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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 09/07/1999 - SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 141, 1999, AUTHORI AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY ITEM NUMBER: 14 DATE: September 7, 1999 • FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL STAFF Tom Shoemaker SUBJECT : Second Reading of Ordinance No. 141, 1999,Authorizing the Conveyance of a 2.18 Acre Parcel to Huntington Hills of Colorado, LLC, in Exchange for Approximately 20 Acres of Natural Area Property Near Mail Creek and Fossil Creek. RECOMMENDATION: Staff and the Natural Resources Advisory Board recommend adoption of the Ordinance on Second Reading. i 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This Ordinance,which was unanimously adopted on First Reading on August 17, 1999,authorizes a land exchange between the City of Fort Collins and Huntington Hills of Colorado, LLC. As a result of the exchange, Huntington Hills will continue to own a 12-acre parcel of land to be a developed as the 7th filing of the Huntington Hills development. The City will own a 30-acre parcel • of land along Fossil Creek and Mail Creek that will be incorporated into the Natural Areas System. The exchange provides for the consolidation of natural areas along the creeks,enables a wider buffer zone between development and the creeks, and facilitates future plans for public trails, environmental interpretation,and habitat enhancement in the vicinity. The agreement also provides j for appropriate street and utility easements for the future development of the land retained by Huntington Hills. s 3 a a i i i f g AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY ITEM NUMBER: 19DATE: August 17, 1999 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL STAFF • Tom Shoemaker SUBJECT: First Reading of Ordinance No. 141, 1999, Authorizing the Conveyance of a 2.18 Acre Parcel to Huntington Hills of Colorado, LLC, in Exchange for Approximately 20 Acres of Natural Area Property Near Mail Creek and Fossil Creek. RECOMMENDATION: " er Staff and the Natural Resources Advist4 Board recommend adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The exchange of land does not have a direct financial impact. The consolidated land area of approximately 30 acres will be incorporated into the City's Natural Area system. Future management of the property v l"be�the,responsib't1t'fy of 1& Cily%and will be home by existing funding in the Natural Areas Piogram. _ �y EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This Ordinance authorizes a land exchange between the City of Fort Collins and Huntington Hills of Colorado, LLC. As a result of the exchange, Huntington Hills will continue to own a 12-acre parcel of land to be developed as=the°-Wh filing of the Huntington Hills development. The City will own a 30-acre parcel of land along Fosse Cree6na Mall Cieek4that will be incorporated into the Natural Areas System. The exchange pirovides=for the conso`fidation of natural areas along the creeks,enables a wider buffer zone-between-development and the-creeks,and facilitates future plans for public trails, environmental interpretation, and habitat enhancement in the vicinity. The agreement also provides for appropriate street and utility easements for the future development of the land retained by Huntington Hills. BACKGROUND: The City of Fort Collins has entered into a contractual agreement with Huntington Hills of Colorado, LLC for the exchange of land owned by the City for property owned by Huntington Hills. The agreement is contingent on approval by the City Council. The purpose of the agreement is to redefine the land area to be developed in the future as Huntington Hills Filing 7 in order to achieve greater development setbacks from Mail Creek and Fossil Creek and to consolidate a larger contiguous area of public natural area in the vicinity. The agreement also provides for appropriate DATE: August 17, 1999 2 ITEM NUMBER: 19 street and utility easements to facilitate the future development of the land retained by Huntington Hills,if final approval is granted by the Planning and Zoning Board. The agreement is the result of over a year's planning and negotiation between City staff, Huntington Hills, and the prospective developer, Andover Development Group. The area of the proposed land exchange is in the southeast quadrant of Fort Collins,east of College Avenue, in the area between Mail Creek and Fossil Creek (see map). The area is adjacent to the City's site for the future Fossil Creek Community Park. The land is currently undeveloped,but has been included as part of two large developments that have been underway since the early 1980's - Huntington Hills and Oak-Cottonwood Farm (generally known as Miramont). Protection of the stream corridors of Mail Cree1C'and Fossil reek wasmot an ifriportant issue during the early planning of these developments,but has'assumed greater importance over the past several years as the community has stressed