west central neighborhoods student housing

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West Central Neighborhoods Plan

Student Housing

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City Plan

• City Plan, the City’s Comprehensive Plan, provides policy guidance in the areas of:

– Economic Health– Environmental Health– Community and Neighborhood Livability

• Neighborhoods• Housing

– Safety and Wellness– Culture, Parks, and Recreation– High Performing Community– Transportation

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Neighborhoods• Neighborhoods will serve as the primary building

blocks of the community’s built environment. Neighborhoods will be walkable and connected and will include a mix of housing types. Neighborhoods will include destinations within walking distance, such as schools, parks, neighborhood shopping, places of work, and civic uses. Neighborhoods vary in their size, mix of uses, housing types, and connection to adjacent uses.

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City Plan - Housing

• Principle LIV 7: A variety of housing types and densities for all income levels shall be available throughout the Growth Management Area.

• Policy LIV 7.1 – Encourage Variety in Housing Types and Locations– Encourage a variety of housing types and densities,

including mixed-used developments that are well-served by public transportation and close to employment centers, shopping, services, and amenities.

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City Plan - Student Housing

• Policy LIV 7.7 – Accommodate the Student Population– Plan for and incorporate new housing for

the student population on campuses and in areas near educational campuses and/or that are well-served by public transportation.

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West Central Neighborhoods Plan (WCNP)

• The WCNP is an element of City Plan, the City’s Comprehensive Plan.

• Subarea plans provide greater detailed policy guidance, compared to the more generalized policies contained in City Plan, to aid decision-making regarding issues important to the neighborhood.

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• Principle LIV 26: Neighborhood stability should be maintained and enhanced. Most existing residential developments will remain largely unaffected by these City Plan Principles and Policies.

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• Policy LIV 26.1 – Maintain Existing Neighborhoods – Aim to preserve the character of existing

neighborhoods through neighborhood planning, assistance to neighborhood organizations, and supportive regulatory techniques. Changes, if any, will be carefully planned and will result from initiatives by residents or from a specific subarea plan prepared in collaboration with residents….

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WCNP - Student Housing

• THE major issue =>

– Stem the infiltration of student-occupied housing into predominantly owner-occupied detached single-family unit neighborhoods.

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WCNP – Student Housing

• Methods =>

– Strengthen measures to stabilize single-family neighborhoods and encourage development of multi-family housing in close proximity to the Colorado State University Main Campus.

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WCNP – Student Housing

• Theory =>

– If additional housing was available to students in closer proximity to CSU it would encourage students to abandon the single-family neighborhoods for the convenience of living adjacent to the Main Campus.

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Area N of Prospect, E of Shields

• The WCNP calls for residential uses in the area to be:– “higher density uses, such as large

apartment complexes, dormitories, fraternities, sororities, etc. Greater height in structures (up to 5 stories) should be allowed in this area provided adequate setbacks are maintained from Prospect Road and Shields Street.”

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Strict Application of Compatibility Standards

• The WCNP states:

– “While care needs to be taken so that taller structures up to five stories in height have adequate setbacks from Shields Street and Prospect Road, modifications to compatibility standards in the City’s Land Use Code with existing uses should be granted so that the area can intensify as envisioned in this Plan.”

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The Grove Site

• The WCNP states:

– “The area should intensify and provide opportunities for student housing in close proximity to Colorado State University. This area could retain its current E, Employment, Zone applied during the City Plan community-wide rezoning effort in March 1997… Otherwise, it may be more appropriate to rezone the area from the E Zone to the M-M-N Zone.”

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Density vs. Intensity

Density Calculations

20 2-bedroom units/2 acres = 10 du/acre

20 3-bedroom units/2 acres = 10 du/acre

Intensity Calculations

20 2-bdrm units/2 acres = 20 people/acre

20 3-bdrm units/2 acres = 30 people/acre

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