Archive for Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Steamboat 700's fiscal impacts take shape
Big box, fire station major players in financial analysis
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Firefighter Leighton White battles a blaze at 40557 Steamboat Drive in Steamboat II during the summer. Steamboat Springs fire officials say an additional fire station in west Steamboat is needed.
If you go
What: Steamboat Springs City Council meeting
When: 4 p.m. today
Where: Centennial Hall, 124 10th St.
Call: City offices at 879-2060 for more information; to listen live to meetings of the Steamboat Springs City Council, call 871-7070
By the numbers
Steamboat 700's projected fiscal impact on the city of Steamboat Springs
Year Without big box With big box
2015 ($201,635) ($145,293)
2020 $403,005 $3.3 million
2025 $925,324 $4.3 million
Note: Figures are very preliminary and represent the project's net fiscal impact in the given years rather than a cumulative impact. Figures are based on a "pro rata share of fire costs" rather than attributing 100 percent of the cost of a new fire station in west Steamboat and its operations to the project. The latter method has a negative impact on the net fiscal impact of the project. The methodology that ultimately will be used is subject to annexation negotiations between the city and developer.
Source: Economic Research Associates
Agenda
4 p.m. Summer Marketing Committee interviews
6 p.m. Proclamation recognizing David Kissane, a Steamboat Springs seventh-grader who saved a choking friend with the Heimlich maneuver in November; resolution adopting the 2008 Yampa River Structural Master Plan; second readings of ordinances approving lease agreements with the Federal Aviation Administration, the Steamboat Springs Figure Skating Club and the Steamboat Springs Youth Hockey Association; Steamboat 700 annexation draft fiscal impact model
7 p.m. Public comment; Planning Commission referrals; first reading of an ordinance amending the historic preservation review process; first reading of an ordinance amending codes relative to the enforcement of secondary residential units; City Council and staff reports
Steamboat Springs — When it comes to projecting the future fiscal impacts of the proposed Steamboat 700 master-planned community, several questions remain unanswered.
One thing, however, is certain: whether to include large-format retail space in the 508-acre project is a multimillion-dollar decision for the Steamboat Springs City Council.
"No doubt about it, big box generates a way bigger fiscal positive at build-out," said Jean Townsend, an economist and public finance specialist hired by Steamboat 700 to be its representative in the creation of a fiscal impact model.
A preliminary draft of the model will be reviewed by City Council at its meeting tonight. In one scenario, the model shows that Steamboat 700's net impact on the city is $924,324 in 2025 without the inclusion of a big box store. With big box, the figure rises to $4.3 million.
City officials and Townsend are stressing that the results cited in this first draft of the fiscal impact model are very preliminary. Rather than the numbers in the model, council members will focus on its methodology, where feedback is needed because city officials and the developer disagree on some issues. One of the largest, in terms of dollars, is how to calculate the cost of fire services.
"We've been working on getting a fire station out there for 10 years," Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Bob Struble said of west Steamboat. "There is a need for it."
The model currently shows the fiscal impacts of a fire station in two ways. One allocates the full cost of it to Steamboat 700. The other allocates the cost of a new fire station to Steamboat 700 on a pro rata basis based on the logic that the station would provide service to more than just the Steamboat 700 development. Townsend said the latter is more fair, but in a report prepared for today's meeting, city staff wrote that "the problem with this second method is that no other parties have stepped forward to pay the difference between what is attributable to Steamboat 700 and the full cost of operating the station."
The city and developer also disagree on how many second-home owners will live in Steamboat 700. Based on an analysis of assessor records for other west Steamboat neighborhoods, the city is estimating 8 percent. Steamboat 700's market analyst predicts 15 percent. The project's fiscal impact is improved by a higher percentage of second-home owners.
Townsend said it's not appropriate to compare Steamboat 700 - which plans to include condominiums, apartments, multifamily residences and single-family homes - to subdivisions such as Steamboat II that include only single-family homes.
The city and the developer also disagree on issues such as student yield, transit services and alleyway snow removal.
Although initially opposed to the inclusion of big box, Steamboat 700 representatives now say they are not taking a position on the issue.
"We're just moving forward with both land-use alternatives and looking forward to the city deciding which way it wants to go," Townsend said.
On Feb. 12, the Steamboat Springs Planning Commission will further discuss whether to incorporate large-format retail in west Steamboat. City Council is scheduled to have the same discussion March 3.
- To reach Brandon Gee, call 871-4210 or e-mail bgee@steamboatpilot.com
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