Humane society avoids tiff over relocation

By Dan MacArthur
Fossil Creek Current

The Larimer Humane Society has abandoned a proposal for relocating its animal shelter to a site that provoked howls of protest from Timnath.

Instead, the organization now is focusing its attention on another property near the Fort Collins-Loveland Airport. President and chief executive officer Joseph Olsen declined to specify the location of the property pending purchase negotiations and discussions concerning annexation to Loveland.

In fact, Olsen said, no formal announcement of the site is planned, although it will become public as the proposal moves through the approval process. He said nothing definitive will occur until at least the fall or perhaps as late as next spring.

"We're still doing due diligence," Olsen said. "We don't want to jump off the pier until we know what we're getting into."

Part of that effort, he said, will be meeting with neighbors to gauge and assuage their concerns. "It's harder to deal with people who have a negative mindset," he said.

The humane society is seeking 15 to 40 acres suitable for relocation of its facilities on Kyle Avenue. Located in an unincorporated enclave off Trilby Road within southeast Fort Collins, the current shelter is cramped and decrepit with no room for expansion.

Olsen said any suitable site must be near Fort Collins and Loveland--the two biggest users of its services--with good access to infrastructure and appropriate zoning. He said two alternate sites are under consideration should the preferred one prove unacceptable.

The humane society previously considered buying property just east of Interstate 25 that Fort Collins purchased as an open space community separator between the city and Timnath. Fort Collins' acquisition of that property already had created a bitter conflict with the town, which had designated the land as part of its eventual boundaries. Those hard feelings were only further aggravated when Fort Collins offered the property to the humane society.

"We have chosen to back out of the Timnath site," Olsen said. "Let (Fort Collins and Timnath) settle that."

After acquiring the site, fund-raising will begin for the new shelter. "We're not a dog pound anymore," said Olsen. "This will be a high-end building."