On Oct. 14 the Clay County Board of County Commissioners voted to adopt an ordinance amending Ordinance 2017-9 (as amended by Ordinance 2023-22) to expand the Wilford Preserve Community Development District to include an additional 135.1 acres and to convey roads in the Cheswick South Platte area to the CDD.

The ordinance passed 4-1 after a public hearing and discussion that focused on how assessments, trustee fees and long-term maintenance obligations would be managed. The board’s action will add the new acreage to the district’s boundary and make the properties within that expansion subject to the CDD’s assessments and operations.

The expansion will increase the CDD’s total area to roughly 477.65 acres, and the developer representatives said the change will incorporate about 232 dwelling units into the district. Attorney Wes Haber, representing the CDD, told commissioners that “I can represent to you that this will be the final amendment” to the district boundary for this project, and he described the public meetings and consents collected from property buyers in the expansion area.

A member of the public, Helena Cormier, urged the board to consider long-term effects on homeowners and raised concerns about continuing boundary amendments and trustee fees. “I was trying to review this item and realize that this is basically a CDD that has been extending and extending,” she told the board during public comment. Cormier asked how assessments and trustee costs would be split and whether existing residents would see higher charges.

The CDD’s chairman, Louis Cowling, told commissioners the district’s current operations budget is flat for this fiscal year. “We don't have any increase in our budget this year for O and M. It's flat lined,” Cowling said, adding the district is working to maintain costs through vendor agreements.

County staff and the CDD’s counsel described the governance and turnover schedule for the board. Under state statute and the district’s current schedule, two resident seats turned over in 2024 and two additional resident seats are scheduled to be seated in 2026, with full resident control anticipated by 2028. The attorney said the two resident board members currently serving support the boundary amendment and that the expansion parcel would have access to existing amenity facilities.

Supporters and the CDD’s attorney explained that some buyers in the expansion area had signed recorded consents and received disclosures at closing about assessments and a potential 30-year assessment term; they said 82 homeowners in the parcel set being added had signed consents. The attorney also explained the presence of trustee fees in CDD budgets: trustee services are the bank and trust functions used when a district issues bonds and are common to CDDs that have outstanding bonds.

The ordinance was adopted after a motion on the floor; the board’s roll call produced a 4-1 tally in favor. The action includes the contingent conveyance of dedicated roadways in the Cheswick South Platte area to the Wilford Preserve CDD, which will shift responsibility for those roadways from the county to the district once the conveyance is executed.

The board did not identify specific changes to existing residents’ assessments at the meeting; commissioners asked staff and the CDD to supply a clearer, written estimate of the fiscal impact on existing district homeowners. Staff said they would provide additional budget impact detail to the commissioners after the meeting.

The expansion drew no appeals or litigation noted on the record during the hearing. The ordinance will be recorded and the county will process the quitclaim deed conveying the specified roadways to the Wilford Preserve CDD as described in the adopted motion.

Votes at a glance: Oct. 14, 2025 — Wilford Preserve CDD boundary amendment: approved, board vote 4-1.