Feedback is mixed from residents who live near a proposed duplex development at an old South Suburban Parks and Recreation maintenance facility in Littleton.
Jamison Village, to be constructed at 101 W. Jamison Ave., will have 38 units comprised of 19 duplexes on 3 acres. Littleton City Council approved the zoning for the project Oct. 7 with a five-vote majority required by that requires such a majority when the planning board vote is not unanimous.
Gary Wanger, president of Stoneridge Homes Inc., which is developing the project, said construction could start in nine months, depending on the planning process. The homes would be built over two years and sell for $350,000 on average. The homes will range from 1,500-1,700 square feet.
Wanger said it’s always a good thing when you can offer for-sale properties in a land-locked city like Littleton.
“It’s a good product with good architecture,” Wanger said. “These are energy-efficient, well-built homes that will add to the surrounding neighborhood of properties.”
Some nearby residents, like Robert Kovacs, have embraced the project because it will replace a vacant maintenance facility.
“The previous use of the property as an equipment yard was out of character with the rest of the neighborhood,” Kovacs wrote in a letter to the developer. “Therefore it is good to see the property transformed into residential use.”
Paul Bingham of the Citizens for Rational Development said his group supports the project because it will be a “vast improvement.”
But he also understands some of the concerns of other residents like Martin Kaye, who lives adjacent to the proposed development and is concerned about the high density of the project and the fact the homes will be on higher ground and therefore looming over nearby homes.
“I’m very pleased it will not be used as a maintenance yard and pleased at the prospect of developing it for residential use,” Kaye said. “I’m opposed to cramming in 38 duplex homes into a 3-acre lot.”
Mayor Phil Cernanec, whose district includes the proposed Jamison Village, said the proposed density is in line with the city’s comprehensive plan and consistent with the surrounding townhome density.
“It’s right in the middle of a neighborhood, a residential area — it wouldn’t be appropriate for any additional retail. … There is some office space not too far from there that is unoccupied, so additional office space is not what was needed there,” Cernanec said.
Cernanec said he realizes some, like Diana Olson, president of the adjacent Southbridge Terrace Townhomes Homeowners Association, would prefer that a park replace the old maintenance facility, but he said it’s just not possible because it would not fit with the city’s open space and park requirements.
Clayton Woullard: 303-954-2953, cwoullard@denverpost.com or twitter.com/yhClayton
