Planning and Zoning gives OK to housing development near Golden Ponds

Plans to subdivide a seven-acre parcel of land into 29 lots for single-family homes near the Golden Ponds Nature Area got approval this week from the city’s planning board. The go-ahead came with a list of conditions including making room for migratory nesting birds near the development.

The preliminary plat for Peakview Estates, located at 2725 W. Ninth Ave., gained the backing of the planning and zoning commission, which has the final say on all preliminary plats, said Ava Pecherzewski, principal planner for Longmont.

The parcel is located on the south side of Ninth Avenue, west of Hover Street, east of Airport Road and bounded by Twin Peaks Golf Course on the north and Golden Ponds Nature Area on the south.

The subdivision was initially designed with 30 individual lots and one large outlot for drainage detention on the south side of Wade Road, according to a city staff report. The developer — 2725 LLC — took out one of the lots and created a 20-foot wide landscape buffer adjacent to Ninth Avenue to shield the residential lots on the north from traffic noise impacts, the report states.

Longmont’s Public Works engineers have concerns about the existing Platte River Power Authority electrical easement on the south side of the property, the report states. One of the conditions of approval is that the developer has to submit written confirmation from Platte River Power Authority that it has no objections to the development proposal.

The property does not provide habitat for any federally or state-listed threatened, endangered or candidate plants or wildlife species, the report states.

However, the site is located 0.25-miles away from a historic bald eagle roosting area. The city told 2725 LLC it must submit written confirmation from both Colorado Parks & Wildlife and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the development will not result in any significant impact on wildlife. 

The city also said if work activities are planned during the nesting season — March 1- August 31— a migratory bird nest survey must be completed by a qualified biologist at least one week before the start of construction to identify active nests and implement “avoidance measures,” the report states.

“If active nests are found no work shall be allowed within 50 feet of any active nest,” the report states. 

The buffer would be delineated and marked by flags or barriers prior to construction. “If active nests of raptors are found within ½ mile of the project site, Colorado Parks and Wildlife must be consulted on recommended buffer distances and time periods, '' the report states.