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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLONGVIEW MARKETPLACE @ SHENANDOAH - PDP - 47-95B - CORRESPONDENCE - PROJECT EXTENSION (3)We remain as zealous as ever to see this project through to fruition. That being said, we still need to ensure that the economics work in order for us to move forward with this PDP. A prompt and thorough response would be greatly appreciated to facilitate our financial analysis. As most of these issues are engineering -related and not planning, we have copied the same list of City Engineering Staff from our previous letter. Should anyone have questions or comments regarding this letter, please do not hesitate to contact either one of us, Rod Jones — Quadrant Properties at (636) 530-6050 or Bill Bates — King Soopers at (303) 778-3050. For more technical questions, please contact our civil engineer, Nick Haws — Northern Engineering Services at (970) 221-4158 or our traffic engineer, Matt Delich — Traffic & Transportation Engineering (970) 669-2061. l/l7` 111 Rodney K.Jo e Quadrant Properties, LLC William C. Bates King Soopers/City Market xc: Gary Diede - City of Fort Collins Cam McNair - Fort Collins City Engineer Matt Baker - City of Fort Collins Street Oversizing Program Manager Eric Bracke - Fort Collins City Traffic/Transportation Engineer --- Page 8 of 8 --- is determined that Long View Marketplace needs to acquire off -site ROW on Carpenter Road, then we will make a "fair offer" based upon current market value of the land in question. After that has been done, we feel that the City/County must take over the ROW acquisition process should our initial attempt be unsuccessful. Failure to do so may drag the process on for years. Any further delays will make this project unfeasible. 19. The developer can file repay agreements on properties adjacent to Carpenter Road, where the developer has to acquire ROW and build frontage improvements. Then, if those properties redevelop within ten years, then Quadrant Properties can be repaid for the investment in the properties' frontages along Carpenter. RESPONSE: We are extremely interested in filing any and all appropriate repays with Long View Marketplace. Who would be the direct contact at the City to negotiate and finalize said agreements? Neighborhood Issues 20. The City, County and CDOT all have an interest in Carpenter Road (CR-32). Most if not all improvements to this road, at least in the near term, will be provided by development activity in the area. Long View Marketplace is one such development. It will be impossible to separate the discussion of this development from the needs of the infrastructure in the area. City staff will be glad to participate in the discussions with neighboring property owners and other potentially affected interests. RESPONSE: We are disappointed with the vague nature of this response. We too have the notion that "development must pay its own way;" however, we cannot be held responsible to pay the way of others (both past and present). This issue is well above and beyond the scope of Long View Marketplace. While we volunteer to be an eager participant in this coordination effort, it is necessary for the local agencies to spearhead this process. We were hoping for a proactive solution by City Staff, but with that not being the case, what do we do and whom do we contact to ensure that this project is not held captive by neighbors in Larimer County subdivisions? As you can tell, considerable time, effort and resources have already been expended towards this development. The continued City comments and coordination effort led us to file a 60-day extension on our PDP re -submittal. That additional 60 days will expire one month from now on May 161h. We feel that we are still far from having all of these issues resolved, and thus, are requesting an additional 30-day extension on our re -submittal date. We hope this allows enough time to hash out each and every detail, and to reach a consensus on the exact amount of off -site public improvements this project will be responsible for designing, building, and financing. We may once again suggest separating the on -site marketplace PDP from the extensive off -site roadway improvements depending on the outcome of this agreement. --- Page 7 of 8 --- needs to commit to the future 4-lane arterial alignment of Carpenter Road at this time in order for our Avondale Road design to proceed. Logic and precedence would both indicate that future widening would occur on both sides of Carpenter Road. Again, lane alignment and traffic safety can and will add time and complexity to this design. 