City Council approves annexation, zoning of Ballpark, LLC, Addition
Zoning splits over concerns voiced by neighbors, council members
Sterling City Council approved the annexation and zoning of property on the southwest corner of West Main (Colorado Highway 14) and Ballpark Road (County Road 37) during its regularly-scheduled meeting Tuesday.
The property, formerly the site of the First Christian Church of Sterling, has been purchased by a developer, who has asked that the five-acre site be subdivided into four parcels.
After a public hearing in which two people spoke against the annexation, the council unanimously voted to annex. Mayor Dave Appelhans told members of the audience the council could only consider whether the annexation request met the city’s criteria, and this one did.
Bart Connolly, representing the new property owner, said annexation was requested so the property could get cityprovided water and sewer. The property already is getting water from the city, but at the higher out-of-city rate. The church was on the Highland Sanitation District system, but Kent Wright, chairman of the district, had a letter read into the record saying it was uncertain whether more than one tap could be accommodated from that property.
City Manager Don Saling said that in order for the property to get both water and sewer service from the city, it has to be annexed.
“Why should we provide growth out in the county when we get no benefit from it?” he asked rhetorically. “If it’s annexed, it goes on the (property) tax rolls, and if it’s developed into retail businesses, we get sales tax from it.”
Similar concerns came up while discussing zoning of the property. It now has a Logan County zoning designation of Community Business, and the owners request
ed the same zoning from the city. That caused some concerns from Councilman Mike Anderson and Mayor Appelhans. Anderson asked whether there were any restrictions that could be imposed on what the property was used for. Saling read from the requirements for a CB zoning and said the statute is “pretty lenient.”
After a crash course in the city’s zoning ordinances, the council voted 5-2 to approve the CB zoning, with Anderson and Appelhans voting no. The mayor said afterward he would have preferred a more restrictive zoning designation with the option for a special use permit. Anderson said during the meeting he would “feel more comfortable” knowing the owner’s plans for the property.
One hint about that may come from Connolly himself. According to the website of Partnering with Phy
sicians, LLC, Connolly founded PWP “to serve the unique real estate needs of health systems, hospitals, physicians, and other health care providers.” The website spotlights the Limelight Healthcare Center in Castle Rock, which opened in 2017.
City Council had been scheduled to consider a subdivision of the property, but it was discovered that the requested division into four lots classifies it as a “major subdivision,” and
that requires approval from the Sterling Planning Commission. The council unanimously voted “no” on the subdivision request and sent it back to the Planning Commission.
In other business, the council approved the plat for the Hawkstone subdivision at the southern edge of Sterling, and approved the transfer of the liquor license for Major Liquors, 529 Iris Drive, to EL 2020, Inc., of Montrose, Colo.