8025 west colfax avenue
lakewood, colorado 80214
303-531-4990 ph
303-531-4998 fax
principals
ronald k. abo, aia, ncarb, leed ap
kevin k. yoshida, aia, ncarb
November 17th, 2015
Stephanie Stevens
Planner
Planning Department, City of Aurora
Aurora Municipal Center
15151 E Alameda Pkwy (Alameda Ave), Aurora, CO 80012
Re: Retirement Housing Foundation - Colfax Gardens DA-1991-01) Response to 2nd Submittal
Review Comments
Dear Ms. Stevens:
Thank you for your assistance in the development process for the Colfax Gardens project. Below is
our response to the 1st submittal review comments:
SUMMARY OF KEY COMMENTS FROM ALL DEPARTMENTS
 Provide a colored landscape plan to your case manager by Friday, October 16th, for
inclusion in your Planning Commission packet
Response: A colored landscape plan was provided to Ms. Stevens on Thursday October 8th.

Address community comments prior to your Planning Commission hearing (see Items 1B &
16).
Response: The Retirement Housing Foundation sent a letter to Claire Gersch dated October
14, 2015 to provide Claire with background information on the Retirement Housing
Foundation and better explain the project to Claire in order to address her concerns.

Bike parking is required per TOD standards (see Item 3A)
Response: A bike rack has been added to the site plan and is located just west of the main
entry door, under the canopy on the south side of the building.

Revise sight distance to meet standards in the Roadway Specifications Manual (see Items
2C, 10B and 10C)
Response: The sight distance has been revised to meet the Roadway Specifications
Manual.
P:\1402 RHF - Colfax Gardens\4_Design\1_Drawings\1_Development Review\1_Aurora Site Planning Documents\3rd Site
Plan Submittal\Working Documents\DA-1991-01 RHF CG - Response letter 15_11nov09.docx
[Name]
November 17, 2015
Page 2 of 6

Public art must be approved by the City of Aurora (see Item 5C)
Response: A note has been added to the landscape plan to requiring that the public art be
approved by the City of Aurora.

Park land dedication, park development fees, and the storm drainage development fee are
due prior to plat recording (see Items 13 and 14)
Response: RHF upon receipt of an invoice for the fees. RHF is requesting to be invoiced for
those fees.

