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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCITY STRUCTURE PLAN AMENDS TO GMA, FOSSIL CREEK COOP. PLAN. AREA - 19-04 - CITY COUNCIL PACKET - RECOMMENDATION/REPORTMarch 15, 2005 .8- Item No. 30 Larimer Countv's Position Based on a joint study session City staff conducted with the Larimer County Planning Commission and the Larimer County Board of Commissioners, the County has some questions and issues regarding the GMA boundary expansion. There is support for the eventual annexation into Fort Collins of the properties immediately adjacent to the I-25 interchange since that is the area most likely to be urbanized with higher intensity commercial uses and need urban services. The balance of the CPA is designated as Rural Development on the Structure Plan and is part of the Fort Collins -Loveland community separator. The County strongly questioned the need to amend the GMA boundary to include these rural areas. The County asked why the City believes it can do a better job with rural development and protecting the open space corridor and community separator than the County: It must be noted that the GMA boundary amendment is not something the City can do unilaterally as the Larimer County must also approve the amendment. ATTACHMENTS 1. Map showing the location of the potential Fossil Creek CPA GMA Boundary Amendment. 2. Minutes of the June 17, 2004 Planning and Zoning Board meeting. 3. Letters expressing opposition to the GMA boundary amendments: a. August 17, 2004, letter from Michael DiTullio, Manager of the South Fort Collins Sanitation District. b. August 13, 2004, letter from Jeff Couch, PE, on behalf of seven property owners in the potential Fossil Creek GMA boundary expansion area. 4. August 11, 2004, letter from David Gordon, Airport Director, Fort Collins -Loveland Municipal Airport expressing concern regarding residential development inside the airport's critical zones. March 15, 2005 -7- Item No. 30 The owners believe the City's LUC requirements are unreasonable, especially regarding some wet lands that were caused by inadequate drainage systems that were put in place when roads were constructed (i.e., culverts were installed that were too small to allow water pass through eventually leading to back ups that created a "wet land") versus natural wet lands that are part of a stream corridor. There is also the belief that the ability to propose modifications to City standards is too limited and/or the mitigation requirements are too strict and expensive. The owners were told the City's Natural Resources Department was going to investigate and analyze wet lands to see if certain differentiations were warranted and possibly make changes to the standards within the LUC. However, the project is not on an immediate work plan for the Department. The property -owners apparently believe they would fare better with their development plans if they were to annex into another jurisdiction. City's policy not to financially participate in needed I-25 interchange improvements The Carpenter Road and State Highway 392 interchange on I-25 needs to be upgraded. Without a new interchange, further development at the intersection is severely limited if not outright prohibited. The City's policy not to participate financially in any interstate interchange improvement is of concern to the owners, but perhaps of greater concern is the City's possible opposition to the establishment of other potential funding mechanisms, such as a special improvement or metro districts, the use of tax increment financing, etc. The property -owners apparently believe they would fare better with their development plans if they were to annex into another jurisdiction. Fear that annexation would not be a step toward development but a step towards delaying development Again, the property -owners apparently believe they would fare better with their development plans if they were to annex into another jurisdiction. The owners fear that annexation into Fort Collins would only place their properties under what they perceive as the City's "no growth" philosophy. Questions on the timing and the need to complete the amendment in the immediate future The owners are concerned about the timing of the amendment and the apparent City rush to complete it before the April 2005 election. The owners want more time to discuss their issues and concerns. Of course, the requested delay could be a ruse to allow the owners to have more time to work with other jurisdictions about annexation and convince Larimer County to abandon the IGA requirement for annexation into Fort Collins. March 15, 2005 .6- Item No. 30 A. The Fossil Creek CPA GMA boundary amendment is needed in order for the City to comply with the policies and expectations set out in the Fossil Creek Reservoir Area Plan and intergovernmental agreements with Loveland, Windsor, and the County. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends approval of the Fossil Creek Cooperative Planning Area (CPA) Growth Management Area (GMA) boundary amendment. If approved by the City Council, the boundary amendment will be forwarded to the Board of Commissioners of Larimer County for approval as amendment to the Intergovernmental Agreement for the Fort Collins GMA, PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD RECOMMENDATION At its regular monthly meeting on June 17, 2004, the Planning and Zoning Board voted 5-0 to recommend approval of the Fossil Creek CPA GMA boundary amendment. A copy of the Board's minutes is attached. During public input at the June 17 meeting, two property owners within the Fossil Creek CPA indicated their properties were divided by the GMA boundary as proposed by staff. In one case (the Van Cleave property), the proposed GMA boundary