The Town of Berthoud just held its first public meeting concerning the 184-acre Bader property, west of Taft/LCR 17 and bisected by US 287. The property was annexed into Berthoud in 2007 and rezoned to Planned Unit Development with a maximum density of 562 dwelling units (3.5 per acre) and 419,000 SF of commercial space. Recently the developer submitted a preliminary plat application for Phase 1 of the project. The plans include approximately 34 acres of commercial development, 38 acres of single family and patio homes — 172 units, with 17 acres of high-density residential.
At the same time, Prairie Star subdivision (east of LCR 17) is now under construction and the Heron Pointe annexation south of LCR 14/Highway 60 and bisected by LCR 17 was approved by the Board of Trustees in January. The neighbors, who were already upset by the Heron Pointe project in particular, are getting more irate.
A group of neighborhood activists has created a website, https://sites.google.com/site/sw42ndtaftneighbors/ to mobilize against Heron Pointe. The group hired an attorney to oversee the collection of signatures of registered voters in Berthoud to force the Heron Point annexation to a public vote (even though the property is within the Town’s Growth Management Area). However on March 10 the Town Clerk announced that the signatures weren’t valid, leaving the petition proponents arguing the Town is “nitpicking” to stop the effort.
Regardless of the neighbors’ claims to the contrary, Berthoud has observed legal requirements and done as much as any government typically does to garner citizen input on these land use applications. Unfortunately for Heron Pointe opposition group, they don’t live in Berthoud and the Board of Trustees was in no way beholden to them. REALTORS should always advise clients to check the status of vacant property near homes in which they have interest. Just because a lot is undeveloped now, they should never assume that it will remain so.
IRES MLS: Come Home to Colorado 