Aurora City Council Meeting on April 6, 2026
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Aurora City Council Meeting - April 6, 2026
The Aurora City Council met on April 6, 2026, to discuss a proposal to increase council administrative staffing, receive an update on the East Colfax Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, and review proposed amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) regarding small lot housing and design standards. Council heard from staff and members, debated fiscal priorities and equity, and voted to delay a staffing decision until the May budget workshop.
Discussion Items
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Council Administrative Staffing: Councilmember Bergen raised concerns about a proposal to add three additional administrative positions (for a total of five) for council offices, citing the city's budget deficit, the need for a workload analysis, and the optics of hiring full-time staff for part-time positions. Councilmembers Lawson and Hancock opposed the expansion, stating they manage without such support and prefer resources go to constituent services like traffic calming. Councilmembers Horton and Jackson supported the expansion, arguing it would allow council members to be more effective and equitable, especially for those with multiple jobs or young families, and noted the funding would come from existing vacancy savings without tapping reserves. After debate, a motion to delay the decision until the May budget workshop was approved 6-1, with Councilmember Jackson opposed.
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East Colfax Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project Update: Deputy Director Carly Campozzano presented an informational update on the project's construction schedule, scope, and business support plans. The BRT route runs from Union Station in Denver to I-225 in Aurora, with construction in Aurora expected to begin in spring 2026 (likely May) and continue through 2027, with full service estimated in early 2028. The Aurora segment will be side-running mixed flow, causing less disruption than Denver's center-running segment. A small business support program has been developed, including financial assistance, marketing help, and a "We Back the Facts" campaign to promote businesses during construction. Council members asked about security features (e.g., cameras, lighting, audible alerts for visually impaired) and safety coordination with RTD and APD.
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Housing Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Analysis Update: Manager Brendan Camarada and consultant Chris Brewster presented proposed amendments to the UDO to increase opportunities for small lots and housing diversity while reinforcing five core neighborhood design principles. Key changes include eliminating percentage requirements for small lots in favor of zoning district distinctions (R1, R2, R3), expanding location criteria to require proximity to both open space and activity centers, revising the building design point system to relax masonry requirements while maintaining quality, providing more flexible parking solutions (e.g., shared drives, remote parking, and carports), and allowing small lots in older areas (sub-areas A and B) where they are currently prohibited. Council members asked about infrastructure costs of outward growth, parking storage issues, and the impact on land use and housing affordability. No formal action was taken; further discussion will continue, with an initial draft expected soon.
Key Outcomes
- The council voted 6-1 to delay the decision on hiring three additional council administrative staff until the May budget workshop, pending a workload analysis of council member needs.
- The consent calendar (items 2A through 2F) was approved unanimously.
- The BRT project update and UDO analysis were informational and for discussion only; no formal votes were taken.
- The council recessed into executive session after the presentations.
Meeting Transcript
It's gonna be a long night. Oh councilmember Bergen. Councilmember Bergen. Councilmember Bargan, are you here? Oh I can't hear we were talking about yes. Mayor Po Tim Coombs. Councilmember Gardner's on. Councilmember Gardner. Councilmember Hancock. Yes, Councilmember Horton. Councilmember Jackson. Here. Councilmember Lawson. Here. Councilmember Medina. Councilmember Wiles. Here. There's no mayor's update. Are there any issue updates? Yes, Mayor. Councilmember Burger. Thank you, Mayor. It has come to my attention from our city manager. I guess he was able to talk to each council member about adding additional admins to our council offices. We have always, I've been on council for more than 10 years, and we have always had two admins and then a manager over the admins. And the proposal is to have five admins. And I I have an issue with it for a couple reasons. One, we are in a deficit this year, and we had to take money out of reserves. Um for ongoing costs that probably is going to be north of 300,000 to add um additional admins with the benefit costs that we have. And beyond that, um, and I know we've talked about it's not adding, it's a it's you know vacancy savings, but in my opinion and my perspective is when when taxpayers pay us the money that funds the cities and all of our programs and all of our employees and so forth. Um that that is a taxpayer savings. So if we're gonna be in a deficit and we can save money for our taxpayers, then I think that's what we should be doing. Um also I have to tell tell my constituents, and I'm sure many of you here have to tell your constituents sorry on the traffic calming uh program, you're not gonna get you have your application approved, but it's gonna cost us too much money, and we only have X dollars in that fund for traffic calming, and you're not gonna get that approved. So, and that's that's not counting other things that constituents um continue to ask us for, whether it be the the radar vans, whether it be uh traffic signals that might take two years to get one, you know. Um Carly's here, so she understands she gets those requests, and I would rather spend that money on my constituents rather than on myself. I am I don't know um who requested this, but it didn't even go through any kind of process um other than a request to the city manager and I think it needs to be flushed out. I would like to have a work plan analysis done where we look at the workload per council member, have that input and an analysis done on whether what we really need because I don't think it's good throwing away money just because somebody thinks they can't do their job or they don't have the time to do their job. Um I don't know you know if that's the case, but um we have town halls that are supplemented with our community engagement coordinators, they help us on those, and I have never had an issue uh with my particular admin who both of them got fired, um, unbeknownst to me until after the fact. Um I was never asked my opinion again ten years um plus being on council, and I've had almost the same admin for I don't remember how many years. I've gone through a couple of them at the beginning. Um I didn't have any complaints. That particular admin did everything I requested and did it very well. So I don't know what happened. Um I've talked to other council members that didn't have any complaints about you know that particular admin, maybe an and or the other admin. Um so I don't know why they were fired, but my proposal is for us to wait until the budget workshop when we actually hear what the budget's gonna be. I don't want to have to hire five admins and then tell my constituents you can't get you know traffic calming projects um funded, and I don't want employees of the city to have to have more furlough days, and I sure as heck don't want us to raid the uh reserves again because that is supposed to be for a a recession, a real recession. So my proposal is to please put that on hold, replace the two, and let's look at it during budget workshop after we do a an analysis. Procedurally, how does that work? Well, I mean, because it's in in Jason's purview, uh, you guys can discuss and give direct Jason direction. Um I will I will tell you um I want to be careful in the public space about talking about the previous admins.
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