Fort Collins, The Choice City ... for Developers. The Daily Diary of the American Dream: A Bayer Properties' Mall Goes Up Across the Street by Zube (zube@stat.colostate.edu) Created: Jan 25, 2007 Ended: May 5, 2009 http://www.stat.colostate.edu/~zube/fortcollins.txt [warning: contains naughty words, snark and adult concepts such as treachery, betrayal and greed. Please go elsewhere if this bothers you.] [Introduction] This page contains the ongoing saga of the Bayer Properties Mall. This culmination of "Money uber alles" broke ground on April 25, 2007, in Fort Collins, Colorado, at the corner of Harmony and Ziegler roads, very close to my home. [1] This writing isn't meant to change anything for me; it is my sincere belief that the Fort Collins City Council (FCCC) cares only for itself and Money and nothing short of a miracle will stop the Mall from going ahead. This writing is a form of therapy; my hope is that by writing I may avoid developing more serious psychoses such as becoming a politician. In college, I was first introduced to the puerile game of adding "in bed" to any Chinese fortune to make it more interesting. In a similar vein, if you happen to read anything about how Fort Collins is _The Choice City_ or how important Quality of Life is to the FCCC, always add the missing "for developers" to the end of the phrase and it will be both more interesting *and* closer to the truth. [Background (abridged)] I won't bore you. The details are pretty much what you would expect: a zoning change -- check a Harmony Corridor Plan [2] change -- check letters to the planning board are ignored -- check presentation by Bayer Properties suggests that property values nearby will increase -- check local paper claims new development has little opposition -- check at local meeting, everyone opposes plan -- check more zoning changes to accommodate last minute "big box" plans -- check my rep, strong on personal "property rights," still votes for it -- check city council ignores everyone who lives in the area and who spoke out against it, approves mall with an eye towards sales tax revenue -- check *** Are you sure it won't hurt? Nope, go on, try it. All the cool kids are doing it. Ok, here goes: "Fort Collins: The Choice City .... for Developers." Wow, that is totally cherry. *** [Jan 25, 2007] I started this silliness long before the first shovel of earth was moved because a friend was talking to an FCCC member. This protector of my Quality of Life claimed (yes, two levels of hearsay; it won't stand up in court, ok?) that there was a large amount of community support for the mall in the area. Uh huh. I attended a meeting at The Group Real Estate shortly after our local paper opined (I'm paraphrasing) "there is little opposition to the new development." My rough estimate is that more than 200 people showed up *on a Saturday morning* and I cannot recall anyone speaking in favor of it. The fact that important, powerful people (tm) believe or want others to think otherwise is not surprising. Perhaps there is a Propaganda Subcommittee of the FCCC. Here, I'll build a soapbox for it. Now, where's did I put that old Upton Sinclair saw? Ah! "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." *** Fort Collins is a rather small city and one that was named Money Magazine's Best Place to live for 2006: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/snapshots/PL0827425.html The city, amazingly, received this award without having any malls built by Bayer Properties. This might have suggested something to the sentient, but obviously not to the FCCC. Full speed ahead and STFU the rest of you. [Jan 26, 2007] So, you are anti-development? No, not at all. What I am mostly is anti-zoning change and pro-fair play. The area where Bayer Properties will be building this mall was originally zoned as "light industrial" and I was ok with that. Sure, all things considered, I would have preferred that the large field remain a large field, but I was willing to live with another business park. LSI owned the land and we are a stone's throw from HP, so it's what I expected and, more importantly, it was what the land was zoned for. Had LSI or HP or anyone decided to build on that land, I would have grumbled but I would not have complained. A business park is quiet on the weekends. Malls, on the other hand, are not. But ... the sales tax revenue . Translation: the *projected* increase in sales tax revenue is far more important than your Quality of Life. Our job is to do what we want. Your job it to pay your taxes promptly and STFU. When the FCCC approved the zoning change to commercial, smiling, 30 pieces of silver in hand [3] after kissing us on the cheek, it made me realize that it's impossible in Fort Collins to plan one's future. If the FCCC can grind my dreams of living a quiet life into dust by a zoning change, how can I plan where to live? I asked several FCCC members this very question. Not surprisingly, no one ever answered. Also interesting was my offer to sell my house. If this mall is such a great thing, I thought at least one member of the FCCC would want to experience it first-hand. I've offered to sell my house to the FCCC and to the clown from Bayer Properties who suggested that property values would rise, but sadly, no one seems to like the mall so much that they want to live near it. Malls, apparently, are for other people. My neighborhood is going to change, almost certainly for the worse. What was that again? The Choice City .... To paraphrase Paul Graham, zoning changes are amusing before one develops a conscience. [Jan 28, 2007] When the Bayer Properties Mall was first proposed, it was proposed as a _Lifestyles Center_, not a Mall. It was supposed to be upscale, open-air and "cool" as one email reply from the planning board put it. But Bayer Properties and the FCCC had a serious problem. Loveland is a short drive south on I-25. They, too, were planning on a similar development called _The Promenade Shops at Centerra_ and they had already lined up several anchor stores. Centerra opened in late 2005. This appeared to be the end of the story, but greed and stupidity is just so hard to kill. Last year, Bayer was back with another fresh-from-the-ovens-of-Hell retail plan. Gone was the Lifesytles Center, the upscale and the "cool." Now, it was "since we can't build a Lifestyles Center, let us build whatever we want." This included big-box stores such as Lowes Home Improvement and Super Target. Of course, this would require more changes to zoning due to a size limit on retail establishments. No problem, said the FCCC, no problem at all. What are you worried about? We are, after all, _The Choice City_. Just put the money on the table, turn out the lights and climb aboard. We'll dump the resulting child on the neighborhood (they already know they are supposed to STFU) and let them deal with it. Now, who's next? [Jan 29, 2007] Do you get *excited* about a new mall? By this I mean, suppose you