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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFOSSIL CREEK ESTATES PUD PRELIMINARY - 50 92D - CORRESPONDENCE - ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTCommuiuty Planning and Environmental Services Natural Resources Division re City of Fort Collins February 18, 1994 Mr. Carter Ewing Managing Partner Fossil Creek Partners 363 West Drake, Suite 6 Fort Collins, CO 80526 Dear Carter: ��0 o �r2. Thank you for your February 16 letter regarding unresolved issues with Fossil Creek Estates. I am sorry we were unable to get together prior to my leaving on vacation. I will call you when I return on March 3, and hopefully we can meet during that week. I am very interested in working with you, and with interested citizens, to resolve the issues surrounding the development. You suggested a neighborhood meeting on March 2. If at all possible, I would suggest postponing the meeting until March 8th, 9th, or loth. I could and would attend any of those nights, and believe the conversations will be most fruitful if we can all be there together. As I told Jim Sell, I am contracting with Shalkey-Walker Associates and ERO to assist us in the further review of the project. These firms have been working with us to develop design and mitigation guidelines for developments that affect natural areas. They are expert in these areas, and are familiar with Fort Collins habitats and our planning system. I am taking this unusual step because the staff's credibility has been seriously questioned and I want to provide an additional level of review to assure that we are taking the right .steps, both to protect the natural resources of the sites, and to ensure fairness to you. I have asked the consultants to review wildife and wetlands issues, to provide us with their assessment of impact, and to suggest any recommendations to help ensure that the project is as sensitive as possible to the site, and adjacent environment. The consultants will complete their work within 30 days. I will make their results available .to you, as well as to any other interested parties. We will review their report and make any recommendations to you based on this report and all other information available to us. We also have requested formal review of the project by the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Given the many claims of opinions by Division employees, I thought it prudent to seek an official position from the Regional Director, Dr. Walt Graul. You are well aware that concerned citizens have said that the trees 281 N.-College Ave. • P.O. Box 580 • Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 • 1303j 221-6600 on the Robbins property are of great value to raptor use of the Cathy Fromme prairie. Citizens told me only recently of their observations of up to six eagles using the trees at one time. In attempting to verify this information, I documented yesterday that the trees are being used as a night roost site by multiple eagles. This is a significant finding which does raise my level of concern about the impact on birds of prey of your proposed, development; until now, we were aware of only two night roost sites in the area, one at Lory State Park and one at Fossil Creek reservoir. Night roosts are considered a key habitat feature and are more sensitive to disturbance than perch sites. I do not yet know the significance of this information relative to your development, but I do consider it a factor that must receive serious attention. We will consider potential impacts as we reevaluate the project and work with you on final design. You asked about easements. I talked with the City Attorney today about processing easements, and he recommended that we not take any easement requests to the City .Council until the development has received final approval. When I get back from vacation, we can talk about specific needs for this.submittal, and about schedule. We will need a more formal request from you, that includes the exact boundaries of the- easements requested, acreage, and the details of the easement. Carter, I appreciate your continued willingness to work with staff and with the neighborhoods on this development. I will do all that I can to help facilitate consideration of alternatives that will satisfactorily resolve most of the issues raised lately. I think we all want to see this development be precedent setting in a positive sense in terms of its sensitivity to the natural setting. I'll look forward to meeting with you when I return after March 3. sincerely, I a-`"` J� Tom Shoemaker Natural Resources Director