the.importance of natural areas protection and the City has developed both land acquisition and regulabryprograms"fo achieve greater'protection of stream corridors and other natural areas. The concept of the land exchange was introduced by Natural Resources staff about a year ago when prospective developers began the conceptual review process for two adjacent parcels of land located between Mail Creek and Fossil Creek - Parcel J of Huntington Hills and Parcel L of Miramont. Early in the review process,it became apparent that there would be significant conflicts between the development proposals as they had previously been approved at the Overall Development Plan stage and the community's current expectations~ffo�,resoum protectiT-along stream drainages. For example,the Huntington Hillsproject anticipated development as close as 50 feet to Fossil Creek and the Miramont project anticipated development within 75 feet of Mail Creek and the construction of a bridge and local street connection acfoss-Mail'Creek. The-Land Use Code would protect at least a 100-foot setback from both streams. After conceptual review comments were received,the prospective developers of the Miramont parcel indicated their interest in selling the property to the City at a very reasonable price. Staff contacted the Huntington Hill developers to explore their interest in reconfiguring their development parcel in order to achieve greater levels of natural area protection along both stream corridors. Staff asked them if the City acquired the Miramont parcel,would the Huntington Hills developer then be willing to exchange a portion of their land in order-to achie eater setbacks from Fossil Creek. The concept was enthusiastically received, aril thelevelop ` Andor Development Group, prepared its development application using a revise parcelde$iii ion tha onsolidated the residential density in a smaller land area and moved the`deveiopment fartheraway from Fossil Creek. Their development proposal reduced the area of development land from approximately 24 acres to 12 acres and increased the setback along both creeks to a minimum of 175 feet and more than 300 feet in many areas. In addition, the negotiation process led to an agreement in which the City would exchange 2.18 acres of land for 19.66 acres. During the development review process,the natural areas protection elements of the plan received strong support from surrounding neighborhoods and from the Planning and Zoning Board. Certain transportation elements of the project were,however, controversial. Partly to address City natural resource concerns,the developer proposed eliminating the local street connection into Miramont across Mail Creek on Highcastle Drive. Instead. the local street connection was proposed as an extension of Roma Valley Drive to Fossil Creek Parkway, using the existing bridge across Mail DATE: August 17, 1999 3 ITEM NUMBER: 19 Creek. Many residents of Miramont expressed a strong preference for eliminating the street connection entirely, or keeping the original street configuration. The development proposal for 224 multi-family units on 12 acres received preliminary approval from the Planning and Zoning Board on April 1, 1999. The change in the proposed street configuration was approved by City Council in May 1999. The final development proposal is expected to be considered by the Planning and Zoning Board later this fall. Although the land exchange was conceived and negotiated during the development planning and review process,it is not contingent on any development approval. The City acquired the Miramont parcel on August 11, 1999 and HunBngtonHills will complete the land exchange even if the current development proposal is not approved b , the City. �� If the land exchange is approved4WCouna,'1Ke consolidated'parcel will be incorporated into the City's natural area system. The land area has important values because it protects the stream corridor and-is part of a larger system of parks and natural areas in the immediate vicinity. The parcels are located adjacent to the 100-acre Fossil Creek Community Park site and to privately- owned natural area that was protected as part of the Fossil Creek Meadows development. Collaborative planning and management by Natural Resources, Parks, and the Homeowners Association will improve the habitat value of the land and stream corridors, and will provide opportunities for habitat enhancement and restoration of degraded site environmental interpretation, community involvement with neighborhoods ndthenearbyWerner£IementarySchool, and public access via the Fossil Creek Trail system. Natural Resources..staff expects to complete a habitat restoration project on the City's proper t withmtWnext two years and the City has commitments of$15,000 each in cost sharing for4the projecvfrom 14untington-dills,Andover Development Group, and Miramont. The proposed land exchange was reviewed in detail with the Natural Resources Advisory Board. On February 3, 1999, the Board unanimously recommended approval of the land exchange.