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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSTATE HIGHWAY 14, EAST FRONTAGE ROAD - ANNEXATION & ZONING - 20-00 - MEDIA -Im25 corridor design under way By MATTHEW BENSON MattBenson@coloradoan.com While discussions con- tinue on future develop- ment along Interstate 25 in Northern Colorado, Fort Collins is taking a closer look at its portion of the highway corridor. City staff is putting the finishing touches on the I-25 Subarea Plan, which covers land uses and design stan- dards along the corridor from Iarimer County Road 52 to just south of Prospect Subarea Plan outlines developmental guidelines, land use Road. City Council is sched- uled to vote on the plan, "sometime before the end of the year," City Planner Ken Waido said. While the plan addresses a variety of development guidelines, from parking lot sizes to landscaping require- ments, these are the key components: ■ Hotels, restaurants and convenience shopping — so-called "secondary uses" — would be set back from the interstate at least a quar- ter -mile in the employment and industrial zoning dis- tricts. There also would be a quarter -mile interstate buffer for single-family housing. ■ Clustering would be required for single-family housing within a quarter - mile and half -mile of I-25. AM ■ There would be an 80- foot minimum setback for buildings along the inter- state. In addition, the plan would require that building frontage along the road ac- count for no more than half of the lot's total frontage. The plan doesn't address the issue of expanding the city's growth management area, or GMA, east of I-25. Waido said he's generally happy with the plan, and that it would help the corri- dor develop in an orderly fashion and without the canyon effect of buildings lining the roadway. As part of the subarea plan, the city is laying the groundwork for the future location of a regional shop- ping center at the northeast corner of the Mulberry Street/1-25 interchange. The 50-acre Iarimer County site would require some rezon- ing from its current mostly - industrial designation, as well as about $30 million in improvements to the inter- change. City staff pushed for the shopping center to be locat- ed farther south on the northeast corner of the Prospect Road/I-25 inter- change, but the council has thus far nixed that idea. Councilman Eric Hamrick See CORRIDOR/Page B8 said the Mulberry interchange is better suited for a large-scale de- velopment He envisions three distinct entry -points for Fort Collins, with Harmony Road as the technology gateway, Mulber ry Street as the commercial/m- dustrial gateway and Prospect Road as the natural gateway. "I think we want to keep (de- velopment along Prospect) as low density as possible," Hamrick said. "I don't feel like we have to develop every interchange along I-25 in Fort Collins�t s go- ing to do is lead to more traffic and congestion." Councilwoman Karen Weitku- nat said she's frustrated with the prevailing notion that Prospect Road is off limits to development In addition, she said the plan's two housing units per acre re- striction is contrary to the city's goals for density and would make the creation of affordable housing impossible. Affordable housing generally requires densities of at least 12 units per acre.