The Ladera project — which will feature restaurants, shopping areas and office space — will continue being developed after Timnath voters overwhelmingly rejected a measure about it last Tuesday.
The project is is located at the southeast corner of I-25 and East Harmony Road. Developers will convert more than 200 acres of land into 680,000 square feet of retail and hundreds of thousands of square feet for office and industrial spaces.
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Still, the vote has many implications for the area. KUNC reporter and host Emma VandenEindespoke with BizWest editor and publisher Chris Wood to learn more.
The Timnath town council unanimously approved the annexation proposal in February, but some members of the public were worried about being tasked with cleanup duties.
Some acreage of the Ladera project includes a working gravel mine run by Connell Resources LLC, affiliated with Ladera's developer Connell LLC. Connell LLC had its reclamation plan approved by the state in 2001, but they had to make a bond of $532,000 at the time with the state to ensure the area is reclaimed as planned.
“Opponents of the project fear that the town could be on the hook for reclaiming the site if it were to be abandoned before reclamation occurs,” Wood said.
The company will have to file an amendment to the reclamation plan and wait for state approval since the mixed-use development is being added to the area and reclamation plans have changed.
Opponents pushed for the town to vote on the annexation, hoping to prevent the town from acquiring the mining area until reclamation work is complete.
The latest vote, however, maintained the status quo, with 409 votes in favor of stalling the project and 1,573 votes opposed to further project delays.
This isn’t the only major development project in Northern Colorado. Nearby, Johnstown is undergoing significant development, including the future additions of a Kroger Co. Fulfillment Center, Woods Supermarket, and the recent unveiling of the nearly 120-pump gas station and convenience store Buc-ee’s, which opened in March. Boulder is also redeveloping 10 acres in one of its main shopping centers.
None of the development projects have come without community opposition, and that includes Ladera.
“Ladera has been a very controversial development," Wood said. "I think we're going to see more of that as this area develops."
There has also been an increase in recent years in ballot measures proposed by the public about aspects of development, with several measures popping up in Fort Collins, Windsor, Boulder and other area communities. Regarding the Ladera development, one ballot measure succeeded in preventing the construction of a proposed Topgolf facility.
“We've seen a lot of citizen activism, and there have been a lot of ballot measures where citizens have taken measures to the ballot, in some cases to overturn town actions, and in some cases, just to generate their own project,” Wood said. “I think we're going to see more of this sort of activism.”
Wood said there has not been much public comment on the issue after the vote to move forward with the Ladera annexation last Tuesday. Bill Jenkins, who created the local group Guide Our Growth to oppose the proposed Topgolf complex, was elected to the Timnath town council last Tuesday.
“Jenkins did not oppose Ladera itself, though he did believe that the town should have delayed the annexation until after last week's vote,” Wood said. “He told The Coloradan that it was time to move on from this particular ballot measure.”
Despite the vote, there are some hurdles remaining for the Ladera project. It will need approval from the planning commission and amendments to the mining permits and reclamation plans will need to be approved by the state. Those actions will take years to complete.
