Editorial: A DDA could give downtown Loveland some love

The city of Loveland has been working intensely for several years to reclaim its historic downtown, a process that hasn’t been easy. Toward that end, the city has taken on an ambitious project to purchase buildings and land so that it can take control of some of its blighted blocks and turn them into more successful enterprises.

The town’s rich arts community got a boost last year when it got state funding to help renovate the historic Loveland Feed & Grain building. That project now is well on its way to becoming a successful live/work project for artists.

The renovation of the historic Rialto Theater has lent much-needed energy to the neighborhood and several major residential projects are keeping people in town at night and on weekends, creating markets for restaurants and shops that haven’t existed for decades.

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But it’s been clear for some time now that downtown Loveland needs its own economic development agency to act as a leader and facilitator for the area, as it once had years ago. Feb. 10, downtown property owners and residents will be asked to approve a new downtown development authority. The city council has already agreed to put $5 million into the proposed agency, with the rest of its revenue coming from taxes collected on properties within the district.

We hope the measure is approved. Look at every other city in the region, from Greeley to Longmont to Fort Collins. All have a DDA to look out for the area’s interest and facilitate development.

As always, there is concern from Larimer County commissioners that the property taxes that will flow to the proposed DDA are too large and will cost the county too much.

But we’re encouraged that the commissioners are working with the city to ensure that tax revenues are shared as equitably as possible.

The city of Loveland has worked too hard in recent years to let an opportunity to create a new DDA slip away. We urge the property owners in the area to vote yes.