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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHANSEN ANNEXATION & ZONING - ANX120007 - CORRESPONDENCE - TRAFFIC STUDYlong range plans do not include widening Trilby at the wetlands site. There is going to be a bottleneck situation in both directions daily if this is the case. I am not a proponent of reducing wetlands size for more pollution, traffic, and noise. 9. We fear these concerns will further reduce the value of our homes. Why is this not a consideration as well? Already homes sold in the Westchase Reserve are selling below market value. One resident lost over $100,000 in value from the sale of his home last summer. This resident was a public servant of the Fort Collins police force for many years. He left the area practically broke. Another is over $200,000 under the original asking price (and value), ,been on the market for over a year. The residents finally left and are hoping someone purchases the home at the very reduced price. This is not an acceptable situation for homeowners and it is going to further decline if the SE corridor does not get some traffic and development relief. It seems to me that the plans are not well thought out rather whoever has the money to develop is getting the green light without adequate study and consideration of environmental and health impact. Communication from the planning and development departments is very poor and lacking appropriate timing when details are announced. Announcements do not reach intended audience. The entire process seems flawed and unorganized with the developers benefiting despite concerns from citizens. Please feel free to forward and share my concerns with colleagues who are involved in the decision making process. I am happy to discuss these concerns in detail with appropriate staff. Sincerely, �J6 T- A c. Ar`z O ccc)-FAA C�J7' �2e 'ase Julie Trone-�arJ(��}{ 6327 Westchase Road Fort Collins, CO 80528 970-266-8929 1 rN'P�T iC, Julie Trone iuiutrone@aol.com Change is the end result of all true learning. by Leo Buscaglia traffic leads to an increase of asthma complications. There are numerous residents with asthma in both Westchase and Linden Park neighborhoods. I have two children who will be effected as well. We moved here, for one, because of the clean air. The air is already foul during heavy traffic hours. 2. There is an elementary school on Timberline and Zephyr Roads, Bacon Elementary. An increase of traffic, especially commercial, increases the likelihood of more crime and traffic incidents. RE: Crime: Last summer residents of Westchase saw an increase of theft from garages and cars. More access will create more opportunity for this type of crime. The recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary and the kidnapping of Jessica early in the school year has families on edge already. These plans will create additional anxiety for families whose children attend this school and live in the neighborhoods surrounding Bacon Elementary. There has been little police follow through after numerous complaints about traffic violations around the school. We were told that there are only a few traffic officers in Fort Collins; there is very little police presence in this area. RE: Traffic: With the already congested intersection at Timberline/Zephyr and at Kechter/Timberline on Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 9:00 am.and 3:00 to 5:00 pm I am curious what is being proposed for easing traffic in this area. Surely making Trilby and Zephyr as a through street is going to increase traffic as well. Any increased traffic on Zephyr will further clog that street during the morning drop off and afternoon pick up area. This endangers the hundreds of children as they go to and leave school on foot, bicycles, and scooters. There is only a cross walk to cross children from the Westchase neighborhood. Linden Park has a stop light however the children still,have to cross Zephyr on their own.. We have inquired about 20 mph zones with speeding cameras to surround Bacon but was told it was too expensive. 3. The Mormon Temple will add much additional traffic to the area which creates more congestion, impacts the already overusedroad (according to Federal standards for road use) and increases noise and light pollution. I have lived near a temple in'the past and have first hand experience and knowledge of the huge traffic increase during events as well as the light pollution from lights being left on overnight. 4. There is a bird sanctuary in the immediate area. All of the above impacts the health and welfare of these species. Many of which are either protected or endangered. 5. There is a proposal for extending the Power Trail along the sidewalk on Zephyr Road adjacent to Bacon Elementary. This is a terrible idea since you cannot ride a bicycle safely from 8:30 to 9 am and 3:30 to 4pm Monday through Friday along the sidewalk next to the school. I believe this proposal needs to be reexamined and a feasibility study should take place. 6. Where are the results of the traffic study and environmental impact study that should precede development approval? This should be available to the public prior to development and zoning meetings. 7. Why is information being held from the residents of surrounding and effected neighborhoods. There is no mention of the meeting on our HOA newsletter for November or December nor an email alert. 8. How will the increased traffic from the Hansen Farm development, Mormon Temple, and Kechter Farm effect the entire SE corridor of Ft. C as well as the wetlands south of Trilbv. The t• traffic signal is expected at Zephyr which will help pedestrians, cyclists and motorists in a more appropriate and safe manner. I hope this helps shed some light as to how we are watching the growth of the area unfold and how the City policies allow us to try to shape its outcome. Kind regards, Ward Stanford Traffic Systems Engineer City of Fort Collins Traffic Operations off:970-221-6630 fax:970-221-6282 wstanford@fcgov.com From: Seth Lorson Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2012 8:54 AM To: 'Julie Trone' Cc: devin@hirning.us; Ward Stanford Subject: RE: Hansen Annexation Greetings Ms. Trone, Thank you for your comments, they will be forwarded to the Planning and Zoning Board (P&Z) for consideration during this evening's hearing. We encourage you to provide comments in person at the P&Z hearing this evening (12/20/12) beginning at 6 P.M. at City Hall. The proposal is not for actual land development but only to annex the property into the City