Loveland adds 87 acres of open space
$1.5 million purchase at 57th and Taft will enable the city to extend its recreation trail
The
city has bought 87 acres at the northeast corner of Taft Avenue and
57th Street, seen here Tuesday, to add to its open-space inventory. The
property also will allow the city to make a connection in its recreation
trail. (Jenny Sparks / Loveland Reporter-Herald)
LOVELAND -- The city of
Loveland has bought a piece of farmland on the northwest edge of town
that is loaded with possibilities, but they're all long-term.
The 87-acre parcel at the northeast corner of Taft Avenue and 57th Street, purchased Aug. 8 for $1.5 million, joins Loveland's open-space portfolio, and it moves the city closer to being able to close a gap in its popular recreation trail. "This acquisition serves as a great connection piece for us," said Janet Meisel-Burns, senior parks planner. The Loveland Recreation Trail was supposed to be completed in 2000 as a 20-mile loop around the city, but two gaps remain, including the piece between the trail's end at 57th and Taft and the U.S. 287 underpass near the north Wal-Mart. This parcel would serve as our first trail connection from the west back over to 287," she said. But the new property will take the trail only halfway to U.S. 287.
The rest of the route was to be built as new homes were developed southwest of Wal-Mart, but the recession stalled that. The Wintergreen development now going in south of Wal-Mart will allow the city to build about a third of a mile of trail this winter, she said.
The 87-acre property offers the possibility of putting the trail along its southern edge, paralleling 57th Street, or winding it through the property along the Louden Ditch, according to natural areas resource coordinator Brian Hayes. "I think we have two or three different options already drawn up as to how we could wind the trail through the property," he said.
'We're at Least Three Years Out'
But Meisel-Burns said that won't happen immediately.
"It was great to get the land, but that doesn't mean the trail is going to open anytime soon," she said, explaining that construction of that stretch is targeted for the 2017 budget. "So there's a chance that it could be completed in 2018. We're at least three years out."
Hayes said the 87-acre purchase, the largest since the city acquired the 121-acre former Agilent open space in 2011, is currently being farmed. The farmer who leases the land plans to plant dryland winter wheat next month, he said. In the short term, the land will continue to be farmed, Hayes said, but in the future it could be restored to shortgrass prairie, and the wetlands along Dry Creek could be enhanced and used for environmental education and other public uses. The purchase came with 10 units of Colorado-Big Thompson Project water and three shares of Louden Ditch water, which could be used for irrigation or wetlands restoration, he said.
A farmhouse built in about 1879 and some outbuildings sit on the
property along Taft Avenue. Hayes said the old stone house hasn't been
occupied in 25 or 30 years and is in bad shape. The city will explore
its options, including possible historic preservation, he said.
Hayes said the parcel was identified in the city's 2008 study of natural areas around Loveland. "It has wildlife value with the wetlands," he said. "It also has excellent views of the surrounding separator properties and excellent views of the foothills and the mountains to the west." Community Separator
The land, which is outside city limits, becomes another of the "separators" between Loveland and Fort Collins. To that end, the Larimer County Advisory Board will vote Thursday night on a proposal to contribute $200,000 toward the purchase of the land.
If the board approves the expenditure, the proposal would go to the Larimer County commissioners on Tuesday for their consideration, according to Kerri Rollins, the county's Open Lands Program manager.
"The Loveland-Fort Collins corridor has always been a primary emphasis for the three entities that receive the open-space sales tax," she said. "It was a huge effort to connect properties and make a community separator. This property certainly adds to that."
The new open space touches the southeast corner of the city of Fort Collins' 973-acre McKee Farm open space and opens a path for a regional trail connecting Loveland and Fort Collins in the west.
But before the cities and county pursue that trail, they first will connect on the east side, Meisel-Burns said, on the Front Range Trail.
"That's our No. 1 priority," she said. "Fort Collins is coming down off their Power Line Trail. They will have their piece constructed by next year."
Fort Collins' section ends at County Road 32 (Carpenter Road), where Larimer County will pick up and build the trail south to County Road 30. Loveland, meanwhile, will extend its trail from where it veers off County Road 11C and go up to meet the county's section, she said.
