1. West Central Neighborhoods Plan
Student Housing
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2. City Plan
• City Plan, the City’s Comprehensive Plan, provides
policy guidance in the areas of:
– Economic Health
– Environmental Health
– Community and Neighborhood Livability
• Neighborhoods
• Housing
– Safety and Wellness
– Culture, Parks, and Recreation
– High Performing Community
– Transportation
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3. Neighborhoods
• Neighborhoods will serve as the primary building
blocks of the community’s built environment.
Neighborhoods will be walkable and connected and will
include a mix of housing types. Neighborhoods will
include destinations within walking distance, such as
schools, parks, neighborhood shopping, places of
work, and civic uses. Neighborhoods vary in their size,
mix of uses, housing types, and connection to adjacent
uses.
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4. City Plan - Housing
• Principle LIV 7: A variety of housing types and densities
for all income levels shall be available throughout the
Growth Management Area.
• Policy LIV 7.1 – Encourage Variety in Housing Types
and Locations
– Encourage a variety of housing types and densities,
including mixed-used developments that are well-
served by public transportation and close to
employment centers, shopping, services, and
amenities.
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5. City Plan - Student Housing
• Policy LIV 7.7 – Accommodate the Student
Population
– Plan for and incorporate new housing for
the student population on campuses and in
areas near educational campuses and/or
that are well-served by public
transportation.
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6. West Central
Neighborhoods Plan (WCNP)
• The WCNP is an element of City Plan, the
City’s Comprehensive Plan.
• Subarea plans provide greater detailed policy
guidance, compared to the more generalized
policies contained in City Plan, to aid
decision-making regarding issues important
to the neighborhood.
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7. • Principle LIV 26: Neighborhood stability
should be maintained and enhanced. Most
existing residential developments will remain
largely unaffected by these City Plan
Principles and Policies.
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8. • Policy LIV 26.1 – Maintain Existing
Neighborhoods
– Aim to preserve the character of existing
neighborhoods through neighborhood
planning, assistance to neighborhood
organizations, and supportive regulatory
techniques. Changes, if any, will be
carefully planned and will result from
initiatives by residents or from a specific
subarea plan prepared in collaboration with
residents….
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9. WCNP - Student Housing
• THE major issue =>
– Stem the infiltration of student-
occupied housing into
predominantly owner-occupied
detached single-family unit
neighborhoods.
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10. WCNP – Student Housing
• Methods =>
– Strengthen measures to stabilize
single-family neighborhoods
and encourage development of
multi-family housing in close
proximity to the Colorado State
University Main Campus.
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11. WCNP – Student Housing
• Theory =>
– If additional housing was
available to students in closer
proximity to CSU it would
encourage students to abandon
the single-family neighborhoods
for the convenience of living
adjacent to the Main Campus.
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14. Area N of Prospect, E of Shields
• The WCNP calls for residential uses in the
area to be:
– “higher density uses, such as large
apartment complexes, dormitories,
fraternities, sororities, etc. Greater height in
structures (up to 5 stories) should be
allowed in this area provided adequate
setbacks are maintained from Prospect
Road and Shields Street.”
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15. Strict Application of
Compatibility Standards
• The WCNP states:
– “While care needs to be taken so that taller
structures up to five stories in height have
adequate setbacks from Shields Street and
Prospect Road, modifications to
compatibility standards in the City’s Land
Use Code with existing uses should be
granted so that the area can intensify as
envisioned in this Plan.”
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16. The Grove Site
• The WCNP states:
– “The area should intensify and provide
opportunities for student housing in close
proximity to Colorado State University.
This area could retain its current E,
Employment, Zone applied during the City
Plan community-wide rezoning effort in
March 1997… Otherwise, it may be more
appropriate to rezone the area from the E
Zone to the M-M-N Zone.”
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18. Density vs. Intensity
Density Calculations
20 2-bedroom units/2 acres = 10 du/acre
20 3-bedroom units/2 acres = 10 du/acre
Intensity Calculations
20 2-bdrm units/2 acres = 20 people/acre
20 3-bdrm units/2 acres = 30 people/acre
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