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Home My WebLink AboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 10/18/2016 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 117, 2016, AUTHORIZAgenda Item 7 Item # 7 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY October 18, 2016 City Council STAFF Dean Klingner, Engineer & Capital Project Manager Laurie Kadrich, Director of PDT SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 117, 2016, Authorizing the Acquisition by Eminent Domain of Additional Real Property Interests Necessary to Construct Public Improvements as Part of the Prospect Road and College Avenue Intersection Improvements Project. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to obtain authorization from City Council to use eminent domain, if necessary, to acquire property interests needed to construct improvements to the intersection of Prospect Road and College Avenue. This authorization is for a partial acquisition affecting 1535 Remington Street at the east end of the project. On July 5, 2016 City Council did not pass the second reading of Ordinance No. 73, 2016 which would have authorized staff to move forward with an acquisition based on the original preferred alternative. Council directed staff to work with the property owners for approximately four months in good faith negotiation to find a compromise alternative. Staff worked with the property owner extensively over the last several months and developed the following alternatives in addition to the Original Dual Left Alternative (Option 1):  Option 2 - Modified Dual Left Alternative  Option 3 - Single Left Alternative At the July 5 Council meeting, Council discussed the desire for a compromise that does not impact the wall or tree to the east of the driveway and still maintains the congestion benefit. Option 2 accomplishes this by making significant design modifications to the original alternative, including:  Shortening the eastbound left turn lane onto Remington  Utilizing an 8-foot (on asphalt) westbound travel lane on the north side of the roadway  Shortening the tangent and transition into the intersection at College  Narrowing the sidewalk to a “pinch point” of 5 feet just to the east of the driveway and widens to the existing width towards Remington-a 10-foot walk is proposed for the area to the west of the driveway Timely acquisition of the property is necessary to meet the anticipated construction schedule. Staff will continue to negotiate in good faith with the affected owners and is optimistic that all property negotiations can be completed prior to the start of the Project. Staff is requesting authorization of eminent domain for partial property acquisition on 1535 Remington Street for the Project only if such action is necessary in order to keep the project on schedule. Agenda Item 7 Item # 7 Page 2 STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff developed Option 2-Modified Dual Left Alternative as a compromise which maintains the congestion benefits and does not impact the wall or tree east of the driveway. Staff has and will continue to be supportive of our original design (Option 1) and the Modified Dual Left Alternative (Option 2). As well, staff agrees that a Single Left Alternative (Option 3) will provide some congestion relief to the existing conditions and reduces right-of-way impacts at 1535 Remington Street. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION The Prospect Road and College Avenue Intersection Improvements Project is a collaborative project between the City of Fort Collins and Colorado State University (CSU). The project will construct road and intersection improvements, multimodal improvements, utility improvements, and access control improvements. At the July 5, 2016 Council meeting City Council directed staff to work with the property owner over the next four months to find a compromise solution that maintains the congestion benefits of the project and minimizes private property impacts. City staff has continued to work with the property owner and developed several different alternatives. Option 1 presented is the staff original dual left design that was the basis for the acquisition on the commercial properties and was adopted on First Reading for the residential properties. Option 2 modified the original design so that it did not impact the wall or tree to the east of the driveway and still maintained the congestion benefits of the project. Design changes were made in order to not impact the wall or tree including the following roadway geometry modifications:  8-foot travel lane (8 feet of asphalt and 2 feet of concrete gutter) east of the driveway at 1535 Remington Street adjacent to the existing sidewalk  Narrowing the sidewalk down to a minimum of 5feet just to the east of the driveway and widening back out to the existing width as you approach Remington - the total length of the 5-foot width section is approximately 5-10 feet  Further reducing the transition length into the intersection with College Avenue, leaving a 110’ tangent approaching the intersection  Reducing the Remington left