were told that a new mall was going up in your neighborhood and that there was a meeting about it. Even if you supported such a development, would you take time out of your life to go to that meeting and cheer it on? I wouldn't and I can't imagine anyone who would. But it occured to me that when I attended the first public meeting about the Bayer Properties Mall, back when they were proposing a Lifestyles Center, there were people who did just that. The slide show presented at that meeting featured different anchors for the Lifestyles Mall. Interestingly, when one slide came up (it was for a restaurant), several people oohed and ahhed in a manner reminiscent of the studio audience of an infomercial or Emeril Live. The presenter of the slide show, the clown from Bayer Properties, responded with something like "You like that one, huh?" So, we have people who not only take time out of their busy lives to cheer on a mall, but who swoon at the mention and slide show display of a *restaurant*? It doesn't pass the smell test, does it? No, the only people who would cheer on a mall are people who have some vested interest, direct or indirect, in the mall itself. Hmmm. [Jan 30, 2007] Here's a question. Will building this new mall actually increase sales tax revenue? Probably not, at least in the short term. Let's take a snapshot of Fort Collins and the surrounding area. There. Nice picture, isn't it? No, don't look at the gits at the top, look at the rest of it. Pretty, no? This nice place has some nice people in it and they spend their nice money both in town and other places. What the FCCC wants is for everyone to spend their nice money here *and* have nice people from other nice places spend their nice money here as well. Let's forget about other places for a moment and concentrate only on Fort Collins residents. They spend X dollars in Fort Collins. What the FCCC wants is to increase X. The problem at this level is nearly a zero-sum game [4]. If I spend $200 on groceries at Super Target but not at the Safeway a mile down the road, Fort Collins' sales tax revenue has not changed. If I spend $1000 on building supplies from Lowes Home Improvement but not at Home Depot two miles down the road, again, no change. You don't get more liquid out of a container by adding straws. It is only if I would have spent $200 at the Safeway in Loveland and I now change to the Super Target does Fort Collins win. Loveland loses, of course, but who cares about them? In general, however, I don't spend $200 at the Loveland Safeway, I buy locally. I think most people do as well. So, *if* the goal is to increase sales tax revenue, all other things being equal, the idea is to get people to spend more money in Fort Collins, specifically those that don't already spend money in Fort Collins, i.e. non-residents. In other words, if you shop in town and do your part by buying groceries, furniture and cars locally, the FCCC is so grateful that they will happily destroy the neighborhood you live in to build a mall to attract the money of those who don't live here. It's just another perk of living in _The Choice City_. In the long term, as the town's population increases, there is a much better chance of increasing sales tax revenue, as there is more liquid in the container. And if those people have money, they will spend it here. How do we get more people with disposable incomes to live in Fort Collins? Screw the current residents by ruining neighborhoods? A fine idea, one that the FCCC wholly endorses, but here's a far more radical one. How about good jobs? Of course, this would require more work than simply responding to a developer's needs while lying back and dreaming of sales tax revenue. It would require, oh, I don't know, leveraging the Money Magazine bit noted above to get companies to locate here. But that's so hard! It's so much easier to ... approve a zoning change, build a mall and tell the residents to STFU. I think the FCCC is scared. The Northern Colorado area is growing rapidly. Many are discovering that they don't have to live in Fort Collins to experience a lot of the things that make this area a great place to live. When people are scared, they sometimes do very stupid things. Perhaps the FCCC could use the following as their motto: "We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this." [Feb 1, 2007] Some choice quotes from _City finds harmony with shopping center_ from The Fossil Creek Current, February 2007 Volume 2 Number 11. First, shopping at this lovely mall will be more expensive: "... additional .75 percent sales tax the developer was authorized to collect for 30 years." How much is given away?: "With approval of $22 million in incentives ...." Likely?: "In the first year of operation, the center will likely bring in $4.5 million in sales taxes, with $2.2 million of that in new revenues." and the Money quote (or more appropriately the Money shot): "We could not have done this project without the assistance of the city, said Silverstein." Here comes the chorus again: "Fort Collins, the Choice City ... for Developers." [Feb 3, 2007] Before I beat up on the puff piece listed above, let me take a moment to analyze the word 'principal.' In all of the rah, rah, sis boom bah, go mall! articles I've ever read, someone named David Silverstein is always quoted and he is always identified as a "principal with developer Bayer Properties." It's an odd use of the term, one completely unfamilar to me and it is never explained. Are all reporting jobs now listed as in the Want Ads as "transcriptionist needed" ? No matter, I have my Random House Unabridged here and the OED if I need it. Let's look at the definitions of principal as a noun, skipping the ones related to school, music, building, finance or duels: a chief or head a person who takes a leading part in any activity, as a play; chief actor or doer something of principal or chief importance Wow. He must be an important guy. Of course, on this page: http://www.bayerproperties.com/about-executives.html we see that there are other "principals," including the founder of the company. So, for the record, when Mr. Silverstein is identified as a "principal with developer Bayer Properties," what principal means is: 1) he's an important person (tm), but not the only important person (tm) at Bayer Properties 2) *his* neighborhood won't be affected by this new mall [Feb 5, 2007] The article from the Fossil Creek Current is fairly representative of the general reporting about the Bayer Properties Mall. There are a few facts, always quotes from Mr. Silverstein, general references to city planners and an overall tone that Mall is a good thing (tm) and will help the city. It's a puff piece, although in this case the fellating wasn't a complete deep throat. "Oh those Sins, Sins of Omission ..." No one who is personally affected by the Bayer Mall is ever interviewed. That might give the wrong impression. It might also lead to "questions" and perhaps the