With three years left before the inauguration of a new commuter-rail line, Arvada is paving the way for development around one of the city’s three stations.
But neighbors of the future Olde Town station are concerned the transit-oriented development will degrade the charm of Arvada’s historic districts, which sit just across from the future commuter-rail stop.
The city of Arvada changed construction and design guidelines for its Olde Town area in February, including allowing buildings to be as tall as five stories, rather than three. The first project to take advantage of the changes is Park Place Olde Town, an apartment building about to break ground at the edge of historic McIlvoy Park.
“In our view, it spells the doom of our historic district,” said Nancy Young, an Arvada resident and spokeswoman for the new group Save Arvada Now. “We do not oppose development. We do oppose higher density. There’s a big difference between a five-story, box-like apartment building and a two- or three-story condo development.”
City managers say they had to make room for urbanized development while protecting Olde Town’s history.
“We knew there was going to be development pressure from the station being there,” city spokeswoman Wendy Forbes said. “We wanted to accommodate some, but still protect our historic districts.”
Winter & Co., a Boulder consulting firm, helped lead Arvada through the more than two-year process of rewriting the Olde Town design guidelines. The company has done similar work for Boulder, Ann Arbor, Mich., and Bloomington, Ind.
But Save Arvada Now members say they didn’t hear about many of the changes until the city council was voting on them.
“When people say that we didn’t have any community participation when we reached out to the community so often, (it) is a little disconcerting,” Arvada senior planner Cheryl Drake said.
The 193-page design guideline document defines seven new “character areas,” each with its own zoning, slightly different allowed uses and design guidelines, within what was previously the Downtown Historic District and surrounding Conservation Area.
Drake said the distinctions are meant to work as tighter protection for each area’s unique characteristics. “It’s more fine-tuned.”
Projects in the character areas do not need city planning commission approval. Instead, they’ll pass through a speedier administrative review.
The majority of the historic district zones already operated under those rules.
Park Place Olde Town is in a two-block area that is the only one of the seven character areas where some buildings can be taller than three stories.
But Young said she fears that the new design guidelines won’t hold up without planning commission review.
City staff has already given the project 36 design guideline waivers that will, among other things, allow surface parking close to sidewalks and the street, and allow the project to avoid using fabric awnings.
Drake said that while 36 waivers seem like a lot, considering there are more than 80 that apply to such a large project, “it’s not that many.”
Two buildings — including the historic Masonic Lodge built in 1948 — will be demolished to make way for the five-story building.
Although city officials say the apartment project was spurred by Regional Transportation District’s Gold Line, they consider it separate from their own transportation-oriented development.
That project, to which Arvada has contributed $4.6 million , will be located on the other side of the tracks south of Grandview Avenue — across from the historic district.
Dallas-based Trammel Crow Co. was selected as the preferred developer and is currently negotiating a contract with the city.
Arvada must have 400 parking spaces available for the Olde Town station by the time the Gold Line opens in 2016.
Planners say they would prefer to optimize space near the station by building a parking garage, another possible taller building.
Those projects south of Grandview Avenue are in a zone that will require public input and approval through the city’s planning commission.
Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372, yrobles@denverpost.com or twitter.com/yeseniarobles
