HomeMy WebLinkAbout088 - 07/20/2010 - EXEMPTING THE FORT COLLINS DISCOVERY MUSEUM PROJECT FROM THE REQUIREMENT OF SECTION 2.2.3(C)(3)(a) O ORDINANCE NO. 088, 2010
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
EXEMPTING THE FORT COLLINS DISCOVERY MUSEUM PROJECT FROM
THE REQUIREMENT OF SECTION 2.2.3(C)(3)(a) OF THE LAND USE CODE
WHEREAS, the City is the owner of certain parcels of real property located in Larimer
County Colorado known as `.`Lee Martinez Park" (the "Park Property"); and
WHEREAS,a portion of the Park Property at the north end of Mason Street between Cherry
Street and the Poudre River was chosen as the site for development of the new Fort Collins
Discovery Museum facility (the "Facility"); and
WHEREAS, the Facility will be constructed by the City as per the terms of the Operating
Agreement between the City and the Discovery Science Center dated March 11, 2008; and
WHEREAS,Section 1.2.4 of the City's Land Use Code states that the provisions of the Land
Use Code apply to all development within the City, and that no development can be undertaken
without prior and proper approval or authorization pursuant to the terms of the Land Use Code; and
WHEREAS, Section 2.2.3(C)(3)(a) of the Land Use Code requires that all final plats
submitted to the City be signed by all current owners of any recorded fee interest in the land
described on the plat; and
WHEREAS, City policy also requires that the lawful owner of real property described on a
site plan certify the site plan; and
WHEREAS,in preparing the plat and plans for the Facility,City staff mapped all the parcels
of land that make up the Facility site and discovered a small parcel of land(the"Parcel")for which
record ownership is unclear; and
WHEREAS, the Parcel is shown and described on Exhibit "A", attached and incorporated
herein; and
WHEREAS, the City has owned all the Park Property surrounding the Parcel for at least 65
years, and has managed and maintained the Parcel as part of the Park Property, and a portion of a
City trail has cut across the Parcel, for at least 25 years; and
WHEREAS, City staff intends to obtain record title to the Parcel through a quiet title action
in the District Court, but until that process is completed,the City is unable to certify on the Facility
plat that all record owners of the property shown on such plat have signed the plat; and
WHEREAS, a delay in finalizing the plat would also significantly delay construction of the
Facility, increasing the cost of the construction project; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has the power to exempt the City from the requirements of a
City ordinance through enactment of a new ordinance; and
WHEREAS, it is likely that the City has already obtained fee title to the Parcel under the
theory of adverse possession; and
WHEREAS, the general test for adverse possession in Colorado is that a party must have
possessed a property with proof that such possession was: (a) open and notorious; (b) hostile and
under a claim of right; (c) actual; (d) exclusive; and (e) uninterrupted for the statutory period of
eighteen years; and
WHEREAS, the City has been occupying, managing and maintaining the Parcel as part of
the City's Park Property on an ongoing basis for more than eighteen years, using the Parcel in the
same way the City has used the surrounding Park Property (including putting a public trail on the
Parcel), under a good-faith belief that the City owned the Parcel; and
WHEREAS, the City's possession of the Parcel has been exclusive,that is, not shared with
any owner of record, and adverse to any owner of record;
WHERE,to staff s knowledge,no party other than the City claims ownership of the Parcel;
and
WHEREAS, for the foregoing reasons, City staff is asking that the Council, with respect to
the Facility project, waive Section 2.2.3(C)(3)(a) of the Land Use Code, which requires that the
Facility plat be signed by all current owners of any recorded fee interest, and that the Council
authorize the City Attorney's office and the City Manager to certify and sign the plat and site plan
on behalf of the City as owner of the property described on the plat and site plan, including the
Parcel.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the City Council hereby waives for the Fort Collins Discovery Museum
project the requirement of Section 2.2.3(C)(3)(a)of the Land Use Code that the plat be signed by all
current owners of any recorded fee interest in the surface of the land described on the plat.
Section 2. That, based upon the City's historic possession and use of the Parcel as
described above,the City Council hereby authorizes the City Manager and the City Attorney to sign
and certify the Fort Collins Discovery Museum plat and site plan on behalf of the City as current
owner of the fee interest in the surface of the land described on the plat and as lawful owner of the
real property described on the site plan, including the Parcel.
Section 3. That the City Attorney's office is hereby directed to commence a quiet title
action to establish record ownership of the Parcel.
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J
Introduced,considered favorably on first reading,and ordered published this 6th day of July,
A.D. 2010, and to be presented for final passage on the 20th da July, A.D. 2010.
Mayo
ATTEST:
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading on the 20th day o ly 'A.D. 2010.
Mayor
ATTEST:
- l LL
`
City` Clerk
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Exhibit "A"
Property Description
A tract of land located in the Northeast Quarter of Section 11, Township 7 North,
Range 69 West of the 6th Principal Meridian, County of Larimer, State of Colorado
being more particularly described as follows:
Considering the East line of the Northeast Quarter of said Section 11 as bearing South
00°23'31" West, and with all bearings contained herein relative thereto:
Commencing at the Northeast comer of said Section 11; thence along the East line of
said Northeast Quarter, South 00°23'31" West, 1406.79 feet; thence, North 89°42'43"
West, 60.00 feet to the West right-of-way line of North College Avenue, said point also
being the Southeast comer of Block 24; thence along the South line of said Block 24
and the North right-of-way line of Cherry Street, North 89°42'43"West, 515.53 feet to
the East right-of-way line of Mason Court; thence along said East line by the following
two (2) courses and distances: North 00°17'17" East, 92.45 feet; thence along a tangent
curve concave to the West having a central angle of 25'15'22", a radius of 120.50 feet
and the chord of which bears North 12°20'24"West, 52.69 feet to a point on the East
line of Tract A, Mason Street North; thence along said East line, North 00'1 T 17"East,
68.18 feet to the North line of that tract of land recorded at Reception No. 97041141,
Larimer County Records; thence along said North line, South 68°1 T02" East, 50.92
feet to a point on the West line of Block 24, said point being the POINT OF
BEGINNING; thence along said West line,North 00023'31" East, 179.56 feet to the
Northerly line of that tract of land recorded in Book 781 at Page 136, Larimer County
Records; thence along the Northerly and Westerly lines of said tract the following two
(2) courses and distances: South 89°42'43" East, 50.00 feet; thence, South 00°23'31"
West, 196.90 feet to a point on the North line of that tract of land recorded at Reception
No. 97041141, Larimer County Records; thence along said North line by the following
two (2) courses and distances: North 87°46'05" West, 6.34 feet; thence,North
68°1T02" West, 46.87 feet to the Point of Beginning.
The above described tract contains 0.217 acres more or less and is subject to all
easements and rights-of-way now on record or existing.
June 2, 2010
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