Business View Civil and Municipal | June 2022

30 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 6 to the future of transportation, there are EV chargers in the town and every new commercial development must have one, including multi- unit residential developments. Although a lot of Berthoud residents commute to nearby municipalities for work, the community’s main industries focus on aerospace. Ursa Major Technologies creates and tests rocket engines and their headquarters are located in town; Agile RF Systems, who make satellite antennas, also have their headquarters in Berthoud. In addition, there is a variety of long-standing machine shops that service those and other companies. Most of the businesses are located in the town’s industrial area on First and Second Street, but they’ve hired a consultant to help develop the area into an Innovation District. The District will enhance businesses and expand the area with higher density and mixed-use allowances, while adding retail, commercial, and residential allowances. Kirk acknowledges, “It can all exist Kirk says over the last four years staff have worked tirelessly to comprehensively rewrite major sections of the development code to improve open space, park involvement, land use types and mixes. Last year they adopted a new comprehensive plan that outlined the town’s desire to maintain it’s small town feel, while continuing to enhance growth in already developed areas, and also protecting a rural belt around the town for the next 20 years. Kirk states, “One of the great things about Berthoud is you get out on I-25 and head west into town and drive through four miles of farmland. It’s a unique setting as you approach our community, and the town really wants to maintain that.” Those regulations take the environment in to consideration with regulations for new and finished developments to create water efficiencies, pollinator gardens, and they also plant hundreds of diverse tree species throughout the town annually. With a nod