HomeMy WebLinkAboutConstituent Letter - Mail Packet - 11/8/2016 - Letter From Kent Leier, Land Conservation And Stewardship Board, Re: Sale Of Portion Of Running Deer Natural AreaNatural Areas Department
1745 Hoffman Mill Road
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.416.2815
970.416.2211 - fax
fcgov.com/naturalareas
MEMORANDUM
DATE: November 1, 2016
TO: Mayor & City Councilmembers
FROM: Kent Leier, Chair, Land Conservation and Stewardship Board
RE: Sale of portion of Running Deer Natural Area
The LCSB continues to strongly oppose the proposed sale of a portion of Running Deer Natural
Area (RDNA) to Hageman Earth Cycle (HEC), which currently leases and occupies the land in
question. The Natural Areas Department (NAD) recommends selling the land with deed
restrictions requiring: (1) current use only; and (2) a first offer of sale to the City at the current
price adjusted by a pre-agreed inflation factor. If the situation were reversed, with HEC now
owning the land and offering it for sale at a fair price, then LCSB would be recommending its
purchase, ecological restoration, and addition to RDNA—where it would provide valuable
upland habitat and protection of the Prospect Rd viewshed.
Sale of the parcel unnecessarily introduces uncertainties about its long term fate. First, the timing
of opportunity for repurchase from HEC becomes unclear. Second, if HEC offers the land for
sale and the City does not exercise its repurchase option, then the land may be converted to any
use allowed by zoning, potentially adversely affecting both the land’s condition and later
opportunities for repurchase. If unforeseen circumstances, such as bankruptcy of HEC, were to
occur, then the future of the parcel becomes even murkier. The increasing difficulty and expense
of acquiring land for Natural Areas within the Urban Growth Area argues against the
uncertainties involved in this proposed sale—uncertainties that can be avoided entirely by
retaining title to the property.
LCSB and others have previously commented on the potential for perceived breach of City
fiduciary responsibility when selling Natural Area lands. This proposed sale has been
rationalized by HEC’s continuous occupation of the site, which began before City ownership.
Nevertheless, the public voted to tax itself for purchase of Natural Areas, and the same public
reasonably expects that Natural Areas will be passed to generations yet to come, and that Natural
Areas will not be sold for the shorter term convenience of commercial interests. LCSB
recognizes the valuable services that HEC provides to the City, but LCSB asserts that the
preservation of Natural Areas is a higher purpose and that HEC can operate successfully
elsewhere.
With the City and County working toward new waste processing facilities, LCSB believes that
waste processing sites will be good candidates for relocation of HEC operations. A new lease of
the RDNA parcel to HEC—with termination of the lease coupled to opening of new waste
facilities—would be, in LCSB’s opinion, the best plan.