Housing sprouts with spring in Timnath
By Dan MacArthur
Fossil Creek Current
Homes are busting out all over Timnath, finally fulfilling plans for the
town's transition to a community of pricey properties connected by trails
and its own wireless Internet service.
In addition to that residential development, work is expected to begin
by June on the Wal-Mart Supercenter that will fuel that transition with
the estimated $1 million in annual sales tax revenues to the town. However,
there's no apparent progress now at the Wal-Mart site at the northeast
corner of Interstate 25 and Harmony Road as developers prepare to install
a sewer line and apply for the appropriate permits to proceed.
So far this year, building permits have been issued for 29 homes valued
at $11.52 million. That compares with 21 permits for properties valued
at $8.92 million in 2006, according to figures provided by the town.
Six of those homes are located in Harmony. The high-end, 646-acre subdivision
of 515 lots surrounding a private golf course is located a mile east of
the original townsite. Harmony also won the residency race as the first
new subdivision with an occupied home, according to building permits coordinator
Linda Greiss.
Harmony developers scored another ace in securing the first permits to
build commercial public facilities in Timnath. Two permits were issued
for constructing quarters for the Colorado State University golf team as
well as a maintenance facility. Together the two structures were valued
at nearly $1.9 million.
Construction project manager Gary Smith said Harmony is "going gang-busters"
with half the infrastructure installed and work started on the golf clubhouse
and the second phase of the development.
The application for a liquor license at the Harmony Club will be the first
in town since the Colorado Feed and Grain's license was revoked more than
two years ago.
Activity was hottest in Summerfields, where the remaining building permits
were issued. Greiss said certificates of occupancy were issued for six
completed show homes in the community of 758 semi-custom home lots on 375
acres on the southeast corner of County Roads 3 and 36. Access to the property
was improved in April with the paving of CR 3 from Harmony Road to its
intersection with CR 36.
Greiss said she expects building permits will be issued early this month
for the Serratoga Falls development of 363 lots on 388 acres at the northeast
intersection of CR 5 and Prospect Road.
Grading work also is underway at Wildwing, a 283-acre development of an
equal number of upscale single-family and cluster homes north and east
of Timnath Reservoir.
Smith said grading is complete at the new elementary school site in the
Timnath Ranch development of 1,422 lots on 595 acres situated between Harmony
and Summerfields. He estimated that construction could begin early this
month.
Timnath is getting into the act itself with work to begin soon on a new
public works building located southeast of the Walker Manufacturing facility
on Harmony Road. The 8,400-square-foot steel structure will provide public
meeting rooms, offices for town officials and bays for storing town vehicles
and equipment.
But the original town has not been forgotten in the rush. Smith said the
town council this month will consider a design for installing a sewage
system to replace inadequate and often-failing septic systems.
Plans for replacing the Harmony Road bridge over the Poudre River and widening
the road, he said, are not yet in the design phase, although work still
could begin later this year.
Timnath's current population of 227 is expected to grow 50-fold to almost
12,000 with build-out of the 4,657 planned residential units.
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