Growth moving into region?s small towns

The region?s small towns might not be small much longer.
Although the numbers are raw, it looks as if there is more new construction collectively going on in the hot spot small towns than there is in Fort Collins or Loveland. And depending on who is looking at those numbers, they represent a quest to be free from high fees, a desire for affordability/space or a harbinger of urban sprawl and traffic snarls.
?There is obviously growth in this area,? said Will Harper, broker associate with RE/MAX. ?People come here looking for quality of life and find that it is difficult to buy a home. Bricks and sticks aren?t the problem; plywood costs the same in Wellington or Fort Collins. It?s the prices of land and fees that vary.?
In fact, it has become popular belief that developers are looking outside the established urban centers in Larimer and Weld counties for land to build subdivisions because the fees for permits are too high, perhaps unreasonable. Gaye Stockman, president and CEO of the Loveland Chamber of Commerce, has a slightly different explanation for the small-town boom: When interest rates on mortgages went down to record lows, people started looking. Demand has been the primary driver.
?Low interest rates spurred a lot of interest in home buying,? she said. ?Some people wanted acreage, and some young families realized they could think about having a home.?
Not just starter homes
Outlying towns met buyer interest in land and price, a detail that accounts for the fact that smaller communities have not necessarily become magnets for starter home affordability. Even tiny Severance counts Fox Ridge (a subdivision with super-sized, south Fort Collins-style homes) and Timber Ridge (with a mix of large and small homes) in its inventory of new subdivisions. Eaton, too, offers a wide choice in new homes.
?Governor?s Ranch is in its third phase, and a couple of those homes cost over $400,000,? said Don Cadwallader, assistant to the town administrator in Eaton. ?The fourth phase is going to be upper end.?
While it is true that Eaton Commons (which filled more quickly than the town anticipated) features starter homes, the other subdivisions in Eaton?Hawkstone, Governor?s Commons and the new Maplewood?have from the beginning targeted a broad demographic. The appeal also includes a mature infrastructure and attractive amenities.
?Families from Fort Collins are relocating here,? Cadwallader said. ?Among other things, smaller schools mean that classes are smaller and students get more individual attention. Maplewood will have a major grocery store, a New West Bank and a strip mall.?
Although Wellington has been identified as an affordable bedroom community, deputy clerk Cynthia Sullivan pointed out that one of the seven new subdivisions (three of which are being built now) has been approved for one-acre lots.
?We have 15 different builders working in Wellington,? she said. ?A lot are geared for the first-time homeowner, but even so the minimum size for a lot is 6,500 square feet. There?s enough for a front and back yard.?

Contracting for planning
Given that the larger cities in Weld and Larimer counties depend on staffs of professional planners to manage all the steps in the permitting process, one might wonder how small towns cope with the complexities of reviewing development plans. The answer? When in doubt, contract it out. The Colorado Inspection Agency does all the reviews for Wellington and Severance.
?We do the initial site plan review and then send the architectural plans and map to the Colorado Inspection Agency for their review,? said John Holden, city administrator for Severance. ?We handle the permit process internally.?
In the Town of Frederick, Kathy Larson manages the building and planning department. But while she knows all the details of the five major subdivisions in her town and all the builders at work in them, she was responsible for none of the planning.
?Carrie McCool is our planner,? she said. ?Her company makes it easy for developers to come here.?
McCool is, in fact, one of several consulting planners working in the area.
?Bruce Nickerson is the consultant for Firestone, and TetraTech RMC consults with Dacono,? McCool said. ?My company, McCool Development Solutions, works with both Frederick and Berthoud.?
McCool said a small town trying to deal with growth pressures will often turn to a consultant rather than try to hire a full-time planner who would not be able to keep up with the demand.

Smooth sailing
?I have five planners in Frederick, and we?re swamped,? she said. ?People living in Denver have realized that from Frederick they can get to town quickly, but have a lot more house for the money. Developers like to work with companies like ours because we can get them through the permitting process smoothly.?
It appears that growth is adaptive. Despite the stress caused by a bulge in demand for housing and a consequent surge in building activity to provide the supply, homebuilders can find land to build on and experienced planners to assist them in even the smallest towns. Real estate agents have a supply of homes to meet a broad range of budgets, and homebuyers still have a chance to ride the foam left by the low-interest mortgage wave.
So why are those who take the long economic view not hanging up a Mission Accomplished banner?
?We would like to see people living closer to where they work,? said J.J. Johnson, president and CEO of the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation. ?Transportation will be an increasing challenge, as will developing a long-term sustainable water supply and funding higher education.?

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