Fort Collins pushes Harmony gateway

By Dan MacArthur
Fossil Creek Current

Imagine a village within the city inspired by Old Town with canals reminiscent of Amsterdam, and a riverwalk along the Poudre adapted from San Antonio's pioneering promenade.

Trails and open space would weave around these centerpiece ponds and waterways. They would be sculpted in a monumental earthmoving effort to transform a former gravel pit by channeling the Poudre River and raising much of the property above the reach of floods.

Structures of six stories--perhaps more than twice that--would sprout from this pedestrian-oriented urban village located on the southwest corner of Interstate 25 and Harmony Road.

This distinctive gateway would contain a mix of uses including housing, offices and locally owned shops and restaurants. Public transit stations would be located within easy strolling distance. There residents could board vehicles connecting with the Mason transportation corridor transecting the city, or whisking them to Denver to take in a Rockies game - all without ever getting into their cars.

"This is a big change from the past thinking about what could be done with this area," said Fort Collins city planner and project manager Clark Mapes, noting that housing overlooking the interstate would be a first for Fort Collins.

He and project consultants are working feverishly to make possible such a vision proposed by developer Jay Stoner. The city is driven largely by the need to ensure that it remains a player in the competition to capture sales tax revenues resulting from the increasing development along the I-25 corridor.

The proposed amendment to the Harmony Corridor Plan that would facilitate the ambitious development plan is on a fast track. The planning and zoning board is scheduled to review the amendment on Dec. 6 and make a recommendation to the city council, which will conduct a public hearing on Feb. 5.

"For this retail activity (and its related sales tax) to occur, the city needs to move quickly to accommodate it," Mapes asserted in a presentation at a Nov. 14 public open house.

The amendment would update and refine the 1991 plan, reflecting new realities - the principal one being that I-25 inevitably is becoming northern Colorado's new "main street." Cities and towns along its length have raced to annex every interchange where revenue-generating retail, commercial, office and residential developments are rising.

The amendment would affect some 250 acres on the interchange's southwest quadrant and about 20 acres on the northwest quadrant where the park-and-ride is located. It would establish new standards and guidelines for design and land use in the designated "gateway," which would be extended a half-mile to the south.

The city's "structure plan" identifying permitted land uses also would be amended. The entire gateway area would receive a more-flexible "employment" designation, eliminating the "rural" and "Poudre River corridor" designations on the south and the "commercial corridor" designation on the north.

Mapes said the changes reflect the undeniable reality that the city's original vision for the interchange as a low-density "green edge" is no longer realistic given developments along the interstate in the 15 years since the Harmony Corridor Plan was adopted.

"What's happening on the east side really renders that concept obsolete," he said, referring to the pending construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter just east across the interchange in Timnath. The town also plans for further retail development south of Harmony Road.

But there are equally profound influences farther afield. Just down the interstate, work is underway on the million-square-foot Grand Station mixed-used development at Highway 34. Taller buildings are rising along I-25, too. An eight-story hotel is under construction at the Larimer County Fairgrounds, and others ranging from six to 12 stories are planned, according to Mapes.

That aggressive competition for retail sales tax revenues has created an urgency to ensure that Fort Collins isn't left further behind. Mapes' presentation noted that Fort Collins' position in the retail trade area is weakening in the face of fierce competition for the sales receipts that provide most municipalities' operating revenues.

So it's no surprise that Fort Collins' proposed amendment closely corresponds to the developer's desires.

"We approached the city and told them what we want to do," said Bruce Hendee of BHA Design Inc., a planning firm serving as a consultant to Stoner.

"That's definitely the impetus," Mapes acknowledged. "Both the developer and the city would like to get started."

However, he said, there are issues yet to be worked out concerning building heights and the potential for big-box stores - although Hendee said none are planned.

Stoner earlier maintained that the development would be decidedly different than any other in the region. He said it would emphasize artistic architecture and locally owned, human-scaled business rather than such national big-box retailers.

The focus on alternative transportation will make the project even more distinctive, Hendee said, by creating an urban-density regional center poised to become a hub for the transit systems eventually serving Fort Collins and the Front Range.

"It's a pretty big departure," he said.