Frisco – The debate over bringing a Home Depot to this mountain community isn’t simply an oft-repeated feud over the presence of “big box” stores – although clearly it is that, too.
A special election Tuesday also focuses on the role that the town should play in either encouraging development or passively allowing it and guiding it.
“It’s a battle over the future of Frisco. And it’s not just rhetoric when we say the issue is preserving the mountain character of our community,” said George Sherman, head of one of two opposition campaigns.
At issue is a neglected triangle of land wedged between Interstate 70 and the back of an existing strip mall and a Wal-Mart store, known as the “9.4 acre parcel,” that the town purchased for $1.2 million in the late 1990s for future development.
Now appraised at $6.2 million, town officials decided this year to sell it to a commercial enterprise, seeking the quick cash infusion as well as the continuing tax generator of a big box.
“The real bottom line on this is it’s about money,” acknowledged Chris Eby, a prominent local real-estate agent, former member of the Town Council and ardent supporter of the project. “We live and die with sales-tax revenues … and our sales-tax revenues are not keeping in line with the expenses of the town.”
Frisco officials estimate that by 2020, Frisco’s present-day $6 million operating budget no longer will cover its needs, based on the current trends.
The constant quest for sales- tax dollars has fueled similar debates throughout the mountains, pitting neighbors against neighbors and, in some cases, towns against each other as they wrestle with sacrificing their unique community identities for cash contributions from chain stores.
Often, as in Granby, the appearance of the big chains drives other “mom and pop” establishments out of business.
In other places, such as in Avon, Silverthorne and Glenwood Springs, big boxes like Target, Wal-Mart and Lowe’s are seen as economic saviors in the face of rapid population growth, sometimes even warranting hefty tax breaks as incentives to lure companies into town.
There were no such deals in Frisco, which had several suitors.
In addition to the estimated $1 million in annual sales taxes promised by Home Depot, supporters point to other benefits, such as a promise from the company to contribute $200,000 to affordable-housing efforts and to build a new playground and ballfields, and a commitment by the town to use the cash from the land sale to establish a new countywide campus for Colorado Mountain College.
Critics raise the familiar concerns about big boxes – that they drive local stores out of business, burden roads with more traffic and stand as ugly monoliths with huge parking lots.
And in Frisco, the twist is that Tuesday’s referendum only directs the town to begin negotiations with Home Depot, leaving many to question what it is they’re voting on.
Town manager Michael Penny notes that the ballot language clearly spells out the minimum requirements for a deal, including the $6.2 million purchase price and the list of amenities to be provided by Home Depot, and he pointed out that the company, which bested six others that placed bids, didn’t flinch.
Among those eliminated was local hardware-store owner Don Sather, who proposed a “green” mixed-use property with a supply of smaller stores, restaurants, affordable housing and integration with a transit hub.
“Ours was a little more complicated, but the net effects would be better,” said Sather, who joined the opposition campaign. “But it’s an easy decision for a governmental body to look at one developer who comes in and does one thing and who can give you lots of treats up front.”
The debate has polarized residents, who have been voting early in whopping numbers.
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
