Opponents delay annexation process

By Dan MacArthur
Fossil Creek Current

Determined opponents have fought Fort Collins to at least a temporary standstill in its efforts to forcibly annex almost three square miles of unincorporated territory southwest of the city.

The Fort Collins City Council on July 5 was scheduled to consider a resolution setting into motion the city's largest annexation ever. Extending generally south and east of the intersection of Harmony and Taft Hill roads, the nearly 1,800-acre Southwest Enclave is home for some 3,100 people--living primarily in rural subdivisions--and more than 100 predominantly small businesses.

But the resolution was abruptly and indefinitely removed from the council agenda after well-organized opponents insisted on meeting directly with the council to challenge what they assert is faulty information the council is being provided concerning the effects of annexation.

The demand has created a dilemma for the city, because it's unclear whether the council can legally conduct a work session with the citizens group prior to a formal public hearing.

Current planning director Cameron Gloss said the resolution was pulled from the council agenda pending a legal opinion on this unprecedented demand. "It's kind of unique," said Gloss. City attorney Steve Roy was not available for comment as of press time.

Following the last work session on the Southwest enclave annexation in May, Gloss said council directed the staff to proceed with a phased annexation while working further with residents and business owners to "soften the blow" of annexation by addressing concerns such as any associated additional costs.

"We really haven't had that dialog with the neighborhood yet," Gloss said. While he had hoped to open those discussions with opponents, "They mostly just didn't want to sit down with us," he continued.

"They're in quite a quandary down there because of us," said Lynn Colter, who heads Citizens Against Forced Annexation. Organized as a limited liability corporation, CAFA has raised what she characterized as a "substantial" amount to fight the proposed annexation both legally and politically.

"We don't want to be annexed. We like things the way they are," said Colter.

The group has been frustrated that, as nonresidents, they have no representation on the council that will decide on the annexation. And Colter said opponents have been further frustrated by the limited opportunities to talk directly to city council except during the brief public comment period at the start of regular council meetings. Citizen input is not permitted at work sessions, in which the Southwest Enclave Annexation was discussed in depth by the council and staff on Feb. 22 and May 24.

"We want to talk to council in more than two-minute snippets," said Colter. "We've got a lot of data they need to know."

'Bubble'government

The city staff, she contended, operates in a bubble without ever communicating directly with those living and working within the enclave. "We want to be heard and discuss the things the staff presents to the council because we don't think they're right," said Colter.

"It's my opinion that the council acts at the will of the city staff," said Joe Collins, a CAFA member and co-owner of Cottman Transmission Center on South College Avenue.

Since first publicly broached about a year ago, the annexation proposal has ignited a fierce opposition among enclave residents and business owners concerned about being burdened with excessive city fees and regulations that they are convinced could kill some businesses.

"It's threatening the livelihoods of the business owners and lifestyles of the residents," said Collins, "Nobody who lives there or works there benefits from it."

The annexation became possible--and city and county officials say mandatory --with the annexation of the Coyote Ridge Natural Area in November 2001. That annexation encircled the Southwest Enclave, allowing the city to annex it within three years under state law. Gloss said that law clearly and indisputably gives the city unilateral authority to involuntarily annex such enclaves with little public notice or input.

Colter, however, said that the attorney CAFA has hired believes that law is not so clear-cut and is subject to interpretation. The group also has questioned the propriety of annexing a natural area preserved with public funds to create the enclave.

But even beyond the state legislation, Gloss said the city is bound to annex enclaves under the terms of an intergovernmental agreement with Larimer County. "This is a commitment and more than a philosophical commitment," he said.

Mayor Doug Hutchinson went so far as to call that commitment a "solemn" one that the council intends to respect. At the same time, he said the city would demonstrate "balance and sensitivity" by addressing the concerns of enclave residents and business owners while phasing the annexation in over perhaps 10 years. "It looks to me the city can do things to minimize those impacts," he said.

County planning director Larry Timm said municipal annexation of enclaves is a very clear expectation in the IGA that has been in effect with the city for nearly 30 years. That agreement establishes growth management areas to encourage urban development within the boundary of cities, which are best able to provide services.

"When an area is surrounded by a city, it doesn't make sense for it to be unincorporated," said Timm.

"They've hidden behind the IGA," countered Collins. "To say you have to is not a justification."

Even if the law and the IGA enable Fort Collins to forcibly annex the enclave, Colter said, "Just because you can do something doesn't make it right."

Annexation fears

Despite the city staff's most recent mandate to find ways of softening the blow, annexation opponents remain unconvinced. Recent mailings and distribution of flyers in the enclave revived continuing fears and concerns. They center on increased fees for utilities, storm drainage and street improvements as well as imposition of more-restrictive city land use, health and safety and animal codes. Business owners also have complained that they would lose their competitive edge by being forced to collect city sales taxes.

"More than 400 'Mom and Pop' local businesses will be over-taxed, over-regulated, or gone," CAFA states in the postcard mailing. It rallies recipients to "save your neighborhood from higher taxes and more regulation" by being there to say no when "the City of Fort Collins starts the process to seize your neighborhood."

The provocative prose reveals that deep distrust of Fort Collins perhaps drives the opposition even beyond their more tangible concerns.

In its desire to beautify it southern gateway, Collins said, the city has shunned the South College antique malls and flea markets that draw untold thousands of shoppers. If those establishments are forced out of business by increased costs or their inability to meet city standards, he said, "the big fear is the city over time will make a deal with a developer to bulldoze it all."

Collins said the whole annexation proposal defies logic, especially given the considerable cost to the city - as well as area residents and businesses --for years to come. "Nobody from the city can tell why this is a good thing," he said.

Colter estimated the annexation would cost Fort Collins $4 million in the first year and $2 million for the next 14 years until it begins to break even. "We're a monster," she said. "We're a big bite for them when the council is dealing with all the financial issues it's dealing with."

Fort Collins currently is considering deep budget cuts to offset a projected $8 million budget deficit next year.

Without addressing the costs, which he said are yet to be exactly determined, Gloss said it is clear that it will be better to accomplish the annexation now rather later when costs will be even greater. Gloss conceded that the annexation issue has been difficult, but said conflict probably was unavoidable given the large number of people and properties involved.

"In a perfect world, you would annex only vacant ground," he said. "It's been a struggle."

Colter said it's a struggle the city can't count on continuing. Opponents are committed to carrying the fight as far as necessary, she said, because "we've got a way of life that needs to be preserved."