Regional Development

Center (Hearing Room)

2880 International Circle

City of Colorado Springs

Meeting Minutes - Final

Downtown Review Board

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

9:00 AM

2880 International Circle, 2nd Floor, Hearing Room

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

9 - Board Member Nolette, Board Member Kuosman, Board Member Coats, Board

Member Kronstadt, Board Member Hensler, Board Member Lord, Board Member

Friesema, Board Member Mikulas and Board Member Luciano

Present:

2. Changes to Agenda/Postponements

3. Communications

Ryan Tefertiller - Urban Planning Manager

Ryan Tefertiller, Urban Planning Manager announced Shelia Booth as

the new Long-Range Planning Manager.

Mr. Tefertiller said the 2025 DRB Workplan was distributed to the Board

at the last meeting and he distributed the Annual 2024 DRB Report to

the Board members and will email this to the Board members that are

on virtually. The report summarizes the work the DRB achieved in 2024.

Mr. Tefertiller said the Downtown Master Plan is underway and the

consultants will be making a presentation to City Council Work Session

on March 10, 2025, with their initial efforts.

Mr. Tefertiller said One Ve La heard by DRB in February was appealed

and will be heard by City Council on April 7, 2025.

Board member Kronstadt asked if there is a deadline for the Downtown

Master Plan poll. Chelsea Gondeck, Executive Director, Downtown

Partnership said the poll closes tomorrow at midnight.

4. Approval of the Minutes

DRB 2297

Minutes for the February 4, 2025, Downtown Review Board Meeting

4.A.

Presenter:

David Lord, Downtown Review Board Chair

Attachments:

DRB_Minutes_2.4.25 Draft

Motion by Board Member Nolette, seconded by Board Member Kuosman, to

approve the minutes for the February 4, 2025, Downtown Review Board Meeting

The motion passed by a vote of 9-0.

8 - Board Member Nolette, Board Member Kuosman, Board Member Coats, Board

Member Kronstadt, Board Member Hensler, Board Member Lord, Board Member

Friesema and Board Member Luciano

Aye:

1 - Alternate Pence

Absent:

Abstain:

1 - Board Member Mikulas

5. Consent Calendar

6. Items Called Off Consent Calendar

7. Unfinished Business

8. New Business

524 S. Cascade Subdivision

FBZN-24-00 A Form-Based Zone Development Plan together with Building

8.A.

Envelope and Frontage Warrants for 524 S. Cascade on a 0.88

acre, FBZ-CEN (Form-Based Zone - Central Sector) zoned

property located on the northwest corner of S. Cascade Ave. and

W. Moreno Ave. (Quasi-Judicial)

Presenter:

Ryan Tefertiller, Planning Manager, Urban Planning Division

Attachments:

DRB Staff Report_524 S Cascade_RT

Attachment 1 - Zoning Map

Attachment 2 - Stakeholder Comments

Attachment 3 - Project Statement

Attachment 4 - FBZ Development Plan

Attachment 5 - PlanCOS Vision Map

Board member Mikulas recused himself from the item due to being the

owner of a nearby property and has relationships with the applicants.

Board member Coats recused himself from the item due to being an

adjacent property owner and are discussing involvement in a potential

URA of those properties.

Ryan Tefertiller, Urban Planning Manager presented the application for

524 S. Cascade Subdivision located on the northwest corner of

Cascade Avenue and Moreno Avenue on 0.88 acres. Mr. Tefertiller

said the current zone is FBZ-CEN and the proposed land use is for

Mixed Use Lodging on two lots. He said the current building at the

location would be demolished. Standard public notice was done and

five comments were received in support and concerns were raised about

parking, bulk and scale. Mr. Tefertiller said the proposed building is a

seven-story mixed use building with 180 guest rooms, a two-story guest

house, 25 structured parking stalls and guest amenities. Mr. Tefertiller

spoke on the standards and guidelines for building usage. The project

is compliant with the Downtown Master Plan and PlanCOS.

Board member Questions

Board member Kronstadt asked if there is a plan from the City to

address the other side of the street that does not have a sidewalk and

the unevenness on the street scape in the area. Mr. Tefertiller said on a

high level, both Downtown and City wide, a developer is responsible to

provide streetscape adjacent to their project. He said at a minimum they

will have to bring that up to City standards. Mr. Tefertiller said in order

to require a developer to make off-site improvements, they would need

to show the project in question triggers additional impacts or use of the

area off-site which can be difficult. He said there are occasions where

the City can come together with other City entities to make corridor wide

improvements. Mr. Tefertiller said in this case they are working with the

property owners and developers in the area to create a design for the

Moreno corridor connecting the area. He said that it will be finalized and

implemented as the project is constructed.

Applicant Presentation

Jeff Finn, Senior Vice President, Norwood Development Group,

presented their application. Mr. Finn said their hotel partner is Sage

Hospitality, which includes five properties in Denver. Mr. Finn spoke on

the design aspects and parking of the site. He said they are sympathetic

to the neighbors to the south which is why they offset the mass of the

building to the north of the site. Mr. Finn spoke on the glazing of the

proposed building. He said they did not want to put the users in a

fishbowl. Mr. Finn said they have taken the initiative to engage

surrounding property owners to form a URA which will address the

public realm along Moreno Avenue. He said they will commit to

improving both sides of Moreno Avenue.

