Greeley developer wants to create massive east side park using unprecedented process
By Trenton Sperry
One of Greeley’s most prolific developers wants to create an about 470-acre park with wetlands, lakes and meandering trails on the east side of the city, but the company wants to use a process apparently never tried before in Colorado. And the Greeley City Council seems to be on board.
Richmark Companies, a real estate development and oil and gas investment firm owned by the Richardson family – owners of a large portion of 8th Avenue in downtown Greeley, including the recently built Apartments at Maddie – has requested the city take a number of complicated steps to allow it to create a special district along the Poudre River immediately east of the Leprino Foods plant and north of Linn Grove Cemetery.
A parks and recreation district has never been pursued by a municipality in Colorado – at least, Greeley city staff said they haven’t been able to find an instance of one. So, here’s the general process Richmark has proposed:
The Greeley City Council defines special parks and rec districts via ordinance.
Council annexes some portion of the property under consideration – how much is currently unknown – into Greeley city limits.
Richmark brings a proposal for a special parks and rec district. Council votes on whether to allow it.
If the council approves of the Richmark proposal, a special election takes place in June. The only voters in that special election would be the landowners of the property to be developed (apparently only Richmark). The election would decide whether to create the proposed district, which would increase the number of mills (basically, tax increments) levied on the property.
The new special district works to create the park with the revenues from those property taxes, with limited oversight from the city.
Richmark envisions a short timeline for these actions to be completed. According to city documents, the company wants to “take advantage” of a special election cycle in June, meaning ballot language must be sent to the Weld County Clerk and Recorder in May. For that to happen, the city council would have to have an ordinance on special parks and recreation districts drawn up in the next few weeks, and council would have to pass that ordinance shortly after. Council is required to give the community ample time to respond to the ordinance’s changes, so it would have to wait a couple weeks to bring it back for final approval.
Once that special district ordinance is in city code, Richmark would bring its proposal to the council for approval. Again, supposing it gave initial approval, council would have to wait a couple more weeks to give the community time to respond, then the council would take up a second reading of the proposal and vote on giving it final approval.
All told, the council's actions alone require a couple months of maneuvering and votes.
Whether the proposed park would be open to the public – and to what extent – is up in the air. Rules about that would be subject to requirements for parks and rec districts drawn up by city staff, but even then the final rules for who is allowed in the park would be in Richmark’s proposal for the district – and eventually the district’s board, upon creation. Interim Deputy City Manager Becky Safarik noted Tuesday that public access to the park seems to be what Richmark intends.
According to city documents, Richmark initially intended to use the metro district process to create this development, along with more than 250 homes. Metro districts are legal maneuvers that allow developers and property owners to take on the full costs of development in a given region, letting municipalities off the hook for major costs like water, sewer and road infrastructure.
Metro districts have a dubious reputation nationwide and in Colorado because they tend to leave homeowners with unexpectedly large tax bills. It essentially allows developers to pass along costs and fees for services such as water to homeowners. Here’s why:
A developer proposes a metro district, and the question goes to a special election. The only participants in the election are the current landowners, of which the developers tend to be the only one.
Upon creation of the district, a board is created to oversee its funds. The board is generally made up only of representatives of the developer. So the developer essentially taxes themselves and uses the funds to build out homes in the area of the district.
As people move into those homes, they are taxed by the metro district. That money essentially reimburses the developer for the costs of development.
The amount of taxes paid by homeowners within the metro district can be quite large. For instance, city documents note metro districts in Colorado tend to increase mill levies by 50-70 mills. For comparison, Greeley-Evans School District 6 benefits from 50.373 mills on properties within its boundaries. The Greeley Downtown Development Authority benefits from 5 mills.
Richmark apparently expected to use oil and gas production taxes from the area to fund the metro district’s construction, but Safarik said a recent bill from the Colorado Legislature disallowed metro districts siphoning off oil and gas tax revenues. And that’s how Richmark arrived at its unique vision: It removed the homes from the proposal and kept the park.
Safarik said Tuesday that Richmark indicates it believes the park would increase property values in the region, which eventually would make building the 250 homes near the park more financially viable.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Ward I Councilman Tommy Butler said he’s opposed to metro districts generally, and he said the Richmark parks and rec district proposal smells of trouble. Safarik said management of the park eventually could be a matter of an agreement between the district’s board and the city, which Butler said sounds too complicated.
“I don’t think we should add an unaccountable layer of government that’s just run by the developer,” Butler said. “We’re creating a government to get into an intergovernmental agreement.”
Ward IV Councilman Dale Hall said he thinks that framing is “an overstatement.”
Mayor John Gates and at-large Councilman Ed Clark indicated support for the effort. Gates said the sketch of the park and recreation area is “beautiful,” and he said he thinks it would be good for the community.
At-large Councilman Brett Payton agreed, and he said he’s in support of Greeley being an “innovator.” He said he’s inclined to support the proposal, but he does have some qualms.
“I am concerned about your timeline,” Payton told the developers, who were in the room with the council Tuesday evening. “I don’t like the idea of moving fast on legislation. I think that’s how errors get made. I understand what you’re trying to do, but I think your timeline is a concern.”
Ward III Councilman Johnny Olson said he’s not against the proposal but that he would like more information, and he said he wants the city to spend some time considering the effort.
Just before it adjourned Tuesday evening, the council indicated to city staff there is a consensus on the council that staff move forward with developing an ordinance to allow special parks and recreation districts within the city. Because the council met during a work session instead of a regular meeting, that vote is unofficial and simply gives staff the go-ahead to continue pursuing the effort.
A formal vote on the creation of parks and recreation district language to be included in the Greeley Municipal Code would come at a later date.