The Louisville Planning Commission on Thursday unanimously voted to recommend to City Council a preliminary development plan for Coal Creek Village, a proposed housing project just north of homes in the city’s Little Italy neighborhood — but only with several conditions after strong pushback from nearby residents.
The plan now heads to the City Council for consideration at a meeting not yet scheduled as of Monday, where the council could give city staff and the developer, Markel Homes, the green light to work on a final application. The preliminary plan maps out 188 housing units and 13,500 square feet of commercial space, with some units designated as affordable, on 10.7 acres east of the railroad tracks and southwest of the South Boulder and Courtesy roads intersection.
According to a staff report, the developer would be required to make at least 12% of the units on-site affordable. A minimum of half those affordable units would be limited to households making 60% or less of the area median income, with the remainder of the affordable units designated to households between 60% and 80% AMI. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs shows 80% AMI to be around $104,000 for a four-person household in Boulder County.
The commission first reviewed the project in fall 2024, around the time more than 80 residents signed an unofficial petition against it. Markel Homes was told to redo a study on the impact the development could have on traffic, before moving forward. The updated study, completed in June, allowed the developer to bring the project back to the commission last week — although City Planner Matt Post said the plan “has not changed significantly” since last year, aside from adding some traffic-calming measures.
Since last year, the resident petition has grown to more than 200 signatures, and more than 20 people spoke during Thursday’s nearly four-hour hearing, urging commissioners to vote against the plan unless changes were made. Many concerns centered on traffic and safety, especially over a proposed new roadway connecting the development to Front Street — a two-lane road through Little Italy with a 25 mph speed limit.
The traffic study suggested the connection would prevent unsafe U-turns on South Boulder Road, but it also showed it could increase Front Street traffic from one car every 400 seconds to one every 45 seconds during a typical morning. Residents said that’s worrying, as the narrow street is often used by pedestrians, including children walking to Louisville Middle School.
One Little Italy resident called the plan’s proposed traffic-calming features “glorified speed bumps,” while another called the area’s existing street network “already fatally flawed.” The intersection north of the site is already rated an “F,” according to the June traffic study.
Planning Commission requests condition on Front Street
Post noted the proposed Front Street connection is supported by Louisville’s Comprehensive Plan, which encourages interconnected streets.
The recommendation from city staff to include the Front Street connection aligns with an “obligation to administer our city’s policy,” Post told Colorado Hometown Weekly after the hearing.
But during deliberations, commissioners said they couldn’t ignore residents’ concerns.
Commissioner David Bangs said he was wrestling with “policy versus the reality of that particular area.”
“I’m really stuck,” Commissioner Jeff Moline added. “If we approve this development that allows for this connection on Front Street, I really feel like this development is going to have a detrimental effect on the adjacent neighborhood.”
The commission ultimately voted to send the project to council with a suggested amendment making the Front Street connection for emergency access only, while keeping pedestrian and bike access.
Other conditions city staff attached to the plan, and approved by the Planning Commission, include additional traffic-calming improvements, redesigned sidewalks near South Boulder Road, and coordination with the owner of 1110 E. South Boulder Road — a Snarf’s Sandwiches location — to ensure vehicle access from Cannon Circle.
A separate rezoning request will also go to City Council, proposing to change the land’s zoning from commercial community mixed-use and residential medium density to residential mixed-use. (“Zoning” is a local government’s rules for what can be built in different areas of town.)
City Council can either deny the developer’s application entirely or approve it, sending it to the next stage of planning. The council could also change the conditions under which the Planning Commission recommended the proposal, meaning the council will have final say on the Front Street connection, including potential access to it.
The road ahead
Residents from Louisville’s historic Little Italy neighborhood, which sits just south of the proposed project site, still have concerns.
On Friday, Lauryl Danuff Sagrillo said the Front Street condition was “a good start” to addressing residents’ concerns. But there are still questions remaining, she said, among them what will happen to an alleyway between Harper Street and the proposed development, which some residents use to access their homes.
The preliminary plan is also “vague,” she said, about what will happen to a small parcel of land on Harper Street currently owned by the city, according to the Boulder County Assessor’s Office. That piece of land would be necessary to complete the development’s attachment to Front Street.
Post noted that the plan is still in the preliminary process, and some details, including that piece of land, would be addressed in the final application. He said it’s likely the city would retain ownership of the Harper Street parcel, while allowing the developer to use it as access to Front Street.
Lauren Foster, another Little Italy resident, said she’d like to see the developer make a 15% public land dedication, potentially a small public park that could serve as a buffer between Harper Street and the development. She plans to bring that idea to the City Council when it considers the development plan.
“I’m worried that people will say, we did what you wanted. We got rid of the Front Street connection,” Foster said. “But there are other things we’ve being asking for since the beginning.”
As the plan moves to City Council, Danuff Sagrillo and Foster said the energy from Little Italy residents, and their demand to be a part of this process, will continue.
“There are a lot more questions, and the next issues still need to be addressed,” Danuff Sagrillo said. “So, yeah, we’re still going to show up.”
The goal for Little Italy’s residents, Foster added, is to work with the city and developer to come to an agreement that is a “win-win-win.” Several residents at Thursday’s hearing said they support new housing and development in general but worry the current plan isn’t viable.
“We’re not here saying, NIMBY, nobody in my backyard,” Foster said. “That’s not what we’re doing. We are saying, let’s develop this property in a thoughtful way, even if it’s a very dense property with 188 units.”