idea that not everyone is vacuously happy about this mall. We can't have that. Business is good, always. Government is about helping business, not residents. Where have *you* been the last 20 years? [Feb 11, 2007] Sometime late this week, the second sign for the new mall went up. The first sign was put up years ago when Bayer Properties still believed they were going to build a Lifestyles mall. That sign disappeared long ago, but now we have a new one. It reads: Front Range Village A Development of Bayer Properties Super Target Lowe's Sports Authority Staples Main Street Retail and Class A Office Space Opening Summer 2008 For Leasing Information (blah blah blah) I love the name. It's just so warm and homey, never once alluding to all the betrayal and greed and stupidity. Previously, I had written about how the FCCC sold out our neighborhood for sales tax revenue. Here's something else to consider: they sold out the *businesses* that were already in Fort Collins for *more* sales tax revenue. Given that there will be extra sales tax charged at the mall, the FCCC would like nothing better than to have everyone shop there rather than anywhere else. So to the two King Soopers, the Safeway, the Home Depot, and the Office Depot that are all within a 5 minute drive of the mall, what does the FCCC say to you? "We hope all your customers shop at the mall because it will mean more money for us." Just wait, all you businesses who hear the siren song of Fort Collins though the mist of Bayer Properties. Someday it will be your turn for the FCCC to sell you out as they spread their legs for the next paying customer. [revised: this turns out not to be true; the extra money doesn't go to the city, it goes to Bayer. No, really. See the Apr 24, 2007 entry below.] [Feb 21, 2007] I try to avoid the _Fort Collins Coloradoan_ as much as possible, but today I picked up a copy because of the articles on the Bayer Properties Mall. The lead story is called _Buildup to boost buying, budget_. Now do you see why I avoid it? The first sentence of the article reads: "Harmony Road's emergence as a gateway to Fort Collins has long made it an attractive spot for developers." What city is Fort Collins? The Choice City .... Sara Reed does a tremendous job of parroting the city line. No mention of the zoning change, of course (it's now an 800,000 square foot development), and her transcriptionist training (if she had any) comes in very handy. At least David Silverstein wasn't quoted; perhaps he is working on ruining another neighborhood and couldn't spare the time. With this one in the bag, the fun part is over for him anyway. Did you know that Fort Collins has an economic advisor? Really. His name is Mike Freeman and he is quoted as follows: "This is a regionally significant project." That's nice. What Fort Collins really needs is a Quality of Life advisor or perhaps a Bullshit-Detector Advisor. Hey, I wonder if Mr. Freeman will be moving to one of the houses for sale near the mall. Anyone want to take bets that "regionally significant" means "not my problem" ? I'll see if I can mail him. Ms. Reed has a companion article called _Neighbors welcome selection but fear developments' impact_ where real people (tm) were actually interviewed. Of course, it appears that she found the most agreeable and docile people imaginable, one's that, at worst, present a "balanced" view of "gee, nice to have something so close, but I'm concerned about X and Y." Here's my plan. I'll see if I can contact some of the people listed in the article in a few months and see what they think during the construction and then afterward. Oh, by the way, there is this gem from Eric Bracke, "a traffic engineer with the city" who is quoted in the article as stating: "The development is not expected to impact traffic in the neighborhood ...." regarding traffic through English Ranch, a development that abuts the Bayer Mall. I tried to mail Mr. Bracke from gmail, but the mail was rejected. Hmmm. [Mar 21, 2007] Still no groundbreaking at the Bayer mall, but I found something a bit interesting about Fort Collins fiances. In the March 15, 2007 edition of the Fort Collins Forum, page 11 contains an article by John Knezovich titled _A Tale of Two Cities_. In it, Mr. Knezovich explores the following: Fort Collins' adopted budget documents put the FC fund balance at $13.6 million, but the city's financial statements put the FC fund balance at $42.9 million. From the article: "Repeatedly, I have asked staff and members of the council, 'Did you ever ask for the predicted 2006 financial results of operation or the predicted ending fund balance when formulating the 2007 budget?'. While I have never received the answer to this question, it is apparent that those questions were never asked." So, *if* FC really has 3x the amount of money it thinks it has, why is FC selling out residents and non-Bayer-Properties businesses all the while crying that we need sales tax revenue? Hmmm. [Apr 1, 2007] The Fort Collins City Council cares about the people of Fort Collins! April Fool. This week, the earth levelers (or whatever they are called) started tearing through the open field. Also, Connell Industries left a large bright yellow tank of something (water?) near the road so that they could advertise their business. Sure, it probably breaks some law, but when business benefits, can laws really be that important? We'll see the groundbreaking soon, I'm sure. [Apr 15, 2007] Who is the best comedian there ever was? My vote is for Life itself. Today, while driving by the Bayer Properties Mall of Shame and Greed development site, I saw the following sign: Hoar Construction Honestly, could I make up stuff like that? [Apr 24, 2007] The Fort Collins Pravda (nee Coloradoan) has a front page picture of the earth movers at the Bayer Properties' Mall site complete with the headline: _Sales-tax revenue is born_ No really, that's the headline. My uneducated guess is that Pravda was going for one of two angles: 1) The propaganda angle, wherein if you say something enough times, people will believe it. 2) The 'you didn't clap hard enough; sales-tax is going to die because not enough people believe in greed, stupidity and zoning changes' angle. The piece is another deep throat, this time by Pat Ferrier. She takes everything from Darin Atteberry, the Fort Collins City Manager, and enjoys every inch. I'll skip the details of the act, but like most erotica, the end result is predictable. Oh, BTW, Pat has another article at the back of the Local section of Pravda. This one is more of a gangbang consisting of the City and the important people of Bayer and Pat in the center of it all, but that's really enough business/money/ political porn for one day. There are some interesting bits in the fact box: a) The .75% additional tax charged at the mall is phrased this way: "Public improvement fee; Bayer can levy an additional .75 percent sales tax on items purchased at the shopping center that