Firestone, Longmont butt heads over butting limits

WELD COUNTY – The mayors of Firestone and Longmont are sitting down and talking to one another after several months of dispute between the two municipalities over land in southwest Weld County.

“The question before us is really how we’re going to manage growth in our region,´ said Chad Auer, the new mayor of Firestone who took office in early April. “I’m optimistic that cooler heads will prevail and we’ll be able to figure this out together.”

Both municipalities have taken steps to annex the rights-of-way along Colorado Highway 119 and Weld County Road 26. Firestone wants the land because two developments – Firelight Park and LifeBridge Christian Church’s Union development, both east of Longmont – have applied for annexation into Firestone. In order to annex both, Firestone needs the rights-of-way along the two roads.

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Longmont, meanwhile, wants the rights-of-way in order to block Firestone from annexing land that would butt the town up against Longmont city limits.

Longmont Mayor Roger Lange said it’s about keeping Longmont a free-standing city with open space on all sides.

“We have open space on the north, west and south, and we’re inclined to want it on all four sides,” he said. “Most communities want it that way.”

In March, Firestone town officials passed emergency ordinances to start annexing Firelight Park – a 74-acre housing development formerly known as Fairview Estates – and a “flagpole” annexation of 67 acres along Colo. 119 to reach the development.

Around the same time, Longmont filed a motion in Weld District Court to keep Firestone from annexing the land until the state decided who could have the Colo. 119 right-of-way. Longmont wants to annex the right-of-way along Colo. 119 between Sandstone Ranch and Boulder Creek – the same property Firestone wants to annex to reach Firelight Park.

CDOT stays neutral

With both municipalities wanting the same land, state law requires the property owner to decide. The Colorado Department of Transportation owns the right-of-way along Colo. 119, and Weld County owns the right of way along County Road 26.

But CDOT officials have said they will remain neutral, giving the nod to neither Firestone nor Longmont. And Weld County Commissioner Bill Jerke said no one has asked commissioners about County Road 26.

“We will simply wait until there is a question asked of us,” Jerke said. “Until that time, we’re not going to worry about it. We aren’t going to get involved in the dispute.”

The land along County Road 26 would be key for LifeBridge, which plans to develop 300 to 700 homes, 680,000 square feet of commercial development – including a 150,000-square-foot fitness center – and 1 million square feet for civic and religious use.

LifeBridge had previously applied for annexation into Longmont for its 313-acre development just south of Union Reservoir. The church withdrew its application last December because the issue had become extremely politically divisive. LifeBridge then applied for annexation into Firestone.

In its application, LifeBridge asked Firestone to annex the rights-of-way along Weld County Roads 7 and 26 from St. Vrain State Park to Weld County Road 23. A public hearing on the church’s development was scheduled in Firestone on May 8, after the Business Report went to press.

Annexation advantages

The church has the go-ahead to develop in unincorporated Weld County but has sought annexation into a municipality because of the advantages of being part of city water, sewer and utility systems.

The owners of the 74-acre Firelight Park site at the corner of Colo. 119 and Fairview Street also originally applied for annexation into Longmont. But when that process stretched into two years, homeowners applied for annexation into Firestone in March.

The dispute over the rights-of-way took a turn in April when Firestone elected a new mayor and three new trustees. The previous mayor and trustees were poised to proceed with the annexations, but the new administration has a different approach.

One of the first things Auer said he did after becoming mayor was have conversations with Lange.

“Part of it was just to get to know each other and open the lines of communication,´ said Auer, principal of Carbon Valley Academy charter school in Frederick and former chair of the Weld County Planning Commission. “This is a complex issue. My experience on the planning commission showed me that even in the most controversial issues there are a lot more options than first recognized.”

Martin Dickey, chief operating officer for the Corporation for Community Christian Connection, LifeBridge’s business arm, said he’s hopeful Firestone and Longmont officials will have a productive dialogue.

“We’re hopeful they’ll figure out a way to meet the needs of the property owners as well as the municipalities,” he said.