Range of Timnath developments under way, planned

TIMNATH – Timnath is a diamond in the rough. Spectacular vistas, the Poudre River and lots of wide open spaces make this tiny community of 230 residents dazzle in a region where growth continues on the fast track.

Take your pictures now, because it’s all about to change. Except for the open space, that is.

Even as developers plot their subdivisions and developments – five are on board with others on deck – high density has, for the most part, taken a back seat to open space. Timanth’s Town Planning Commission made sure of it by insisting developers dedicate 25 percent of any project to open space.

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But is Timnath ready?

“As much as anyone can be,´ said Tim Katers, owner of Katers & Associates in Loveland and Timnath’s town planner. Timnath residents seem to be behind the growth as well. “It takes four to five people to do a referendum on any annexation, and nobody’s done it,” Katers said. “We’ve annexed a lot of ground in a year and a half. It would have been easy to try and stop it. They’ve realized we’re not going to be a town of 200 on septic systems listening to I-25 noise the rest of our lives, with chickens in the yard. It’s going to change and we wanted to get a hold of it.”

Working with a town as poised for growth as Timnath has been a boon for Northern Colorado developers. “When a developer and a town work cooperatively and proactively, you get a superior product,´ said Dino DiTullio, who’s working on Timnath Farms South. “You may not always get what you want per se from the developer side of the table, but you do end up with a superior development when you don’t have to work in an adversarial setting.”

Jon Turner, Timnath Ranch manager, said the town had several major issues that could only have been addressed if there were several master plans moving forward at the same time. “With the complexity and size of the developments, you need several people on the the same stage at the same time.”

The issues were indeed huge. What to do about drainage? How to bring a sewer line to a community that has been on septic from day one? And transportation issues pertaining to thousands of new residents. Developers are responsible for bringing in all utilities to their sites, including sewer line, and the designation of Timnath as an Urban Renewal Authority project means the town will receive any increase in property tax revenue generated for up to 25 years.

Annexations fuel development

Before the annexations in 2004, however, Timnath was essentially a tiny hamlet of 200 acres. The Timnath Ranch Annexation (northeast corner of Larimer County roads 36 and 3)  added 595.63 acres; Harmony Annexation (between Harmony Road and County Road 40, near the Larimer-Weld line) added 646.56 acres; Timnath Farms North (north of Harmony and east of original Timnath) added 470.56 acres, and Timnath Farms South (southeast corner of County Roads 36 and 3) added another 374.60 acres. Timnath now covers – leave your calculators in your pockets – 2,287.35 acres, or 3.6 square miles.

Other developments on tap include the Smith-Basset Farm, located at the northeast corner of County Road 5 and Prospect Road, and the Flatiron Property at the northeast corner of Interstate 25 and Harmony Road.

In 2002, Timnath released its model land code, a 300-page document detailing how the community will grow to a town of 11,000 residents or more. Most of the development is planned for the north and south of Harmony Road, which extends east past I-25. Today it’s a two-lane county road, but at build-out it will have three lanes in each direction, Katers said. Build-out, however, could be 20 years down the road.

So what will the new Timnath look like?

Timnath’s downtown will move east and a new Larimer County Road 5 parkway will be constructed as part of Timnath Farms North, property being developed by Timnath resident and former Colorado Rockies owner Jerry McMorris.

The concept plat for McMorris’s project includes 233 ares of low-density housing lots,  26 acres for mixed-use/employment centers, 18 acres for downtown mixed use and a downtown core area of 60 acres. About 106 acres will remain open space accessible to the public. In all, the development could bring 3,024 residents to the town.

Golf resort-style living

Golf fanatics are anxiously awaiting the opening of Harmony, the golf-club/resort community that will be home to a James J. Engh-designed course. Engh, a graduate of Colorado State University, was named by Golf Digest as Architect of the Year in 2003 and has won numerous other Golf Digest awards for best public and private courses. Sanctuary at Castle Pines, Fossil Trace in Golden and Snowmass Club in Aspen are among the courses he has created.

“He’s the best architect you’ve never heard of,´ said Byron Collins, who is developing the upscale golf community.

In addition to serving private club members, the course will be home to CSU men’s and women’s golf teams. The clubhouse will have separate facilities for CSU golfers, including indoor/outdoor access to the shooting range. Collins, also a CSU graduate, said this was simply something he wanted to offer his alma mater. CSU fund-raising groups will furnish the clubhouse.

Collins said Harmony will offer resort-style living without having to leave home – a place where snowbirds will be surrounded by as much luxury as found in their winter escapes in Arizona or California. Still, he expects all age groups to be drawn to

Harmony.

The first 73 lots should be ready by year’s end, Collins said. And though Northern Colorado is becoming populated by golf courses, he said such sites have become increasingly popular with non-golfers. Even just five years ago, most homeowners living along a golf course played the game, and now it’s just the opposite. “Two-thirds want to live in a golf community – even though they don’t play golf – to take advantage of the beauty, amenities and lifestyle.”

Harmony will have 80 acres of native open spaces, 80 acres of improved trails and parks and the 240 acres provided by the golf course. “That’s huge. We think we’ll have a quiet, peaceful location right in the middle of all the activities,” Collins said.

Farm and Ranch, no agriculture

Development partners Dino DiTullio and Jon Turner each are taking the lead on separate projects in Timnath. DiTullio is overseeing Timnath Farms South, acquired from Jerry McMorris, and Turner has the reins on Timnath Ranch. Turner noted that the two are taking a second look at both developments, which are adjacent to one another, to see how they can be revised to better tie in together.

“One goal is to see how parks and trails can interconnect to allow children routes to school without crossing busy intersections,” Turner said.

Timnath Farms South will have 750 residential units with lots ranging from 10,000 square feet to one acre, with a variety of price points planned. The concept plan calls for 266 acres of low-density residential housing and eight acres of mixed-use commercial development. Sixty acres will be left as public open space.

Timnath Ranch is a mixed-use master plan with residential, commercial and industrial. The property backs up to the Walker Manufacturing complex, a company that makes riding lawnmowers. As a result, the inclusion of small industrial made sense, Turner said. “The demand for industrial is very strong.”

Townhomes, patio homes and single-family homes will all find a place in Timnath Ranch, with up to 1,694 residences projected. Plans include a 20-acre community park and 67 acres of open space. Senior residences might be included in the future, Turner said, “but we haven’t dialed that in very close; the site is on hold.”

Robert Bisetti and John Donaldson, doing business as Majestic Investment Group LLC, have 388 acres on the northeast corner of Prospect Road and County Road 5, on which they plan 363 single-family lots that range in size from one-quarter acre to one-half-acre.

Bisetti describes the project as “a rural development with urban amenities.” A recreation center for residents, a health club, pools, tennis courts and a mini-amphitheater for weddings and other events are all part of the plan.

Open space – again – will be front and center. “This area lends itself to really have a project that is not as dense, to create a feeling of having space. There will be no back-to-back lots. Everything backs to water or open space.

Bisetti said he expects to see home prices starting at the $400,000 mark and on up. “The lakefront lots will attract the bigger buyer.”

The Flatiron Property at the northeast corner of I-25 and Harmony Road, still in the review process, is expected to be a large commercial development. Katers said it has the potential to attract a big-box store with a couple additional retail pads available. Definitive plans for the site have not been finalized.