HomeMy WebLinkAboutWATERS' EDGE - PDP - PDP160006 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - MODIFICATION REQUEST (3)Waters’ Edge West, LLC
Application for Modification of General Development Standards
As Part of Preliminary Development Plan
Buffer Yard D Residential Buffering
February 9, 2016
Code Section and Modification Requested
The applicant respectfully requests a modification from Code Section 3.8.26(C)(4) “Residential Buffering
– Additional Standards Applicable to Buffer Yard D”. Buffer Yard D standards are only applicable to oil
and gas operations, including plugged and abandoned wells. Buffer Yard D standards require a
minimum setback of 350 feet from “the outer edge of an existing oil and gas operation site to the
nearest wall or corner of any occupied building proposed in the residential development” as well as
intensive levels of landscaping and screening.
Specifically, the applicant requests a modification of the above-referenced standard to eliminate the
Buffer Yard D plant material and screening requirements in the areas surrounding the five oil wells
located on its property conditioned upon the oil wells having been permanently plugged and
abandoned in accordance with Colorado Oil and Gas Commission standards.
Background Discussion
Waters’ Edge at Richard’s Lake was originally recorded on July 19, 2010. As with most other
developments, the housing downturn prevented Waters’ Edge from moving forward. The original
development time frame expired in July 2013, but the project was granted a one-year extension of the
approved plans to July 2014. Towards the end of 2013 the City adopted residential buffer standards,
which dramatically affected the Waters’ Edge project. In May of 2014 application was made for another
one-year extension, but was denied since the project plan no longer met the residential buffering
standards regarding oil and gas operations.
Waters’ Edge West, LLC Page 2
Modification Request
Buffer Yard D Residential Buffering Standards
Site Information
The following graphic shows the locations of the five oil wells within the Waters’ Edge West
development.
Waters’ Edge West, LLC Page 3
Modification Request
Buffer Yard D Residential Buffering Standards
Justifications for Modification
This proposed modification meets two of the four criteria upon which a modification of standards may
be granted.
1. The plan as submitted will promote the general purpose of the standard for which the
modification is requested equally well or better than would a plan which complies with the
standard for which the modification is requested. Buffer Yard D plant material standards
require 1.25 times the “base standard” amount of plants or .75 and .85 the amount with
construction of a 6 foot wall or a 3 foot berm or 6 foot fence, respectively. Code Section
3.8.26(B) states that the purpose of the residential buffering standards “is to provide standards
to separate residential land uses from existing industrial uses, in order to eliminate or minimize
potential nuisances such as dirt, litter, noise, glare of lights and unsightly buildings or parking
areas or to provide spacing to reduce adverse impacts of noise, odor or danger from fires or
explosions. Once the oil wells on the Waters’ Edge property have been permanently plugged
and abandoned, the visual and noise nuisances that the screening is intended to mitigate will no
longer exist. Therefore, the requested modification will promote the general purpose of the
standard equally as well as a plan which complies with the standard.
2. The plan as submitted will not diverge from the standards of the Land Use Code except in a
nominal, inconsequential way when considered from the perspective of the entire development
plan. Once the oil wells have been permanently abandoned, the nuisances that the Buffer Yard
D landscaping requirements were intended to mitigate will no longer exist. Accordingly, the
requested modification is nominal and inconsequential when considered from the perspective
of the entire development plan.