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HomeMy WebLinkAboutESTATES AT SPRING CREEK - REZONING - 2-00 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - REZONING RELATED DOCUMENTexisting college housing stock. Much of the existing dormitories on campus were built during and prior to the baby boom's college years of the 1960's and 1970's. These buildings were typically constructed to house two or more students per room and featured barracks style bathrooms and no kitchens. As affluence and housing standards in America have steadily advanced, "Echo Boomers" are being raised in more spacious accommodations than that of their parents. As a group, they resist living in barracks style housing having grown up with their own room and perhaps a private bath. They demand service and modern technology in their housing. Colleges are reluctant (or even prohibited) to build new housing as it is considered ancillary to the main education mission. Most universities expect the private sector to supply the college's housing growth needs. The rezoning will not result in significant adverse impacts on the natural environment or the functioning of the natural environment. The Property is bordered on the north by Spring Creek. The proposed development will design a project that is sensitive to the natural environment that currently exists along the creek. Trail connections will be proposed along the existing trail that runs along the creeks northern boundary. The trial is a great source of transportation for occupants of the proposed project, as it links the Colorado State University Campus and other regional commercial centers to the proposed project. The rezoning will result in a logical and orderly development pattern. Rezoning of the Property to the Medium Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood District (M-M-N) will be consistent with the surrounding neighborhood and will ensure an orderly growth and development pattern in the community. Having met the standards for quasi-judicial rezonings under Section 2.9.4(H) of the Land Use Code, Fairfield requests that the property be rezoned Medium Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood District (M-M-N). Attachment to FAIRFIELD DEVELOPMENT REZONING PETITION Justification for Rezoning Petition Fairfield Development LP ("Fairfield") is pleased to submit this petition for rezoning of approximately 15.75 acres located at the Northeast corner of Taft Hill Road and Hull Street (the "Property"). Fairfield desires to change the current zoning designation of the property to accommodate a high quality development ideally suited for the purpose of housing college age individuals in an environment that is conducive to studies and group recreation. The Property is currently located in the Low Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood District (L-M- N), where Multi -family dwellings (limited to six or less units per building) are one of the uses - by -right. Fairfield proposes to re -zone the Property as Medium Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood District (M-M-N). This proposed rezoning would allow Fairfield to move forward with a high quality, functional and attractive college housing development. In support of its petition, Fairfield submits the following: The rezoning is consistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan. The underlying themes and purposes of the City's Community Vision and Goals, Structure Plan and Principles and Policies, reflect the desire of the community to have a compact land use pattern consisting of a series of functional districts and activity centers to provide for the employment, service, civic and social needs of its citizens which are linked to residential neighborhoods by safe and efficient access by all modes of travel, while protecting the desirable attributes of our community. The proposed project will fill a need in the community for student housing, while keeping consistent with the comprehensive plan by providing a residential setting with on -site recreational facilities, as well as, linkages to the university and surrounding activity centers. The rezoning will be compatible with existing uses surrounding the Property and is the appropriate zoning district for the Property. The Property lies adjacent to Medium Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood Districts (M-M-N), to the north and northwest; an existing Multi -family development is located on the parcel south of Hull Street. The proposed development will be consistent with existing uses in the neighborhood and the zone change will be consistent with current zoning districts that surround the Property. A zoning change to Medium Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood District, will allow Fairfield to fill a need for new college housing in the city of Fort Collins. Our research indicates demand for college housing will rise steadily over the next 15 years as children of the baby boom generation ("Echo Boomers") enter college. Demand for college housing will grow both as a result of age demographics and as an increasing percentage of high school students graduate and go on to college. Demand for new college housing is boosted by the functional obsolescence of the