divided the ownership into a 35+ acre (in) portion and a 5 acre (out) portion; while in the other case (the Lemaster, Wortley, Skogan property), the proposed GMA boundary divided the ownership into a 40 acre (in) portion and an 80 acre (out) portion. It was not the intent of the staffs proposed GMA boundary to divide properties under single ownership. The Planning and Zoning Board's recommendation is to include the 5 acres, along with the balance of 35+ acres, of the Van Cleave property within the GMA boundary and to exclude the 40 acres, along with the balance of 80 acres, ofthe Lemaster, Wortley, Skogan property from the GMA boundary amendment. Staff supports the Board's recommendation. Property Owner Opposition The property owners within the Fossil Creek CPA appear entrenched in their position that they do not want to be included in the GMA and eventually annexed into Fort Collins. These property - owners apparently believe they would fare better with their development plans if they were to annex into another jurisdiction, with Loveland or Windsor being the obvious options. Staffhas learned that some owners, even as recent as last month, contacted Loveland regarding potential annexation and they have approached Larimer County to see what the County's position would be about such annexation in relationship to the IGA which indicates the Fossil Creek CPA should be annexed into Fort Collins. We also know that Loveland and Windsor are interested, but at this point, have been willing to honor the intergovernmental agreement, at least while it is still in effect. From the landowner's perspective, annexation into Fort Collins would provide them no benefits and would only make development of their properties more difficult. Their opposition is based on the following issues and concerns: 0 City Land Use Code Natural Area/Wet Land Set Back Requirements March 15, 2005 -5- Item No. 30 all properties located east of the interchange and has permitted commercial development in the area. The updates to City Plan and the Master Transportation Plan contain Policy T-1.9 that indicates that the City of Fort Collins will encourage partnerships among CDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, and private interests to improve existing interchanges (the policy does not commit the City to financially participate). Windsor is aggressively exploring ways to convince the North Front Range MPO and the Colorado Department of Highways (CDOT) to elevate the "Windsor interchange" in capital improvement program rankings for funding. CDOT is also exploring with the City and County the transfer of Carpenter Road as a Regionally Significant Corridor to the State system which may help elevate the State and regionally priority of needed improvements to both the roadway and the interchange. Carpenter Road is designated as a future 6-lane arterial on the City's Master Street Plan, but is built to 2-lane County road standards. If annexed, development along Carpenter Road will be required dedicate additional right-of-way, improve the street, and pay impact fees for additional widening. The proposed amendment would offer a desirable new "edge" to the community. As anticipated in the Fossil Creek Reservoir Area Plan's implementation strategies, extending the GMA to include the CPA would create a desirable edge to the community. The existing boundary to be extended is contiguous to existing developed areas of the City of Fort Collins. The proposed amendment would contribute to the compact urban form of the city. The Fossil Creek CPA is contiguous to existing development in the city limits, according to Section 3.7.2 Contiguity of the City's Land Use Code. According to Section 3.7.2, contiguity to existing development is not affected by publicly owned open space or a lake/reservoir. The CPA is thus adjacent to developments, such as Westchase, located north of Fossil Creek Reservoir. IGA Amendments In 1980, the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for the Fort Collins Urban Growth Area (UGA). The agreement established a united, cooperative planning effort towards development goals and policies for the effective management of development in the Fort Collins urban area. The last time the IGA was amended occurred in November 2000. As a result of the proposed GMA boundary amendment the following change to the agreement need to be made. 1. The proposed boundary amendment will require updating the map (Exhibit 1 in the IGA) showing the new GMA boundary as per the Fossil Creek CPA amendment. In order to become an official amendment to the IGA the boundary change must be approved by both the City Council and the Larimer County Board of Commissioners. FINDINGS OF FACT/CONCLUSION Regarding the potential GMA Boundary amendment, staff makes the following finding of fact and conclusion: March 15, 2005 -4- Item No. 30 The proposed amendment is necessary to accommodate an activity that cannot be reasonably accommodated on lands within the existing GMA boundary. There are five entry corridors into Fort Collins from I-25. From north to south they are: Mountain Vista Drive, Mulberry Street, Prospect Road, Harmony Road, and Carpenter Road. The Structure Plan designates three of them for commercial development: Mulberry, Prospect, and Carpenter. One is almost fully developed (Mulberry), leaving two (Prospect and Carpenter) remaining available for future commercial development. The I-25 Subarea Plan, an element of City Plan, identifies the Prospect interchange as an "activity center" which will be encouraged to develop with a mix of uses, including residential. While Prospect will also likely be the location for some highway oriented commercial development, outside of Mulberry, the community does not have an area that can offer location attributes to