Timnath picks up speed toward growth plans

By Dan MacArthur
Timnath Correspondent

Timnath is on track again. The town is moving forward with annexation of almost 1,500 acres, creation of an urban renewal authority and potential expansion of its growth management area north to Highway 14.

The flurry of activity follows resolution of conflicts that had driven disillusioned developers to drop negotiations with the town - and in one notable case shun annexation in favor of subdividing under county rules.

By most accounts, the turnaround is attributed to the election of new mayor Donna Benson and the departure of town administrator Joe Racine.

"The direction we wanted to go we couldn't go with Joe as the town administrator," Benson said in an interview.

"They (the developers) have always wanted to go with Timnath. This is an opportune time with the change in administration," concurred town trustee Tim Gaines. "Once Joe was gone that's all they needed. The two of them (Joe and former mayor Annalee Foster) were too much."

Byron Collins concurred. "It was always our desire to build in the town," said Collins, the owner and developer of the 642-acre Nelson property directly east of the original town site.

However, he said, the original sense of collaboration between developers and the town "ran off course somehow," prompting him to apply for county approval to develop his "Harmony" project on the square-mile parcel. The "lifestyle community" would include a championship golf course along with an array of other recreational amenities for residents of the 450 housing units ranging from patio homes to large-lot executive homes. It would also include up to 50 acres of commercial development along Harmony Road.

"The town, through the new mayor, was very interested in trying to renew that vigor," Collins said.

"One of the things I ran on is we have to get ahead of the inevitable," said Benson. "The reality is that area is going to develop. I've always believed it shouldn't be antagonistic."

Consequently, Benson said she contacted county officials and Collins to get the process back on track. As a result, town trustees on Oct. 6 accepted annexation petitions for the Nelson property and the 845-acre Timnath Farms property belonging to Colorado Rockies owner and area resident Jerry McMorris.

A public hearing to act on the petitions is set for Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. The timing is important because trustees want the annexations completed this year so the properties can as soon as possible begin generating revenues through an urban renewal authority (URA) to finance public improvements in the town.

Earlier this year, the town annexed 600 acres at the southwest corner of County Road 1 and Harmony Road (CR38). The development is called Timnath Ranch.

Urban renewal authority

URAs are a vehicle to take advantage of tax-increment financing. The complex financing mechanism enables URAs to retain sales and property tax revenues in excess of the amount being collected at the time the URA is designated. Those revenues, which typically increase dramatically after development occurs, can be retained for up to 25 years to finance public improvements within the URA. In Timnath's case, the entire town is proposed to become part of the URA.

Originally created to encourage redevelopment of distressed areas, URAs have become controversial because of their increasing use to subsidize public improvements in pricey developments such as the 1,300-acre Centerra project in Loveland. A URA also was formed in Vail to finance the public portion of a $750 million construction and redevelopment project.

To qualify, potential URAs must be designated as "blighted" by exhibiting at least five of 10 characteristics. Although the term suggests catastrophic conditions, among the broad determinations of blight are:

• Unsanitary or unsafe conditions.
• Predominance of defective or inadequate street layout.
• Unusual topography or inadequate public improvements.
• Existence of conditions that endanger life or property by fire or other causes.

"Is there anyplace in Colorado that couldn't be considered blighted?" Gaines asked rhetorically at the Oct. 13 town board meeting.

"Blight has a negative connotation, but it has more to do with obstacles to improvements," said Benson.

Collins agreed, saying that given the many utility, drainage and transportation deficiencies in the area, "it became pretty obvious there should be some level of assistance to make everything come to fruition."

Gaines, however, has raised questions about the trustees' direction. He said he has concerns about the town retaining future tax revenues needed by the school district and other levels of government. "We're taking their share of property tax proceeds they need to take care of our growth," he said.

Gaines said he also was leery of the rush to complete the blight study so the town could be designated as a URA by Nov. 15, establishing 2005 as the base year on which tax-increment financing would be based.

"I don't know that it's the town's business to be paving the road for them," Gaines added.

In a related development, Timnath trustees agreed to proceed with a study examining expanding the town's growth management area as far north as Highway 14. It currently extends to County Road 40 (the extension of Horsetooth Road).

The GMA is an area recognized as a municipality's area of influence. While existing property owners would not be required to annex into the town, new developments would be expected to do so. Expansion of the GMA would facilitate Timnath's annexation of a commercial/residential development proposed on the southeast corner of Prospect Road and County Road 5.