ultimately would generate $18.5 million for Bayer to cover its costs to improve Harmony and other roads and infrastructure in the area." Wait, so the additional sales tax *doesn't go to the city*, it goes to Bayer? What dealmakers these guys are! I get to go back to my old analysis of sales tax revenue *and* I get to add "complete barking lunatics" to my list of adjectives to describe the Fort Collins City Council. b) [Bayer gets] $1.5 million in sales tax reimbursements from the city when at least 550,000 square feet of tax-generating retail shopping opens. c) $2 million reimbursement from the city for street upgrades, which the city will pay out of state funds it gets for maintenance and improvement of Harmony Road. Remember folks, this is the #1 city to live in according to Money magazine. Sure am glad of that. If we were #2 or #3, perhaps instead of a mall we would be treated to a maximum security prison or a nuclear waste dump. [May 11, 2007] Fort Collins already has a mall, called the _Foothills Fashion Mall_, that has been in slow but steady decline for a time now. The Mall was bought by General Growth Partners a while back and it appeared that the mall was going to go through a large renovation. Indeed, a Perkins restaurant near the mall was closed and has remained abandoned; it sure looked like there were going to be major changes. But nothing ever happened save for the continued exit of anchor stores. In the May 10, 2007 edition of the _Fort Collins' Forum_, John Knezovich's article titled _Tax Increment Financing Explained_ has this choice item: "In 2003, General Growth Partners (GGP) bought the mall property. They quickly proposed a property redevelopment. The city rejected this proposal as not in keeping with Fort Collins." This bit is really interesting to me. What could they have possibly proposed that the City would reject? The City has offered everything short of slaves to Bayer Properties for the new mall. Why them and not GGP? Curiouser and curiouser .... [Jun 24, 2007] Up to this point, the Bayer Properties Mall fiasco hasn't had much direct impact on me. It's over there, I'm over here. The construction is ugly and I do my best to ignore it. Soon, however, they will start tearing up Ziegler Road in order to widen it to two lanes and put in a roundabout. This is the main road separating me and the Mall and is the road that must be travelled to get anywhere else. I'm sure the City will bungle this with its usual flair. They already drilled small holes in the road and left them covered with only a metal plate, which forced everyone to drive in the bike lane for more than two weeks. Stay tuned. In other news, the hypocracy meter broke this week as Fort Collins started plugging their _Shop Fort Collins First_ plan in their monthly newsletter that arrives with one's water/electric bill. The web site is here: http://fcgov.com/shop/more-info.php and your whole family can laugh until they choke. They even use the phrase _The Choice City_. If you are a "good citizen," one who does buy locally, you can be sure that the Fort Collins City Council will reward your loyalty by giving any developer that comes through the door anything they want. The slogan _Shop Fort Collins First_, just like _The Choice City_, is meant as a wink and a nod to developers and as propaganda to you and me. [Jul 25, 2007] A few days back, work began on the intersection of Harmony and Ziegler, with most of it being completely blocked off. This development (ha!) has caused the traffic on Ziegler north of Harmony to be much lighter than normal. So, at least *one* good, very temporary, thing has come out of this mess. [Jul 27, 2007] My guffaw for this week comes from an article titled _Redefining Fort Collins_ by Angela Hygh in the July 25-31, 2007 Fort Collins Weekly. In it, we find that the city spent $80,000 (!) to hire "North Star Destination Strategies, A Tennessee-based marking company." The purpose was to "polish" Fort Collins' identity, and the result is a new slogan: _Fort Collins: Where renewal is a way of life_ No really. $80,000. You see, when one spends $80K on stuff like this, one really does need zoning-change-inflicted Malls by Bayer Properties. Otherwise, one couldn't spend this kind of money on such worthwhile endeavors. From the front page of the North Star Web site (www.northstarideas.com): "Not only that, North Star can assist your community in discovering its optimum brand position with a focus on those entities that drive your bottom line. Whether community-wide or centered on tourism or economic development, North Star will work with you to build an integrated brand solution that connects the soul of your community to the hearts of your consumers." Treat "the soul of your community" as just another bullet in your Powerpoint presentation. Yep, sure sounds like Fort Collins. [Sep 16, 2007] Not much to report about the Mall of Shame lately. They did put up a sign for "the future home of Lowes" and they reduced the speed limit near the mall on both Harmony and Ziegler. The results are predictable: * Most drivers drive at the normal limit. * Drivers who try to follow the new speed limit are tailgated or run over. * There is no regular enforcement of the new limits. This leads to far fewer BTUs of happiness in the world, so I wish they would stop doing it. Of course, I live in Fort Collins so I might as well wish for the moon while I'm at it. [Oct 13, 2007] Is it possible that someone would actually point out the obvious? An article in the _Fort Collins: Now_ (Oct 13, 2007, Vol. 5 No. 42) on page 37 called _The Sales Tax Savior?_ considers the FC budget and sales tax revenues. The best quote from the article: "Bayer Properties was not able to respond with studies showing where customers for Front Range Village will come from." According to the article, here are the "slated tenants": Super Target Lowe's Toys R Us / Babies R Us Sports Authority DSW Lane Bryant Famous Footwear GNC Staples Great Clips Gee, I dunno. There is a normal Target and a Toys R Us down the road. There is a Lowe's in Loveland and a Home Depot even closer than the Target. Most of the other stores already have a venue in town. I can't imagine many people will want to pay the extra sales tax to Bayer for the privilege of shopping at this mall. Kudos to Mr. Christopher Ortiz and the editors of the Fort Collins: Now for the first article I've read that doesn't go "Rah, Rah, Rah, Bayer!" or "How far would you like me to bend over, Mr. Councilman?" Something like this would never make it in the Fort Collins Pravda, that's for sure. [Oct 17, 2007] The Group, Inc. Real Estate sends out a monthly newsletter. The October 2007 (Vol 31, No. 9) issue shows that they are also willing to Repeat When Necessary until everyone Believes: "Ten years ago, The Group, Inc. labeled Harmony Road as Fort Collins' "yellow brick road" with good reason: it had enormous potential for development." (What City is Fort Collins? The Choice