Planning commission recommends annexation and CMU zoning for Poudre School District Timnath 50

The Timnath Planning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend approval of a resolution to annex 50 acres owned by Poudre School District and to recommend a zoning map amendment to Commercial Mixed Use for the parcel known as Poudre School District Timnath 50.

The recommendation, presented by planning staff, begins the statutory annexation process and advances a zoning change consistent with the town’s comprehensive plan. A public hearing on the annexation is scheduled for Jan. 28; property owners within 500 feet received notice and the hearing was advertised in the Coloradan for four consecutive weeks.

Chad, a planning staff member, told commissioners the site sits at the southeast corner of Main Street and Busgrove Road and lies largely contiguous to the town. Staff said the parcel meets the state’s contiguity requirement for voluntary annexation and reported the property is about 69% contiguous with Timnath’s boundary. The recommended Commercial Mixed Use (CMU) zoning allows a school facility with conditions established in the land use code.

Brian Carnahan, who represented Poudre School District, attended the meeting but staff said there is no immediate plan to construct a school on the site; the district identified the parcel as a potential future school site. When Commissioner Mike Lewis asked whether the land will become a school or merely could become a school, Chad said, “There’s no immediate plan to construct a school on this site. It is just the ultimate vision that this will be the location of a next school site.”

Commissioners pressed staff on a clause in the annexation agreement that appeared to exempt the district from the town’s municipal building code for construction on the site. Town Attorney Carolyn Stiefel and staff said they will clarify that language to ensure the exemption, if any, applies only to projects governed by the district’s state regulations and does not allow unreviewed development if ownership or use changes.

Staff told the commission the annexation aligns with the town’s intergovernmental agreement with Larimer County and with the Colorado Municipal Annexation Act. Commissioners noted annexation would allow the town to acquire adjacent road rights-of-way and to plan for future roadway improvements and service provision.

Motion and vote: The commission approved a motion to recommend approval of the annexation resolution (agenda item 6a) and a motion to recommend approval of the zoning map amendment (agenda item 6b). Both motions carried on a 5-0 vote. No member asked to pull the items for additional conditions beyond the clarifications staff agreed to provide.

A public hearing on the annexation is set for Jan. 28; the planning commission recommendation and the clarification from the town attorney will be part of the record forwarded to town council.