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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHARMONY TECH. PARK 3RD AMENDED ODP - 12-97F - CORRESPONDENCE -Mr. Joe Frank, Advance Planning Director November 14, 2005 Page 5 of 5 company, and hopefully, the adoption a local land use planning system that responds to a City's changing economic conditions. During our November P meeting, Steve and I were informed that staff will reconvene to make a final decision regarding our application. The opinion of J.J. Johnson of the Northern Colorado Economic Development Commission may be solicited. Steve and I would welcome the opportunity to participate in these discussions, given the perspective we bring to the debate as a stakeholder in staff s final decision. We will present our request to the Planning and Zoning Board at its regularly scheduled meeting of December 8, 2005, so we look forward to a prompt conclusion to your review of our application. Thank you again for your time and consideration. Sincerely, j�&,G Margaret Barden, AICP Entitlement Coordinator cc: Ted Shepard, Chief Planner Steve Steele, Vice President of Acquisitions and Development Mr. Joe Frank, Advance Planning Director November 14, 2005 Page 4 of 5 Request for Additional Information: Elaborate on Chateau's contribution to the expansion and development of the Harmony Technology Park. Response: During our meeting, staff expressed interest in and encouraged us to elaborate on Chateau Development Company's contribution to the planning and development of the Harmony Technology Park. As we mentioned earlier, Hewlett Packard Corporation presented a planned expansion that was supposed to materialize between 1998 and 2000. However, HP had no ability to expand without water, sewer and roads, and without the cooperation of half a dozen property owners, including Celestica, Imago Enterprises, Observatory Village and Chateau Development Company. Chateau recognized the economic development potential of the Harmony Corridor, leveraged off of the momentum created by Hewlett Packard's expansion plans, and spearheaded the planning and development of what is now the City's current Harmony Technology Park. We can take credit for this, because we organized the property owners and authored the reciprocal finance agreement that resulted in the funding and construction of the technology park's infrastructure. In total, Chateau Development Company has directly funded or advanced $956,829 in off -site improvement costs in and around the technology park, which strategically positions the City of Fort Collins for the expansion of its economic base. Improvements we funded included the construction of Rock Creek Drive, which not only opened up land for primary use development, but made access possible for the construction of Fossil Ridge High School. We also contributed major funding for improvements to Harmony Road, the construction of Cambridge Avenue, Cinquefoil Lane, and LeFever Drive. In addition, off -site improvement contributions included water, sewer and drainage improvements, as well as the dedication of critical easements needed by Hewlett Packard for the expansion of its sewer and stormwater management capacity. In conclusion, we urge staff to adopt a broader perspective about what constitutes economic development. Understandably, staff views preserving the City's inventory of employment land as critical to economic development, but other economic development mechanisms exist too. These include mechanisms such as the above referenced economic development contributions to the City made by our Mr. Joe Frank, Advance Planning Director November 14, 2005 Page 3 of 5 change requests that might arise in the future, therefore avoiding the potential for setting any kind of precedent. Staffs Concern: The loss of this primary use parcel is detrimental to the City's ability to provide jobs for its residents. Response: We previously detailed under separate cover to Ted Shepard, dated October 26, 2005, the rationale as to why this concern has no validity. First, we did this by documenting the City's actual current inventory of employment land, citing its healthy capacity to absorb as many as 156 companies. Second, we also noted that staff even concurred with our position in its consideration of the Lifestyle Center, when staff told the Planning and Zoning Commission that there is enough employment land. Third, we noted that the Buildable Lands Inventory ignores the common phenomenon of out commuting, and that if the City's labor force employment patterns were to continue into the future, approximately 25 percent of that labor force would commute to 40,000 jobs throughout the region, more than accommodating any shortfalls in the local job market, should by remote chance, a shortfall were ever to occur. Fourth, we noted that the Buildable Lands Inventory underestimates the capacity of redevelopment