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City set to annex 138-acre parcel to create more open space

More open space annexations to follow
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A heron enjoys the waters at Golden Ponds Nature Area. (Photo by Matt Maenpaa)

 

Longmont is poised to add another huge link in an open space chain that will encircle the perimeter of the city over the next several years.

A public hearing and decision by the city council is scheduled for April 14 to annex into the city 138 acres of property located southeast of Longmont. The council approved an annexation referral for the parcel in June 2021.

Both the city of Longmont and Boulder County have petitioned for the annexation in hopes of preserving the land for unscarred open space, Longmont Principal Planner Ava Pecherzewski said via email.

“… The Peschel Annexation is one of the larger open space annexations that the city has done in quite a few years,” Pecherzewski said. “It has been a goal of the city and Boulder County (the joint owner of the property) for this property to come into city jurisdiction.”   

The land consists of six acres of Quicksilver Road right-of-way in Boulder County and 132 acres of jointly-owned open space property, known as the Peschel Open Space, on the east side of County Line Road, south of Colo. 119 and St. Vrain Creek and north of Country Road 20.5 in unincorporated Weld County.

Longmont intends to keep the property zoned for agriculture and for use as public open space along the St. Vrain Greenway, according to a city staff report to the city council.

The report notes that the property has a conservation easement limiting its use to strictly open space and farming.

An even larger annexation request consisting of 368 acres of McIntosh Lake open space, is scheduled to be presented to the city council in May, Pecherzewski said.

“The city is working toward additional open space acquisitions that surround the perimeter of the city and is likely these open space parcels will also be annexed in the coming years,” she said.