Lakewood Commission Approves Controversial Belmar Park Apartments

The Lakewood Planning Commission has given preliminary approval to the plan for a major new apartment development next to Lakewood’s Belmar Park, another blow to groups citizens have formed to oppose it.

The planning commission held a four-hour public hearing on May 7, with a large portion dedicated to public comment over the proposed six-story, 411-unit building.

Despite public qualms about the building’s height relative to nearby structures and possible disruptions to both wildlife and residents in the park, all five commissioners present at the meeting agreed that the plan conforms with Lakewood zoning laws.

Many citizens argued that even if the project technically fit the letter of zoning laws, the tall building went against Lakewood’s comprehensive plan, which supplements zoning with guidance on desired types of development in certain parts of the city. But planning commission vice chair Steven Buckley said the building plan met those requirements, too.

“There's a lot of stuff in our plan that supports a project like this in a place like this,” he said during the meeting. “I have heard enough testimony tonight to convince me that it is absolutely true that not everyone in our community is happy about that. ...The goal of this body is to see that those plan criteria are being met and to see that the zoning criteria are being met, and they are.”

Buckley argued that projects like this are positive, citing decreased urban sprawl and emissions thanks to the building’s size and central location. However, that location is what has sparked the intense debate.

In 2021, Texas-based property management company Kairoi Residential purchased the parcel at 777 South Yarrow Street for $6 million. The land is right next to Belmar Park, a giant urban park described as a jewel of Lakewood. Citizens were unhappy to hear that the large development would go up next to the park, voicing worries about how a large apartment complex would impact the area’s peaceful nature.

Some of those unhappy people formed nonprofits called Save Open Space Lakewood and Save Belmar Park to make their voices heard. They went so far as to pass a petition to change Lakewood’s building laws to require the project to dedicate more space as parkland and less space for buildings. But those efforts were unsuccessful after Kairoi sued the city and the city council changed the rules back, negating the petition to the dismay of many citizens who showed up to speak on May 7.

“The first and most obvious aspect of noncompliance with the zoning code is how Kairoi’s proposed apartment building consumes this entire property, a zero lot-line, six-story, gigantic behemoth,” Save Belmar Park co-founder Regina Hopkins told the commission. “The sheer height of the proposed Kairoi building is disturbing and inconsistent with the neighborhood.”

According to Lakewood principal planner Brea Pafford, the project would stand at just over eighty feet tall, accommodating 411 units and 561 parking spaces. Kairoi will dedicate 8,600 square feet of parkland on the lot and develop the other 5.05 acres of the property, the plan shows.

A few Lakewood residents spoke in favor of the building, pointing to a need for more housing options in desirable parts of the city. However, most spoke in opposition.

Commissioners asked city staff about concerns brought up in public comment, particularly parking, traffic and tree-related concerns.

According to Pafford, the city determined it would be unfeasible for Kairoi to preserve most of the trees on the site but the developer will be required to plant new trees to make up for removing the old ones.

Trees have been a sticking point for those opposing the project.

According to the city, seven existing trees will remain while 66 will be removed and 174 new trees will be planted. Kairoi will also pay the city $415,200 to be used to plant trees in the same city district as the development.

Another concern of residents is that the traffic study completed for the project was done in June 2021 shortly after COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns, when less cars and commuters were on the road. Kelly Dunne, a public works engineer in Lakewood, told commissioners that adding increased traffic closer to today’s numbers would not change the conclusions of the study.

“It's an alphabet scale — A, B, C, D, E, F — levels E and F, which are high levels of delay, require mitigation,” Dunne said. “This traffic study showed that the intersections in the study were all level of service C or better, so even if we were to incorporate a 15 percent inflation, that wouldn't be enough to bump those numbers from level of service C to D, and then to E, which would require mitigation.”

In the end, the commissioners were confident in their choice.

“At some point in Lakewood, as a community, we have to agree that we need housing,” Commissioner Jenny O'Neill told the crowd. “We need less sprawl. We want people out of their cars. We want walkability. We want sustainability. We say all of these things, and as soon as we have a development before us, especially a development of some size, it's problematic. Those problems, they're heard, they're real. They are absolutely valid on many levels, but they cannot trump the fact that we need the things that we need in this city.”

The development still has to receive construction permits and other city approvals to begin work on the site, but there are no timelines yet. And, according to Commissioner Emo Overall, the planning board expects their decision to be appealed by local opponents, anyway.