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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCITY STRUCTURE PLAN AMENDS TO GMA, FOSSIL CREEK COOP. PLAN. AREA - 19-04 - REPORTS - RECOMMENDATION/REPORTKen Waido - JoeFrank.doc _ _ Page 3 Fort Collins - Community Separators Land Conservation Status Report May 2005 Page 3 of 3 conservation easements may be needed on some of this land in the future. However, at this time, efforts to conserve this land will be a low priority. • 76 acre Golf Course • 100 acre FC Soccer Club • 635 acre CSU Agriculture Research Center - ARDEC • 309 acre CDOW Wildlife Area • 776 acre Cobb Lake Conservation Projects Under Negotiation • Discussion underway with a variety of landowners. Ken Waido - JoeFrank.doc Page 2 Fort Collins - Community Separators Land Conservation Status Report May 2005 Page 2 of 3 Conservation Projects Completed • Jacoby Farm — 160 acres, Larimer County Open Lands purchased the property from FC Utilities in 2003. FC Natural Areas allowed Larimer County to use a City of Fort Collins GOCO Grant of $1.2M towards the purchase of this property. • Swift Ponds — 228 acres, Legacy Land Trust is accepting the donation of Conservation Easements on this property. • Eagle View Natural Area — 90 acres conserved by FC. • Swift Farm Conservation Easement — 82 acre conservation easement by FC. Fort Collins — Timnath Area Targeted 857 Acres Area Conserved 160 Acres Areas under negotiation: 105 Acres City Real Estate Services staff have spent the last year identifying property ownership, researching the development potential of this separator, researching land values and negotiating on the first two conservation easements. Discussions and negotiations with several more land owners are currently underway. Fort Collins — Wellington Area Targeted 2,806 Acres Area Conserved 864 Acres Area Conserved by FC 587 Acres Larimer County has taken the lead on four conservation easements in the past two years. FC has partnered with Larimer County on one conservation easement, and will probably partner with Latimer County on many more. FC - Real Estate Services staff have spent the last year identifying property ownership, researching the development potential of the separator, researching land values and beginning negotiations. Conservation Projects Completed • Kerbel Conservation Easement — 84 acres, a partnered project with Larimer County, FC conserved 42 acres. • Bee & Webber Conservation Easements — 208 acres conserved by Larimer County, FC may partner and reimburse Larimer County for 50% of the cost, before the end of the year. • Kraft Conservation Easement — 137 acres conserved by Larimer County. Currently Conserved Properties — Current land use fits the description of a Community Separator. This land could be redeveloped into more intense uses in the future; therefore i. Ken Waido - JoeFrank.doc Page 1 Fort Collins - Community Separators Land Conservation Status Report May 2005 Fort Collins — Loveland Area Conserved - Total 4,992 Acres Area Conserved by Fort C. 3,255 Acres Since the Separator Study was completed in 1995, Fort Collins (FC) has completed a number of conservation projects in the Loveland Separator and has partnered with Larimer County and Loveland on many of these projects. A total of 4,992 acres have been conserved. Several relatively small opportunities for conservation remain in this separator and two parcels are being researched and discussed at this time. Conservation Projects Completed • Coyote Ridge Natural Area — 1,117 acres, a partnered project with Larimer County, FC conserved 881 acres. McKee Farm — 973 acres conserved by FC • Dryland Wheat Farm — 785 acres, a partnered project with Larimer County, Loveland, and GOCO, FC conserved 196 acres. • Long View Farm Open Space — 478 acres, a partnered project with Larimer County, FC conserved 160 acres. • Fossil Creek Wetlands — 229 acres conserved by FC. • Fossil Creek Reservoir Natural Area — 810 acres leased by FC. • Fossil Creek Reservoir Regional Open Space — 469 acres, a partnered project with Larimer County, FC conserved 235 acres. • Everitt Conservation Easement — 320 acres, Larimer County holds the conservation easement, Everitt's transferred the development rights to another site. • Jones Conservation Easement — 40 acres, Larimer County holds the conservation easement, Jones transferred the development rights to another site. Fort Collins — Windsor Area Targeted 2,700 Acres Area Conserved 560 Acres Area Conserved by FC 172 Acres Fort Collins has been actively working on conservation along the Poudre River in this area for over five years. Many of the properties are being mined for gravel or will be in the future, so it may take 15 years or longer to acquire conservation easements on some of these properties. lands -- thus preserving a sense of openness and maintaining important visual and natural resources. Policy CS-1.6 Open Lands Protection. Open lands should be preserved, and protected through purchase of land, development rights, or conservation easements and/or other measures such as land use planning or development regulations. Policy CS-1.7 Collaboration With Other Communities. The City will cooperate with adjacent governmental entities to ensure contiguity and clustering of development that limits sprawl and forms community separators. and Policies Community separators will be used as a long-term tool to preserve a permanent physical and visual separation between Fort Collins and surrounding communities. PRINCIPLE CS-1: Community separators will provide physical and visual separation between Fort Collins and surrounding communities to maintain and enhance the separate identities of each community. Policy CS-1.1 Community Separators. Strategic open lands that serve as community separators inside and outside the Growth Management Area will be identified for either public ownership or other land conservation measures. Community separators should be as large as possible and could include low intensity residential development, undeveloped lands, and