FAQs

Wheat Ridge voters approved measure 2C on the ballot on November 5, which amended Section 5.10.1 of the City Charter. The text of this section is included below. The charter amendment added paragraph (h), which is shown below in bold. 

Sec. 5.10.1. - Building height and density limitations.
(a) Height limitations. The city shall not, by ordinance, resolution, motion, permit, or other action, or variance except as provided in subsection (e), allow the construction of buildings or other structures which exceed the following maximum heights:
(1) Thirty-five (35) feet for the following: All residential, planned residential and agricultural districts, including any created after passage of this amendment; residential buildings when built in nonresidential districts; the hospital-one district; and the restricted commercial-one district.
(2) Fifty (50) feet for the following: Any other commercial, planned commercial, industrial or planned industrial districts; the public buildings and facilities district; commercial and office buildings constructed in the hospital-two district; and any nonresidential district created after passage of this amendment.
(3) Sixty-five (65) feet, but in no event more than six (6) stories above grade, for new hospitals in the hospital-two district, on a minimum lot area of fifty (50) acres; however, additions attached to existing hospitals in this district may be built to a height not to exceed the height of the existing building.
The height limitations established shall not apply to the following: Church steeples, silos, decorative domes and cupolas not used for human occupancy or any commercial, business or industrial use, nor to windmills, chimneys, ventilators, transmission towers, solar heating and cooling devices, water towers, antennas, or necessary mechanical appurtenances normally carried above the roofline, but the city council may, by ordinance, establish height limitations for these structures.
(b) […]
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section 5.10.1, the limitations upon building height contained herein shall be amended for the former Lutheran Hospital campus to restrict residential structures to a maximum height of 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 38^th Avenue between Lutheran Parkway and Lutheran Parkway West including an area southeast of Lutheran Parkway (as shown as “Mixed-Use” on page 51 of the Lutheran Legacy Campus Master Plan, adopted October 25, 2021). This shall not modify any current zoning on any property and shall preserve existing height and density limitations in the Wheat Ridge Code of Laws unless and until modified through future ordinances approved by city council after public hearings. 

Note: Several questions have come up about the last sentence in the paragraph. The last sentence simply means that the City Charter cannot change the zoning on the property. The Legacy Lutheran Campus zoning may only be amended by ordinance, which requires a public hearing process through City Council.

On August 3rd of this year, Lutheran Medical Center moved to 12911 W 40^th Avenue in Clear Creek Crossing.

West Pines Behavioral Hospital is planning to move to a larger facility in Westminster in early 2025. Most hospital and affiliated clinics will relocate to the Medical Office Building on the new Clear Creek Crossing campus this fall. Lutheran Hospice, the Foothills Medical Office, and the three primary Medical Office Buildings in the center of campus (under separate ownership) will continue to operate at their current location.

If zoning rules align with City plans, then (over time) the built environment reflects our desired character—we get the homes, businesses, corridors and open space that the community wants to see. The table below provides more information on what is included for each step and what it means for the Lutheran Legacy Campus.

Wheat Ridge City Council discussed whether to pursue a city-initiated zone change and charter change in two different City Council meetings on April 8 and May 13, 2024. The staff reports and recordings for these meetings are available on wheatridgespeaks.org, or at the following direct links:

• April 8 Council discussion
• May 13 Council discussion

This update was also presented to the community at the Let’s Talk Wheat Ridge open houses on April 16^th, 2024 and June 6, 2024. City Council discussed the direction of the rezone at a Study Session on July 15, 2024. City Council voted to advance the ballot initiative to amend the charter height restrictions in a Study Session on August 5, 2025. 

The Lutheran Legacy Campus is currently zoned "Hospital". This zoning was a natural choice for the property as the hospital existed before the city was incorporated. As the law currently stands, medical buildings up to 65 feet are allowed to be built on the property including in some locations along the perimeter.