City ... ) "With numerous projects now under way or proposed for Harmony from east of I-25 to Shields Street, the burgeoning corridor will provide job growth and help the city shore up sales tax revenue as projects are completed." See? It's easy. Just say it over and over until it magically becomes true. No word about zoning changes. No analysis as to how this will happen. It will because it will. More revenue is more. Drink the Kool Aid and pass it on the left-hand side, please. [Dec 14, 2007] The only news is that a traffic light was constructed on Ziegler by the entrance to HP. Since the one thing the City can be counted on (other than selling out its residents) is to bungle the timing of the lights, I predict a fair amount of frustration in the future for a fair number of motorists. Turning to propaganda, the Fort Collins Forum of December 13, 2007 provides a stunning example of the genre. One headline reads: _Bold New Developments The Antithesis of Sprawl_ No, that's really the title. I didn't think "reporters" could bubble and froth with orgiastic pleasure over such things, but there it is. Here's a small sample. Don't consume it too fast, as it's rather hard to swallow. Take small bites and chew carefully. ".... Riverwalk envisions a rich tapestry of uses woven together around an abundant mix of urban amenities." I'd like to humbly suggest a new title for this article, perhaps _Bold New Reporting The Antithesis of Transcription_ At any rate, there are two things that are interesting about this article. First, it's deja vu. When the LifeStyles Mall was first proposed, articles such as this one were all over the place: the Mall will be different, the Mall will be good, the Mall will be cool. Indeed, here's another sample regarding the Riverwalk development: "... the intent is to develop a very hip, cool and chic ambiance and yet retain the Colorado feel." Of course, when the Lifestyles Mall fell through and Bayer came back and said, "sorry, just let us build whatever we want," the City was happy to bend over and beg for it and tough luck to the suckers living nearby. Care to guess what the City will do if the developer changes the plans? Second, there is this bit: "Riverwalk Fort Collins is still in the approval process with the city, but once full approval is granted ...." Catch that? There isn't even a fraction of a fraction of a chance that another new development will not be approved. Is there any doubt that Fort Collins is the Choice City ... for Developers? [Dec 23, 2007] Boy, that didn't take long. I had occasion to visit the new traffic light on Ziegler between HP and the Mall of Shame (for the record, the street is called Council Tree). I had to slow from 40 to 25 travelling south on Ziegler, so of course I got the light red. While I was waiting for zero cars to travel the other way, the left turn at Harmony went green, but by the time I got to it, it was back to red. I don't believe that FC purposely times the lights poorly as I don't believe they are smart enough to do that. But I do think that there are going to be a lot of unhappy motorists near the intersection of Harmony and Ziegler. I'm certainly going to avoid that intersection as much as possible. [Dec 30, 2007] It's now possible to see the first bits of construction from afar. Exterior walls and cranes are visible from the road and these magestic sights give me goose pimples every time I drive by. Indeed, what could be more inspiring than the construction of a new mall? [Jan 18, 2008] In the past couple of weeks, the 25 MPH sign was removed and the speed limit is back to its previous reasonableness of 40 MPH. [Feb 16, 2008] The City is preparing for the widening of Ziegler to two lanes. To do this, it had to whack a few trees. By their height, these trees looked like they might have been 50 or 75 or even 100 years old. Sure it's sad, but who can think of trees when "Renewal is a Way of Life" ? [Mar 13, 2008] The City is making a mess at the intersection of Horsetooth and Ziegler and, of course, they've dropped the speed limit. If you travel east on Horsetooth, the speed drops from 40 to 35 and then to 25 before the stop at Horsetooth and Ziegler. Due to the construction, any enforcement of the speed limit would back up traffic for miles, so there is none. Also, there is no sign returning the speed to 40 once one is back on solid road, so one is left with technically breaking the law or getting run over. In other news, the March 12, 2008 edition of the _Fort Collins Now_ contains an article called _Logo is a No-Go_, which considers the new Fort Collins Logo and how the City Council is back-peddling a bit on it. It contains this gem: "The logo cost about $2,500 to develop ...." This is why Fort Collins needs the (projected) tax revenues from the Bayer Properties Mall of Shame; it's so they can spend $80K on a new slogan and $2.5K on a new logo. Here's some more: The Rocky Mountain Chronicle of March 13, 2008 notes the following on page 6 under the heading _THE LOGO NO-GO_: "North Star, which received $78,000 for the branding package ($2,600 of which was specifically for the logo) ...." The article also notes that in creating the original logo "... the city reached out to Colorado State University graphic-design students, who crafted the logo free of charge." Yes, your tax dollars at work. [Mar 30, 2008] "Fines Doubled For Speeding" signs now accompany the 40-35-25 slowdown while approaching Horsetooth and Ziegler. There is no enforcement of this, of course, so once again you are left with either speeding or getting run over. Also, some dim bulb decided to put up the sign for the speed change just before the intersection of our street with Ziegler, so if one comes out of the development and travels north on Zielger at normal speed (40), one is actually going 5 mph over the limit (35). In other news, there are still stop signs at the corner of Horsetooth and Ziegler, even though the sidewalk is closed and there is no other path for traffic to take. Now I'm all for following the rules of the road, but when the rules are stupid, drivers tend to ignore them. Almost no one stops completely at that intersection and again, there is no enforcement. Very well done, lads. [Apr 5, 2008] The following is from _Get Involved in the Logo Process_ by Fort Collins City Manager Darin Atteberry found in the April 4, 2008 _Fort Colins: Now_: "We're [Fort Collins] a unique balance: We're green and pro-business, highly educated and down to earth, high energy and laid back." and then later: "In short, in Fort Collins, Renewal is a Way of Life." Yes, he really wrote that. People have died from less. I love the pro-business part. Nothing about the citizens or how important our Quality of Life is anymore, just "pro-business." Points for honesty, I suppose. [Apr 12, 2008] FC *finally* starting enforcing the 25 MPH bit around the construction, or rather they enforced it for one day. It seems to be done a bit of good, as speeds seem to be down. [Apr 16, 2008] It appears that FC is about to widen the road on the east side. Now the speed limit is 25 MPH all the way to the Mall of Shame and turns are nearly impossible thanks to their cone placement. [May 17, 2008] Another article on the Mall of Shame, this time in the _Fort Collins: Now_ of May 16, 2008 titled _Mall Crawl_. There is a lot of funny stuff here: 1) Writer Rebecca Boyle uses the term "the Choice City," always a crowd pleaser. 