of Fort Collins and apply zoning. The zoning is being applied according to the Structure Plan which is an element of City Plan, the City's comprehensive plan. Further public meetings will be held when the applicant proposes land development. The notification area, as required in the City of Fort Collins Land Use Code, is an 800 foot radius around the project site. I have copied one of our City Traffic Engineers, Ward Stanford, to assist in answering your questions. Please feel free to call or email with further questions. Best regards, Seth Seth E. Lorson, AICP I City Planner City of Fort Collins 281 N. College Avenue Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.224.6189 slorson@fcgov.com From: Julie Trone [mailto:j_ujutrone@aol.coml Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 6:18 PM To: Seth Lorson Cc: devin@hirning.us Subject: Hansen Annexation Dear Seth; I am a resident of the Westchase neighborhood and recently learned of the proposed plans for the Hansen farm annexation on Timberline next to the Willow Creek neighborhood. It is surprising to me as a homeowner that these plans are being developed with only a third of the resident population in the area adjacent to the property being notified. The development sign on that property stated that the proposed use was for families not commercial development. Here are a few of my concerns with adding commercial development in this area and other proposed 'developments' in the SE corridor: 1. Timherline mad is alreadv ahnve canacity for road usage_ Studies shnw that the increased Seth Lorson From: Ward Stanford Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2012 2:45 PM To: Seth Lorson; 'Julie Trone' Cc: 'devin@hirning.us' Subject: RE: Hansen Annexation Hello Ms. Trone, Thank you for your inquiry and hopefully I can address some of your traffic questions, at least as well as we know at this time. As far as improvements to a roadway happen they are typically brought by development. As development happens they have an obligation to improve the roadway along their property frontage and other locations such as nearby intersections (or part of intersections) if they cause a given movement to fail the�City's level of service standards�As an example the LDS Temple has the responsibility to build a south bound right turn lane from Timberline to west bound Trilby as mitigation for some of their traffic impacts to the intersection. They are also responsible for a north bound right turn lane from Timberline onto east bound Trilby as well as some other Timberline improvements between Trilby and Majestic. The City doesn't really build much new roadway. The City typically fills in missing gaps of expanding roadways and maintains the roadways that development has built. There is an expectation that a traffic.signal will be coming in the moderately near future to the Timberline and Zephyr intersection. Of course much of that possibility is shaped by the current economy and issues on its horizon. The expectation is primarily seen as an impact from the future Kechter Farms development since it's the only larger development in the area that has submitted development plans. As far as the Hanson property goes though I do not have any knowledge of what might be proposed on the site and therefore do not know how much traffic it may produce. This area of Timberline Road is classified as a four lane arterial (down to Trilby) on the City's Master Street Plan so it is expected that the roadway will be growing as development comes to the area. The roadway isn't over capacity though. It does have a fairly significant amount of traffic but it's classification as an arterial expects higher traffic on it than lower classed roadways such as Trilby or Kechter. Per our most recent counts Timberline has a little over 17,000 vehicles a day (both directions summed together) which is just over the minimum traffic volume of 15,000 vehicles per day to be considered as an arterial roadway. Is there some delay in getting onto Timberline in the morning from an unsignalized side street, yes. Unfortunately it is detrimental to traffic capacity and to traffic passage on a roadway if signals are installed at every minor street intersection. Many people move to the fringes of an urban area to avoid the urban conditions such as traffic signals. We as traffic engineers try hard not to install additional traffic signals as each one installed decreases the performance of a roadway. They may help a given situation such as a left turn onto a higher volume roadway during a rush hour but they also bring an increased possibility of certain types of accidents and cause additional delay to those minor side streets for the other 21 to 22 hours of the day. Those times of the day outside of the rush hours when traffic on the main street is much lower but the traffic signal makes you wait when you wouldn't have to if the signal wasn't there. Most people don't realize that negative aspect until they get a signal and start having to be controlled by it during the remaining 21-22 hours of each and every day such as on weekends and outside of daily rush hours. A good example is the signal installed at South Shields and Westbury, at the Shields entrance to the community college. The Westbury neighborhood greatly wanted that signal so their access to Shields during rush hours was improved. Once it was installed they have since realized how controlled the access has become with the signal. We worked with them for over a year trying to work out better signal operations for them while having to maintain responsible traffic flow on Shields, but could not. All changes impacted the much higher traffic volumes on Shields to an unacceptable amount. It would have been irresponsible for us to make the changes. They now deal with long delays getting onto Shields nearly all hours of the day whereas they used to be able to make their own decisions and experience much less delay throughout most of the day. The addition of the signal netted them only a marginal reduction (improvement) in their rush hour delay. I really wanted to help them, but couldn't without significant impact to Shields traffic. This example isn't about trying to scare or get you from wanting better access opportunity. It's only to bring to light one of several aspects that are rarely thought about. The light at the Linden Park subdivision is actually a pedestrian light but motorists have, irresponsibly, used it to stop Timberline traffic for their benefit. Its real purpose is to assist in getting kids across Timberline. The true vehicular