Longmont City Council on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to creating a business improvement district to help move forward a long-planned and -discussed commercial development on a parcel on Hover Street south of Rogers Road.
The Longmont Fairgrounds Marketplace Business Improvement District would be allowed to issue up to $12 million in bonds to fund site preparation and infrastructure improvements on 16 acres of the 27-acre site that will be used for commercial development, according to a city staff report on the proposal.
The property, located north of Home Depot, has been eyed for development since 2006, the city report said. A final plat for the property was submitted to the city for review in April.
Longmont Mayor Brian Bagley during Tuesday night’s council meeting said developers have spent a lot of time coming up with plans for the property but without any results. Bagley said he didn’t want to waste any more city resources on the latest proposal if it comes up short as well.
“I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this if this isn’t making any progress,” Bagley said. “I want to know about it so we don’t waste any more time on it.
“This time let’s make sure we have the right experts and consultants in place,” he said.
Longmont Fairgrounds Partners LLC, bought the 26.93-acre tract in 2016. As currently proposed, about 16 acres of the site would be developed for commercial use including an office building, a small retail center and commercial pads, and a hotel inside the special district’s boundaries, according to the staff report.
The rest of the property is reserved for a multi-family project that is not included within the boundaries of the business improvement district, according to the city.
The creation of the district will help fund the considerable cost to prepare the property for development, according to the city.
Much of the property needs to be filled and graded to remove it from the floodplain. Other improvements include a regional-service storm drainage conveyance and detention, the staff report states.
A collector roadway connecting with Mountain Brooke Drive at Dry Creek Drive also needs to be built, according to the report.
The business improvement district would issue $12 million in bonds that would be repaid primarily through a property tax mill levy applied to the commercial development, according to the city. The plan sets a maximum levy of 50 mills on the commercial property.
Tuesday night was the first reading of the ordinance creating the LFM Business Improvement District. A second reading of the ordinance and public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 22.