Fort Collins City Council is grabbing the Hughes Stadium rezoning process by the horns, an unusual move that might set a precedent for city leaders' future involvement in the redevelopment of high-priority land parcels.

City staff will apply for the former stadium site's rezoning on behalf of the city and recommend how the land on the edge of the foothills should be zoned to city council and the Planning and Zoning Board, council decided in a 4-2 vote Tuesday.

Fort Collins annexed the 165-acre site west of Overland Trail and north of Larimer County Road 32 in October, and Colorado State University is under contract to sell the land to developer Lennar Homes for more than $10 million. Lennar Homes is the second-largest home builder in the U.S.

The developer has said it plans to build 600 to 700 homes ranging from about 1,360 to 3,000 square feet on the land. Members of opposition group PATHS (Planning Actions to Transform Hughes Sustainably) say a development of that size will overcrowd local schools, stress wildlife, damper recreation opportunities and add 1,500 more cars to area streets.

PATHS members said the implications of redevelopment are especially distressing for an area rich with natural beauty, tucked just north of Maxwell Natural Area and east of Horsetooth Reservoir. They said they’d rather see the site used as open space or low-density affordable housing, among other uses that will bring less traffic, noise and pollution to the area.

Dozens of PATHS members attended Tuesday's council meeting, holding neon green cards to show their opposition to the planned redevelopment. They urged council members to take an unconventional approach to rezoning the land, which sits in the rare “Transition” zoning category. Transition zoning prohibits new building on a property.

Developers usually make the first move on rezoning by picking a desired new use and submitting an application to the city, but city council has the power to initiate the process itself. City-initiated rezoning gives city staff and leaders more input on how the land is used, and it will slow the redevelopment process by adding additional neighborhood meetings and public hearings.

“This land is worth it,” PATHS member Calvin Erickson told council. “You’ve got just a few miles of transition zone between the foothills and the city here, and this is one of the last remaining large parcels on it. I’m pretty sure we all know what will happen if it goes down the normal path. We’ll see it developed, and that resource will be lost forever.”

Fort Collins Natural Areas considered buying the land for open space, but it didn’t make sense to spend millions of dollars on land adjacent to thousands of acres of existing natural areas, Natural Areas Director John Stokes said. The cost would prevent Fort Collins from establishing natural areas in other parts of the city, Stokes said.

Still, city leaders can ensure the area’s future use illustrates community values by separating the rezoning process from the redevelopment process, said council member Ross Cunniff, who originally suggested the city initiate rezoning.

“It lets the zoning decision be more straight-forward and related strictly to our city plan, our city goals, and not have to get tied up in one particular development proposal versus another,” Cunniff said.

Council members Emily Gorgol and Julie Pignataro and Mayor pro-tem Kristin Stephens also supported initiating the rezoning. Council member Susan Gutowsky was absent. Mayor Wade Troxell and council member Ken Summers voted against the proposal.

“I think the precedent is dangerous,” Summers said. “It does communicate a sense of uncertainty for developers in the future, whether it’s something in the outskirts of the city or the heart of the city.”

The city will host a neighborhood meeting on the rezoning Aug. 8, with notifications sent out to a 1,000-foot radius of the area, or about 9,000 residents. The Planning and Zoning Board will hold a hearing on the application and make a recommendation Sept. 19. Council is scheduled to hold a hearing and make a decision Oct. 1. Those meeting dates remain tentative.

The next steps in the review process are a Project Development Plan for the site, another neighborhood meeting and another Planning and Zoning Board hearing and decision.

Coloradoan reporter Pat Ferrier contributed to this report.

Jacy Marmaduke covers government accountability for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @jacymarmaduke. Support stories like this one with a digital subscription to the Coloradoan.