The Lafayette City Council unanimously approved the first step for an annexation petition Tuesday for land on the southwest corner of U.S. 287 and Arapahoe Road.

The developer Kensington Development Group submitted the annexation petition on behalf of the property owner, Tebo Partnership. Filing an annexation petition is the first step a developer must make to get a property incorporated into a municipality’s boundaries.

Kensington had to provide proof that more than 50% of landowners on the property signed the petition, and there is currently only one landowner.

Kensington proposes to build 350 apartments, 115 townhomes, a big-box retail store and an additional 160,000 square feet of retail space on the 35-acre parcel in the future, if annexation and zoning proposals are approved, based on a neighborhood meeting presentation made on Dec. 19. Lafayette Marketplace is the name of the proposed development. The property is currently zoned as agricultural in unincorporated Boulder County.

Steven Williams, Lafayette’s planning and building director, said that no binding decisions were made Tuesday, since approval of the annexation petiition is the first step toward possibly annexing the land. At the Tuesday meeting, the council found that the annexation petition is in substantial compliance with the Colorado Municipal Annexation Act of 1965.

The next step in the process would be an eligibility hearing, which is scheduled for Feb. 18. In the hearing, the council is expected to hold a public meeting to review if claims in the annexation petition are properly supported and are in compliance with the Colorado Municipal Annexation Act of 1965.

The Feb. 18 meeting is expected to be quasi-judicial, which City Attorney Mary Lynn Macsalka said means the decision is limited to whether the council finds that the annexation petition meets certain criteria.

Preston Padden, a Lafayette resident, said he has multiple concerns about the annexation. In 2023, Padden started a change.org online petition to show the Lafayette City Council members that more than 1,300 residents were against the annexation.

Padden, who lives in the Indian Peaks neighborhood, said that between the Silo neighborhood and the 40 North neighborhood, close to 1,000 homes are expected to be built in Lafayette. He said that the addition of Lafayette Marketplace would add another 465 homes to the city.

“I sort of have this mental image of Arapahoe (Road) just collapsing under the weight of all these cars,” Padden said.

He said that assuming each unit brings in 1 to 2 cars, he is not sure that the Arapahoe Road intersection at U.S. 287 will be able to handle the influx of traffic. He said that adding more cars to the area sounds like a “sick joke” because rush hour traffic in the area already back up, and cars in the intersection can be stuck waiting for multiple light cycles.

Padden also raised concerns about whether the development could secure sufficient water rights as well as concerns about overcrowding at Boulder Valley School District and St. Valley School District schools.