turn storage to a total of 60 feet  Reducing median widths to 3-5 feet Option 3 is a single left alternative that does not impact the wall or the tree to the east of the driveway and has less impact to the west of the driveway. This alternative reduces the congestion benefits of the project and has the following roadway geometrics:  Lane widths between 9-11 feet  Maintains existing sidewalk width at 1535 Remington Street  Maintains longer transition length into the intersection with College Avenue, leaving a 200-foot tangent approaching the intersection  Requires eastbound left turn at Remington to be closed  Median width of 4-6 feet  The property owners of 1535 Remington have indicated that they would be willing to sign a possession and use agreement with the City for this option. Staff has used traffic modeling software to predict the congestion benefits of each of the three alternatives. Models are a critical tool used to evaluate the operation of the intersection under different future scenarios. Model results have margins of error and are best used to compare single design changes while holding all other variables constant. For these reasons staff has represented congestion benefits of the alternatives in ranges. The congestion benefits for these alternatives are summarized in Attachment 4. Agenda Item 7 Item # 7 Page 3 The necessary property interests include right-of-way and permanent and temporary easements. Given the construction schedule for the Project, timely acquisition of the property interests is necessary. Staff will continue to work with property owners prior to the acquisition to address individual site considerations while still achieving the improvements goals of the Project. The typical timeline for the City to acquire property through the eminent domain process is between 9-12 months, which allows time for property appraisals, multiple offers and negotiations. This also allows the City to ensure project delivery in that time frame. It is possible to accelerate this timeline to about 6 months and still follow the same process. If the City is purchasing property on a “willing seller” basis, staff is not able to ensure a project schedule until an agreement is reached. City Council previous actions:  Approved Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) detailing CSU and City obligations and improvements at the intersection.  Adopted Ordinance No. 139, 2015 on November 17, 2015, obligating $2.7M for design, Right-of-way and construction of the City’s improvements  Adopted Ordinance No. 043, 2016 on First Reading on April 5, 2016, authorizing eminent domain for commercial property acquisition if deemed necessary for the Project.  Council Work Session on April 12, 2016  Adopted Ordinance No. 043, 2016 on April 19, 2016 on Second Reading, authorizing eminent domain for commercial property acquisition if deemed necessary for the Project.  Adopted Ordinance No. 073, 2016 May 17, 2016 on First Reading, authorizing eminent domain for residential property acquisition if deemed necessary for the Project.  Defeated Ordinance No. 073, 2016 on Second Reading on July 5, 2016, authorizing eminent domain for residential property acquisition if deemed necessary for the Project. CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS The Project is funded with local funds. Council appropriated $2,700,000 through a mid-budget offer in 2015 for the design, right-of-way and construction of this Project. City of Fort Collins Utilities is planning significant stormwater improvements as a part of the Project. Colorado State University has financial responsibility for coordinated improvements generally related to the northwest corner of the intersection. The purchase of this right-of-way will allow staff to move forward with final design and construction. PUBLIC OUTREACH City staff has worked extensively with the property owner at 1535 Remington Street regarding these proposed alternatives over the past several months. ATTACHMENTS 1. College and Prospect Project Location Map (PDF) 2. Right-of-Way Exhibit Options 1 and 2 (Dual Left) (PDF) 3. Right-of-way Exhibit Option 3 (Single Left) (PDF) 4. Congestion Mitigation Comparison Table (PDF) 5. Design Alternative Comparison Matrix (PDF) 6. Project Schedule - Prospect and College (PDF) 7. Powerpoint presentation (PDF) S College Ave BNSF Railroad ³I E Prospect Rd W Prospect Rd Remington St College and Prospect Project Location Map ³ 0 200 400 600 800 Feet Legend Railroad Lines Project Limits ATTACHMENT 1 ATTACHMENT 2 OPTIONS 1 AND 2 ATTACHMENT 3 OPTION 3 CongestionMitigationTable CollegeandProspectIntersection 10/5/2016 Storage Length (feet) %CongestionBenefit ͲModelResult Storage Length (feet) %CongestionBenefit ͲModelResult %CongestionBenefitͲ Range 1.OriginalDualLeft 330 31% 430 36% 30Ͳ35% 2.ModifiedDualLeft 330 31% 430 36% 30Ͳ35% 3.SingleLeft 160 21% 240 25% 20Ͳ25% RemingtonLeftTurnOpen RemingtonLeftTurnClosed Options ATTACHMENT 4 Costcompared topreferred alternative Dualleft storage* Congestion Benefit ROWWidth along1535 Remington Residential Property Opposed Commcerial Property Opposed Sidewalkwidth along1535 