Address remaining comments from Life Safety, Civil & Traffic Engineering, Aurora Water,
Real Property, Revenue & PROS (see Items 9 through 14)
Response: The remaining comments have been addressed. Please see the response to
these comments below.
PLANNING DEPARTMENT COMMENTS:
1. External Agency & Community Comments:
1A. Please see the memo from Xcel Energy attached. Add note to plat per Xcel’s request.
Response: Noted, thank you.
1B. Thank you for acknowledging the community comments, however, we requested that the
opposing citizen’s comments be addressed prior to your Planning Commission hearing to avoid any
issues at the hearing. Please contact Claire Gersch directly at 720-436-1312 or
clairegersch@msn.com to address her concerns. As a reminder, her comments are attached to this
letter (see Item 16). A neighborhood meeting is still encouraged, but it is of utmost importance to
address opposing comments prior to proceeding to Planning Commission. Please keep your case
manager involved throughout the process and provide any updates/correspondence as needed.
Response: The Retirement Housing Foundation sent a letter to Claire Gersch dated October 14,
2015 to provide Claire with background information on the Retirement Housing Foundation and
better explain the project to Claire in order to address her concerns.
2. Completeness and Clarity of the Application
2A. Label 1.5’ sidewalk easement on site plan as shown on redlines.
Response: The sidewalk easement has been labelled on the site plan per the comment.
2B. Label unidentified site features on the site plan, near the 10’ utility easement along Xanadu St.
Response: The unidentified site features are a proposed generator and transformer and they have
been identified on site plan.
2C. Provide measurement from the monument sign to the street flow line as shown on redlines.
[Name]
November 17, 2015
Page 3 of 6
Response: The site plan has been revised to include dimensions have been added from monument
sign to flowline.
2D. Add note for public art (to be approved by the City of Aurora).
Response: The site plan note has been revised to indicate that the public art is to be approved by
the City of Aurora.
2E. Add measurement from fire line and water service line on the utility plan sheet. Distance
between the two must be at least 5’.
Response: The site plan has been revised to include dimensions from the fire service and domestic
service.
2F. Show 10' offset to utilities in right-of-way on the landscape plan. Place a note: Street trees
relocated (or mitigated).
Response: A 5'-0'' offset is shown at the gas line and a 10'-0'' offset is shown at the storm line. The
City Landscape Architect indicated that this is a hardship and trees cannot be planted in these areas.
2G. Add information on lighting types in the landscape notes as shown on redlines. Lighting types
shall be full cut-off, downcast and shielded from adjacent use.
Response: This landscape notes have been revised to indicate that the lighting types shall be full
cut-off, downcast and shielded from adjacent use.
2H. Revise sight triangles/distance to reflect new sight distance requirements set forth in TE-13,
Errata 4 in the Roadway Specifications Manual. Revise plantings within sight distance lines to be
under 3’ in height (including curb). The landscape table should also be revised to reflect this. See
Traffic Engineering comments and redlines on planting plan & landscape details.
Response: The site triangles are revised and the plantings are revised in the sight triangle to be
under 3' in height. The landscape table has been revised.
3. Zoning and Land Use Comments
3A. The intent of transit-oriented development is to provide multi-modal transit opportunities. Even
though the tenant population may not call for it, you are still required to provide a minimum of 3
bicycle parking spaces for visitors. Bicycle parking requirements are outlined in Code Section 146729 and state “Multi-family developments shall provide bicycle/moped parking facilities at a ratio of
one space for every five multi-family units. No residential development shall provide fewer than three
bicycle/moped parking spaces.” List required and provided bicycle parking in the data table on the
cover sheet and show on site plan.
Response: A bicycle rack has been added to the site plan which will accommodate at least 3 bicycle
parking spaces.
[Name]
November 17, 2015
Page 4 of 6
4. Lighting
4A. Please show the property line on the photometric plan in a heavy solid line. Light levels should
not extend 0.5' candles at 10' beyond property line per Code Section 146-1509(H).
Response: The photometric plan has been revised to show the property line with a heavy solid
line. The light level calculation zone has been expanded to show that light levels do not exceed
0.5fc at 10' beyond the property line.
5. Drainage, Open Space, Recreational Amenities & Public Art
8A. Parks development fees and land dedication fees are due prior to recording of the plat. See
PROS comments, Item 14 for details.
Response: RHF will pay the Parks Development fees and Land Dedication Fees upon receipt of an
invoice for those fees and is requesting to be invoiced for those fees.
5B. Will there be any structures that contain footings within the drainage easement? If so, a license
agreement will be needed. Please clarify with your case manager and if needed, please contact Jeff
Hanna at jhanna@auroragov.org or 303-739-7327 to get started on the license agreement. This will
need to be finalized prior to site plan recording, if applicable.
Response: There will not be any structures that require footings in the drainage easement.
6. Landscape Design Issues
