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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJOHNSON FARM - REZONE - 24-00 - MEDIA -News of record/2 State/3-4 Comics/5 FYI/6 Wednesday, January 3, 2001 Cilly editor. Kevin Duggan, 224-7744 Local ♦ Fort Collins Coloradoan SECTION ��jrae B N E-mail: newsCq)coloradoan.com Council OKs rezoning for Johnson Farm By MATTHEW BENSON Johnson Farm The Coloradoan development site Coloradoan staff City Council gave initial approval to a rezoning re- quest for Johnson Farm on Tuesday evening, paving the way for higher density resi- dential and commercial de- velopment on the southeast Fort Collins site. The council also ap- proved a change to the city's structure plan for the loca- tion, situated on the north- west corner of Drake and Timberline roads, that would allow for the rezon- ing, "The structure plan is in- tended to provide a frame- work ... but it's also subject to change if there's a com- pelling reason for that," Councilman Mike Byrne said. The change means the 5535-acre Johnson Farm de- velopment will be rezoned from E, or commercial, to a variety of commercial and residential uses. About 485 acres will be zoned residen- tial, with 30 acres medium density and 185 acres low density. The remaining 7.18 acres will remain zoned for commercial use. The Johnson Farm rezon- ing will allow for multifami- ly housing, such as condo- miniums and apartments, which Councilwoman Karen Weitkunat said the city has a "compelling need" for. Councilman Scott Mason disagreed, however, casting the lone vote against the re- zong "There should be a clear need (for the rezoning)," he said. "We've got a seven- year inventory of land for multifamily housing." The councirs approval of the rezoning came despite objections from numerous residents of the Parkwood and Parkwood East neigh- borhoods, adjacent to John- son Farm Many of the residents ex- pressed concerns about the scale of the proposed devel- opment and the increased traffic it may bring to their neighborhoods. The John- son Farm development will include 93 to 148 single-fam- fly homes, 355 to 533 multi- family units and 81,675 to 94,089 square feet of com- mercial space. At full buildout, the site is expected to hold about 2,400 residents, said Greg Byrne, the city's director of com- munity planning and envi- ronmental services. The project's density cor- relates with the goals of City Plan, Weitkunat said. "One of the strongest vi- sions we had for this com- munity was to make it more compact along transporta- tion corridors," she said. While the size and densi- ty of the Johnson Farm de- velopment has some neigh- boring residents uneasy, city planner Troy Jones said, "staff feels the impact to the neighbors is acceptable." And while the city's plan- ning staff indicated residen- tial, rather than commercial, use on the site would gener- ate 40 percent less traffic, re- zoning opponents such as Perrie McMillen weren't convinced. McMillen, a Parkwood resident, said the city should do more to take existing neighborhoods into account when considering new de- velopments. She said her neighborhood already expe- riences excessive "cut - through" traffic, especially motorists bound for Edora Pool Ice Center, Edora Park and Riffenburgh Elementary School Though McMillen didn't know what could be done to limit that sort of traffic, she said she's "hoping that's something that can be worked out when the (de- velopment) proposal comes in.„ Mary Roberts, who's sell- ing her home on Eastwood Drive, said high -density de- velopments like Johnson Farm are the wave of the fu- ture and offer many advan- tages over traditional com- munities, such as a closer - knit neighborhood. "I think (the neighbor- hood's) going to look nice," she said. Besides, she said "this is not suburbia anymore. This is urban living."