MONUMENT, Colo. (KOAA) — Plans are in motion for a potential Target coming to Monument.
KOAA news partner The Gazette was the first to report documents for the building phase that mention the retailer multiple times. The area where the big box store could go is east of I-25 and north of Baptist, just south of the Home Depot.
"The project will carry a variety of retail and fast casual dining, including national anchor retailers, quality site amenities, and landscaping," an invitation to a previous public meeting from the Town of Monument reads. "Offering convenient and safe parking and circulation."
The Gazette is reporting that work on the project could start in March.
Some took to social media, upset at the idea of a Target potentially throwing off the samll-town vibe Monument is known for. The mayor pro tem responded to that criticism and shared his thoughts on social media, which can be read at the bottom of this article.
News5 visited Monument this week and spoke to several small business owners along Jackson Creek Parkway, all of them were excited about the potential of a Target, believing it could lead to more business for them.
Maria Beutmiller just opened her business, Haus of Hair, on Monday in an area close to where a Target could go. The high-end salon is in need of new employees, and those interested can get more information by visiting her website here. Beautmiller believes a store like Target will only benefit her business.
"Growth means to me... It's actually a good thing to have a business where there's a lot of growth," Beautmiller said. "Because in my profession I need customers, people who love to feel and look good, so I'm looking forward to the growth."
Next door to Beautmiller's salon, the owner of Monarch Merchandising agreed. He was busy running his shop and couldn't talk on camera, but echoed the excitement Beautmiller had for the growth.
Monuments Mayor Pro Tem, Steve King, shared a statement on social media about how the town "got here."
"I want to take a moment to have an open, honest conversation about the Target project, what it means, how we got here, and how our community has been involved every step of the way.
Back in 1985, the TriView Metropolitan District was created to help develop the area east of I-25 and south of Higby Road. In 1987, that land was annexed into the Town of Monument, and the Regency Park zoning districts were established. These zoning districts only exist within TriView, and every property there has long-standing, specific land-use rights that were approved decades ago.
Zoning establishes what can and cannot be built on a property. It’s a kind of “rulebook” that comes with the land and as long as an owner stays within those rules, they are entitled to develop to the code and land use tables. In the case of Regency Park, those rights were put in place in 1987 and have only been updated a few times since, most recently through code updates in 2021.
The site where Target is proposed has actually been zoned for this very type of retail use since the late 1980s. That means the right to build a shopping center has existed for nearly 40 years.
The current property owner has held the land for decades and is only now moving forward with development because the timing and market finally make sense.
The zoning map and land use code is available on the Town website.
Because that zoning is so old, the Town often encourages developers to update projects under a Planned Unit Development (PUD) so that we can better shape the outcome. In this case, the Planning Department presented a sketch plan to the Planning Commission in a publicly noticed meeting. Commissioners added several conditions including trail connections and a required community meeting for residents to share feedback directly with the developer.
That community meeting took place. Concerns were heard and adjustments were made and when the revised plan returned to the Planning Commission for another public hearing, it received unanimous approval.
Before the project came before Town Council on November 3, I personally invited residents to participate in person, by email, or remotely. Despite that outreach, we received no comments or testimony in opposition. The feedback that did come in beforehand was positive, from those who attended the community meeting.
It’s important to understand that, legally, this type of project could have been approved administratively without any public hearings. But we want community participation, and therefore, every project of this type has at least two public hearings. This one had 3.
We always encourage residents to speak, ask questions, and state concerns. The public hearings are a place for the community to testify for or against, and that evidence must be considered in the outcome. Even when few people attend, those testimonies make a difference.
The council lives here too. This is also our home. We see the same traffic, drive the same roads, and care just as deeply about preserving what makes Monument special. While we can’t take away property rights, we work hard to improve the overall design. The best outcome, however, is to deliver a project that people want, or the community needs.
What you don’t see, since almost no one participates in this process, are the mitigation efforts, by council, of impacts to the community. We don’t have the power to extinguish property rights, but we do have some power to alter the outcome.
When it comes to rezoning or annexing a property, that is a different story. The council has tremendous power to vote against it. Annexations are 100% discretionary, and since I have been on council over the last almost 3 years, three annexation proposals have come before us and none have been approved, due to the impacts they would have caused to the adjacent landowners. In addition, no properties have been rezoned to a more intensive use than was permitted.
Many development projects come with additional conditions, and in the case of Jackson Creek North, Council obtained a wider right of way than was proposed on Higby Road because of the high school, and public egress. That took land away from the developer to the south, but it was necessary for safety. That wouldn’t have happened if council wasn’t looking out for the best interest of the community.
Before I was on council, with SaveMonument, we negotiated with the owners of Falcon Commerce Center (the industrial park south of Baptist), and they gave up rights to an additional 150k sf of warehouse space, or you would be looking at even more warehouses. All that property is zoned industrial from the 1980’s.
On the Conexus property, there were 1.4 million sf of approved warehouse space, and together with the community, we stopped that from being developed for that use, and now it will be developed more like a community, with housing, stores, and a miniature golf course. That was also done through negotiations.
Yes, we would have preferred it to remain vacant, but this is much better than 1.4 million sf of distribution center warehouses.
Those outcomes happened through collaboration and negotiation by working for better solutions.
There are several other examples, and the opportunity is available first hand to comment at any public Council meetings. Then you can see for yourself, or watch the meetings from the Town’s YouTube channel.
Regarding Target specifically, in addition to the community comments and Planning Commission comments, Council and staff added conditions for dark-sky-compliant lighting and negotiated lower monument-style signs instead of tall pylons, even though code allows 35-foot signs. The developer agreed because we asked.
That’s what public involvement looks like when it works.
I understand the desire to preserve the small-town feel we all love. Many of us share that same wish. But much of Monument’s zoning dates back decades, and we must work within that legal framework. What we can do and what we strive to do every time is ensure projects reflect our comprehensive plan as much as possible.
Hopefully, this shows how the process takes place. If you want your voice heard, please get involved. Attend the meetings, send your comments, and stay engaged. Your input matters, and many changes are made well in advance of the hearings because of citizen input."
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