New proposal for Conifer Heights
The owners of 25 acres known as Conifer Heights has filed a pre-application to put 50 townhomes on about a third of the property.
The property is bounded by Barkley Road, Highway 73 and U.S. 285, and the new proposal fits within the current zoning on the property, which was approved in 2012. The current planned-development zoning allows a maximum of 60 multifamily units, and commercial and community uses, including retail, offices, schools, churches and more.
In 2019, the county commissioners denied a plan to rezone the property to allow 101 multifamily units after seven hours of testimony from Conifer residents asking that the rezoning be denied. Then, residents were concerned about the lack of fire protection, water and sewer, added traffic on already congested roads, and evacuation in case of a wildfire.
John Putt, spokesman for the developer, said the developer put forward additional housing for that property in 2019 because of the huge need for housing rather than adding more commercial space, which wasn’t needed in Conifer.
A pre-application is a way for developers to get a idea of what concerns the Planning & Zoning staff has, and no public notices are sent out. Since the property owner is not requesting a rezoning, proposed uses will not go before the Planning Commission. However, the site development plan would go to the Planning Commission after it is reviewed by the staff.
The property is owned by Conifer Ridge Properties, and the preapplication documents on the Jeffco Planning & Zoning website say the units would be two stories high and in 10 groupings of five townhomes that would be about 1,700 to 2,300 square feet each.
Putt says the units will be mountain contemporary, and the developers will apply the new Wildland-Urban Interface building code standards.
The Elk Creek Fire Protection District said in a letter that it would require a fire hydrant system providing a minimum of 1,500 gallons per minute for a duration of two hours. Total minimum fire protection water supply would be 180,000 gallons. The number of fire hydrants and fire-hydrant spacing shall meet the requirements of the International Fire Code.
The documents say the project would be accessed by a proposed roadway connection to the U.S. 285 offramp at the Conifer Town Center on the south and existing access off Highway 73 on the west. Water would be provided by an on‐site water well collection system, and sanitary sewer services would be provided by Conifer Metro District.
Putt explained that the developer has had ongoing discussions with the Colorado Department of Transportation, and the the preliminary thought is to put a roundabout at the exit, so vehicles could get into the development and into the Conifer Town Center.
Planning Commission recommends rezoning 55-acre parcel
The Jeffco Planning Commission recommended on Feb. 23 that a 55-acre parcel in Conifer be rezoned to allow for an existing home, a duplex and 52 acres of open space.
Yet neighbors still are concerned that the duplex that would be on Apache Trail wouldn’t conform with the single-family neighborhood to the south and that it could be turned into a short-term rental. They also were concerned that the property owner, Rod Morgan, would eventually put multifamily housing on the property.
However, changing the official development plan to allow for more housing would require a new request before the Planning Commission.
The zoning, if approved by the Jeffco commissioners on March 15, would go from agricultural-2 to a planned development.
Neighbors also were concerned about fire protection, though Jeffco planning and zoning staff said the Elk Creek Fire Department would require that a 30,000-gallon cistern be installed for firefighting purposes or the duplex would need to have a sprinkler system.