By: John Callis
Longmont city council approved the annexation of 348 acres north of Colorado highway 119 near Union Reservoir for a development built by Life Bridge Church. Houses, townhouses, and apartments would be built on 142 acres, 57 acres for civic and religious uses; and 40 acres of “mixed use“development that would include shops, offices and lofts. The plans also include 300 to 700 homes; 680,000 square feet of commercial development, including a 150,000 square foot sports arena and fitness center; and a 1 million square feet of religious and civil construction.
Many residents question the project’s environmental and traffic impact, effects on estimated revenue projections and traffic congestion. Many also question how the tax exempt status of both the church and its nonprofit business organization—Corporation for Community Christian Connections—Would effect the amount to tax revenue the city would collect from the development.
A group of residents will be circulating petitions to overturn the Longmont city council’s recent approval of life Bridge Christine Church’s 348-acre Union development. The group hopes to have enough signatures to put the church’s development before voters in a special election; it has until September 26th to collect signatures from at least 4,021 registered voters to pass the referendum.
Some residents are concerned the religious –based project will bring unwanted political implications to the city and would cost the city millions of dollars a year building and servicing an infrastructure for the proposed Life Bridge project. One of the most contentious issues would be how the development would be taxed.
With home sales being the worst it has been in years, foreclosures in our area the highest for Boulder Country, and new homes sitting empty I feel now is a really bad time to be building estate homes and shops that are so far from Longmont. Traffic issues are also another concern. Our town cannot afford this enclave. Our city council voted to annex this property with promises to build a fire station, staff the station and provide several other amenities yet our city manager, Gordon Pedrow has stated over and over again that there is not enough tax revenues to support what we already have. I see this as fiscal ineptitude on his part and that of the city council. We all know that if we are going to maintain a managed budget we do not spend more than what we bring in or we find ourselves filing BANKRUPTCY. Just like our national government we could find ourselves leaving a huge debt for our children.
So, what does this mean? I see it has higher taxes for the folks of Longmont and lower services. If this development fails, then the city of Longmont will have to pick up the pieces. Remember… Churches and everything connected to a ministry are non-profit and do not pay taxes. The homes and shops may also have exempt status because of the church non-profit status. At this point we really don’t know. If the city does not repeal this then the voters will have a chance to vote on it. None of us want to see urban sprawl, congestion of our traffic ways, more pollution, destruction of wild life habitats, reduction of services and a huge budget deficit.
The city council is being negligent in their duties to say the least if they allow this annex to go ahead. Do we need more mansions in this town? NO! Especially if they are sitting empty. Has anyone looked at main street? A good portion of the buildings are empty. So why build more shops so far away from the main city? This project, if built should stay in Weld County and let them deal with it. The only reason Life Bridge and 4C Corp wants it in Longmont is so they can access our water and services for a huge savings (14 mil to start and it doesn’t end there). So, responsible citizens of Longmont it is your duty to vote NO on Life Bridge Annex. Thank you to all the folks who gathered petition signatures so it could be placed on the ballot for a vote. This is democracy in action. It may also save our city from Bankruptcy.
Now that the issue is going before the voters it will be interesting to see what they have to say about this development that has religious implications as well as tax issues. I have friends that have very strong feelings about the city providing services to this project and the possibility of not having a tax base.
Interesting to note that LifeBridge Church has already been approved for development in Weld county and yet have decided to start their project in Longmont.
I am not completely opposed to new developments because I believe every citizen has the right to fulfill their dream of home ownership and choose where they want to live. Growth is inevitable, the key is to plan developments that will serve the entire comminity as a whole and not cater to special groups,
Subject: Longmont LifeBridge Church update
The Longmomt City Council voted to hold a special election in January to let Longmont residents decide whether to give the LifeBridge Christian Church project a go ahead to proceed. Previously, the council had voted to annex the property, but opponents collected enough signatures in a petition drive to force the City Council
to reconsider.
Critics say the project would cost the city more money in services than it would receive in property tax revenues due to the current tax exempt status. There are too many questions that need to be answered before this
project can move forward. The church has already been approved in Weld County and many opponents of the project think that they should build there and let Weld County provide services.
And the next step is on about 13 Dec 2007, Lifebridge saw the writing on the wall and decided to withdraw their application for annexation. They are going to build in unincorporated Weld count.