shade in their neighborhood.
The potential development, proposed by Vista Residential Partners, would 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.
During a meeting on Nov. 18, the city’s planning commission brought the development one step closer to reality by recommending a change to the site’s land use designation. In a 5-2 vote, the commission stated that the site, which is currently designated for suburban commercial uses, would be better suited for suburban residential uses.
“Suburban commercial … is an area of land use that has been less viable since COVID,” Littleton senior planner Teri Whitmore said. “The housing need in the community is at a high level, especially providing a mix of affordability, different income levels (and) different densities for persons that are at different stages of their life.”
The planning commission also approved the conceptual master development plan with a 5-2 vote. If the land use change is approved by the city council, the developers will move to the next step of the development process, which is creating a detailed site plan to submit for administrative approval by city staff.
Currently, the site is mostly vacant with two single-family homes that would be razed to develop the new complex, city staff said.
The developers have proposed buildings that are four to five stories tall, with a maximum height of 60 feet, according to a presentation at the planning commission meeting.
The complex would offer a variety of apartment unit types across three buildings. Nine of the units would be affordable based on area median income data, as required by the city’s inclusionary housing ordinance.
In addition to the apartments, the site would 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.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, many neighbors expressed concern about the height of the buildings.
“Four- and five-story buildings are not compatible with the heights and scales of the existing one- and two-story buildings, especially since the parcel is elevated from the street,” said resident Lynn Christensen.
Some residents just north of the site, with backyards backing up to it, say there is a significant elevation difference between their homes and the land where the property would be built. They are worried the buildings will feel taller than they actually are once that difference is taken into account.
“The skyline will disappear, shade will come,” one neighbor said.
Traffic concerns
Residents also said they are worried about more traffic coming to the area. Many of them said there are already traffic problems at the intersection of West Fremont Avenue and South Broadway.
“I’m concerned about the increased day-to-day vehicle traffic on Broadway,” said George Kern, who lives southwest of the site. “We’re already experiencing times of backed-up southbound traffic on Broadway at the Fremont-Broadway intersection during evening rush hour, and I’m concerned that 173 units will have a significant negative impact on the daily traffic flows.”
Ben Leech, a traffic engineer on the project, said his team’s evaluation showed that there would not be a “decrease in the level of service” in the area from the addition of traffic from the apartment site.
According to city documents, there would be a “minimal impact on the adjacent roadway network,” with the traffic evaluation from the developer’s engineer showing a total of 63 vehicular trips in the morning peak hour and 67 vehicular trips in the evening peak hour.
Leech said the evaluation showed that some lane groups are already operating with poor levels of service, largely due to the “extremely high volumes on Broadway.”
“Looking at the signal timings is something that the city can potentially look into to either add more time for those side streets, Fremont and Dry Creek, and potentially take away from Broadway,” he said.
Littleton development engineering manager Jessica Stemley said developers are not expected to do mitigation for problems that their development does not trigger.
“The level of service hasn’t changed with their added traffic, so that’s a very hard thing for staff to tell them they have to do when their development is not contributing to the issue that’s already an issue,” she said. “If it’s a traffic signal timing issue, that’s something that our public works transportation group would address — not the developer.”
Some residents said they disagree with how the traffic evaluation was conducted and doubt its results.
Other neighbors said they fear that potential drainage issues and electrical issues could be worsened by the development. The development team said they would work with city engineering staff to ensure the property does not add to these issues.
Support for more housing
Neighbor Matt Duff, unlike many of his neighbors who spoke at the meeting, is supportive of the development. He lives just west of the site.
“There’s potentially 250 (or) 300 people that could be living at this apartment complex, and none of them have a voice here in this meeting right now,” he said. “I support these apartments going in. It may slow down my exit from the neighborhood a bit, but I think that’s a reasonable trade-off to provide more people housing in a very fast-growing metro area.”
While some residents argued that commercial space on the site would better serve the community, Tanner Fanello, a real estate advisor whose client is selling the property, said he has never had an office park developer contact him with interest in buying the property.
However, he said many interested buyers have contacted him with hopes of building multifamily and similar-density residential products.
“I’m sure a lot of these neighbors here enjoy having a vacant lot behind the property,” he said. “It is an office park, though … As we all know, the state of the economy, the state of development, and who’s building what — it’s not a lot of office.”
Planning commission member Erin Roethlisberger said there is a demand for more housing in Littleton.
“People who are working here are looking to live here,” she said, “It’s not that people who live here need to find jobs. It’s the opposite.”
Other planning commission members noted the site’s location, saying it is a great spot for more housing.
“The addition of housing units at this site provides an opportunity to (access) some of the best that Littleton has to offer, with the High Line Canal and connections to other trails,” said planning commission member Tim Neeley. “I think that level of density and proximity to Broadway provides (an) opportunity for activation and access to the healthcare jobs immediately to the south, as well as to AdventHealth (Littleton).”
Diana Rael from the development team said the developer adjusted its plans after feedback from neighborhood meetings by increasing the setback of the buildings, reducing the heights of two buildings, adding more parking spaces and adjusting drainage plans.
The city council will vote on the land use change for the site at its meeting on Dec. 3 and there will be an opportunity for public comment. If the city council does not approve the land use change, the development plan will be halted, City Attorney Reid Betzing said.
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