Why do you think the southwest and northwest corners of Baseline and 119th should be open space?

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You can read our opinions about this here. But we’re not the only ones who think this.

 

Lafayette’s 2019 Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan Update—which was developed with residents’ input—identified this land as one of the top priorities for open space acquisition. It’s the missing piece of agricultural land needed to connect the open space bookends of Lafayette’s Old Town Pond on the west with the Powers Marsh—one of the Front Range’s most preeminent wetlands—on the east.

 

In addition, the Lafayette Open Space Board’s Proposed Open Space Acquisition/Conservation Projects list for Boulder County purchase participation states:

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"Land North and South of Baseline Road and West of 119th Street. Area 6 from PROS Plan. Approx. Acres: 81.51. This property flanking Baseline Road West of 119th St. forms a buffer to Old Town Lafayette on the Eastern edge of the city. Adjacent land was recently purchased by partners Boulder County and Lafayette known as the Waneka Centennial Farm. This property has connectivity for farming, trail access and wildlife movement corridors to the Waneka Centennial Farm and would be managed in conjunction with that property. With swift development occurring all around this parcel, securing it as open space for future generations is a high priority to the residents of Lafayette and Boulder County."

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Doesn’t the city’s comprehensive plan call for this land to be a mixed-use development? Why doesn’t the comp plan say it should be open space?

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The Legacy Lafayette 2021 Comprehensive Plan uses this land as an example of a property that could be mixed use. It does not require that kind of land use. Substantial sections of the comp plan are also devoted to the importance of open space and our city’s commitment to it. For example:

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1) The plan outlines four planning frameworks for Lafayette: Community Character, Environmental Stewardship, Connected Community and Strong Economy. On page 10 of the plan, it notes: “Given the importance of parks, recreation, and open space to shaping the character of the community and to protecting and enhancing the environment, Element 4 (Parks, Recreation, Open Space, and Wildlife Habitat) spans BOTH the Community Character and Environmental Stewardship frameworks.”

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2) On page 12, there’s this statement: “Lafayette is committed to the preservation of open space and wildlife habitat as part of its overall objectives tied to environmental stewardship.”

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3) Page 72 defines the city’s vision of open space, which fits the property at Baseline and 119th: “Open Space identifies land owned by the City of Lafayette that is preserved for natural resources, landscapes, wildlife habitat, and corridors. It also functions as a buffer from surrounding communities and preserves agricultural activities in and around Lafayette.”

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4) On pages 75-76, the Parks, Recreation, Open Space and Wildlife Habitat Strategies that apply to this property include:

• Continue to acquire open space that is consistent with guidelines and objectives outlined in the Lafayette Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan.

• Evaluate missing sections of the Open Space and Trails network and develop a plan to complete the network.

• Locate development outside of riparian and sensitive habitat areas.

• Protect large patches of contiguous habitat areas and the habitat corridors that connect them.

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The comp plan also incorporates Lafayette’s 2019 Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan Update. Here’s what that plan says under Recommendation #3: Continue Open Space System Maturation (page 18):

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"Figure 1 illustrates the recommended areas for focus to continue the enhancement of the Open Space and trails systems. It is important to note that the “areas” identified are deliberately vague and are drawn to encompass the Open Space values that they contain (e.g., wildlife habitat, trail potential, visual quality, community buffer, system connectivity) rather than specific parcel boundaries, to help protect future acquisition opportunities."

This is why the comprehensive plan doesn’t specify potential open space acquisitions. If property owners know the city is interested in purchasing their land for open space that could affect the sales price. 

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Can the city afford to buy this land as open space?

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Lafayette funds our open space through two local sales and use tax initiatives approved by city voters:

• Legacy tax: 0.25% for land acquisition and maintenance

• POST Tax: 0.25% for maintenance, enhancements and preservation

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The legacy tax operates in perpetuity, meaning Lafayette can issue purchase bonds against it. In addition, Boulder County and neighboring municipalities can contribute their own open space funds for Lafayette open space purchases. Lafayette has partnered with Boulder County and Louisville in the past on such purchases.

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Who owns the land?

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The land has been owned by the Waneka family for decades. The current landowner has lived in Wyoming for many years, and has been selling all of the family land. Read more about how Lafayette has purchased some of this land.

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When the Preserve Lafayette team met with representatives from Kairoi Residential in winter 2023, they told us they have an option to purchase the southwest and northwest parcels at Baseline and 119th. They didn’t say for what price or how long the option lasts.

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How much has the Waneka family made on sales of their land along Baseline?

 

Approximately $12.2 million. 

 

(Note: This doesn’t include what Kairoi Residential has contracted to pay for the 78 acres at Baseline and 119th Street that are currently under consideration for development. That purchase option price is not public record).

 

According to city records, in 2007, Lowe’s bought 23.5 acres of the family’s property on the southeast corner of Baseline and 119th for about $3.6 million. The property was never developed, and in 2020, the city of Lafayette bought the land from Lowe’s for $3.3 million for open space. 

 

According to city and county records, in 2019, the city paid $650,000 for the Waneka Centennial Farm and its surrounding land (directly east of the Lowe’s land) and about $1 million for the Old Town Pond and open space buffer along Burlington and Emma. The city and county split the $6.9 million purchase price for 131 acres of Waneka land east of the Centennial Farm. All of this land is now open space. 

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Doesn’t the landowner have a right to sell the land to a developer or develop the land themselves?

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The landowner definitely has the right to sell the land to whomever they want. But they or the buyers don’t have an automatic right to develop the land.

