Ordinance 2232 Related to Inactive Applications and Rezoning Changes

Neighborhood Meeting

Project Summary

City Council adopted an ordinance to amend the Broomfield Municipal Code to add new sections to Titles 16 and 17 related to inactive development applications, and to amend Section 17-48 of the Broomfield Municipal Code to add a requirement for a pre-submittal neighborhood meeting and review criteria for rezoning requests.

Background

In August 2020, City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2127 which amended Titles 16 and 17 of the Broomfield Municipal Code including the addition of a requirement for neighborhood meetings prior to the submittal of a formal development application for Final Plats, Uses by Special Review, new Planned Unit Development (PUD) Plans, Amendments to PUD Plans, Site Development Plans and Site Development Plan Amendments.

At the time of adoption of Ordinance No. 2127, Broomfield was not receiving many standalone rezoning applications. Typically projects which were requesting to rezone a property were rezoning to PUD and had a companion PUD Plan which required a neighborhood meeting.

Since 2022, Broomfield has been taking a systematic approach to update the City’s development review process tools. These updates have included changes to Broomfield’s non-PUD zone districts either through amendments to modernize existing zone districts or through the creation of entirely new zone districts to encourage new non-PUD development.

As a result of these ongoing efforts to modernize Broomfield’s zoning options, and the success of the neighborhood meeting requirement for various other applications, an expansion to require neighborhood meetings for rezoning applications is being proposed. During the two prior study sessions staff also proposed to add review criteria for both the Land Use Review Commission and City Council when considering rezoning requests. The Broomfield Municipal Code currently does not identify any criteria for approval or denial of rezoning requests. The proposed amendments will identify a review standard for future rezonings.

Additionally, in recent years Broomfield has seen more development applications move slowly through the planning process. With the regular updates to Standards and Specifications and the Building Code as well as the ongoing systematic approach to modernizing development tools including code requirements, these projects which go inactive for long periods of time are failing to keep up with changes to requirements.

Ordinance Details and Staff Analysis

As such, Proposed Ordinance No. 2232 proposes to add new sections of code to Titles 16 and 17 of the Broomfield Municipal Code to create a 180-day limit of inactivity of projects prior to their being deemed void and closed. The proposal also includes an opportunity for applicants to ask for extensions to this time limit of an additional 180 days.

Public Engagement

You can engage with this project using the Questions and Comments tabs below, or by emailing planning@broomfield.org. This page will be open and accepting feedback and questions until the date of the City Council, 2nd reading Public Hearing. More information about this hearing will be provided on this webpage prior to the meeting.

The project timeline on this page provides an overview of the next steps in the process as Broomfield considers the approval of this proposed ordinance.