natural or rural landscapes including open lands, natural areas, farmland, clustered residential development and recreational areas such as golf courses. Policy CS -1.2 Transitions. When possible, rural/open lands will provide the transition between urban level development and areas beyond the Growth Management Area boundary to help form community separators. Policy CS-1.3 Northern Colorado Community Separator Studies. The physical and visual separation between Fort Collins, Laporte, Loveland, Wellington, Timnath, and Windsor should be preserved and depicting a community separator. Policy CS-1.2: Area northeast of GMA depicting development. maintained in general accordance with approved community separator plans and studies and community comprehensive plans. Policy CS-1.4 Sense of Rural Character. Open lands between communities should reflect a sense of rural character by incorporating the protection and preservation of natural areas, agricultural uses, appropriate residential development, and other types of open lands. Incentives, zoning and other techniques should be used to encourage alternative development patterns, such as clustered development, that retain natural, rural and agricultural lands. Clustered residential development encourages the close grouping of units, so that large portions of the parcel may remain as undeveloped open andPolicies d. whether the land proposed for inclusion in the GMA contains any environmental resources or hazard constraints that make the area unsuitable for its proposed use; and e. whether the proposed amendment would result in a logical change to the Growth Management Area. Factors to be included in making this determination will include, but need not be limited to, the following: ■ whether the proposed amendment would allow for the logical, incremental extension of urban services; ■ whether the proposed amendment would offer a desirable new "edge" to the community; ■ whether the existing boundary to be extended is contiguous to existing developed areas of the city, and ■ whether the proposed amendment would contribute to the compact urban form of the city. PRINCIPLE GM-2: The City will utilize various measures for managing growth at its edges. Policy GM-2.1 Community Coordination. The City will continue to collaborate with Larimer County and other adjacent communities to plan the edges of our Growth Management Area. The City will cooperate with adjacent governmental entities to ensure contiguity of development that limits sprawl and forms community separators. The City will provide guidance on factors including, but not limited to future land use, infrastructure planning, development standards,_ fees, and the preservation of open lands. Policy GM-2.2 Community Influence Area. The City will collaborate with Larimer County in establishing a Community Influence Area surrounding the Community Growth Management Area boundary. The purpose of such an area is for the City to have a formal voice in how County actions impact the City. Policy GM-2-3 Intergovernmental Agreement Amendments. The City will continue to work with Larimer County to revise the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) as needed. A revised IGA will take into consideration the following objectives: a. Institute a consistent and coordinated system of fees and standards for development located inside and outside the Growth Management Area. b. Revise development criteria for projects within the Growth Management Area boundary to be in conformance with City Plan standards. c. Tighten restrictions on growth outside the Growth Management Area boundary. Growth Management ladh\ City Plan Principles and Policies Policy OL -1.12 Funding. The City will seek alternative funding sources to implement open lands policies and programs, including private, State, and Federal grants, and donations of money, property, and in -kind services. Policy OL -1.13 Access. The City will design trail routes in open lands to enhance access and recreation while minimizing ecological impacts. Determination of type of trail or suitability for access will be made dependent on potential ecological impacts and recreation needs. Special attention will be given to environmentally sensitive trail design, location, and construction. PRINCIPLE OL-2: Open lands are important in providing the City with a well-defined edge, establishing community separators, directing growth, and preserving rural character. Policy OL -2.1 Conservation Tools. The City will purchase open lands, conservation easements, and/or development rights and use other tools such as development regulations and planning for the purpose of defining and protecting community edges. Policy OL -2.2 Access. The City will ensure that development provides and maintains access to public open land areas, where appropriate. Policy OL -2.3 Community Buffer. Strategic open lands that serve as community separators outside the Growth Management Area will be identified for either public ownership or other land conservation measures. Policy OL -2.4 Floodplain. The City will preserve and protect natural areas of the 100-year floodplains of the Poudre River, Spring Creek, Fossil Creek, Boxelder Creek, and other waterways, for conservation purposes. Floodplain "breakout" areas, such as the area of Boxelder Creek that is outside of the primary creek corridor along Interstate 25, will be managed in accordance with City floodplain regulations. Policy OL -2.5 Coordination. The City will actively work with local, regional, State, and Federal agencies, as well as private entities, to acquire larger tracts of key open lands in the region. PRINCIPLE OL-3: A variety of recreational opportunities will be provided to the community through a diverse and interconnected framework of open lands including parks, trails, community separators and natural areas. Policy OL -3.1 Corridors. Trails along streams, drainageways, and irrigation ditch corridors should be dispersed throughout the City, provide public access, and link and Policies May 4, 2004 129