Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutHARMONY NEIGHBORHOOD CENTRE P.U.D. - PRELIMINARY - 33-94 - MEDIA - (11)Store Continued ho n Page Al In Newton's ruling, the issue was the moratorium that council members unanimously passed July 5 on commercial develop- ments along Harmony Road be- tween College Avenue and Inter- state 25. Council members approved the temporary delay to give officials time to re-evaluate the Harmony Corridor plan and suggest changes. However, that action stopped Sullivan's proposal, which was filed with the city June 7, to build a 160,000-square-foot retail cen- ter north of Harmony Road and between Wheaton Drive and Mc - Murry Avenue. A 66,000-square- foot King Soopers was to be the anchor store. The developer filed a lawsuit in September, trying to overturn the city's decision to keep him under the moratorium. In court documents, Sullivan argued that his plan should have been allowed through the city's review process under the Har- mony Corridor regulations that were in effect June 7 — and not by any subsequent changes that council made. City lawyers had argued that state's pending -ordinance doctrine allowed the city to apply newly enacted criteria on development proposals that had been submit- ted as early as March or April, when officials began to reconsider the Harmony Corridor criteria. Tim Dolan, a Golden Meadows resident who helped organize the neighborhood's objection to the King Soopers plan, said that de- spite the judge's ruling, he thinks the City Council still "took the right road." "I don't see how he (Sullivan) can sue the city if the landowner made the decision to drop the op- tion," Dolan said. Sullivan, meanwhile, said City Council members have put Fort Collins taxpayers at risk of hav- ing to pay for their mistake. In October, Roy had recom- mended that the City Council ex- empt Sullivan from the morato- rium. His suggestion was based on the Aspen case, in whichthe state Court of Appeals decided that some building applications must be .reviewed by the rules and policies in place at the time the application is made. However, the council rejected ' that suggestion. <, What the city did was wrong, .: Sullivan said. `Whey should act on the good advice of their attorney and look at all individuals in- volved and not just the ones that are putting most of the pressure on them." Roy described council's action as a "good faith effort" to 'make the decision in the best interest of the city." "Council has a lot of competing interests to balance in any legisla- tive decision, and that was true here," Roy said. N, City loses to store developer Judge: Soopers plan should've been reviewed By TONY BALANDRAN 5 _.)- / s I he Coloradoan Fort Collins has lost a key legal battle against a Denver developer who wanted to build a King Soop- ers store on Harmony Road. Now the developer says he in- tends to sue the city for "in excess of $3 million" in damages. District Judge Arnaud Newton has ruled that a development pro- posal submitted in June by James M. Sullivan should have under- gone. the review process and should not have been held up under a six-month moratorium on Harmony Road projects because that measure wasn't approved by the City Council until July. Instead, the city halted Sul- livan's plans because of the mora- torium, and the developer claims he has since lost the deal because Growth of the councils decision. Sullivan also said delays and the legal dispute forced the land- owner to go to another developer, who wants to build a Safeway store at the site. "it was unconscionable the ac- tion of the mayor and City Coun- cil and I hope the court will hold them accountable," Sullivan, pres- ident ,of Sullivan/Hayes Broker- age in Denver, said Monday. Appealing Newton's ruling, which came last week, is just one of the options the city is consider- ing, City Attorney Steve Roy said. 17zis case is far from over," Roy said. "There are a number of im- portant issues that have to be re- solved on their merits." Another element in the ©ty's response will be based on how an Aspen case, upon which Newton based much of his ruling, holds up in the Colorado Supreme Court. See STORE, Page AS