2) Diggs Brown, councilman who voted for the "big-box stores are fine" change, is quoted. Mr. Brown, when he was running for Council, once told me that he was disappointed that the Council approved the zoning change and that he was very big on property rights. Sure, right up until he could actually do something about it. 3) The article has no mention of any zoning changes that were needed for the Mall of Shame. Nope, reality need not apply when Everything Is Good. 4) "...the shopping center recently hired Melissa Moran, former general manager of the Foothills Mall, to be the new center's general manager." Wow, so there *is* hope yet. Has anyone been to the Foothills Mall in the past three-to-five years? It is dying. It has one foot in the grave. Perhaps she can do the same to the Mall of Shame. Go Melissa! I'll be rooting for you. Please do your best. 5) This is terrific: "Owner Bayer Properties projects $225 million in annual sales from the center, and city leaders have said it will increase the city's coffers by more than $1.5 million in new sales tax revenue." So, how much of that $225 million will come from people already shopping at other places in Fort Collins, hmm? Oh, wait, sorry, I'm actually thinking about things rather than just swallowing the propaganda whole. I know, I'd make an awful reporter these days. Also, if you recall from the Feb 1, 2007 entry, the original amount projected for new sales tax revenue was $2.2 million. Hmm. I wonder what happened to that $700K. But who cares, right? The Mall is good. The Mall has always been good. The Mall will always be good. We have always been at war with Eastasia too. 6) Dear me. "But if the parking lot at the Harmony School Shops -- another new development just west of the Bayer project -- was any indication on Tuesday, residents are already offering their praise." My turn: "But if the writing in this article -- another new just-drink-the-Kool-Aid- and-everything-will-be-fine uncritical suck job -- was any indication on Friday, transcription has taken the place of reporting in most of the paper trade. [Jun 1, 2008] In the Feb 17, 2007 entry, I mentioned that Eric Bracke, "a traffic engineer with the city" was quoted as saying: "The development is not expected to impact traffic in the neighborhood ...." with regard to traffic through English Ranch. I wonder who didn't expect it. I'll bet dollars to donuts it wasn't someone who lives there. Due to the "renewal is a way of life" on Ziegler, I starting driving through English Ranch to get to Horsetooth Road. It's a smoother drive despite two raised pedestrian crossings, the speed limit is a constant 25 MPH throughout and there are no stupidly-placed stop signs or construction. I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this now. But it gets better. Starting today, the intersection of Ziegler and Horsetooth will be closed for better than a month so that they can finish playing in the dirt or whatever they are doing (putting in a roundabout, I believe). Will all the traffic be divered through Mr. Bracke's front yard? No, it will go through English Ranch. "The traffic engineer is not expected to issue an apology to anyone in the neighborhood nor will there be any punishment for winning the Nobel Prize for Wrongness. This is Fort Collins, baby, where unaccountability is a way of life, so get used to it." One other thought: the intersection of Ziegler and Horsetooth used to be a fairly busy pedestrian crossing. It will be interesting to see how the roundabout solves this problem. [June 10, 2008] Three flashing speed signs are now installed in English Ranch. I'm sure the residents all agree that these three signs make all the additional, unexpected traffic through their neighborhood a pleasure to deal with. [June 14, 2008] This story is a funny one. The short version is that a developer wanted to develop something on unannexed land on the west side of I-25. Four of the Fort Collins City Council, amazingly, rejected it. So he went to the neighboring town of Timnath. Timnath may annex that area and the development would then be built as a Timnath property. I don't really care either way if the land is developed or who develops it. I have said before that I'm not anti-development, I'm anti-zoning change and pro-fair play; most of my invective springs from the fact that City Whores decided that residents and neighborhoods didn't matter, only potential tax revenue did. But I find three things interesting about this, uh, development: 1) Fort Collins apparently did a similar land grab on the east side of I-25 in a different area a while back, but that was ok, whereas Timnath's land grab is not. 2) This article: http://www.fortcollinsnow.com/article/20080612/NEWS/24001472 contains the following terrific quote: "How would you like this -- you turn off the highway and go west, and it says `Welcome to Timnath'?" Mayor Doug Hutchinson said. "It's a very, very significant long-term impact to the city of Fort Collins, what's happening along there." My God, there might be a sign!? Well, that tears it. Let's disband the city entirely as there is absolutely no hope for any of us ever again. I, for one, welcome our future Timnath overlords. 3) The All-Development-Is-Good clowns are howling: some have even suggested a recall of the four City Council members who voted no. This is instructive. One lesson to be learned is that if developers are not given absolutely everything they want every time, they will go elsewhere and their supporters will call for the dissenters heads. For bullies, it's never enough. Never. [June 25, 2008] The flashing speed signs are gone from English Ranch, but the police seem to have taken an interest in the area. While I applaud the enforcement of speed limits, I'm sure this enforcement is "not expected to impact traffic in the neighborhood" as well. [July 2, 2008] After a big mess and a long wait, it appears that the intersection at Horsetooth and Ziegler is open again, complete with roundabout. The drive might almost be considered pleasant, if only because of the continual pain of the past few months. Of course, I discovered it was open only by hopping a "sidewalk closed" sign and actually walking to it. A couple of entries ago, I asked how the roundabout would deal with the problem of pedestrians crossing it. Silly me, it deals with the problem by putting YIELD in big, white letters on the roundabout. There is, of course, a crosswalk but I fear it will take people of serious courage or serious