City unveils 978-acre natural area that will connect to west Greeley entertainment plans

GREELEY — The City of Greeley has quietly been working for 20 years to purchase almost 1,000 acres in west Greeley to turn into a regional natural area.

And as it turns out, it might just be a complement to the plans the city is working out with for a hospitality and entertainment hub right next door.

It will be called Arroyo del Sol, a 978-acre natural area that straddles Colorado Highway 257 north of U.S Highway 34 Bypass and is home to at least 91 zoological and 168 plant species — one that hasn’t been seen in Weld County since the 1800s.

“There are several reasons the city pursued this,” Diana Frick, Greeley’s Culture, Parks and Recreation director, told the Greeley City Council in a work session Tuesday night. “It’s the largest open space east of I-25. It’s a site to become a regional recreational hub with planned future connections to the Poudre Trail, ensuring outdoor recreation will remain local and people won’t have to go out of the county” to find good trails and recreational areas.

According to a site concept plan, Arroyos del Sol’s “protected land provides for ecological and recreational needs in a region projected to have one of the highest growth rates in Colorado over the next 30 years. Greeley’s newest natural area is envisioned as a hub for biodiversity, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation.”

It also is very close to land that Windsor’s Martin Lind has proposed to build an entertainment district that could include ice arenas, a water park, hotel and commercial development.

“There’s going to be some conversation as we look at adjacent property,” City Manager Raymond Lee told the council in response to questions about the proximity to Lind properties. “There may be some opportunity of swapping land depending on how we want to look at it. There’s going to be some conversation as we look … at this open space.

“How do we bring all these elements together from a comprehensive approach? There’s openness to all of this conversation we’re having today as it relates to open space in west Greeley.”

The total cost to purchase the land came to $8.5 million — $5.5 from the city of Greeley’s Quality of Life tax, $1.25 million Great Outdoors Colorado, $1.25 million from the Land & Water Conservation Fund, $250,000 from the town of Windsor, and $200,000 from the North American Wetland Conservation Act fund.

The plan is to develop it in phases over several years into an extensive series of biking and hiking trails, an adventure play area, a pavilion and terrace, a bike skills course, and nature spots and interpretation areas at a cost of $22 million of $33.5 million.

The land is composed of about 600 acres to the east of Colorado Highway 257 and about 400 acres to its west, bordered to the north by the Poudre River. A portion of it also has apparently blocked the continuation of Fourth Street west toward the highway.

“I heard a rumor that this land is in the way of Fourth Street,” said Council Member Deb Deboutez.

Lee responded: “This is part of the conversation. If we look at land-swapping, private land, that some development owns, do we use that and incorporate some of that land into this project? That is still under conversation as it relates to infrastructure and gaining access to that property. We’re evaluating all that and how we’re getting people to that entertainment district.”

Frick said she will bring a resolution back to the City Council at an upcoming meeting to formally adopt the name Arroyo del Sol, named for the arroyos, or gullies that shape the landscape. It was once used for sheep herding, later oil and gas wells, all of which has been plugged and abandoned.

The site plan notes: “Arroyos del Sol’s evolution from homestead to agriculture and oil and gas production reflects the settlement and growth of Weld County.”

According to the plan, “700 acres of shortgrass prairie and arroyo habitat will be enhanced and protected as high quality habitat critical to declining species, including burrowing owls, ferruginous hawks, mountain plover, chestnut-collared longspur, and long-billed curlew.

“Arroyo habitat will be enhanced and protected as high-quality habitat and wildlife corridors for mammals, birds, and reptiles. Eleven acres of wetland and riparian floodplain will be enhanced and protected as high-quality habitat and wildlife corridor, contributing to the ecological health and resiliency of the region. More than 500 acres of black-tailed prairie dog habitat will be monitored and protected.”

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