Public Comment

NONE

Board Member Comments

Board member Friesema said they do not typically see projects come

through the DRB this early and asked where they are in the URA

process. Mr. Finn said on September 25, 2024, they came to initiate a

discussion with the board and there was strong reaction of having two

developers as the point of contact for the URA. He said they are working

on creating a structural relationship to address those issues. Mr. Finn

said they feel confident in the project and have been working on the

project for 16 months. He said they are moving quickly on the URA.

Board member Friesema said he is in support of the project.

Board member Hensler said she is in support of the project and the

applicant has done well to address the concerns.

Motion by Board Member Friesema, seconded by Board Member Nolette, to

approve the Form-Based Zone Development Plan together with Building

Envelope and Frontage Warrants for 524 S. Cascade based upon the findings

that the application meets the applicable development standards and design

guidelines as set forth in the Form-Based Code Sections 2 and 4 as well as

the Warrant criteria found in Section 5.4.3. of the Code.

The motion passed by a vote of 7-0-2.

7 - Board Member Nolette, Board Member Kuosman, Board Member Kronstadt,

Board Member Hensler, Board Member Lord, Board Member Friesema and

Board Member Luciano

Aye:

1 - Alternate Pence

Absent:

Abstain:

2 - Board Member Coats and Board Member Mikulas

Weber St Redevelopment

FBZN-24-00 A Warrant and Minor Improvement Plan to allow the

8.B.

redevelopment of two (2) commercial buildings for commercial and

office uses, building façade improvements, streetscape

improvements and a reduction of required off-street parking

spaces in the FBZ-T2 (Form-Based Zone Transition Sector 2)

consisting of 15,246 square feet (.35 acres) located at 525 and

531 South Weber Street. (Quasi-Judicial)

Presenter:

William Gray, Senior Planner, City Planning - Urban Division

Attachments:

Staff Report_Weber St

Attachment 1-Town of Colorado Springs

Attachment 2-Aerial Map

Attachment 3-Zoning Map

Attachment 4-Downtown Partnership

Attachment 5-Project Statement

Attachment 6-Minor Improvement Plan

Board member Coats recused himself from the item due to being the

developer on the project.

Board member Mikulas disclosed that he is a partial owner (audio

distorted)

Board member Nolette disclosed that he is a property owner at 602 S.

Nevada and he does business with two partners in the development.

Board member Nolette said he can fairly and impartially interact in the

discussion today.

Ryan Tefertiller, Urban Planning Manager presented the application

located at 525 and 531 South Weber Street. The site area is 16,038

square feet and is zone FBZ-T2B and the proposed use is Commercial,

Office and Retail use with a minor improvement plan. Mr. Tefertiller said

there will be streetscape improvements and the warrant will provide

flexibility on parking. He said standard public notice was done and two

comments were received in support. The application complies with

PlanCOS and the Downtown Master Plan. Staff finds the application

meets the review criteria.

Board member Questions

Board member Mikulas asked staff to provide context of the building

usage. Mr. Tefertiller said it is a tire distributor, but the applicant can

provide further information.

Applicant Presentation

Brad Nichols, YOW Architects, presented the application. Mr. Nichols

said the front of the building is being improved with 68% glazing. He

said the area is considered a walking property and that is why they are

asking for relief on parking. He said he is not sure if the warehouse is a

tire distributor, but it does have loading docks and may not have much

interaction with the property.

Gary Feffer, Owner TJ&THC Three LLC said they acquired the

properties as an assemblage of properties that are distribution but is not

apart of this project. Mr. Fefer said this project will have no distribution

and they are looking at restaurants, entertainment, or a bar to service

the area.

Public Comments

NONE

Board member Comments

Board member Luciano said 48 parking spaces for the project seems

extreme and asked if they are looking at re-working the form-based

zoning to change the requirement. Mr. Tefertiller said he agrees the

parking seems excessive and in the early draft update of the form-based

code they are proposing significant reduction. He said in the last

session of the State Legislature a law was passed that restricted local

municipalities from requiring parking for residential uses along high

frequency routes. He said they will know more about this in the coming

months.

Board member Hensler said she agrees with Board member Luciano’s

question and is in favor of the project.

Motion by Board Member Kuosman, seconded by Board Member Friesema, to

approve the Warrant and Minor Improvement Plan for Weber St

Redevelopment, based upon the findings that the application meets the

approval criteria as set forth in Form-Based Code Section 5.4 and

Form-Based Code Section 5.6

1) A SWENT approved Final Drainage Letter is provided

2) The Applicant will clarify CSU review comments related to patio wall

heights and the trash enclosure.

3) A street tree and bike parking are added to the Minor Improvement Plan to

address City Planning review comments.

4) All outstanding City review agency comments are addressed.

The motion passed by a vote of 8-0-1.

8 - Board Member Nolette, Board Member Kuosman, Board Member Kronstadt,

Board Member Hensler, Board Member Lord, Board Member Friesema, Board

Member Mikulas and Board Member Luciano

Aye:

1 - Alternate Pence

Absent:

Abstain:

1 - Board Member Coats