SILVERTHORNE — The Silverthorne Planning Commission moved Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse one step closer to placing a 138,000-square-foot store and garden center in the town. The commission voted 4-2 Tuesday night in favor of sending along the store's preliminary plan to the Silverthorne Town Council next week.

Silverthorne Planning Department staff identified about a dozen issues the developers must resolve before they return to the planning commission for final approval. The issues included improvements to landscaping, identification of wetlands, improvements to architectural design and Colorado Dept. of Transportation approval of all proposed traffic improvements.

“We're trying to design the project so it meets the town code as well as the Gateway Design District standards — it will be a really nice-looking structure,” said Lowe's representative Ted Anderson. “We want this to be a community design, and we're looking for it to be a win-win situation for the community and us.”

The Gateway Design District, in which the store would be located, has architectural and landscape requirements designed to be appealing to the large volumes of vehicle traffic in the area.