Berthoud Weekly Surveyor | Covering all the angles in the Garden Spot

Bader commercial facilities approved

May 25, 2023 | Community News

By Brendan Henry
The Surveyor

The regularly scheduled bi-monthly town board meeting took place on Tuesday. There were multiple items discussed on the agenda, elected official reports and an executive session.

Following the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call, Mayor William Karspeck opened the floor to the public. Berthoud resident Linda Wilson approached the podium with a question about a Berthoud city tax on her electric bill regarding the purpose of the tax and the usage of the money paid to the city. Town Administrator Christopher Kirk replied that the use of the funds is for general fund services, such as parks, administration and community development.

The meeting moved on to the next topic — Mental Health Awareness Month. Mayor Karspeck, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, declared May of 2023 to be Mental Health Awareness Month. The goal is to spread awareness and well-being of mental health and to provide resources for those that need them.

HT Land Partners’ Findings Of Fact Concerning Annexation resulted in Trustee Karl Ayers moving to approve, with a unanimous vote in favor with no further discussion. The motion was simply to acknowledge that the Colorado Revised Statutes 31-12-104 and 31-12-105 have been met for the piece of land off of Highway 287 by County Road 6.

Regarding the Bader Farm PUD Amendment and Conditional Use Permit, the trustees were informed of the intention of a storage facility to be placed on the Bader Farm land plot and that the criteria have been met for this to occur, in addition to a new fire station to be built on the land.

David Chaknova, member manager of the owner of said property, stressed the importance of having a low-traffic business break dirt at the plot due to the tricky location and believes that a storage facility with indoor parking would be perfect. Chaknova addressed concerns about crime at the BestBox storage facility, which he affirmed would have many cameras along with other electronic security features that would dissuade criminal activity from occurring.

Beau Reinburg, the founder of BestBox Storage, presented new site plan drawings to the board and gave a similar rundown as he did with the planning commission. Reinburg answered questions about the lack of parking outside of the facility, where he reaffirmed that most of the vehicles of people using the facility would be found inside.

Battalion Chief Lyle Fenderson of the Berthoud Fire Protection District took to the podium to speak about a new fire station being placed next to the storage facility. Fenderson supported his claim with the fact that insurance rates would decrease in the commercial area if a fire station was added to the location. In addition to his claim, he presented a top-down view of the planned station and a rendering of what it would look like.

Trustee Tim Hardy expressed concern about the large size of the storage facility. Trustee May Soricelli felt differently, citing that the rendering made the facility look like a nice office building and would provide a good service to the community while remaining low-impact on visibility obstruction. Trustee Sean Murphy was split between both takes on the matter as he appreciates the appearance of the building but is worried about the size while also wanting to discuss the landscaping in the area, and Trustees Ayers and Jeff Butler echoed this sentiment, with Butler in favor of the facility.

Trustee Soricelli moved to approve government facilities to apply for an administrative land use process for consideration by the Town of Berthoud, Larimer and Weld Counties and the motion was passed unanimously. Trustee Murphy moved to approve Resolution 2023 13, approving the special use permit for Berthoud self-storage in the town of Berthoud, Larimer and Weld Counties with a few stipulations, such as the applicant needing to continue to work with staff to finalize a landscaping plan and that the applicant needs to provide an irrigation plan for town staff approval. After discussing the potential for a piece of artwork to be added to the area, the motion was passed unanimously.

The last item on the agenda was landscape design guidelines. Updates include plant selection language to prioritize seasonal colors, different landscaping tips and a prohibited tree list for Berthoud. Trustee Murphy moved to table the draft landscape design guidelines pending review by the Tree Advisory Committee in the near future, and this motion was passed unanimously.

Elected Official Reports followed the motion and were brief. Trustee Ayers has an invitation from the P.O.R.T. Committee to do a tour of the town on May 31 to drive around Berthoud to see how things are looking.
The next town board meeting will occur on June 6.

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