Boulder County commissioners had too many questions to decide Thursday whether to terminate the conservation easement on a parcel just outside of Longmont.
Lefthand Ranch LLC wants to annex the 40 acre parcel known as the Kanemoto Estates Conservation Easement into Longmont to be developed into a mixed residential community known as Somerset Village.
The land in question sits in unincorporated Boulder County, straddling Longmont’s city bounds, about a half mile north of the Colo. 119 and Airport Road intersection. While the conservation easement carries the Kanemoto name, the family has had nothing to do with this parcel since they sold it in 2020.
The development as proposed includes single family and paired homes, four-plexes and flats possibly for both rent and to own along with community amenities to total around 300-426 units. However, the developer wants to annex the land into Longmont, so the city would take over the development review process for the specifics.
For the property to be annexed into Longmont, the county needs to end the regulatory conservation easement on the property. While conservation easements typically designates an area to be open space in perpetuity, this easement included language to allow for termination should the county later decide that the development of the property would be appropriate with the comprehensive plan.
Per the agreement with Boulder County Parks and Open Space, the developer would pay $2.3 million to the county’s open space fund to end the conservation easement.
Many of the commissioner’s questions focused on the legal history of the parcel, Longmont’s plans for development and previous agreements with Longmont about annexations. One issue was the Intergovernmental Agreement between the county and Longmont, which is a regulating document for these types of issues and is set to expire this year.
A representative for the developer emphasized that the high density concept plan was necessary to build affordable and attainable housing. However, commissioners wanted guarantees that if the county gave up the open space, the housing built would actually be affordable and attainable.
Commissioner Marta Loachamin moved to terminate the conservation easement with the additional conditions that the development include a minimum of 80% attainable and affordable housing, but Commissioners Claire Levy and Ashley Stolzmann felt that several facts were too unclear to move forward with a decision Thursday.
Ultimately, the commissioners vote 2-0 — with Loachamin abstaining — to table the issue until they could get more of their questions answered. There is no certain date to reschedule, so the meeting will be noticed at least 14 days out.
