Larimer County, Colorado

Regional Road and Park Impact Fee Study
   

For Larimer County, Duncan Associates, in association with Felsburg Holt & Ullevig, developed a county-wide system of impact for roads and parks that included its two key cities (Fort Collins and Loveland). The study noted that State statutes provide broad authority for Colorado cities and counties to cooperatively plan for and fund roads and parks and that the County had implied authority to impose road impact fees. Exactions for parks, however, could be imposed only during subdivision approval.The study pointed out that it was unlikely that the cities would be willing to

totally replace their road impact fees with a regional fee system. A more realistic option was a joint city/county fee system designed to fund improvements to selected roadways in the unincorporated area that primarily serve travel between the urban areas. Such a fee would supplement rather than replace other city and county road impact fees. A separate county road impact fee system was then established for other major county roads. The study indicated that the County should discontinue collecting the cities' road impact fees within their urbanizing fringe areas. In the end, the County adopted an ordinance implementing study recommendations, and Fort Collins participated in the plan, collecting fees and turning them over to the County.