Longmont to consider broader district financing for development infrastructure
The Oct. 27 policy discussion could expand which projects may use metropolitan districts to help pay infrastructure costs; Beauprez Farms’ developers estimate nearly 29% of its 155.6 acres would serve public uses.
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Longmont City Council will discuss Oct. 27 whether to broaden the use of metropolitan districts to help pay major infrastructure costs at residential and mixed-use projects. Beauprez Farms is one example in the study-session packet, which frames the item as a policy discussion, not a request to approve the development or a district. Any specific district would still need city review and an approved service plan.
Longmont’s current rules generally allow metropolitan districts for commercial development, prohibit districts solely for residential development and limit residential uses to half of an eligible mixed-use project. Staff is asking whether Council would consider limited changes for projects with extraordinary infrastructure or remediation costs. A policy change could make district financing available to more qualifying proposals, but would not itself approve a district or development.
The proposed Beauprez Farms development covers 155.6 acres. Its developers estimate that about 44.6 acres — nearly 29% of the site — would be devoted to public-serving uses, including a school, parks and open space, or regional drainage facilities. They say district financing could help pay for regional drainage facilities, roads and utilities, Highway 66 access improvements, public open space and trails, and long-term drainage-facility maintenance. The developers argue the improvements need to be built together and upfront, and say the project is not financially feasible without this financing. No district or improvement package has been approved.
The developers also say some drainage and road improvements would benefit nearby properties and the wider area. The packet cautions that floodplain modeling is preliminary and that Council has not adopted a full watershed-level analysis, so those regional benefits remain part of the developers’ case rather than an established finding.
Longmont’s safeguards include a 50-mill cap for general-obligation debt and a requirement that district debt be paid within 40 years of the district’s creation. The packet says levies end when bonds are paid, unless Council approves a service-plan amendment allowing a levy to continue for maintenance.