serve the regional retail market and traveling public on I-25. Thus, staff recommends the CPA area should be added to the GMA to provide for certain types of commercial uses that cannot be accommodate, nor perhaps should not be accommodated, in other parts of the GMA. The land proposed for inclusion in the GMA contains environmental resources or hazard constraints that make it unsuitable for its proposed use.' The properties immediately surrounding Fossil Creek Reservoir are a very important environmental resource for the community. Maintaining a separation of the Fort Collins and Loveland urban areas is also a very high priority of the two communities and the County. The City and County have acquired, or otherwise preserved, a significant portion of the open space and natural areas within the CPA. Additional public purchases/preservations are likely in the future. There are also some important wetlands that will remain privately owned, for example, on the west end of the horse farm property on the southwest corner of the I-25 interchange. One reason for amending the GMA boundary for the CPA is to set the stage for eventual annexation of property into Fort Collins. This would allow the City to apply to the remaining privately owned properties its specific environmental protection development regulations contained in the Land Use Code. Development will eventually happen in the CPA. Applying City regulations will protect the natural environment. There are no specific environmental or hazard constraints that would prohibit development of the area. The proposed amendment would result in a logical change to the GMA. Factors to be included In making this determination will include, but not be limited to, the following: The proposed amendment would allow for the logical, incremental extension of urban services. Water service is available throughout the CPA from the Loveland -Fort Collins Water District, and sanitary sewer service is available from the South Fort Collins Sanitation District. In fact, the sanitation district's wastewater treatment plant is located within the CPA adjacent to Fossil Creek Reservoir. The current I-25/SH 392/Carpenter Road interchange has serious capacity problems; staff is not sure how the lack of capacity at the interchange would affect the County's review of future development proposals in and around the interchange. This is a significant issue for Windsor, which has annexed March 15, 2005 -3- Item No. 30 believes adding the Fossil Creek CPA into the GMA boundary would complete the fulfillment of policies and intergovernmental agreements initiated in the Fossil Creek Reservoir Area Plan. The CPA is designated for a mix of commercial, rural lands, public open lands, and community separators on the City's Structure Plan. Inclusion of the area in the GMA and its eventual annexation will provide the City with much greater assurance that City Plan's vision for the area is successful. The proposed amendment has a positive net fiscal benefit to the community. Staff is convinced that it is just a matter time before commercial development occurs adjacent to the I-25/SH 392/Carpenter Road interchange. Since development will likely be "urban" in nature, Larimer County staff has indicated they would like the area to develop inside of a city's jurisdiction. Therefore, staff believes the main issue becomes not one of "if' development occurs, but one of "when, where, and how" such development takes place, either in Fort Collins, or in Windsor or Loveland. Amending the GMA boundary to include the CPA at this time would solidify the City's claim to and control of the area as initially established in the Fossil Creek Reservoir Area Plan and subsequent intergovernmental agreements. The Structure Plan's land use designations for the Fossil Creek CPA include approximately 40 acres of Employment District and approximately 90 acres of Commercial Corridor District adjacent to I- 25. These areas would be zoned E, Employment, and C, Commercial, respectively upon annexation into the City. The balance of the area contains City and County open space/parks and a portion of the Fort Collins -Loveland Community Separator. The privately -owned properties in the separator would be placed into the RR District upon annexation. The publicly owned properties would be placed into the POL, Public Open Lands District upon annexation. Annexation of this area into the City would allow the City to apply its street standards, including right-of-way dedications, as well as collecting the full range of City impact fees. Staff does not have exact figures, but intuitively would expect the approximately 40 acres of Employment District and approximately 90 acres of Commercial Corridor District to generate impact fees and tax revenues to more than adequately cover the costs of necessary public services and facilities to those employment and commercial uses and the very low density residential development that is likely to happen in the CPA. Included in the City services to be provided to the area after annexation are police and road maintenance services. Water and wastewater utilities will be provided by the Loveland -Fort Collins Water District and the South Fort Collins Sanitation District respectively. The Police Department has a standard that indicates 400 housing units generate the need for an additional police officer. Assuming all of the parcels designated as Rural Lands and Community Separator available for residential development in the CPA develop as residential clusters with a density of 1 unit per 2.29 acres, the area would produce about 160 units, or about the need for .4 of a police officer. Certain commercial uses, such as bars, create a higher demand for police services than other commercial uses. While the future commercial and