Lutheran Legacy Campus
What's New?
Lutheran Hospital moved to Clear Creek Crossing on August 3, 2024. Intermountain Health is selling the now vacant, 100-acre campus in the heart of Wheat Ridge, creating a once in a generation opportunity to shape this area to meet our community needs.
The City of Wheat Ridge adopted the community-created Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan in 2021. The City of Wheat Ridge is taking several steps to proactively put that plan into action:
- Charter Change: Wheat Ridge voters will see a question on the ballot this November asking voters to amend the city charter to enable implementation of the Master Plan. For more information, scroll down to "What's Next?" below.
- Creating Zoning Rules: Wheat Ridge staff are currently developing a new set of zoning rules specifically for the campus. For more information, visit the Zoning Rules page.
- Zone Change: Once the new zoning rules are adopted, the property will undergo a zone change to apply these new zoning rules to the Lutheran Legacy Campus site. For more information, visit the Zone Change page.
Check out this video for an overview of what's going on at the Lutheran Legacy Campus:
What's Next?
City Council has referred a ballot question to the residents of Wheat Ridge to amend the city charter related to building heights on the campus. Wheat Ridge voters will see Ballot Question 2C (Proposed Height Restrictions at Lutheran Legacy Campus) on their ballots in November.
Why is there a ballot question about building heights on Lutheran Legacy Campus?
Wheat Ridge is one of the few communities that restricts building height in its City Charter. The charter currently limits new buildings in most areas of the city to 35 feet for residential structures and 50 feet for non-residential. Many existing buildings, including the 91-foot-tall former hospital, exceed this limit. (It can be hard to visualize how tall buildings are. To understand what these heights look like, visit the How Tall Is It page.)
A charter amendment is critical to achieving many goals of the Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan, including:
- Guarantees shorter heights adjacent to existing neighborhoods,
- Frees up land for public uses like open space, trails, plazas, and sidewalks, by...
- Clustering taller buildings in the middle of the campus,
- Allows a variety of housing types–detached and attached, to rent and to own, and
- Ensures visual variety so not all building heights are the same height.
Therefore, a critical step in implementing the Master Plan is amending the Charter to adjust allowed building heights on the campus. The Charter can only be amended by ballot, so Wheat Ridge voters will see Ballot Question 2C when they vote this year.
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What exactly will I see on my ballot?
Ballot Question 2C will read:
In order to implement the City’s 2021 Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan, shall the Home Rule Charter of the City of Wheat Ridge, specifically Section 5.10.1 regarding building height, be amended for the former Lutheran Hospital campus:
- To lower the maximum allowed height for residential structures to 30 feet (2.5 stories) when in proximity to adjacent residential neighborhoods east, west, and south of the campus; and
- To limit all structures to a maximum height of 70 feet (5 stories) in the interior portion of the campus south of 38th Avenue between Lutheran Parkway and Lutheran Parkway West, and including an area southeast of Lutheran Parkway?
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Would this impact the whole city?
No. The proposed charter amendment does not apply to the whole city. It applies only to the portions of the Lutheran Legacy Campus shown in yellow or purple in the image below.
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Does this change the allowed density on the Lutheran Legacy Campus?
No. The Wheat Ridge City Charter also currently limits the density that is allowed across most of the city to 21 units per acre. The proposed charter amendment will not change the maximum allowed density on the site. If the charter amendment passes, the maximum allowed density will still be 21 units per acre on the Lutheran campus. To review the full text of the amendment included in the council bill approving of the ballot question, see the attachment of the staff report for the August 26th City Council study session.
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Still want more detail?
If you would like to see the exact text of the charter change proposed by this ballot question, check out this FAQ. Additionally, you can review the staff report for the October 7th City Council study session for more information.