16. Avondale would not necessarily need to move over further north into the Quadrant Properties site (so that the lanes would align with Carpenter in the ultimate situation). Instead we would assume that widening of Carpenter Road would occur at least partially on the Schrader site in the future to accommodate the additional travel lane and bike lane in the ultimate situation. This also requires less ROW to be needed on the north side of Carpenter in the interim. RESPONSE: As mentioned above, we whole-heartedly agree with this statement. How and who decides the future section of Carpenter Road so that our team can design Avondale Road today? Carpenter Road 17. Improvements are necessitated by the increased traffic to the Long View Marketplace, according to the developer's traffic study, and by the importance of aligning lanes at the College/Avondale/Carpenter intersection. Also, crosswalks with ADA accessibility ramps are necessary for safe pedestrian access on all movements around the intersection, especially with the bus stop at this intersection. RESPONSE: If necessary, our traffic engineer will further define what improvements are directly attributable to this development, and those necessitated by regional traffic and existing deficiencies. This may more clearly define who builds and pays for each particular improvement. Traffic signal relocations, refuge medians, and ROW acquisition are amongst the issues that will require diligent coordination and negotiation. What, if anything, has the County offered to contribute thus far? Has the City been keeping the County informed and involved, or should we be actively approaching the County? As far as the bus stop is concerned, our most recent direction from City Staff was to locate the new bus stop just south of the intersection of the Private Drive (3/<- access) on College Avenue. Is it desired to maintain, shift, or remove the existing stop at the southwest corner of College and Carpenter? 18. City Council has adopted a policy which clearly states the actions required of a developer before the Council would consider use of eminent domain. The developer has not yet diligently attempted to acquire the additional right-of-way, and the public purpose for using eminent domain is debatable. RESPONSE: Once the City and/or County and we reach a consensus as to the amount of interim improvements needed on Carpenter Road, then we will approach the appropriate landowners for our responsible portions. If and when it --- Page 6 of 8 --- issue with the City, but once again, another item has the ability to impose further delays and additional costs. Avondale, Strasburg and Long View Drive 13. The City does have an escrow to assure that the Ridgewood Hills portion of Avondale will be built. RESPONSE: Previous telephone conversations with both Melody Homes and Sheri Wamhoff indicated that the development agreement for Ridgewood Hills Third Filing had a bond issued for this portion of Avondale. Either way, this development should not be responsible for paying for this stretch of road. We would; however, like to coordinate the contiguous construction of Avondale to achieve a more efficient and effective product. 14. ROW acquisition from the Long View Farm Open Space will be difficult. The City and County did not reserve ROW for Avondale when the property was bought for the natural areas program. City and County master street plans were/are in conflict in this area, and Natural Resources staffs were not particularly interested in promoting street extensions there. In our opinion, it will take high level involvement at the City and CDOT to gain approval to use eminent domain to support this development, even if only to condemn the covenant interests associated with the necessary rights -of -way. CDOT has stated to City staff that they will not exercise its right to use eminent domain. RESPONSE: Our design team has done everything it can to facilitate this ROW acquisition; including research, meetings, attorney fees, paying for an appraisal, paying for Staff time, etc. It has become clear that we need assistance from the City in order to acquire the ROW. It appears that reserving the ROW was an oversight in the first place. The request from GOCO does not seem that onerous to us. The acquisition is necessary to meet the requirements of both the City's Street Master Plan and the South College Access Plan. Why has the City failed thus far to step up and support its own plans? Do you want us to initiate the discussion with higher levels? 15. The median in Avondale is not needed in the interim. However, we would still need to reserve the space for a future (ultimate) median on Avondale, because Carpenter is ultimately going to become a 4-lane arterial with median, and the Avondale side of the intersection at College will need to align with Carpenter. City Transportation Services is willing to defer the costs of the ultimate widening of this portion of Avondale to a future capital project for widening College and Carpenter and improving this intersection to its ultimate configuration, as long as this development reserves space for the ultimate condition. RESPONSE: We are willing to "reserve" the space for this ultimate median by providing an interim striped median. We need the City's assistance and assurance as to where exactly this median will be positioned. Basically, the City --- Page 5 of 8 --- least expensive design solution. First of all, neither the extent nor cost of additional improvements needed on Carpenter Road is known at this time to make a fair comparison. Secondly, we would then be faced with the dilemma of off -site ROW acquisition since the improvements are interim. Furthermore, this could impose significant burdens and delays by necessitating both County and neighborhood approvals. What exactly is meant by "informed consent' of the neighborhood? We already know that neighbors southeast of this intersection will hold this project hostage until significant improvements are made to Carpenter Road (LCR 32) all the way from 1-25 to HWY 287. This massive coordination effort, legal ramifications, and additional unknowns do not make this clearly the "better and less expensive design solution." 