Centennial leaders took a scalpel to a recently adopted city ordinance last week that had set new guidelines for businesses on Arapahoe Road, cutting out one component in particular that motivated a and could have led to a in the city.
The main source of consternation with Ordinance 2016-O-11 was that it would have allowed for construction of new gas stations, drive-thru restaurants, convenience stores, car washes and car dealerships along Centennial’s central Arapahoe Road corridor. The area, defined as Arapahoe between South Yosemite Street and South Parker Road, has been subject to a ban on new locations of the already plentiful types of businesses since the city incorporated in 2005. According to a city staff report, the general purpose of the original ordinance, informed by information in the recent , was to “increase the number of potential retail uses along Arapahoe Road in order to increase the opportunities for economic development.”
City Council’s adoption of that ordinance Nov. 14 triggered a backlash. Residents who opposed the new allowances for those businesses launched a referendum petition seeking to overturn it. Opponents eventually turned in well over the required 4,083 valid signatures — 5 percent of the local electorate — to force either repeal of the ordinance or a special election on the issue.
City and petition leaders reached a compromise that was executed at the City Council’s Feb. 21 meeting. The council repealed Ordinance 2016-O-11 in its entirety, reestablishing the ban on those business types between Yosemite and Parker. Next the Council unanimously adopted three new ordinances that reinstalled less controversial components of the original measure and expanded on some ideas.
“We respect the referendum process and we spoke to those petition initiators and we supported us repealing this so I think we are staying with the intent of the referendum process,” Mayor Cathy Noon said. “I think the cost to the city taxpayers for an election outside of regularly scheduled election is more than we probably wanted to bear. We wanted to move forward with our other ordinances that we talked we about.”
The first replacement ordinances codified new, more stringent design standards for businesses in the corridor within a block of Arapahoe, including mandating that all new buildings include at least three substantially different building materials and setting minimum percentages for specific high-quality materials. The closer to Arapahoe a project is, the higher the percentage of quality material it will be mandated to include. The second amended several outdated definitions in the city land use code. The third has the potential to have the most impact. It tweaked language in the code that permits some restricted business – gas stations, drive-thrus, etc. – if they are part of a master planned development with at least four different uses and 50,000 square feet of enclosed floor space. Car dealerships are the one use not subject to this exception, and are banned from development along the corridor at this time. The new ordinance opened that up to also include redevelopment projects that meet those same standards. This rule change cleared the way for a drive-thru Culver’s Restaurant that had been a crux of controversy during a petition process that could have threatened its opening. It will occupy an existing structure at Arapahoe and Havana Street.
“I do believe that the increased design standards will bring quality, revenue-positive businesses into our community,” Noon said. “And certainly anything in our code that addresses redevelopment, I think is very important.”
Centennial residents Jill Meakins and Tammy Maurer led the petition effort. They attended the Feb. 21 meeting where the issue was resolved but did not speak during the meeting. In the hallway outside the council chamber, the two expressed relief that what they described as a less than enjoyable process had concluded and that the restrictions on Arapahoe Road remained in place.
“What the city was trying to do – which was great — was attract infill (development). We just felt that was not the right kind of infill,” Maurer said. “We thought we could do better. I’d like to see higher-end restaurants, services, medical, possible educational. Why rush into this? The city is debt free.”
“I’m hopeful that we’re going to get quality retail that will bring up the standard of Arapahoe Road as our main street,” Meakins said.
Updated Feb. 27, 2017, at 5:27 p.m. Because of errors by a reporter, this story incorrectly stated what types of businesses will be allowed along Arapahoe Road as part of master planned development or redevelopment project and what percentage of certain materials are required under new design guidelines for the corridor.