employment uses will add to the need for additional police services, staff finds they would not be of the types that would create the high demands for those services. Therefore, staff concludes the CPA GMA boundary amendment would have a positive net fiscal benefit to the community. March 15, 2005 -2- Item No. 30 Regarding the Growth Management Area (GMA) boundary, the Plan's implementation called for two significant actions: (1) amendment of the GMA boundary to include all land north of Fossil Creek Reservoir and west of I-25, and (2) establishment of the Fossil Creek Cooperative Planning Area (CPA) as a future GMA boundary amendment area. The GMA boundary amendment to include all land north of Fossil Creek Reservoir and west of I-25 was approved by both the City and County in 1999 and contained approximately 5 square miles, not counting the area covered by Fossil Creek Reservoir. An additional 2.5 square miles was included in the CPA. The.objective of the CPA was to preserve opportunities to expand the supply ofbuildable land for urban purposes within the city through eventual annexation. In 1999, a series of Intergovernmental Agreements involving the Cities of Fort Collins and Loveland, the Town of Windsor, and Larimer County formally extended the GMA boundary to include the area north of Fossil Creek Reservoir and west of I-25 and established the CPA. Some key components to these agreements were the establishment of future annexation areas. Fort Collins agreed not to annex east of I-25, Windsor agreed not to annex west of I-25, and Loveland agreed not to annex north of County Road 30. All parties agreed to recognize the Fossil Creek CPA as being a logical extension of the Fort Collins GMA boundary and leading to eventual annexation of the area into Fort Collins. Since the establishment of the IGAs between the City, the surrounding communities, and Larimer County, there has been increased development pressure on the properties adjacent to the 1-25/SH 392/Carpenter Road interchange. Also, staff understands that the South Fort Collins Sanitation District may eventually sell for development a 160 acre parcel directly south of their wastewater treatment plant on the south side of Carpenter Road. The area south of Carpenter Road is located in the County's AP, Airport Zoning District. This district could allow uses which would be incompatible with the Community Separator designation on the Structure Plan. North of Carpenter Road, adjacent to I-25, County zoning is a mix of zones, including the C, Commercial and T, Tourist zones, and the Rl, Residential district. The area is, thus, primed for development. No formal applications have been made, but both the City and County planning staffs believe that it is a matter of just a short time before someone submits a development application to the County. This adds a sense of urgency to expanding the GMA and annexing the area if the City of Fort Collins wants to have more control over these development plans along a major entry corridor into the city. GMA Amendment Criteria Policy GM-1.2 of City Plan also establishes a set of criteria to be considered in reviewing proposed GMA amendments. These criteria are presented below along with a staff analysis addressing each criterion. The proposed amendment Is consistent with community goals, principles, and policies as expressed in City Plan. The initial version of City Plan (1997) contained the policy basis for establishing CPAs. The Fossil Creek Reservoir Area Plan's Policy FC-1-6 established the concept for this CPA as an area beyond the GMA which could conceivably be annexed into Fort Collins. One key principle for the CPA was to avoid "annexation wars" between Fort Collins and the other surrounding communities. Staff AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL SUBJECT ITEM NUMBER: 30 DATE: March 15, 2005 STAFF: Ken Waldo Resolution 2005-028 Amending the Growth Management Area (GMA) Boundary to Include the Fossil Creek Cooperative Planning Area (CPA). RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends approval of the Resolution. The Planning and Zoning Board voted 5-0 to recommend approval of the boundary amendment. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This is a request to amend the Fort Collins Growth Management Area (GMA) boundary to include the Fossil Creek Cooperative Planning Area (CPA), an area of approximately 2.25 square miles. The CPA was identified as a location for a possible amendment to the GMA boundary in the recently adopted update to City Plan (May 2004) and City Structure Plan map. If approved by the City Council, the boundary amendment will be forwarded to the Board of Commissioners of Larimer County for approval as amendment to the Intergovernmental Agreement for the Fort Collins GMA. BACKGROUND City Plan Policy GM-1.2 indicates that GMA boundary amendments will only be considered in conjunction with comprehensive updates to City Plan. In the update just completed, three potential GMA boundary amendments (the Fossil Creek CPA, the Wildflower Area, and the CSU Foothills Campus) are to be considered by the City prior to the next update. This is a request to amend the Fort Collins Growth Management Area (GMA) boundary to include the Fossil Creek Cooperative Planning Area (CPA), an area of approximately 2 andl/4 square miles. Fossil Creek CPA History In March 1998, the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County concluded a joint planning effort with the adoption of the Fossil Creek Reservoir Area Plan. The Plan was adopted as an element of City Plan, the City's Comprehensive Plan. The Plan contained the following chapters/topics: 1. land use framework 2. transportation 3. natural areas and open lands 4. parks schools, and other community facilities 5. implementation