LITTLETON — Debate over a contentious mixed-use development designed for senior living — already enmeshed in a lawsuit challenging its placement in the middle of the city — reached a boiling point Tuesday as the City Council considered a measure that would effectively stop the project in its tracks.
After a long evening of public testimony, the motion was withdrawn. Instead, several council members criticized the city building code as being confusing and poorly written, but said that did not justify revoking building permits for the project, known as The Grove.
There was also the matter that the city faced a potential $30 million legal action from Denver-based Zocalo Community Development had it gone through with a measure to withdraw both the site development plan and existing building permits for the four-story, 160-unit complex at the southwest corner of West Littleton Boulevard and South Bemis Street.
“Let me be clear,” attorney Matthew Rork wrote in a letter to the city on behalf of Zocalo. “A direct Council vote or order by the Council to any other party to rescind, revoke, or otherwise impair the full force and effect of the building permit in any way is blatantly … devoid of any legal authority, and will be viewed as a willful and wanton act against my client.”
It was against that tense backdrop that dozens of Littleton residents addressed the council Tuesday, most alleging various violations the Grove poses to the city’s zoning code and a smaller number urging council not to quash the project.
Tuesday’s motion was first brought to the table by Councilman Doug Clark after he heard months of concerns about the proposed project from residents living close to the site. .
“It doesn’t comply with the zoning for a number of reasons,” Clark said, noting that a similar project on the same site was rejected by the city three years ago. “I’m perplexed by the city’s response to this.”
Critics claim that the residential component at the 4.3-acre site exceeds city code, that a parcel at the site is improperly being proposed as an emergency access to the property, and that the Grove skimps on the open space it is required to provide in certain areas.
Deb Gallegos, who lives on Bemis Street, told the council that the Grove “is a behemoth” and out of character with the neighborhood. Besides the apartments, the project promises nearly 11,000 square feet of retail space, a pool and outdoor deck, a dog park, a small amphitheater, and a bike shop.
“This certainly does not complement the existing historic residences,” she said.
Leah Burkett, who owns a home across the street from the Grove site,. She went to court, she said, after Littleton refused to allow her to file a protest with the city’s board of adjustment last September.
The lawsuit is scheduled for a Sept. 1 trial.
The whole process surrounding the Grove, Burkett said, appeared designed to sidestep the city council and public input.
“This thing will tower over everything in the surrounding area in both bulk and height,” she said. “It feels like we citizens are fighting for the character of our city.”
But the possibility that construction, which has been underway for about six weeks, could be halted after the city had granted Zocalo permits for the work in April prompted the company to fire back loudly. In his letter, Rork wrote that the city council, according to its own city charter, is specifically prohibited from revoking a building permit.
Not only could the city be on the hook for damages — which “could well exceed [$30 million]” — but the move to yank the permits could expose “council members individually and personally to financial liability,” Rork wrote.
Zocalo president David Zucker told The Denver Post Tuesday that the proposed move by the city was “capricious” and would constitute “bad public policy.”
“It would show that Littleton is a very difficult place to work or have a business — or even more challenging, move a business to,” he said.
Littleton city manager Michael Penny defended Littleton’s planning department, which “along with the city attorney reviewed the project in its entirety and found that it met the applicable land use and zone codes.”
“There is no provision for council to get involved,” he said.
He also said that there is no language in the code for staff or council to send the development to the board of adjustment, which is solely reserved for applicant appeals.
Updated June 8, 2016 at 10:27 a.m. The following corrected information has been added to this article: Because of a reporting error, this story has been updated to reflect the proper name of the Littleton Board of Adjustment.