10. The City will not require improvements to the eastside of College. This would mean leaving the current situation as is with the Shenandoah median and the east side accel/right-turn/bike lane. Future developments on that side of College, or a CDOT or City capital project, would then have to provide the bike lanes and other improvements there. This represents another big cost and space saving. RESPONSE:This sounds great on the surface; however, what happens when interim medians, turn lanes and other geometry affect the existing/overall traffic operations? To date, our design iterations have proven that traffic & transportation requirements drive much of roadway improvements and widths. 11. It should be noted that the traffic signals at the College/Carpenter/Avondale intersection will need to be upgraded to CDOT structural standards. Street Oversizing can assist with this cost. The designer should attempt to locate the signals so that they will not need to be relocated in the future. RESPONSE: Will City SO pay 3/4 and we pay the other'/4? We too have the desire to place the traffic signals in a location that best accommodates future widening; however, the latest direction given by City Engineering Staff makes this impossible. Particularly when you look at future double medians for pedestrian refuge and the maximum allowable spacing from stop bar to mast arm. It is imperative to have complete cooperation and consent from the City regarding this issue, especially if the desired placement requires additional off -site ROW and other improvements. 12. Handicap ramps and safe pedestrian crosswalks will be important for all sides of the College/Carpenter/Avondale intersection. RESPONSE: We would not expect to design/build anything that could possibly endanger any citizen. The complicated issue not explicitly mentioned here is pedestrian refuge islands/medians. Both City SO and we would like to avoid moving medians in the future. Unfortunately, it is very questionable as to how much interim improvements could remain in the ultimate condition, particularly relating to these islands. We have every intention of closely coordinating this --- Page 4 of 8 --- 5. For the interim situation, it is not necessary to provide ROW for the ultimate College Ave widening. It is necessary, however, to reserve space for future widening as expected based on the conceptual layout (1st bullet). RESPONSE: We are a little confused by this statement. It is our interpretation that we will dedicate ROW for the ultimate College Avenue widening along our frontage only. However, it will not be the responsibility of this development to acquire any additional ROW beyond our property boundary for the ultimate condition. Is this what was meant by this statement? 6. The developer will need to provide ROW for the interim improvements, including a 10-ft parkway and a 6-ft sidewalk. Current ROW is 50-ft from section line. Developer will need to dedicate 25.5-ft of additional ROW (1/2 of local street ROW width). Any ROW needed beyond the 75.5-ft from section line, the City (SO) will pay for, at the undeveloped value. RESPONSE: The interim ROW dedication seems fair and typical of other developments. However, what is the difference between "reserving the space for future widening" and actually dedicating the ROW? 7. If other utility easements are needed behind the sidewalk, those should be dedicated by the developer. However, these cannot extend into the sewer easement unless FCLWD gives permission. The City will not pay for these utility easements. RESPONSE: We will dedicate the appropriate utility easements to be located between the existing SFCSD exclusive easement and the edge of additional City ROW for College Avenue. 8. Street lights are expected to be installed in the parkway, between the sidewalks and curb. RESPONSE: We can do this for the interim improvements, but what happens in the ultimate condition? We feel that future burden is the responsibility of the City and/or CDOT. 9. A big cost and space saving can be realized if northbound double -left -turn lanes (College to Avondale) can be replaced by a single -left -turn lane. However, in order to design this properly, the left -turn accesses at Colland Drive (South) would have to be blocked by a median in College. This Colland blockage would need agreement by the County and at least informed consent by the impacted neighborhood, and would force the developer to make more improvements on Carpenter Road from College to Colland (East). This alternative would mean that a single left -turn lane, and therefore a single receiving lane on Avondale, would work. That saves width on College and Avondale, and makes for a better and less expensive design solution. RESPONSE: We agree that the above suggestion will lessen the roadway widths at College and Avondale; however, we are not convinced that overall this is the --- Page 3 of 8 --- likelihood will not be ready until sometime in 2004. Our project cannot afford to wait for the EA to determine the ultimate alignment. 