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Both of the parcels are zoned Boulder County agricultural, which allows one house per 35 acres. In order to develop this property in any other way, it must be annexed to an adjoining city and rezoned under that city’s codes.

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Under the terms of a 2019 intergovernmental agreement between Erie and Lafayette, only Lafayette may annex this land. It would then be up to the Lafayette city council to vote yay or nay on rezoning, development plans and annexation.

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Who is the developer?

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Kairoi Residential, which is based in Texas, has an option to purchase and develop the property. According to its website, Kairoi has transacted 69,000 multifamily units in 11 states, including Colorado, since 2003. The website says “our specialties are Class A+ urban, high-rise projects.”

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Norris Design sent out the notification about the neighborhood meeting. Their website says they have offices in Colorado, Texas and Arizona. Locally, they’ve developed the 1,200-unit Baseline East Village in Broomfield, at Highway 7 and Sheridan Parkway.

 

How would the land annexation work?

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According to the city’s Annexation User’s Guide, the landowner/developer would need to file a Petition for Annexation with the city. This doesn’t permit an annexation, but rather states that the applicant is in substantial compliance with the state’s requirements for annexation petitions.

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The city staff prepares an Annexation Impact Report, and the council must hold a public hearing for any Petition for Annexation. It then votes on the petition. A yes vote only means the council found the petition is in compliance with state statutes, including being adjacent to city limits. It doesn’t mean the council will approve annexation or is required to. The petition must be approved before the developer can submit plans and begin participating in the city’s planning process.

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Preserve Lafayette members were told by Lafayette Planning Director Steven Williams that the city timeline for the Baseline and 119th property calls for council to vote on the developer’s sketch and preliminary plans before voting on rezoning and annexation. This means there will be no annexation vote before we know what this development would look like, including key issues like number and types of units, density, height, water use, traffic impact and what will be done with the oil wells on the property.

 

What if the Lafayette city council approves an annexation?

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If the council votes to approve this annexation, the Lafayette city code allows registered electors to petition to hold an election to challenge that annexation.

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According to the city code, “no land which is annexed by the City of Lafayette shall be zoned until sixty (60) days following the date of final approval by the City Council of the annexation. If within that time, a petition signed by at least three percent of the registered electors of the city, as of the date of the last city election, requesting that such annexation be repealed or submitted to a vote of the electors, then no permit or other development approval shall be issued for development on the annexed land until approved by the voters in a referendum.” On the matter of challenging annexations, Lafayette code is in compliance Colorado state law.

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Should city council vote to approve this annexation, Preserve Lafayette will follow all legal procedures to challenge it.

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How would the potential development plan process work, and what opportunities would there be for public comment?

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Because the current city code doesn’t have zoning criteria for this property, the developer would need to file a planned unit development (PUD) application that attempts to justify why this development is in the public interest.

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The city PUD process calls for the developer to hold a neighborhood meeting and then submit plans in phases. The first phase is a sketch plan that includes the lot layout, number and type of dwelling units, dwelling units per acre, building heights and massing, commercial square footage, street system, number of parking spaces, green space designations and a landscape plan. The sketch plan also needs to show there’s enough water, utility, public safety and school capacity to service the development.

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If the sketch plan is approved by the planning commission and city council, then there will be preliminary and final plans that detail things like architectural style, lighting, and other nuts and bolts of the development. These plans are supposed to take into account public comments.

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For each of these phases, there will be public hearings before both the planning commission and city council during which anyone can speak about the plans, with a five-minute limit. We will keep you posted about those meetings, should they happen.

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According to the city code, for rezoning, the property owner must submit an application, which is reviewed by city staff. That application then goes before the planning commission. Following a public hearing, the PC votes to either recommend or not recommend the application to council. Then council holds a public hearing on the application, followed by a council vote.

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In regard to timing for all of this, Lafayette Planning Director Steven Williams told us he estimates the whole process will take “the better part of a year at minimum for all of the application materials to be assembled, reviewed, updated and work their way through each step of the process. They could take several months longer depending on the quality of a submittal and the extent of comments that the applicant receives.” (Note: These comments could come from the public, city council, planning commission or staff.)

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What about water and traffic issues if the site is developed?

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Lafayette requires all developers to either bring their own water or purchase it from the city. This is what the developer wrote in their narrative for their annexation petition (we’ve emphasized a key point in bold): 

 

“Kairoi has secured rights to water resources that are planned to serve a large portion of the Project. Although the City does not at present have all of the water resources necessary to serve the full buildout of the Project, Kairoi will continue to collaborate with the City to procure additional water resources necessary to serve the Project based on Kairoi’s phased development of the Project.” 

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Regarding traffic, according to city code, the developer’s preliminary plan requires a traffic study. The codes says this traffic study must analyze “the impacts of the proposed development on surrounding streets, trails, bicycle and pedestrian ways. The study shall incorporate traffic assumptions for surrounding undeveloped land based on either approved development plans or on proposed land uses identified in the Lafayette Comprehensive Plan.”

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The traffic study will be in the preliminary plan materials submitted to both the Lafayette planning commission and city council. These materials will be included in the agenda packets for public hearings before both the PC and council.

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What about the oil wells on the southern part of the property?

 

​According to Boulder County records, in March 2024, Kairoi acquired the surface oil, gas and mineral rights on the property. At the Feb. 27 neighborhood meeting, a Kairoi representative said the company plans to cap the wells. He didn’t say how this would be done.