In a unanimous vote, the Lone Tree City Council conditionally approved a preliminary plan that will allow Century Communities to move forward with development of the Retreat at RidgeGate, also referred to as tract GG.

The vote at the April 5 council meeting paves the way for Century to begin preparing the area south of Cabela's for a 50-house development this fall, with sales projected to begin in the spring of 2017.

Century began the application process last October with a plan for 70 homes on the site, but a 3-3 split from the planning commission sent the proposal to the city council without a recommendation.

After the council raised concerns during meetings in December and again in January regarding the number of homes, the height of retaining walls and the “intensity of the development relative to overall massing,” Century withdrew its application before the council took any action.

At the April 5 meeting, Lisa Evans of Century Communities presented the council with a significantly revised plan, this time with the unanimous blessing of the planning commission.

“We have worked very hard since our January withdrawal to work with staff, work with Coventry, and readdress all of your concerns that you have had over the last six months,” Evans told the council. “We are here tonight because of our commitment to Lone Tree, to Coventry, to this community.”

Changes to Century's preliminary plan included reducing the number of houses on the site to 50, the removal and lowering of retaining walls, and a plan to convert Alicante Road, connecting the development to the adjacent community of Montecito, from a through street to an emergency access road.

“I realize that Century has spent a lot of time, and made a lot of changes,” said District 1 Councilmember Harold Anderson. “I realize that the Montecito people, they also have spent a great deal of time with this project.”

A significant condition of the approval requires that Century reach an agreement with Montecito (Coventry) regarding the long-term maintenance and snow removal of Alicante Road as an emergency access road. If no agreement is reached, Alicante Road will revert to a through street connecting the communities.

Century is expected to return to the council in the next few months for final approval of the plan before breaking ground.

Under the current proposal, the developer plans to build two models on the nearly 50-acre site, one ranch and one multistory home.