2. For the interim (4-lane) improvements, a complete design effort is needed. RESPONSE: We would like further explanation as to what a "complete" design effort entails. Issues such as raised medians (glue -down or otherwise), western curb and gutter, inlet placement, and bus stop location are just a few of the issues that will need to be agreed upon in precise detail. Furthermore, the interim (4-lane) improvements still appear to exceed what is typically required of a development. Does the City intend on paying for the additional design and construction costs? 3. It is possible for the Street Oversizing program (SO) to participate in the "interim" improvements if it is assumed that no further SO participation will be expected when the "ultimate" 6-lane widening project is undertaken. SO staff would expect to be actively involved in the design and construction process in order to optimize the design and contain costs. The development would not need to contribute or escrow for the ultimate improvements on College Avenue. Those improvements would become a CDOT capital project, and that project would pay for the widening to 6-lanes, including ROW acquisition (although the development must reserve the space for the future widening to 6-lanes), moving the sewer main, if necessary, etc. RESPONSE: We are in full agreement with the above comments. We would expect for SO staff to be very involved with the interim design if they are to be contributing a large amount of funds. One concern that we have is how the design of off -site public roadway improvements will affect the schedule of the on - site PDP. Optimizing the interim design to best accommodate the ultimate configuration will require extensive coordination, especially when you look at issues such as the placement of medians, traffic signals, and inlets; lane geometry, and the fact that the ultimate alignment has yet to be defined. 4. For the interim design, there is no need to move the FCLWD sewer main or encroach on its exclusive easement. RESPONSE: We intend on dedicating the full ROW required for the ultimate roadway width of College Avenue apart from the interim design. The FCLWD/SFCSD will not allow ROW to be dedicated on top of their exclusive easement, regardless of where physical improvements will lie. Therefore, we cannot dedicate ROW any further west that the current SFCSD easement. The maximum additional ROW we can dedicate is approximately 65-ft. This would result in a western half -ROW width of 115-ft without any dry utility easements. We believe this is more than sufficient for any future widening scenario, but we would like the City's assurance on this issue. --- Page 2 of 8 --- April 18, 2003 Cameron Gloss, AICP Current Planning Director 281 North College Avenue Fort Collins, CO 80521 RE: Long View Marketplace Project Development Plan Dr. Mr. Gloss: Thank for your response letter addressing our concerns relating to the off -site public improvement costs associated with the proposed Long View Marketplace PDP. We realize that you, as Current Planning Director, have incorporated a lot of information from the City's Engineering Department. However, to remain consistent with our correspondence, we would like to issue this follow up letter to your attention. We would like to start by thanking you and City Staff for taking the time to discuss the current status of our project. As we have previously informed you, our consultants have ceased design work until we can reach a financial comfort level and feel confident that we once again have a viable project. Our next step is to reassess the amount of off -site improvements that we will be responsible for funding, and to decide if approvals can be obtained in a timely fashion. In order to do this we need some further explanation and clarification on your letter dated April 14, 2003. We have included your original comments along with our responses to each item below. For ease of reference, we have replaced your bullets with numbers. College Avenue Improvements 1. It is important that the development be sited properly so that the future, ultimate, 6-lane major arterial section for College Avenue will not adversely impact the presently proposed development. The ultimate (6-lane) design need only be a horizontal layout, at a conceptual level, with minimal vertical alignment checks, so that the development is set back far enough to accommodate future widening. A complete design effort for this is not necessary. RESPONSE: Can we assume that the future 6-lane widening will be symmetrical about the existing centerline? CDOT's Environmental Assessment (EA) in all -- Pagel of 8 -- 16253 Scvingley Ridge Road, Ste. 220 Chesterfield, MO 63017 Phone: (636) 530.6050 Fax: (636) 530.6075