Bill to end abuses to URA law
Areas designated as Urban Renewal Areas are now prohibited from containing any agricultural land
BY DAVID YOUNG
April 15, 2010
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100415/BUSINESS/4150331The difference between fertile farmland and urban blight is more strictly defined today.
Gov. Bill Ritter signed House Bill 1007, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Randy Fischer of Fort Collins, into law Wednesday.
The bill prohibits any area that has been designated as an Urban Renewal Area, or URA, from containing any agricultural land.
There are certain exceptions in the legislation, such as if each public entity involved with the land agrees to include the property in a URA.
Fischer proposed the bill to end what he viewed as abuses of the URA law in Loveland and Timnath.
Loveland developer Mc-Whinney used the URA law to capitalize on incentives and help them develop m uch of their property on the Interstate 25/U.S. 34 intersection.
Driving past farmland en route to Denver every week, Fischer said it was hard to understand how the area could be considered blighted.
Fischer said tax increment financing, or TIF, used to help develop in urban renewal areas diverts an estimated $50 million of school revenue, which is being backfilled by the state.
"I think my bill is intended to stop the growth in that school backfill piece, but it won't stop entirely," he said. "I see this urban renewal statute being abused, and I think that starting around the time the Centerra development was done developers figured out they could declare farmland blighted and could receive a large TIF... Developers see this as an entitlement, it's really critical we put the brakes on this now."
In 2004, the Loveland City Council approved an Urban Renewal Authority covering about 1,300 acres of farmland in Centerra developments on both sides of I-25.
Centerra's URA and the city's finance agreement permits one of Centerra's metropolitan districts to use a portion of property taxes collected within the URA to pay for public improvements such as roads, utility lines, parking lots and other amenities.
The improvements, worth tens of millions of dollars, are paid for by a portion of the property taxes in the URA until it dissolves in 2029.
Jay Hardy, vice president and manager of Centerra, said that, while opposed to the legislation, he understands where it is coming from.
For any piece of URA legislation, Hardy said the most important aspect is having all parties at the table, which McWhinney did with its URA. From the school district, City of Loveland and Larimer County, Hardy said all saw the benefits of Centerra's URA.
"You don't have to look very far to see the value of it," Hardy said, citing the current improvements being made at Crossroads Boulevard and I-25 and U.S. 34 intersections. "When done correctly it is a great economic tool."
Hardy believes the URA would have been approved even if Fischer's bill were in place at the time because all parties agreed it was needed.
Fischer said Timnath used nearly the same playbook to develop farmland at Harmony and I-25 for the new Walmart Supercenter and homes throughout the town's growth management area.
Timnath Town Manager Becky Davidson declined comment.
Christina Vincent, redevelopment program administrator with the city of Fort Collins, said the city supported the bill.
"URA is the elimination of blight, but keeping in the urban environment and keeping away from pristine farmland," Vincent said.
Residents of Fort Collins can rest assured the bill is protecting farmland in Northern Colorado and slowing urban sprawl, Vincent said.
Fort Collins officials have worked to create URAs only in urban corridors as they were intended, Vincent said citing the North College Avenue URA, which has spawned $100 million in investments such as King Soopers and Rocky Mountain Innovation Initi-ative's new building.
"I do not think this will prevent growth," she said. "I think this will make a clear line between what should and should not happen with economic growth."
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