Johnstown Town Council 2/19/25
by Nanci Wendland
Main Points
A resident said he saw the cemetery crew cleaning up and throwing any items left on or near grave sites in the trash. He said he was able to pull his personal items from his wife’s grave site out of the trash bin.
A motion to rezone and approve a preliminary plat for the Waggoner Farms subdivision died for lack of a second motion by council members.
An increase of $298K was approved for a contract to redesign the Hwy 60/Colorado Blvd. intersection.
A concept review for rezoning of the Larson project ended with suggestions by council for more changes to the plan, creating tension (1:41) between Mayor Duncan and the applicant, Larry Buckendorf.
Public Comments
A resident said he saw the cemetery crew cleaning up and throwing items left on or near grave sites into the trash. This resident’s wife is buried at Johnstown Cemetery. He said he was very upset. He said he was able to pull his personal items out of the trash, but wondered how many families were losing their personal items that have meaning to families. He wants the cemetery to do a better job notifying families of cleaning days so they can temporarily remove their items. Town Manager LeCerf said the cemetery committee sets policies and modifications, but he will ask them to come up with better policies to notify the families.
All items on the Consent Agenda were unanimously approved:
- Feb. 3, 2025, Meeting Minutes
- Jan. 2025 Financial Statements and 2024 Sales Tax Summary
- Resolution 2025-05: An updated Town of Johnstown Strategic Plan
Details are provided in the packet.
A Public Hearing was held to consider an Ordinance and a Resolution for the Waggoner Farms Subdivision:
- Ordinance 2025-265: change zoning from a Planned Unit Development (P.U.D.) to Multi Use Residential (MU-NC).
- Planning & Development Director Gleim said the change in zoning would allow the public to see what uses are available for this property and how the use would be regulated by the land code.
- Resolution 2025-06: approval of a preliminary plat design.
- Director Gleim said the preliminary plan would subdivide the land and give the applicant up to 2 years to create and design the lots. The current proposal is to have 8 separate lots: 7 commercial lots and 1 residential lot.
Town Council member Paranto suggested the land be zoned commercial only due to its location and size. There was a motion to approve but no council member would second the motion. When this happens, the motion dies. No zoning change will be made, and the preliminary plan was denied.
A request to modify a contract with Alfred Benesch & Co. Ultimate Design was unanimously approved. The change order modification is a full build-out of the intersection at Highway 60 and Colorado Blvd instead of an interim fix. The cost increase will be $298K, bringing the total project cost to $735,055. Plans for the intersection can be found in the packet.
Larry Buckendorf with Johnstown North Investments LLC asked the council for a concept review and feedback on the Larson project zoning. Buckendorf’s group has made several design changes including:
- Changing the location of the 6300 sq ft lots.
- Increasing the number of multi-family units.
- Changing the perimeter buffer from 20 feet to 50 feet.
Buckendorf said he’s hosted several neighborhood meetings. He said the meetings have been well attended by surrounding residents, and the revisions above are the results of feedback from the residents. He said there’s been approximately 20 responses.
Council member Menzies asked that he send notices to everyone in the neighboring subdivision of about 489 residents. Buckendorf said that’s an unreasonable request and based on the town land code, he must only include residents within 800 feet of the project.
Council member Morris said that 2 years ago the original plan included lots 15,000 – 30,000 sq ft on the north side. She said this would be “in like and kind” to the subdivision to the north. Buckendorf said he didn’t recall making such a statement, and that larger lots no longer fit this property. His plan is to transition the area from the larger lots to 4 different types of housing, including smaller single-family residential lots of 6300 sq ft.
Council member Morris and applicant Buckendorf continued to debate what was said 2 years ago versus what’s needed now. Mayor Duncan used the gavel to call the meeting to order, asking Buckendorf to lower the temperature and be respectful.
Mayor Duncan ended the concept review and immediately adjourned the meeting at 8:48 p.m.
Next Meeting
Mar. 3, 2025 @ 7:00 p.m. 450 S. Parish Ave., Johnstown, CO 80534, or online Town of Johnstown Facebook page.
Members’ Present
Mayor Duncan; Council Members: Dee Anne Menzies, Dianne Morris, and Andrew Paranto.
Mayor Pro Tem Chad Young and Council members Jesse Molinar, Jr. and Damien Berg were absent.
Others Present
Chief of Police Jeff Strossner; Town Manager Matt LeCerf; Town Clerk Meghan Martinez; Town Attorney Avi Rocklin; and Town Finance Director Devon McCarty.
Recorded Meeting:
Available by Live Stream
Agency Mission (from the Johnstown website): “Enhance the quality of life of our residents, businesses, and visitors through community-focused leadership.”
*Citizen Observers further the commitment of the League of Women Voters to its principle of Citizens Right to Know, however, we are not acting as journalists. Omissions and errors are possible. It is assumed that users of this information are responsible for their own fact-checking. This could include contacting a government clerk, conversing with an elected official or staff, and/or asking us to speak to the Observer who attended.