This morning the Greenwood Village City Council met in a study session and agreed to refer the Orchard Station Subarea Comprehensive Plan Amendment to the Greenwood Village voters. 

City council must still formally vote on the decision, which is expected to happen at the next City Council meeting. 

The Mayor in a written statement expressed his strong opposition to the amendment and said that he would veto the change to the Comp Plan if City Council were to pass the amendment. 

Alberta has asked the city to place its Master Development Plan on the ballot, which still requires the city to go through a review process. 

Both issues are expected to be voted on in June. 

Read my letter and analysis to the City of Greenwood Village.

In the January 2017 Greenwood Village newsletter, Cherry Creek School District submitted a full-page contribution (page 27 of the Newsletter) regarding the potential impact that developments in the proposed Orchard Station Subarea may have on the Cherry Creek Schools.

The District’s conclusion in the article is that the annual impact is 25 students or two students per grade.  This grossly understates the impact.  Using the “national standards” CCSD provided in the article, the Orchard Station developments are projected to produce 300 students, which equals 23 students per grade — essentially an additional classroom of students for each grade K-12. 

Click here to read the letter I sent to Greenwood Village with my full analysis and the combined impact from other new residential developments: Letter to GV: CCSD Math Doesn’t Add Up.

1. Click here to see the 15-year trend of the Cherry Creek High School feeder schools total and non-resident enrollment.
2. Click here to see the number of permanent classrooms in each of the feeder schools.
3. Click here to see the feeder schools with trailers/mobile classrooms due to overcapacity.

Over the next two weeks Greenwood Village will host four town hall meetings for each District to discuss proposed changes to the Comprehensive Plan to include a new Orchard Station Subarea.  Last July, Alberta Development Partners submitted a development application to construct a $1.5 billion, 3.3 million square foot mixed-use development on 24-acres of the proposed Subarea that was dependent on changes to the GV Comp Plan. Century Communities also recently held a community input meeting regarding its desire to build 203 units (150 townhomes and 53 single-family homes) on 13-acres inside the proposed Subarea.  Combined, the Alberta property and Century property make up 85% or  37 of the 44 acres within the Subarea that does not include The Landmark.

Alberta is expected to return with a slightly smaller 2.8 million square foot development application after the Comp Plan amendment is passed.  However, the original development would have added:

• 1,000 cars per hour on Orchard Road (according to Alberta’s own traffic study) , with no assessment of the traffic impact on Quebec Street or Belleview Ave.
• 1,200 apartments and condos
• 4 buildings over 20-stories tall
• 300,000 sq ft of retail (including 40 restaurants)

Alberta withdrew the application after near unanimous opposition that led P&Z voted down by a vote of 8-0 changes to the Comp Plan on July 19, 2016.  However, P&Z reversed course in September and October after only cosmetic changes to the proposed Orchard Station Subarea Plan and recommended to the creation of the Subarea to City Council on a vote of 6-2.  These four meetings will provide will provide citizens with another opportunity to voice their vision for the future of Greenwood Village.

City Councilmember Dave Bullock wrote a fantastic letter to his District 1 constituents where he provided a comprehensive overview of the Orchard Station subarea debate and his concerns about changing the Greenwood Village Comprehensive Plan.  I would strongly encourage anyone looking for a comprehensive background on the proposed changes to read Dave’s letter.

Please click here to read his thoughtful letter.

Although the meetings are split-up by district, you may attend any meeting.  Here are the meeting dates, times and locations. Click here for the agenda.

District 1 – Councilmembers Dave Bullock and Freda Miklin
Wednesday, January 18, 6:30 to 8:30 pm.
Aspen Academy, 5859 S. University Boulevard

District 2 – Councilmembers Darryl Jones and Leslie Schluter
Thursday, January 19, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Curtis Ballroom at Comedy Works, 5345 Landmark Place

District 3 – Councilmembers George Lantz and Steve Moran
Tuesday, January 24, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. 
Highline Community Church, 6160 S Wabash Way

District 4 – Councilmembers Tom Bishop and T.J. Gordon
Thursday, January 26, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Campus Middle School Cafeteria, 4785 S Dayton Street

Great letter by City Councilmember Dave Bullock. 

City councilmember opposes change to the Comprehensive Plan
Here is the schedule for the upcoming Orchard Station town hall meetings:

District 1 – Wednesday, January 18, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Aspen Academy, 5859 South University Boulevard

District 2 – Thursday, January 19, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Curtis Ballroom at Comedy Works, 5345 Landmark Place

District 3 – Tuesday, January 24, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Highline Community Church, 6160 South Wabash Way

District 4 – Thursday, January 26, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Campus Middle School Cafeteria, 4785 South Dayton Street