By John Gardner
The Surveyor

A proposed development on the site of a contentious voter initiated effort that repealed an annexation to the town of Berthoud in 2014 is in the initial stages.

The Haworth property, located at the northwest corner of highway 56 and Larimer County Road 19 west of Highway 287, is apparently in the preliminary planning stages of development.

According to a document submitted to the Larimer County Planning Department from the Birdsall Group, a locally owned and operated architectural and planning company, the residential sketch plan includes a development called Longs Peak Farms. The plan proposes 43 single-family houses and 59 acres of open space on the 86.4 acre tract of land. The proposal includes 43 total residential lots; 41 of those would be on roughly half acre sized lots while the two others would be 13 and 29 acres. The property is currently zoned in the county as FA-1 Farming, but developers are trying to change the zoning to residential.

The Haworth property was originally annexed into Berthoud by trustees in October 2013, but was ultimately overturned by referendum in April 2014 because opposition had issues with the proposed density and with the property being annexed into town. The development at the time proposed 35 houses on the property.

Karen Sorenson, daughter of Red Haworth who owned the property, confirmed to the Surveyor that the property was under contract but that the sale wasn’t final. She said that she is happy to be moving on after the annexation repeal.

“We’re excited about it and we think it will be a good tribute to dad,” Sorenson said.

Berthoud Mayor David Gregg wasn’t surprised by the submitted development saying that what trustees feared would happen is now happening to the property.

“This plan has higher density on smaller lots and it’s completely out of the town’s control what happens there aesthetically and with code enforcement,” Gregg said. “The road they use to access the subdivision (CR19), we maintain the road and the town receives no property taxes and no fees to help cover the cost of maintenance.”

“The County gets all the revenue and none of the burden,” Gregg said.

The proposal technically has two entry points; one on CR19 and another on Highway 56.

According to the Larimer County planning department, developers submitted a sketch plan review in early June and there remains a lengthy process ahead. Developers still have to submit a preliminary plat for review by the Larimer County Planning Commission and then would also still need to receive approval of a final plat before any actual work could begin.