LONGMONT — “Blight” is a loaded word, but city leaders are willing to say it to help boost the city’s aging mall.
The Longmont City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday night to deem 175 acres surrounding Twin Peaks Mall a blighted area.
Doing so expands the area that the council could decide to include in an urban renewal plan — and increases the amount of sales and property tax revenue the council could decide to tap into to help redevelop the mall.
That doesn’t mean the land is part of an urban renewal area — yet. And it doesn’t mean the city will promise any tax revenue to help revitalize the mall — yet. But it is the first step for the council to do so, if it decides to partner with mall owner Panattoni Development Co.
Some council members said urban renewal is the only way to get the mall generating money for city coffers again.
“This is the vehicle that will get us there, and without it, I don’t think we’ll get there,” Mayor Roger Lange said. “It’s a complex issue, but I think it’s the right thing to do.”
State urban renewal law defines 11 blight conditions, such as inadequate street layout, deteriorating buildings and unsanitary or unsafe conditions. At least four blight conditions must exist for property to be eligible to be included in an urban renewal area.
A survey of the property between Hover and Sunset streets and Nelson Road and Ken Pratt Boulevard found that nine of the 11 blight conditions exist in the area.
But at least two City Council members, Brian Hansen and Sarah Levison, questioned whether those blight conditions actually exist in the area surrounding the mall and voted against deeming the area blighted.
Hansen said if the council can find blight on these 175 acres, “we can blight most of the businesses in Longmont, frankly.”
Both he and Levison questioned whether finding blight and planning to use urban renewal in the area was appropriate.
“My threshold of blight is, I would say, a lot higher than what these conditions are,” Levison said.
But other council members said “blight” is a loaded word that conjures up images of the rickety and rundown. But “blight” is also a legal term defined by state law — not by the city. They also argued that urban renewal is the only way to help boost the mall and ensure that future development around it is appropriate and adequate.
“If we do nothing, there will be no future growth in that area,” Councilwoman Mary Blue said.
The council originally declared 80 acres immediately surrounding the mall as blighted last spring, and city employees started creating an urban renewal plan for the area. Panattoni also was moving forward on plans to do an initial phase of development that included a new movie theater.
The City Council, however, called a time-out on all those plans late last summer, fearing that phased development might hinder how the entire mall — and the area around the mall — would build out in the future. After organizing a two-day design workshop in the fall to develop a vision for the area, the council voted in December to update and expand the original 80-acre blight study to include the entire 175 acres.
The expanded area includes 49 parcels; 16 property owners; and businesses such as Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, The Flower Bin Garden Center and Nursery, and Nelson Road Self Storage.
The original 80 acres is assessed at $17.5 million in property tax value and generated $1.7 million last year in sales tax revenue for the city. The expanded area would bring in an additional $11.8 million in property tax value and $1.6 million in sales tax revenue, for a total of more than $32 million.
With the council’s vote Tuesday night, city officials now will organize meetings in April and May for property owners and residents. The draft urban renewal plan would go to the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission in late May, and to the City Council for final approval in mid-July.
