What's That Project?

Cañon City Commons at the Abbey Redevelopment

The 187-acre Abbey property consists of two parcels: 

• a 10.3-acre regional detention pond dedicated to the City as part of the annexation agreement for the property, located near the northwest corner of the site, and,  
• The 176.7-acre balance of the Abbey property, stretching from Fremont Drive on the south end to what would be the Pear Street right-of-way on the north end, with a 3-acre portion extending north of Pear Street almost to Central Avenue.

Local history has known that for years, this was the site of a private, parochial Catholic all-boys school known as the Holy Cross Abbey. Opened in the early 1920s, its signature building is a four-story red brick building in a Collegiate Gothic style. Prior to its use as a school, the property was part of the Fruitmere Orchards who sold it to the Catholic Benedictine order for the purposes of founding a school that would be the counterpart to St. Scholastica. Virtually all of the Abbey property was devoted, in some way, to its educational mission. However, declining enrollment forced the school to close in 1985, and a year later, the property was put for sale.

The property was later pulled off the market in an effort to preserve the historic buildings that existed on site, and a plan was established to lease several areas of land to create an income stream for the Abbey. These areas would eventually develop into the Country Green Apartments, the Towne Shopping Center and the Quality Inn motel, all of which remain in unincorporated Fremont County. Another 12 acres, this time on the west side of the property, was sold to Lindner Chevrolet for a potential expansion of the dealership. Eventually, with a dwindling contingent of Monks, it was deemed that the Abbey lacked the personnel needed to continue functioning as a Monastery, and in 2002, the process of permanently closing the Abbey as a religious institution began.

The Abbey was annexed into the City in 2004 and provided with zoning which split the property: the northerly half of the property was zoned R1, Low Density Residential, and the southerly half was zoned GC, General Commercial. 

In 2021, the Abbey property was formally rezoned to a Planned Development District zoning, under the name “Cañon City Commons At The Abbey Planned Development.” A PDD Zone is a form of customized zoning allowed under the Cañon City Municipal Code where a property has land use areas created on map (or plan) of the property, and a separate set of height, bulk, use, density/intensity and design regulations are written into a set of regulatory instructions (or “Guide”). This type of zoning allows for a wide variety of residential types and styles, and specific market-focused types of commercial or other non-residential uses to exist in a well organized and prepared manner. Typically, PDD Zones will also contemplate internal streets and major infrastructure installations, as well as recreational amenities and the preservation of historic, cultural or open space resources.

The Cañon City Commons at the Abbey incorporates 25 internal land use planning areas. 14 of these areas are devoted to future residential development across seven (7) different types of residential styles and densities.  In total, the CC Commons at the Abbey contemplates a maximum of 852 total residential units.

The remaining 11 internal land use areas are dedicated to commercial office, retail and restaurant use, events/conference center use, recreational/open space use, and preservation of the winery on site.

The master developer for the Abbey property intends to subdivide the property into parcels containing the internal land use areas as identified on the Development Plan for potential resale. The City’s Municipal Code allows this as a Minor Subdivision (an administrative process.) Each internal land use area ‘block’ will then be conveyed to an end-use developer who will take the property through the Major Subdivision process to create viable lots for residential or commercial construction. Major Subdivisions involve approval of a Preliminary Plan (which requires public hearings before Planning Commission and City Council) and a Final Plat, which cost estimates the public improvements and ensures the City has adequate financial security to finish construction of public improvements in the event of developer default.

Documents

• Development Guide
• Development Plan
• Vicinity Map

Clock Tower Plaza

232 Main Street

When adopted formally by Planning Commission and City Council in 2021, the “Picture Cañon City 2040” Comprehensive Plan created a framework for projects in Cañon City to address needs identified through extensive public input. One such project is formulating a plan to transform Clock Tower Plaza, at the southwest corner of 3^rd Street and Main Street, into an urban plaza space.

Work began on this effort in late 2022, with a Request For Proposals to Urban Design firms to assist the City in this design effort. In January, 2023, the firm Livable Cities Studio was selected out of that competitive bid process to be the City’s consultant. In early March, 2023, a Stakeholder meeting was held with adjacent property owners, as well as Main Street business and property owners. Concurrently, an online survey to poll residents, people who work downtown and area visitors to ascertain their thoughts about how to program this space. The survey received 1,195 total responses. 

Those survey responses, coupled with feedback provided during the Stakeholder meeting, led to the creation of three design alternatives: a traditional “City Heritage” concept, a more open space oriented “Community Green” concept, and modern, angular concept called “Cañon Square.” Each concept featured various amenities and differing orientations between the Clock Tower and the space itself, as well as how the space “greeted” the street frontages along Main Street and 3^rd Street. At the end of April, these concepts were presented to a second meeting of the Stakeholders, as we as to a Public Open House.  Concurrently, a second survey was launched to glean public opinion about all three design concepts, how their were oriented and the amenities and features the showed.  This second survey received 447 total responses.

