Timnath OKs last Ladera annexation despite April vote

TIMNATH — Even though passage of a citizen-initiated ballot issue on April 2 could delay or unravel plans for the massive Ladera mixed-use project, the Timnath Town Council on Tuesday chose not to wait for the results, unanimously approving the final 188.5-acre annexation, planned unit development overlay and rezoning for the development.

“The Ladera team is pleased that the town decided to annex and zone this uniquely situated property for regional mixed-use development, just as envisioned by the town for at least the last 20 years,” said Ladera developer Connell LLC in an email to BizWest after the meeting’s late-night conclusion. “We look forward to working with the town to realize the vision of a regional draw for Timnath residents and visitors to shop, enjoy restaurants and recreate while creating a financially sustainable and diversified future for the town.”

That impact was highlighted by Andy Arnold, founder of Pioneer Development Co., who estimated that revenue from the development could add $11 million a year to the town’s budget, minus $2.9 million to provide services, and added that “I’ve never seen a development bring this much new commercial space to a town relative to its size.”

The Town Council, in separate 5-0 votes, approved the annexation proposal, final plat, zoning amendment and planned-unit development overlay that Connell LLC said it needs to build Ladera, which would include 680,000 square feet of retail, 212,000 square feet of office space, 80,000 square feet of hospitality uses including a dual-branded hotel, and 100,000 square feet of industrial space.

The annexation includes a working gravel mine and asphalt plant operated by a company affiliated with the developer, Connell Resources LLC, that would be part of Ladera after mining is completed and the tract reclaimed. However, the citizen-initiated ballot measure 1A, if passed by Timnath voters, would retroactively amend the town charter, effectively nullifying the annexation by prohibiting Timnath from annexing areas being used for mining until reclamation work is complete.

Before Tuesday’s meeting, the town council held an executive session with attorneys to consider the legal ramifications of the annexation, including what effects passage of the ballot measure could have.

“The question is should we annex the land, and if so, do we do it now or wait until after the election,” asked council member Robert Axmacher, who is running to replace the term-limited Mark Soukup as Timnath’s next mayor.

Mayor Pro Tem Brett Hansen noted that the upcoming ballot issue “has boxed us into a corner” but he and other council members urged the town to act now because doing so could speed the reclamation and transition away from industrial uses on the site and the tax revenue the project would eventually generate would be critical for maintaining services to Timnath residents.

Some members of the public expressed concerns, however.

Patrick Groom, an attorney with Witwer, Oldenburg, Barry & Groom LLP who was representing three entities including developer Craig Harrison, said the annexation petition didn’t comply with provisions in a state law and the Colorado constitution. However, town attorney Carolyn Steffl said all the land to be annexed was either owned by Connell Resources or part of a public right-of-way.

And resident Irv Christy questioned who would be responsible for oversight of the asphalt operation if it were annexed into the town. He noted that town planner Kevin Koelbel had said during a Jan. 16 Planning Commission meeting that “the condition of any permitting does not transfer to the town since this is a county process and county approved” and that “the approved use is for resource extraction, and any change to this use would need to be brought into code compliance.” However, Christy said, in a Jan. 31 email, Frank Haug, an attorney for the Larimer County Board of Commissioners, said that “if the property is annexed, then the town will have jurisdiction and it will be up to the town to regulate and enforce issues on the property.”

John Warren, Connell Resources’ president, responded that state mining inspectors and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment have and would continue to have primary oversight. “None of these obligations will change.”

Resident Don Kehn also spoke against the annexation, noting that truck traffic to and from the asphalt plant “will tear up the roads” and that mining there “was to terminate no later than 2015, but nine years later, it’s still there. That asphalt plant could be there for perpetuity. Who knows whether this property will ever develop?”

However, Warren said the company should be done with the pit in about two years and then has five years to reclaim it — but that Ladera developers would like to hasten that timeline.

Dr. Bill Jenkins, one of the leaders of the Guide Our Growth citizens group that successfully launched a petition drive that led to a resounding public vote last June to block a Topgolf golf and entertainment center from locating in Ladera but expressed neutrality about the upcoming April 2 ballot issue, said he supported Ladera but worried about the implications of the council approving the annexation without waiting for the results of the April vote.

“My concern is the risk created if it was annexed and then the ballot initiative passes” and the annexation is rescinded, Jenkins told BizWest after the council’s approvals late Tuesday. “Property owners now have new property rights, and the potential is that 1A, if it passes, could take those property rights away or challenge them.

“Voters will have their say, and my hope is we don’t have additional legal problems,” Jenkins said. “I’ll feel a lot better about this after April 2.”

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