Homebuilders prepare for deluge at Del Camino

DEL CAMINO – The area commonly known as Del Camino is about to gain a few new residents.

Weld County officials estimate up to 17,000 residential properties will be presented to county planning officials for approval in the Del Camino district by the end of the year.

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Del Camino, or Weld County’s Mixed Use Development Area, straddles Interstate 25 and encompasses approximately 23 square miles from Weld County Road 32 on the north, County Road 20 on the south, County Road 13.5 on the east and County Road 1 – the Boulder County line – on the west. The area is not square and the borders adjust accordingly.

“It is a jigsaw area of the county that is experiencing so much growth it has been annexed into by several other cities from Thornton to Mead,´ said Bill Jerke, Weld County Commissioner.

“The growth potential for this area seems unlimited because of its location in south Weld County, you are a 30-minute drive from south Denver and you are right on the interstate,” he said.

Mead, Longmont, Firestone and Frederick have all annexed into this area, which traditionally served as a commercial hub around I-25 and Colorado Highway 119, filled with service stations, fast-food restaurants, small hotels and distribution businesses.

During the past decade, growth on the Front Range has encouraged the residential boom as Denver and Northern Colorado residents look for affordable housing. As the towns grew, they each recognized the need to expand their individual limits toward Interstate 25.

“Firestone annexed into the MUD seven years ago,´ said Cheri Andersen, Firestone Town Administrator. “We are located on the east side of the Interstate and a majority of the MUD is on the west. But, Firestone did annex up to the Colorado Highway 119 and I-25 interchange, but not on the west side.”

A majority of the residential growth in Firestone has occurred along Weld County Road 13 – which is not included in the MUD – but developers are quickly discovering and developing land located in the MUD.

“We have 17,710 residential units that we know of in the MUD,´ said Monica Mika, director, Weld County Planning Services. “Some guys are looking at having a 50-year build out, so we are working with projects in various conceptual stages.” Mika said the county recognizes the growth and is working with developers to manage the process.

“There is an obvious concentration of urban development in this area,” she said. “The total number of projects is a hard target to hit and overall the county is looking at this area to be an urbanized core.”

Mika said the department has approved 1,342 of the 17,710 proposed lots, and other approvals are pending further planning.

Jeff Demaske, owner of Journey Homes and J& J Construction, hopes his new development at the intersection of Weld County roads 11 and 22 will attract people who want to be close to the interstate. The development opens in late 2005 and at build out will contain 355 homes.

“We will have the same product line as in our other neighborhoods and we will have one line that is 10 percent bigger,” Demaske said. “The average lot in our other areas are around 7,500 (square feet) and these lots are 11,000 to 12,000, so they deserve a little bigger house.”

US Home started selling homes in its Monarch Estates development two years ago and sales were initially slow because of the development’s location in the MUD. The 125-site neighborhood is located in Firestone, one mile south of Highway 119 on County Road 11.

“We are out here sitting by ourselves and competition drives traffic, but our location is part of our appeal,´ said Suzanne Hedien, new home consultant for Lennar Homes, parent company of US Home. “We don’t have as much traffic (as homes along County Road 13) and we are less than a minute from I-25.”