Remington Impactto Treeat 1535 Remington Impacttowall eastofdriveway at1535 Remington Setbackfrom ROWto1535 Remington Design Speed Lane Widths* Bike Lanes Tangent Approaching Intersection Minimum curve radius Tangent between curves ThruͲlane Transition Length Remington LeftTurn Storage* Lengthof8' asphaltlane width* Offset through intersection Median widths ConstrainedArterial COLLEGEANDPROSPECTͲMASTERSCHEDULE October10,2016 April June July Aug Sept Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Oct Council AcquisitionProcessͲ9months AcquisitionProcess 2/1ͲPreferredpossessiondate CompleteOct21 FinalDesign(Dec16) 8Weeks 6Weeks ConstructionͲ6Months** 8Weeks 8Weeks ConstructionͲ3Months 4/29Complete 8/15Studentsback 9/15Open ** ConstructionwithlimitedworkzonesͲcostincreases,scheduledelays,publicimpacts.Workwillneedtobephasedbasedonpossessionofresidentialproperties Possessionandusesignedbywillingpropertyowner Courtorderedpossessioncantakeupto9months Construction Nov Council ApprovalsandPermitting Construction Oct CSUIntersectionImprovements FinalDesign CSUStadiumConstruction Dec Sept 2016 2017 RightͲofͲway Design 65%Design(Oct21) ContractsandPermits Commercial Residential May ATTACHMENT 6 1 College and Prospect Intersection Improvements 10-18-16 ATTACHMENT 7 Tonight’s Proposed Council Action: • Authorizes eminent domain, if necessary, on a portion of one residential property • Three design options, with differing acquisitions 2 Background • Budget appropriation in November of 2015 initiated project • Authorization for 6 commercial properties passed on 1st and 2nd readings in April, 2016 • Authorization for residential properties did not pass on July 5, 2016 • Since that time City Staff has been meeting regularly with property owners to discuss options and design alternatives 3 Background • City and property owner (1535 Remington) have developed a design that is acceptable to property owner • City has met with second property owner (1601 Remington). These discussions are on-going and this acquisition does not affect the critical path construction schedule 4 Project Design Options • Staff has prepared legal descriptions for three design options • (1) Westbound dual left-turn lanes (as proposed in July) • (2) Compromise westbound dual left-turn lanes • (3) Single westbound left-turn lane 5 Project Design Options (Option 1) Westbound dual left-turn lanes (as proposed in July) • Dual westbound left-turn lanes • Congestion improvement of 30-35% (all improvements together) • Higher congestion relief assumes eastbound turn to Remington is closed • Wider sidewalk adjacent to 1535 Remington • Requires rebuilding the wall and removing the large evergreen tree • Requires ~1,740 sq ft of ROW from 1535 Remington 6 Project Design Options (Option 2) Compromise westbound dual left-turn lanes • Dual westbound left-turn lanes • Congestion improvement of 30-35% (all improvements together) • Higher congestion relief assumes eastbound turn to Remington is closed • Mostly leaves existing sidewalk adjacent to 1535 Remington (short section of 5’ sidewalk) • Does not impact wall east of driveway. Does not impact large evergreen tree • Requires narrow lane, shortened tangent at intersection. • Requires ~1,180 sq ft of ROW from 1535 Remington 7 Project Design Options (Option 3) Single westbound left-turn lane • Single westbound left-turn lane • Congestion improvement of 20-25% (all improvements together) • Higher congestion relief assumes eastbound turn to Remington is closed • Leaves existing sidewalk adjacent to 1535 Remington • Does not impact wall east of driveway. Does not impact large evergreen tree • Property owner supports this alternative • Requires ~623 sq ft of ROW from 1535 Remington 8 ROW Comparison 9 Congestion Relief Comparison 10 Options Comparison 11 Project Schedule 12 -1- ORDINANCE NO.117, 2016 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION BY EMINENT DOMAIN OF ADDITIONAL REAL PROPERTY INTERESTS NECESSARY TO CONSTRUCT PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AS PART OF THE PROSPECT ROAD AND COLLEGE AVENUE INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT WHEREAS, the City is scheduled to begin construction on the Prospect Road and College Avenue Intersection Improvements Project (the “City Project”) in 2017; and WHEREAS, the City Project will construct needed road and intersection improvements, multimodal transportation enhancements, utility improvements, and access control improvements; and WHEREAS, Colorado State University is also required to build certain improvements at the same intersection in conjunction with the construction of its new medical center (the “Medical Center Project”); and WHEREAS, it is necessary for the City to acquire certain property interests for the City Project in a timely manner in order to coordinate construction of the City Project with the Medical Center Project; and WHEREAS, on April 19, 2016, the City Council adopted on second reading Ordinance No. 043, 2016, authorizing the acquisition by eminent domain of property interests on certain commercial properties necessary for construction of the City