Downtown Review Board members in Colorado Springs on Tuesday unanimously approved plans for what would be the city’s tallest building, clearing another important hurdle for the 300-foot tall OneVeLa apartment tower.
The 8-0 vote reflected the board’s decision that the plan from local developers the O’Neil Group and the Missouri-based VeLa Development Partners complies with the city’s 2009 Form-Based Code, an ordinance which regulates land use as well as building design and relationship to public spaces.
City Urban Planning Manager Ryan Tefertiller said decisions like this are normally made administratively by the planning department. This one was referred to the review board “because we knew of the public's interest and concern with the building height, and we thought it was in everyone's benefit to allow for a public hearing.”
Tuesday’s review board hearing was not the first for the ambitious tower project. City Council members voted 7-2 in December to create an Urban Renewal District for the proposed site of the building, which made it eligible for millions in tax credits.
On Tuesday, as back in December, the majority of public comment was opposed to the structure. Some residents worry the OneVeLa building’s height, about 50 feet taller than the city’s current record-holder, would change the character of the city’s relatively quiet downtown and disrupt a modest skyline that allows for abundant views of Pikes Peak.
While the 2009 Form-Based Code has height limits in place for construction in the vast majority of the city, it also removed any height limit for less than a half-square mile of the downtown core. Since the OneVeLa property lies within that core and complies with the rest of the code, review board members said they saw no reason to deny the application.
Tefertiller said “any affected party” may appeal the Downtown Review Board ruling to the city council. Integrity Matters, a local watchdog organization, has promised it will appeal. When or if it does, the project would have another hearing in front of city council in March.