When the feedback received from the second Stakeholder meeting, the Public Open House and the second survey were analyzed, it helped focus the design into one ‘consolidated’ design. This design reflected the priorities and popular options the public made clear were desired, and removed features, amenities and design orientations which were not popular. This ‘consolidated’ design was then presented at a live-streamed Public Open House on the evening of June 6, 2023 as a final check of whether the public agreed this design met the feedback in May following the second Stakeholder meeting, second survey and Public Open House. This final design was approved by Planning Commission and City Council in July, 2023. 

With finalized civil construction plans finished in late 2023, construction of the improvements to Clock Plaza are anticipated to occur in 2025, concurrent with improvements to 3^rd Street and the Main Street/3^rd Street intersection.

DOCUMENTS

• Background Brief
• Current Condition Site Photos
• Materials, Plans, and Views
• Renovation Concept Photos
• Vicinity Map

Dollar General has proposed a 16,640 square foot, one store retail building on a commercial lot located at the northeast corner of Field Avenue and Central Avenue. The project is currently under review as a Site Plan application. Development timeframes will be updated once the Site Plan has been formally approved.

DOCUMENTS

• Elevation Plan
• Landscape Plan
• Vicinity Map

The Four Mile Ranch Planned Development District is a 1,563 acre-area at the easterly end of Cañon City. Originally annexed to the City in 1993, and zoned as a Planned Development District in 2003, this major amendment proposes a variety of internal land use areas including residential of varying densities and styles as well as specific commercial land use areas. The proposed amendment does not change the overall residential dwelling unit amount over what was approved in 2003.  The proposed amendment would create 1,684 new residential dwelling units, 193.6 acres of commercial use areas, and 553.2 acres of active-use Park or preserved Open Space within the Planned Development District. Below is a summary of the land use totals:

DOCUMENTS

• Four Mile Ranch Planned Development
• Major Amendment Presentation Slides
• Planned Development Map
• Vicinity Map

Keystone Ridge Subdivision

The subject property is a 24.09 acre parcel located at the southeast corner of N. Raynolds Avenue and South Street. In 2022, A preliminary plan was approved with subdivided the property into 68 single-family lots. Concurrently, the property was rezoned to R-2, Medium Density Residential, so that potential homebuilders on these lots could construct either single-family homes, or duplex units on each (the R-2 Zoning allows for either as a permitted option.) The Preliminary Plan, as approved, split the property into four individual phases, or filings:

Phase 1:  4 lots, 0.65 acres, 0.28 acres ROW, Outlot 0.52 ac (drainage), 1.45 acres    
Phase 2:  26 lots, 6.44 acres, 2.81 acres ROW, 9.25 acres         
Phase 3:  24 lots, 6.20 acres, 2.05 acres ROW, 8.25 acres         
Phase 4:  14 lots, 3.51 acres, 1.14 acres ROW, Outlot 0.48 ac (drainage), 5.14 acres

TOTALS:  68 lots, 16.80 acres, 6.28 acres ROW, Outlots 1.0 ac, 24.09 acres

The first two filings were approved in the spring of 2023, and construction of the infrastructure within these filings commenced in the summer of 2023.  The final two filings will be submitted for approval when at least 25% of the lots within the second filing have been sold to homebuilders. 

DOCUMENTS

• Site Plan Phases 1-4
• Vicinity Map

The Scholastica Property

The subject property is very well known within Cañon City as the former location of St. Scholastica Academy, a private, parochial school campus with an all-female student enrollment.   The school ceased operations in 2003, and the property was sold to a different party in 2005, which operated the facility as a juvenile detention center.  However, number violations where cited by local, state and federal authorities and the facility was shut down within 18 months of opening.  Since 2007, the property has remained vacant and unmaintained, which has taken its toll on several of the buildings.

The site is approximately 7.41 acres (322,779.6 square feet).  It is bounded by Floral Avenue on the north, N. 7^th Street on the east, Pine Avenue on the south and N. 6^th Street on the west. In 2019, the property was rezoned to Planned Development District (PDD) which would allowed for a combination of uses internally, and the re-use of several existing on site under a different concept than the original construction anticipated. Planning Area 1 (PA-1) is a 2.1 acre which allows for 13 single family residences at the northerly portion of the site. All lots are between 5,900 sq. ft. and 7,650 sq. ft, and all lots were approved to allow Accessory Dwelling Units on site at the lot owner’s preference.

Planning Area 2 (PA-2) is called Low Density Business. It creates three lots comprising 1.74 acres   Lot 1 is the location of the former classroom building (demolished in 2020), and takes access from N. 6^th Street.  Lots 2 and 3 are the “Big Red” historic building, and the Chapel/Library building, respectively.  These lots will have access to N. 7^th Street.  The PA-2 zoning permits all three of these lots to have office and vocational training, in addition to ancillary uses such as food trucks or special events. Planning Area 2 also creates a Tract which will serve as a neighborhood park.  This park will be 1.49 acres and will feature activity fields and walking trails.  

The southern-most Planning Area within the Scholastica PDD is designated as Planning Area 3 (PA-3) and permits high density residential within the existing dormitory building. The rezoning approval allows for the conversion of the dormitory building into up to 45 condominiums, all intended to be owner-occupied units.

DOCUMENTS

• Development Plan
• Vicinity Map