Project; and WHEREAS, on May 17, 2016, the City Council adopted on first reading Ordinance No. 073, 2016, which would have authorized acquisition by eminent domain of property interests on certain residential properties; and WHEREAS, on July 5, 2016, the City Council defeated Ordinance No. 073, 2016 on second reading, and directed staff to work with the property owners over the next four months to find a compromise design solution that would be more acceptable to all parties; and WHEREAS, additional real property interests are needed to construct the City Project; and WHEREAS, through working with the owners of the property located at 1535 Remington Street (“Owners”), City staff identified three options for the design of the City Project, each of which requires a different property acquisition from the Owners: • Option 1, the “Original Dual Left” alternative, was originally presented to the City Council on May 17, 2016; -2- • Option 2, the “Modified Dual Left” alternative, would maintain the congestion benefits of Option 1, but does not impact the existing wall or tree on the Owners’ property; and • Option 3, the “Single Left” alternative, also does not impact the existing wall or tree on the Owners’ property, but results in reduced congestion benefits; and WHEREAS, the property interests to be acquired in order to complete the selected option for the Project, Option [1, 2 or 3], are hereafter referred to generally as the “Property Interests”; and WHEREAS, the Property Interests include real property to be acquired either in fee simple for right-of-way or for temporary construction easements; and WHEREAS, the City will negotiate in good faith for the acquisition of the Property Interests from the owners thereof; and WHEREAS, the acquisition of the Property Interests is desirable and necessary for the construction of the City Project, is in the City’s best interest, and enhances public health, safety, and welfare; and WHEREAS, the City is authorized under Article XX, §1 of the Colorado Constitution and Article V, §14 of the City Charter to use the power of eminent domain to acquire real property as reasonably necessary for public improvements such as the City Project; and WHEREAS, the acquisition of the Property Interests may, by law, be accomplished through eminent domain. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and findings contained in the recitals set forth above. [Option 1] Section 2. That the City Council hereby finds and determines that it is necessary in the public interest to acquire the Property Interests for Option 1, the “Original Dual Left” alternative, as described on Exhibit “A-Option 1”, attached and incorporated herein by reference, for the purpose of constructing the City Project. [Option 2] Section 2. That the City Council hereby finds and determines that it is necessary in the public interest to acquire the Property Interests for Option 2, the “Modified Dual Left” alternative, as described on Exhibit “A-Option 2”, attached and incorporated herein by reference, for the purpose of constructing the City Project. -3- [Option 3] Section 2. That the City Council hereby finds and determines that it is necessary in the public interest to acquire the Property Interests for Option 3, the “Single Left” alternative, as described on Exhibit “A-Option 3”, attached and incorporated herein by reference, for the purpose of constructing the City Project. Section 3. That the City Council hereby authorizes the City Attorney and other appropriate officials of the City to acquire the Property Interests for the City by eminent domain proceedings. Section 4. The City Council further finds that, in the event acquisition by eminent domain of any of the Property Interests, or any portion of them, is commenced, immediate possession of the same is necessary for the public health, safety and welfare. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 18th day of October, A.D. 2016, and to be presented for final passage on the 1st day of November, A.D. 2016. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on the 1st day of November, A.D. 2016. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ City Clerk EXHIBIT A HARPER – CLEARY LEGAL OPTION 1 – ORIGINAL DUAL LEFT ALTERNATIVE EXHIBIT A-Option 1 EXHIBIT A HARPER – CLEARY LEGAL OPTION 2 – MODIFIED DUAL LEFT ALTERNATIVE EXHIBIT A - OPTION 2 EXHIBIT A HARPER – CLEARY LEGAL OPTION 3 – SINGLE LEFT ALTERNATIVE EXHIBIT A - OPTION 3 Standard(Reference) ͲͲ 400Ͳ450' ͲͲ 102' ͲͲ ͲͲ 8' ͲͲ ͲͲ min.15' 35 12' 8' min.200' 1075' 200' 245' 100' 0' 2' 4Ͳ7' 1.OriginalDualLeft Alternative ͲͲ 330'Ͳ430' 30Ͳ35% ~71' Yes No 10' Yes Yes ~19' 35 9Ͳ11' 0' 160' 510' 0' 160' 0Ͳ100' 0' 2Ͳ3' 4Ͳ5' 2.ModifiedDualLeft Alternative within2% 330'Ͳ430' 30Ͳ35% ~66' Yes No 5Ͳ6' No No ~26' 35 8Ͳ11' 0' 110' 510' 0' 160' 0Ͳ60' 0Ͳ80' 2Ͳ3' 3Ͳ5' 3.SingleLeftAlternative within2% 160'Ͳ240' 20Ͳ25% ~66' No No 6' No No ~26' 35 8Ͳ11' 0' 200' 510' 0' 200' 0Ͳ60' 0Ͳ80' 0Ͳ3' 4Ͳ6' * RangesreflectwhetherornottheeastboundleftturnontoRemingtonStreetremainsopenorclosed,whichcanbedoneforanydesignoption DesignOptions ProjectImpacts RoadwayGeometrics ATTACHMENT 5