SOMERSET VILLAGE: A View Toward 2025

The Longmont Planning Area (LPA) was established by agreement between Boulder County and the City of Longmont. As defined by this agreement, the LPA is an “area of potential urbanization … which would not be interrupted by Boulder County Open Space.” The boundaries of the LPA have remained the same for decades, and has always included the Kanemoto Estates property as an area of potential urbanization.

The Third Amended Longmont Planning Area Comprehensive Development Plan Intergovernmental Agreement (the “CDP IGA”) defines the boundaries of the LPA and contractually binds the County to not obtain open space within the LPA and the City to not annex property outside of the LPA. The current LPA map can be viewed here: https://assets.bouldercounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/iga-map-longmont-planning-area.pdf.

An intergovernmental agreement is an agreement between two governmental bodies that allows them to make contractually binding agreements with respect to matters such as land use and development plans. The agreement memorializes that the City agrees not to annex land within the County outside the boundaries of the LPA, and the County agrees that it will not purchase land within the LPA for open space. An updated list of all land use intergovernmental agreements within the County can be viewed here: https://bouldercounty.gov/property-and-land/land-use/planning/intergovernmental-agreements-iga/.

The Transferred Development Rights (“TDR”) program in Boulder County was developed to transfer development rights from “TDR Sending Sites,” where the County determined development should not occur to areas “suitable for development,” referred to as “TDR receiving sites.” The intent was to promote cluster development within municipalities and to preserve rural open space outside of the municipal boundaries. A TDR receiving site is created by County approval of a plat for the property. The Kanemoto Estates property is one of the last TDR receiving sites approved by the County as suitable for development.

Annexation is the process by which municipalities incorporate new property, either before or after development. Municipalities have authority under the Colorado constitution to annex land contiguous to its present boundaries. Annexation requires the municipality to review a Concept Plan for the property and review development and land use decisions, such as zoning, subdivision, and platting, that may be approved for the property during the annexation process.

A conservation easement is a legal document that identifies a property for a certain set of uses. The Kanemoto agricultural conservation easement was established as a condition when one additional house was allowed to be constructed on the property. The conservation easement is used to produce hay grass and is not accessible by the public. In general, conservation easements purchased by the County’s open space program are perpetual in nature.

However, some conservation easements like the Kanemoto easement were not purchased with taxpayer money but were negotiated as part of a regulatory process, with the understanding that they may be terminated in the future. This is the method that Longmont and the County have been using to manage development along the perimeter of the City within the growth boundary.

Termination of the agricultural easement will provide the means for acquiring more open space. An agreement has been signed with Boulder County Parks & Open Space to fund $2,300,000 for that purpose. In addition, the Somerset Village plan allocates as much as 20% of the site to open space, including fields, pocket parks, plaza, water quality ponds, and landscape buffers with trails.

The St. Vrain Valley School District has indicated that they have sufficient capacity for the predicted Somerset Village school age population. The project will pay development fees to the District on a per household basis. The plan’s intent is to provide Early Childhood Education (ECE) and childcare onsite.

The impact of years of agricultural production on the land has resulted in there being no sensitive wildlife habitats on the property, and there are no endangered species or raptor nests on the property at this time.

Vehicles will access Somerset Village from Airport Road which has sufficient capacity for this traffic. The plan provides for a signalized intersection which will assist with turning movements and provide additional traffic control on Airport Road. Levels of service for most intersections in the vicinity will be maintained at or close to current levels after the Airport Road signalized intersection is installed. Traffic from Somerset Village will not have access into the adjacent Coal Creek neighborhood.

Building energy conservation and solar application guidelines will be prepared during the platting phase of the project with the intent for it to be an all-electric neighborhood and to minimize the project’s carbon footprint in support of Longmont’s goal of achieving Net-0 by 2035.