South College Corridor plan in works

By Dan MacArthur
Fossil Creek Current

Fort Collins officials received a civil if reserved welcome from the throng gathered for the first step of a yearlong effort to develop a plan for the South College Corridor.

The corridor--and the sales taxes it generates--was the prize most sought by the city as part of the nearly three square miles enveloped in the Southwest Enclave Annexation. Annexation of the island surrounded by Fort Collins took effect last year after city voters rejected a ballot issue seeking to stop it. The election was forced by opponents as the last stand in their long battle to remain in unincorporated Larimer County beyond the city's grasp.

Public officials and planners sought to salve any lingering resentments with sandwiches, sodas and assurances. They insisted that business owners and residents will have a serious say and part in the process.

"We're going to do everything we can do to make this work," Mayor Doug Hutchinson told at least 130 people packed into a church meeting room at the November open house. "We want to make this transition as smooth as we can."

City Manager Darin Atteberry was similarly conciliatory. Given that the annexation was already accomplished, he asked that development of a corridor plan be used as "an opportunity to move forward."

"It is not the intent to force our vision," he said. "Hold us accountable for that."

It was a challenge participants appeared to embrace as they dug into the details of developing a 20-year plan for the corridor. It encompasses 608 acres of mostly commercial or vacant properties along College Avenue extending from Harmony to Carpenter roads.

The plan will deal with all issues such as land-use, urban design, infrastructure and open space associated with the future form and function of the corridor. It also will address transportation matters, including the eventual widening of South College to a six-lane divided highway - a particularly sensitive issue that will affect access to businesses in the corridor.

Starting last fall, the process will continue through November. The plan then is scheduled to go before the city council, which will consider its adoption following a public hearing.

In between, planners and consultants outlined an ambitious plan-development process they said was designed to offer extensive public involvement through individual interviews, workshops, review of draft documents and public hearings.

Upon completion of the ongoing inventory and analysis, a visioning workshop will be conducted in February at a date yet to be announced. It will be followed by a public hearing, leading up to the development of a framework plan by June. Implementation strategies then will be evaluated through August, when the city council and planning commission will review the results. A public closeout event is set for September followed by a public hearing before the planning commission in October.

Some clearly remained unassuaged, including Karen Rose, a property owner and leader of the citizens group fighting the annexation. She said the mayor and city manager's assurances of communicating with and involving residents "rang hollow" given the city's continuing unwillingness or inability to answer questions surrounding the annexation.

"I sure heard a lot of different ideas and actually very little about the annexation," said city planner and project manager Timothy Wilder. "We have been doing a lot of one-on-one interviews with many different stakeholders, and there are a lot of great ideas that we'll be exploring in the corridor plan."