Timnath annexation will bring home-building boom

By Dan MacArthur
Correspondent

Timnath is now ready and set to grow. After years of preparation, the quiet town of 230 has received the first request for annexation, which is likely to start its transition to a full-service city of thousands.

"This is important to Timnath," said town administrator Joe Racine. "This is what the town has been planning for years--an opportunity for the town to grow and determine its own future."

Racine and town planners are drafting an agreement to annex the 577-acre property at the southwest corner of County Road 1 and Harmony Road (County Road 38). The developer of the property is Jon Turner of the Hillside Commercial Group, which also is developing the Highland Meadows golf course community northeast of the Larimer County Fairgrounds.

While Racine emphasized that plans currently are in a conceptual "bubble plan" phase, he said the property could accommodate 1,300 to 1,700 housing units. The overwhelming majority, he said, would be single-family, although some senior citizen and multi-family housing would be included. Racine said 20 acres would be designated for commercial uses and some 40 acres for industrial development.

An annexation agreement will be drafted for the town board's review in February or March, Racine said. An annexation and zoning petition then will be prepared for consideration by the planning commission, which will make a formal recommendation to the board.

"It allows (Turner) to go forward," said Racine. "I think he'd like to be in the ground as soon as possible." Turner, who has homes in both Windsor and California, was not available for comment as of press time.

Praising Turner for his track record of quality development in Windsor, Racine said he was gratified by the renewed spirit of cooperation between the town and developers.

Racine said that relationship was revived following a Dec. 10 summit resulting in a truce between Timnath and the South Fort Collins Sanitation District. Both had been battling for the authority to provide sewer service to residents of the 2,200 acres slated for eventual annexation to Timnath. The district, from which developers of the properties already had sought sewer service, rejected the town's insistence on controlling any utility within its boundaries.

Following that meeting, Racine said all agreed to a compromise that will allow development of an intergovernmental agreement enabling the district to provide sewer service within Timnath while designating the town as the management agency.

"We're very pleased with the progress made," Racine said. "We're ready to get on to business."