to foster significant job growth in the future. Finally, after demonstrating that the City's job growth capacity is excellent, we further offset concerns about the loss of employment land by outlining the concrete economic development contributions Chateau Development Company has and will continue to make to the City. Whether further entitling primary use parcels by orchestrating, financing and constructing the technology park's infrastructure, or by creating and/or retaining jobs in the real-estate and construction industries, Chateau's existing and forthcoming contributions to the economic development of the City far outweigh the loss of one, inconsequential parcel of employment land. Mr. Joe Frank, Advance Planning Director November 14, 2005 Page 2 of 5 Chateau was therefore obligated to accept some portion of the required 75/25 primary to secondary land use mix, which was both a condition of the ODP amendment's approval, and a concession in the negotiations with the other participating property owners. This decision was tied to the understanding that. Hewlett Packard would soon expand its operations, the technology park would quickly mature, and Chateau's portion of the primary land use inventory would absorb within a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately, the unfolding of the technology park's, and for that matter, Hewlett Packard's growth, failed to materialize. As a result, not only is Chateau burdened with a marginal piece of industrially zoned property with little to no prospect of absorption, but as will later be shown, we have also financed a major portion of the infrastructure within and surrounding the technology park, thus advancing the industrial development capacity of the area. In conclusion, the hardship was not self-created. A whole host of factors, including the City's land use mix requirements, and the infrastructure shortcomings of the area that inhibited Hewlett Packard from expanding, resulted in the subject parcel's current land use designation. StafJ's Concern: The land use change would set precedent. Response: This is not an arbitrary rezoning request. We thoroughly documented under separate cover to Ted Shepard, dated October 26, 2005, how this particular application meets the criteria for modifications to the standards and guidelines of the Harmony Corridor Plan. We've cited the peculiarities of the site; the stagnant market conditions within the park, due to an economic downturn that took Hewlett Packard's expansion plans off the table; and, how the imposition of a primary use on this parcel is inconsistent with the standards and policies of the Harmony Corridor Plan. We also indicated the unique role that Chateau Development Company played in planning and building the infrastructure of the technology park, contributing significantly to the economic development potential of Fort Collins. In conclusion, every applicant requesting a change of land use is given the opportunity to present the merits of his case. We did this, and in the process, included information that distinguishes between our application and other land use 8101 E. Prentice Ave., Suite 815 Greenwood Village, CO 801 1 1 (303) 771-8854 Fax (303) 694-3332 Chateau Development Chateau Custom Builders www.chateaudevelopment.com Mr. Joe Frank, Advance Planning Director City of Fort Collins 281 North College Avenue Fort Collins, Colorado 80521 November 14, 2005 12050 Pecos Street, Suite 100 Westminster, CO 80234 (303)280-9630 Fax (303) 280-9640 RE: Harmony Technology Park Overall Development Plan Amendment Dear Joe: Thank you for reconsidering our application to amend the Harmony Technology Park Overall Development Plan (ODP). Following up from Steve Steele's and my November 3, 2005 meeting with you and your staff, we'd like to address staff s outstanding concerns and requests for additional information: Staffs Concern: The hardship was self-created. Response: Please understand that it was a larger context of circumstances, as opposed to an isolated, speculative decision, which shaped Chateau's willingness to accept a parcel designated for primary use. In fact, it was not our preference, but rather a city -imposed requirement that resulted in the parcel's current land use designation. To explain, several property owners, including Chateau Development Company, came together and initiated a planned expansion to the Harmony Technology Park in the year 2000, via an amendment to the original ODP adopted in 1997. The decision to expand the technology park was based on the fact that Hewlett Packard Corporation was aggressively pursuing plans to expand its operations south of Harmony Road. During staff s review at both the conceptual land use and final application level, staff maintained that the amendment must comply with both the Harmony Corridor Zone District standards, and the standards and guidelines of the Harmony Corridor Plan.