MONUMENT • Sparked by a request by Board of Trustees’ member Ron Stephens, the Monument Planning Commission held a workshop Oct. 14 to discuss the municipality’s land use code compared to the previous land use code as it coincides with the town’s comprehensive plan.

Stephens had asked during a recent Trustees meeting if there are any items in the town’s zoning code the board feels need to be changed or addressed further.

The Oct. 14 discussion began with a comparison of approved maximum building heights between developments along I-25.

“There’s a lot of properties along I-25 which are zoned PU (planned urban development),” town planning director Meggan Herington said. “There’s not a lot of undeveloped properties along that corridor or there aren’t a lot of properties with straight zoning. There are minimal properties which are still vacant of which the new code still applies.”

Town planner Debbie Flynn laid out comparisons of maximum building height, which have varied depending on development plans. For instance, on the west side of I-25, the Woodmen Valley Chapel was approved at a maximum 45 feet in height. The first phase of the Conexus development south of the chapel was approved at a maximum of 35 feet. However, Conexus Phases two and three were approved for 90 feet.

Sante Fe Park preliminary development site plan was also approved at 90 feet, while the Falcon Commerce Center, south of Baptist Road, was approved at 100 feet.

On the east side of I-25, the YMCA was approved for 50 feet. The sketch plan for The Village, south of Highway 105 and east of Jackson Creek

Parkway, was approved for a maximum 50 feet. The Village at Jackson Creek was approved not to exceed 50 feet for structures greater than 600 feet from I-25, and 75 feet for those inside 600 feet.

Monument Marketplace North’s preliminary site plan was also approved for 50 feet maximum, plus another four feet for parapet walls above the roof.

The discussion drifted into options of how to supplement the land use code as it refers to industrial land use. While the code establishes characteristics for each land use category, a comprehensive plan is different. The comprehensive plan was last revised in 2017, after which the town moved into revising the land use code, which is the appropriate protocol, Herington said.

Herington addressed potential truck traffic — a concern brought up in past meetings. By virtue of the land use code, having semi trucks passing through town limits is unavoidable, she said. With Pudzoned properties, which allow for warehouse, distribution and light industrial, truck traffic is to be expected.

However, some members of the Board of Trustees wanted the commission to discuss

Planning director Meggan Herington addressed potential truck traffic — a concern brought up in past meetings. By virtue of the land use code, having semi trucks passing through town limits is unavoidable, she said. With Pudzoned properties, which allow for warehouse, distribution and light industrial, truck traffic is to be expected.

how town staff looks at the comprehensive plan and ensure it is captured in the zoning code, Herington said.

“There are going to be semi trucks in Monument,

but the conversation has been, ‘How does the Town of Monument control that vision for what those industrial zones are going to be?’” the planning director said.

She continued, “We wanted to figure out how we can better implement our vision for the town a little bit better and I came up with three concepts that would be a tool for the kinds of uses of industrial land use.”

The first concept involves supplemental use for standards already in the existing code, which would include additional standards. Among additional standards suggested were vehicle weight allowed on boundaries between industrial and residential zoned properties, alignment to residential zones, circulation, heavy duty truck parking and overnight parking, building features, number and use of loading doors and limits to engine idles. Herington also noted hours of delivery could be supplemented, but that aspect would be “dicey.”

The second concept adds new definitions and redefines existing ones for distribution facilities and micro fulfillment centers, as well as the term “warehouse and distribution.” For example, a new truck stop would not be considered under “permitted use,” but rather “conditional use.”

The third concept, a zoning overlay, comes from Herington’s experience with the City of Colorado Springs. The town can rezone a property to match the comprehensive plan, which she said is not done often nor is favorable. An overlay provides additional conditions and standards. Herington cited Colorado Springs’ north Nevada Avenue developments as an example of where the city made use of an overlay, which excluded some of the uses in the base zoning.

“That was done on top of all the properties in that corridor,” Herington said.

Planning Commissioner Danny Ours asked how concepts one and two could impact existing properties. He cited the Conexus development as an example. “How are we able to reduce what they now believe they can do?” he said.

Herington said although town staff would need its attorneys’ counsel on that matter, clarifying definitions of light manufacturing, industrial and distribution may be the route the town would want to look into.

“We are trying to get some ideas for a track to go down that would be amenable to the Planning Commission and the Board of Trustees,” she said.

She said under the old zoning code, development site plans can be vague, but as soon as buildings went vertical, the town could create its own setbacks under that zone.

“There’s nothing in the code with PUD that says it’s except from supplemental use for industrial standards,” Herington said.

The planning director went on to say any development already approved for its preliminary or final sketch plan would be grandfathered from any supplemental land uses. However, if a final site plan has not yet been approved, town planning staff would have to evaluate according to any new supplemental standards.

With this, Phase One of the Conexus development would be vested, but phases two and three would not be, she said.

Ours said with the new planning director in position, there is more latitude provided to the planning commission than before. The Board of Trustees often get compromised because of items the Planning Commission set in place in the past, he said.

“I think our new director sees grey areas and she believes grey areas require discussion,” Ours said. “We weren’t able to have those discussions before. We’ve had more discussion over the last months than we have in years.”

Toward the end of the workshop, Herington said it may be prudent to create a group composed of one town trustee and one planning commissioner and a group of both citizens and land owners, to provide balanced opinions, to continue the discussion.