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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOYOTE RIDGE 1ST ANNEXATION & ZONING - 43-98 - MEDIA -Expanding our boundaries The Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Board will consider two annexation packages tonight. The first involves six separate annexations of approximately 1,100 acres that make up the Coyote Ridge Natural Area. The other package consists of two annexations involving 237 acres in the Cathy Fromme Prairie. Most of the Cathy Fromme Prairie has already been annexed into the city. Harmony Road by Fromme Prairie Natural Area Cathy Fromme Prairie `"' ' Natural Area � lstannexation, �- 81 acres Cathy Fromme Prairie Natural Area 2nd annexation, 156 acres Coyote Ridge a Natural Area 0 --- Fort Collins Urban Growth Area Hazaleous Natural Area i : Trilby Road ..------. -- Colina Mariposa Natural Area Coyote Ridge soon in city limits? P&Z decides tonight on annexations By DAVID PERSONS The Coloradoan A foothills area south- west of Fort Collins — complete with habitat for deer, hawks, bald eagles and even bobcats — is about to become the city's back yard. It will become official tonight if the city's plan- ning and zoning board ap- proves, as expected, six separate annexations of land parcels that currently make up the Coyote Ridge Natural Area. Coyote Ridge, a unique area of rugged foothills and prairie grasslands, officially opened in 1999 as an 840- acre natural area south of the Larimer County Landfill and west of Taft Hill Road. The land was purchased jointly between 1994 and 1999 by the city and county in piecemeal fashion. Under a joint agreement, the city manages the natural area. But the city has since ac- quired approximately 260 acres on the east side of Taft Hill Road immediately adjacent to Coyote Ridge and added it to the natural areas inventory, increasing its size by nearly 1 j00 acres. The cost of the addition- al land was approximately $1.75 million, officials say, and was paid with funds from the city's quarter - cent -per -dollar open lands tax passed in 1992. Officials said they re- cently decided to add the parcel to the Coyote Ridge open lands inventory be- cause of its proximity and because no one could de- cide a name for it. Whether the additional land will be open to the public has not been determined. The main reason for an- nexing Coyote Ridge into the city has to do with man- agement and jurisdiction concerns. Troy Jones, a planner in the city's current planning department, said that while the city's park rangers have jurisdiction over public ar- eas, the Larimer County Sherri Barber/The Coloradoan OPEN SPACE: A windblown plant is pictured at Coyote Ridge Natural Area, which is expected to be annexed into the city. Sheriffs Office has jurisdic- tion over areas not open to the public. The logical solu- tion to the jurisdiction question was annexation, Jones said. "This (jurisdictional con- cern) is something that needed to be tidied up and this was the best way to do it," Jones said. Another reason for the annexation has to do with being able to properly plan development of land that lies between the natural area and the city. Jones said that along with the six Coyote Ridge Natural Area annexations, the board will vote tonight to approve two Cathy Fromme Prairie annexa- tions. The Coyote Ridge and Cathy Fromme annex- ations are contiguous to each other and will create an enclave of land that will be completely surrounded by the city.