6A. Please provide a colored landscape plan to your case manager by October 16th for inclusion in
the Planning Commission packet as noted in the key comments section above.
Response: A colored landscape plan was provided to Ms. Stevens on Thursday October 8th.
7. Signage Issues
7A. The proposed monument sign appears to meet standards, but will need to be reflected in the site
plan data block as shown on redlines. Additionally, please remove the wording on the monument
sign detail and outline & dimension to sign area with a dashed line as shown on redlines.
Response: The cover sheet data block has been updated to include the monument sign area. The
monument sign detail on the landscape detail sheet has been revised to remove the words and logo
and to indicate the area.
8. Addressing
8A. Please provide a digital .shp or .dwg file for GIS mapping purposes as described in
https://www.auroragov.org/cs/groups/public/documents/document/015966.pdf. Please ensure that
the digital file provided in a NAD 83 feet, Stateplane, Central Colorado projection so it will display
correctly within our GIS system. Please eliminate any line work outside of the target area. Please
contact me if you need additional information about this digital file.
Response: We have included .dwg files in a NAD 83 feet, Stateplane, Central Colorado projection
as described in https://www.auroragov.org/cs/groups/public/documents/document/015966.pdf.
[Name]
November 17, 2015
Page 5 of 6
REFERRAL COMMENTS FROM OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
9. Life Safety
9A. Approved as submitted, with new comments on Photometric Plan Sheet 10.
Response: The photometric site plan has been revised to address the new comments.
9B. The required exits from the building must provide a minimum of 1 foot-candle from the exit door
to a public way (or the public sidewalk in this case). Add lighting if needed and add note reference to
2009 IBC as shown on photometric plan redlines.
Response: The photometric site plan has been revised to adjust the location of the bollard path
lighting so that it also provides the minimum light level to the public way at the main entry.
10. Civil Engineering
10A. Show the required stop sign at the access along Xanadu Street at shown on redlines.
Response: The site plan has been revised to show the required stop sign at the access along
Xanadu Street as shown on redlines.
10B. Please revise the sight lines/triangles to reflect new requirements for sight distance TE-13 in
Erratum #4 of the Roadway Specifications Manual. The full Roadway Design & Construction
Specifications can be found on the Engineering Design Standards page of our website.
Response: The site plan has been revised the sight lines/triangles to reflect new requirements for
sight distance TE-13 in Erratum #4 of the Roadway Specifications Manual.
10C. Revise plantings within the sight distance line. They must be under 3’ in height (including curb).
See redlines.
Response: The plantings have been revised to be under 3’ in height.
10D. Revise the connection to the existing attached sidewalk to the north to make for a smoother
transition.
Response: The sidewalk connection to the existing attached sidewalk has been revised to an angle
of 3:1 for a smoother transition.
11. Aurora Water
11A. Please delete valve symbols as shown on utility plan redlines.
Response: The valve symbols have been removed from the utility plan.
12. Real Property
12A. Will this be art the City will install and maintain or will this be private? Will the City need an
easement for Art purposes? Please work with your case manager to resolve this and reflect needed
easements on the plat.
[Name]
November 17, 2015
Page 6 of 6
Response: The site plan has been revised to note that the art will be considered private.
12B. Move text outside of the line work so that the easement lines are identified on the utility plan.
Response: The utility plan has been revised to locate the text outside of the line work.
12C. Remove note 8 on plat as shown on plat redlines.
Response: The plat has been revised to remove note 8.
12D. As a reminder, at the time of mylar submittal, you will need to provide an updated Title dated
within 120 days of recording. Note 7 on the plat will need to be updated to reflect this.
Response: Noted – thank you.
13. Revenue
13A. The outstanding storm drainage fee of $4,959.68 is due prior to plat recording.
Response: RHF will pay the storm drainage fee upon receipt of an invoice and is requesting to be
invoiced for the fee.
14. Parks, Recreation and Open Space
14A. Parkland dedication requirements are enumerated in City Code Section 147-48(b), while Park
Development Fee requirements outlined in City Code Section 146-306. The Parks, Recreation and
Open Space Department has no mechanism to waive requirements mandated by City Code. Leaving
the applicant responsible for land dedication and park development fees for 50 active-adult multifamily housing units. Having a population calculated to be 79 persons, the following fees are owed:
Neighborhood Park land dedication: 0.24 acres, to be satisfied by a cash-in-lieu payment.
Community Park land dedication: 0.09 acres, to be satisfied by a cash-in-lieu payment.
Neighborhood Park Development Fees in the amount of $39,742
Community Park Development Fees in the amount of $14,979
Response: RHF will pay the Parkland Dedication Fees upon receipt of an invoice for those fees and
is requesting to be invoiced for those fees.
Thank you for providing the comments from 2nd site plan and plat submittal which will assist us in
guiding our project through the Aurora development process. We look forward to working with you on
this project.
Respectfully,
The Abo Group, Inc.
Jason Kopecky
Project Manager