Another white flag is being raised in the border war between the southwest Weld County town of Firestone and Longmont, this time in the form of a green buffer zone between the two communities.
The idea is being pitched by Firestone officials in hopes of easing tension over that town’s recent annexation of land for development along Longmont’s eastern edge.
Longmont officials say they want their city to be a “standalone community” with borders not touching another municipality. They say Firestone’s annexations would hinder that goal.
Firestone officials said they have a right to expand town borders to increase its tax base by promoting housing and retail development.
The conflict has spurred lawsuits. However, a new Longmont City Council has said it wants to settle those suits and repair relations with Firestone.
The buffer being proposed by Firestone would enable Longmont to keep from having a contiguous boundary with any other community, said Firestone Mayor Chad Auer.
“It’s part of an ongoing effort to try and strike a collaborative agreement between the two communities,” he said.
Firestone’s plan calls for a 40-foot-wide corridor going along Fairview Street north from Colorado 119 and then stretching northeast near Union Reservoir. It would then connect with a new 10-acre park, which would rest near the Firestone’s annexed Firelight and Union properties — which abuts Longmont’s eastern border.
“This is one way that maybe we can come up with a collaborative way for our two communities to co-exist and still touch up against each other,” Auer said.
Firestone has the authority to set aside 10 percent of its annexed land for parks and open space.
Firestone contacted Longmont with its proposal last week.
Longmont officials did not return calls for comment. But Longmont Mayor Bryan Baum told the Longmont Times-Call newspaper last week that Firestone’s idea had its shortcomings.
“All they’re doing is putting a park on a property line,” Baum was quoted as saying in the Times-Call.
Auer said he hopes an agreement can be reached.
“The easy thing to do is to dig in our heels and leave this as a court battle,” he said. “But I don’t think that is in the best interest of the region.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
