HOUSING

described how she needed to live with her best friend’s parents after college. She explained her experience of “scrimp and save” to buy her rst home.

Mayor Nancy McNally touted the plan due to water availability but also called for more a ordable housing near transit stations. She also wants residents to be able to buy a home and not throw money at rent.

City Councilor Rich Seymour offered a calm perspective, saying applicants can apply to change zoning within the city, and the city council can edit the plan in the future.

Density amendments e motion originally passed 4-3, with Emmons, McNally, Ezeadi and Nurmela voting yes. However, Emmons changed her vote later in the meeting and the motion failed. e motion failed 5-2, with Nur- mela and Ezeadi voting yes.

City Council approved 6-1, Baker dissenting, to change the zoning at the Northgate property near Federal Boulevard and 70th into medium density. It’s across from the Westminster Station.

Andrew Spurgin, principal planner of long-range planning, said that sta supported the change since it would allow the missing middle housing near transit.

City Councilor Sarah Nurmela proposed two zoning amendments.

One was for the area at Wagon Road Park and Ride o of Huron and 120th to be a mixed-use activity center.

She said the mixed- use zoning can maximize the opportunities for housing and those units would be served by the transit, creating a good location for a ordable housing.

Emmons said she changed her vote due to the sta ’s recommendation for the zoning change to go through the city’s application process.

Nurmela also proposed commercial mixed-use zoning at 88th and Wadsworth.

Spurgin said that commercial mixed-use is commercial land use, but allows the opportunity to add multifamily up to 36 units per acre.

“ is is what happened at part of Brookhill North at 90th Avenue, so this would allow south of 90th Avenue down to 80th Avenue (to also be mixed-use commercial),” he said.

City Councilor Bruce Baker said it was a “terrible idea,” saying too many people lived there already and that the Comprehensive Plan already provides more housing to be built.

Nurmela disagreed, pointing to the transit that runs near the area and saying the city needs more housing than the Plan permits.

Skyrocketing costs e revised plan comes as prices for housing continue to climb. e price of condos and townhomes also increased, from $230,000 in 2017 to $385,000 in 2022.

According to the Colorado Association of Realtors, a single-family home in Westminster cost $345,000 in 2017. In 2022, it rose to around $593,750.

Housing costs are also a major concern among residents. e 2022 Community Survey said 74% of respondents think housing is one of Westminster’s biggest issues.

Past and future housing stock

Spurgin answered questions and presented the plan to the council.

Ezeadi pointed to past housing needs assessment reports that say the city consists of too much commercial and too little housing. With that in mind, he asked how it was appropriate for sta to propose a plan that increases commercial and decreases density.

Spurgin said sta adhered to the council’s guidance.

McNally asked if the plan is exible enough to have conversations regarding adding more a ordable housing to the city. Spurgin said higher density can include more a ordable housing, and the council would need to agree to rezone areas.

“We historically built a lot of single-family, we recently built a lot of multi-family, we need to look at the spectrum in between,” Spurgin said.

He said the prior plan allowed for the missing middle housing.

McNally said with all the four major transit stations in Westminster, not one has an a ordable housing unit, and she scolded past councils who weren’t asking questions about adding those units.

“Transit stations are where we said in the past that we need to put some of this stu there,” she said.

Baker asked how many multi-family units the city will get with the new plan, the Uplands project, the new downtown and Westminster Station.

Spurgin said the city anticipates 932 multi-family units and 1,031 single-family units on unentitled lands, which don’t have applications to build housing yet.

For the entitled lands, the Downtown Westminster plan will have about 1,500 more multi-family units, Westminster Station has 778 multifamily units left and the Uplands Development will include 1,132 multi-family units.

According to Andy Le, a spokesperson for the city, Westminster’s current housing stock consists of 32,0001 single units, 1,645 buildings with 2-4 units, 12,741 buildings with 5 or more units and 581 mobile homes.