Meisel-Burns said the city and county will apply for some grants for that trail extension.
"If we get the grants, the design will take place in 2015, and the construction will take place either in late 2015 or 2016," she said.
The 87-acre parcel at the northeast corner of Taft Avenue and 57th Street, purchased Aug. 8 for $1.5 million, joins Loveland's open-space portfolio, and it moves the city closer to being able to close a gap in its popular recreation trail. "This acquisition serves as a great connection piece for us," said Janet Meisel-Burns, senior parks planner. The Loveland Recreation Trail was supposed to be completed in 2000 as a 20-mile loop around the city, but two gaps remain, including the piece between the trail's end at 57th and Taft and the U.S. 287 underpass near the north Wal-Mart. This parcel would serve as our first trail connection from the west back over to 287," she said. But the new property will take the trail only halfway to U.S. 287.
The rest of the route was to be built as new homes were developed southwest of Wal-Mart, but the recession stalled that. The Wintergreen development now going in south of Wal-Mart will allow the city to build about a third of a mile of trail this winter, she said.
The 87-acre property offers the possibility of putting the trail along its southern edge, paralleling 57th Street, or winding it through the property along the Louden Ditch, according to natural areas resource coordinator Brian Hayes. "I think we have two or three different options already drawn up as to how we could wind the trail through the property," he said.
'We're at Least Three Years Out'
But Meisel-Burns said that won't happen immediately.
"It was great to get the land, but that doesn't mean the trail is going to open anytime soon," she said, explaining that construction of that stretch is targeted for the 2017 budget. "So there's a chance that it could be completed in 2018. We're at least three years out."
Hayes said the 87-acre purchase, the largest since the city acquired the 121-acre former Agilent open space in 2011, is currently being farmed. The farmer who leases the land plans to plant dryland winter wheat next month, he said. In the short term, the land will continue to be farmed, Hayes said, but in the future it could be restored to shortgrass prairie, and the wetlands along Dry Creek could be enhanced and used for environmental education and other public uses. The purchase came with 10 units of Colorado-Big Thompson Project water and three shares of Louden Ditch water, which could be used for irrigation or wetlands restoration, he said.
Thomas
Stilwell of Loveland rides his bike Tuesday as his dog, Dozier, runs
ahead of him on the Loveland Recreation Trail near Arlington Street just
south of 50th Street in Loveland. The city recently bought 87 acres of
land in northwest Loveland that will allow it to eventually connect this
portion of the trail with the section that ends near the north Wal-Mart
store. (Jenny Sparks / Loveland Reporter-Herald)
Hayes said the parcel was identified in the city's 2008 study of natural areas around Loveland. "It has wildlife value with the wetlands," he said. "It also has excellent views of the surrounding separator properties and excellent views of the foothills and the mountains to the west." Community Separator
The land, which is outside city limits, becomes another of the "separators" between Loveland and Fort Collins. To that end, the Larimer County Advisory Board will vote Thursday night on a proposal to contribute $200,000 toward the purchase of the land.
If the board approves the expenditure, the proposal would go to the Larimer County commissioners on Tuesday for their consideration, according to Kerri Rollins, the county's Open Lands Program manager.
"The Loveland-Fort Collins corridor has always been a primary emphasis for the three entities that receive the open-space sales tax," she said. "It was a huge effort to connect properties and make a community separator. This property certainly adds to that."
The new open space touches the southeast corner of the city of Fort Collins' 973-acre McKee Farm open space and opens a path for a regional trail connecting Loveland and Fort Collins in the west.
But before the cities and county pursue that trail, they first will connect on the east side, Meisel-Burns said, on the Front Range Trail.
"That's our No. 1 priority," she said. "Fort Collins is coming down off their Power Line Trail. They will have their piece constructed by next year."
Fort Collins' section ends at County Road 32 (Carpenter Road), where Larimer County will pick up and build the trail south to County Road 30. Loveland, meanwhile, will extend its trail from where it veers off County Road 11C and go up to meet the county's section, she said.
Meisel-Burns said the city and county will apply for some grants for that trail extension.
"If we get the grants, the design will take place in 2015, and the construction will take place either in late 2015 or 2016," she said.
