Inside Firestone
Mayor Auer Attends Planning Commission Meeting Regarding the Firestone Master Plan and Intergovernmental Cooperation
On Wednesday, February 3, 2010, Mayor Chad Auer paid a visit to the Firestone Planning Commission at their regularly scheduled meeting. Mayor Auer thanked the Planning Commissioners for their hard work in keeping Firestone a regional leader in land use planning and development quality, specifically through their efforts in overseeing the ongoing updates to the Firestone Master Plan. The Firestone Master Plan is the Town’s key land use and development policy document. The Planning Commission is currently preparing a 2010 update to the Plan, which is scheduled to be formally considered in May.
Mayor Auer provided an update on some of the recent positive and constructive intergovernmental projects that the Firestone Board has pursued. The Mayor noted that the Firestone Board entered into a landmark agreement with Weld County regarding the Firestone Urban Renewal Authority (see the Inside Firestone article titled: Firestone and Weld County Enter Into Landmark Intergovernmental Agreement).
Additionally, Mayor Auer discussed a recent proposal that Firestone made to the City of Longmont, in an effort to encourage regional cooperation. The Mayor described to the Planning Commissions that the Firestone Town Board supported a written cooperative land use proposal to the City of Longmont that could benefit both communities. The basis for the proposal was to help Longmont meet some of their stated planning goals, including not having a contiguous boundary with any other municipality, including Firestone and protecting their open space areas.
The Mayor noted that it was the Firelight and Union property owners that had petitioned to be annexed into Firestone and that they had successfully been zoned for appropriate land uses through the Town’s adopted land development process. As a result of that process, the Town does have the authority to secure ten percent of the Firelight and Union properties for parks and open space. Mayor Auer explained that the Town put forth a proposal to Longmont where the Town with use such authority to place a Firestone park and trail corridor on the western portions of the Union and Firelight properties (see attached map).
Given that the Town only has the noted ten percent of the property to work with, the acreage would not be huge, but would still be significant for a park and trail corridor. The Mayor stated that the Town could de-annex the trail corridor (while still owning it) and thus create a disconnection between the two communities. Mayor Auer also noted that Firestone could limit its planned western urban growth boundary to approximately Fairview Street.
In summary, the Mayor noted that the Town’s proposal to Longmont would provide for a:
- Firestone public park across from Longmont’s open space near Union Reservoir;
- Public trail corridor buffer between the two communities that would provide an interconnection between Longmont’s Sandstone Ranch and the new Firestone park and the associated trail corridors of both communities;
- Physical separation of the municipal boundaries in this area; and
- Fixed limit on the Town’s western boundary.
Mayor Auer stated that all of these concepts are open for coordination with both the City of Longmont and the property owners. The proposal from Firestone to Longmont is based on the positive and constructive position of the Firestone Town Board of Trustees in working with its neighbors.
The Firestone Planning Commissioners appreciated the update from Mayor Auer and applauded the efforts of the Firestone Town Board in working with Weld County and the proposal to the City of Longmont.
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