carelessness to attempt the crossing, especially during peak traffic hours. Also, from the Guffaw Department, the outside lane of the roundabout is already coned off. Does the Transportation Department keep score by how many people they can inconvenience each day by closing roads and lanes? [July 19, 2008] Oh, no! Fort Collins is no longer the #1 small city to live. We're now #2, second to Plymouth, Minnesota, according to Money Magazine (as reported in the Fort Collins: Now News Briefs section of July 16, 2008). One of the attractions mentioned in the article is Plymouth's "nearness to the Mall of America". See, the problem with the Bayer Mall of Shame was not the zoning change, the lies or the sales tax squawking. It was that it wasn't big enough. Had the City of Fort Collins decided to build the Mall of Fort Collins, we would still be #1. It's all our fault for not thinking big. Perhaps we can start thinking big with a new slogan: Fort Collins: Where Revenue Is A Way of Life. [Aug 1, 2008] The Fort Collins Coloradoan publishes a free paper called the Colorado Connection. It is bundled with supermarket and department store flyers and flung weekly onto everyone's driveway. The subheading of the paper reads "Your Source for the Northern Colorado Marketplace", so perhaps it is not a surprise that Business' Very Special Friend Pat Ferrier is back and ready for action. Her article is titled _SuperTarget kick-starts Front Range Village_. Here's the first paragraph: "A new retail era began July 23 when the city's new SuperTarget opened at Front Range Village, joining Lowe's as the first two anchors to open at the long-awaited shopping center." Good God man, we've got to stop her! But there is no stopping Ms. Ferrier. She quotes a SuperTarget "team leader", a self-professed pro-growth couple who just happen to own a business in town, a woman with three small girls ("all blond and blue-eyed and dressed in pink") and an elementary school teacher who gushes about "dollar deals for teachers". For each, the opening of the SuperTarget is a significant moment in their lives. To wit: "Joan Glanz ... said many of her neighbors were unhappy when the shopping center was approved ...." I guess now that the Mall is a reality, Pravda, er, the Coloradoan no longer has to pretend that there was no opposition to it. Ms. Glanz goes on: "'But we think this is wonderful,' she said, sitting in a big red circle, the Target logo." Fort Collins: Where Retail is Wonderful! Finally, the $1.5 million dollar figure returns: "In its first full year, it [the mall] is expected to pump $1.5 million into city coffers." Again, no mention of what happened to that $700K. The original projection was $2.2 million. Maybe her performance in _SuperTarget Suck Job_ will win Pat a Suckie at the Fort Collins Business & Developer Awards this year. I'd certainly vote for her. [Aug 18, 2008] Credit where credit is due, no matter how small: 1) Overall, the noise level during the construction of the Mall of Shame was not offensive. It is not clear to me if this was because I live far enough away or if my hearing is going or if they just used Quiet Construction Methods, but generally I had no issue with it. 2) The approach to the roundabout from the south had a speed limit of 40 MPH whereas the approach from the west had a speed limit of 35 MPH. A short time after this (shorter than it took me to complain about it), the 35 MPH sign was removed, so now both approaches are 40 MPH. Still, there is more silliness about. Nearly the same day the roundabout opened, one lane was coned off so that they could do more construction. This didn't surprise me, but the result of the construction did. The curb was removed in two places and a sign reading "Alternate Bike Route" was put up. No warning to pedestrians, no mention about dismounting one's bike, just "Alternate Bike Route." Lovely. [Sep 29, 2008] I had an opportunity a couple of weeks ago to drive through the streets and parking lot of the Mall of Shame. It looks very similar to and slightly smaller than the Centerra Mall in Loveland. There is nothing special here, just another block of retail. Also, I found it interesting that Toys R Us, whose College Ave store had been there for many years, closed up when the Toys R Us / Babies R Us opened at the Mall of Shame. I still don't get it. This is supposed to increase revenue how? Finally, on a tangential note, when the original construction on Ziegler Road began, the target date for the reopening of Ziegler north of Horsetooth was June 2008. It's now almost October and it is still closed. [Oct 5, 2008] Big flashing signs went up On Thursday. Ziegler north of Horsetooth would finally reopen 6pm on Friday, Oct 3. Coming home on Friday at 5:45pm presented an agonizing choice. Should I gamble and navigate the road 15 minutes early? The "road closed" sign that had been around for over a year had been removed, I argued, but on the other hand, this *is* Fort Collins. Hmm, what to do? Against my better judgment, I went for it. Oh, ha ha! How does the City remove signs and barriers to open a road? It starts at one end, continues slowly to the other and woe to those who happen to enter the road during this process. Predictably, I and many others had to backtrack. High expectations with respect to road works is usually one very direct path to disappointment. [Nov 16, 2008] I found the Dec 2007 _Fossil Creek Current_ in my trunk and wondered why I had kept it. It's because it has juicy quotes related to the Harmony Corridor. The article is titled, _Fort Collins Pushes Harmony Gateway_ and here are the sweetest bits: "Mapes said the changes reflect the undeniable reality that the city's original vision for the interchange as a low-density "green edge" is no longer realistic given developments along the interstate in the 15 years since the Harmony Corridor Plan was adopted." "What's happening on the east side really renders that concept obsolete, he said ...." Yep, just toss that baby on the compost pile. We weren't really going to follow it anyway. "That aggressive competition for retail sales tax revenues has created an urgency to ensure that Fort Collins isn't left further behind. Mapes' presentation noted that Fort Collins' position in the retail trade area is weakening in the face of fierce competetion for the sales receipts that provide most municipalities' operating revenues." The next sentence may be my *favorite* one ever: "So it's no surprise that Fort Collins' proposed amendment closely corresponds to the developer's desires." QED. I think I've proven my point. A good writer would stop here. [Nov 21, 2008] _Budget Blues_ by Angeline Grenz in the November 20, 2008 edition of the Fort Collins Forum contains this gem: "Sales tax revenues for 2009 are projected to come in 4% over last year, due in part to the new Front Range Villiage retail center." But then there is this: http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20081121/BUSINESS/811210319/1046/rss03 (from Nov 21, 2008) by our old friend Pat Ferrier. On the sidebar of this page, it notes that sales tax revenues for the year to date are up 0.7%. Is there a Hyper-Optimism crystal somewhere nearby? The same Coloradoan article also has some interesting bits in it: "Sales at some city stores were down enough to negate increases at new Front Range Village stores, including SuperTarget and Lowe's, Reese [of the city's sales tax division] said." My God! What are you saying? You can't possibly mean that more stores do not automatically translate into more revenue? My entire worldview is shattered. I'm am ... like a squashed tomato. "The city does not release retail sales numbers for individual stores." No, but they are happy to crow things like, "The new Mall of Shame will add $2.2 million ... I mean $1.5 million ... I mean *some* money to the city's coffers, so it's of utmost importance to give developers anything and everything they want." and finally, the gaffaw for this month: "The city's Home for the Holidays campaign is stressing the importance of keeping retail dollars in Fort Collins." "Whether you shop at a chain store like Macy's or a locally owned retailer like Cira in Old Town, when you shop in Fort Collins, the sales tax dollars remain here and contribute to the quality of life we expect and enjoy," spokeswoman Kelly DiMartino said in a statement." I'm sorry, Ms. DiMartino. The City Council rewarded my years of shopping locally and my desire for "quality of life" with a zoning change and a mall. Fort Collins put a price on my loyalty and good will and sold both to Bayer Properties. Have a chat with them or the City Council should you want or need anything. Love and Kisses. [Dec 5, 2008] Just one small observeration regarding the Fort Collins Pravda, er Coloradoan, actually an observation about at its owner, Gannett. This column: http://roguecolumnist.typepad.com/rogue_columnist/2008/12/the-chickens-come-home-to-roost-at-gannett.html contains the following quote: 'A very senior Gannett executive put it to me this way years ago, "We're not going to have journalists. We're going to have information brokers."' Dear me, that explains a lot. [Jan 11, 2009] One positive bit and one negative bit this week. Positive: The roundabout at Ziegler and Horsetooth has been a big win for drivers, at least when people understand how it works. It's much, much faster to get through than a four-way stop. Sadly, there will be terrible accidents on the circle in the future because some drivers think they always have the right of way. Also, if you are a pedestrian, runner or biker, you literally take your life in your own hands if you go through it, especially during rush hour. Negative: In the Jan 8, 2009 edition of the _Fort Collins: Now_, Eric Fried reports the following: "Recently he [Mayor Doug Hutchinson] and his colleagues [the city council] -- with the sole and principled exception of Lisa Poppaw -- voted to give hefty raises to the city manager, city attorney and municipal judge." This link: http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20081207/OPINION01/81206016/1014/OPINION claims that the raises were between 5.6% and 8%. Yep, raises for city officials is just another of the excellent reasons why Fort Collins needs gobs and gobs of unrestricted retail development. [Feb 22, 2009] Andrew Boucher, a columnist in the local _Fort Collins: Now_ newspaper presents an interesting case study of a certain local mindset. When the economy was good, Mr. Boucher seemed to strongly advocate: * tax cuts * fee cuts * service cuts * letting developers do anything they like Now that the economy is poor, Mr. Boucher seems to strongly advocate: * tax cuts * fee cuts * service cuts * letting developers do anything they like I have alerted the editors of a simple salary-saving opportunity for their paper, but they probably will not act on it. [May 4, 2009] This page: http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090503/NEWS01/905030323 puts a nice end to this log. Here is the money quote: "The city's sales and use tax collections are expected to be lower this year than in 2008, said Mike Freeman, the city's chief financial officer." I wonder what happened to all the money the Mall of Shame was supposed to bring in. No, no, it's long past time to stop. ********* What I've learned from this exercise: 1) City slogans mean nothing. 2) Zoning changes are easy to come by if you have the money. This also means that you cannot make an informed decision about where to live by examining a "plan" such as the Harmony Corridor Plan. The "plan" will always be changed to suit Money's needs. 3) Most people in government care only about "business" and only pretend to care about people because there is no money or power in the latter. Money and power are all they understand and therefore are the only means through which true change in government can occur. 4) The demise of investigative reporting has serious consequences for society. 5) People in government at any level are rarely held accountable for their decisions and actions. Thanks for reading, Zube [Notes] [1] If anyone has lived through Bayer Properties building a mall near your home, I'd love to hear your story, bad or (especially) good. At every step of the way, I *want* to eat crow, to one day have to say, "Gee, I'm really happy about the mall and I was so very, very wrong and I owe everyone a lavish apology." My guess is, however, that I'm destined to be holding my ankles and they will wipe themselves on my hair when they are done. [2] The Harmony Corridor Plan is a 100+ page document that describes in loving detail how the Harmony road area was to be developed. The Planning Board gushed about how wonderful it was and how it won awards, etc. When I asked how such a carefully prepared plan could be changed so radically twice at the drop of a hat (or at the request of Money), I never received a reply. [3] According to Acts 1:18, "Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." [4] There are four instances where this would not be a zero-sum game: a) I spend more money at a new store than I normally would at the old store. The chances of this happening are almost zero. b) I buy from a new store instead of buying from a store outside of Fort Collins. This is more probable, but it holds only for things that I desire enough to travel outside of Fort Collins for currently. This set of goods and services is fairly small; when combined with the probability that what I want will be available at the new store, the set is smaller still. c) A new store has a unique selling point, one that causes me and others to spend money there that we would not have spent otherwise. File this under "create new demand." While possible, it again is improbable. Moreover, Lowes Home Improvement and Super Target do not qualify under any reasonable measure. d) The fourth instance, listed in the Feb 1, 2007 entry, surprised me. I never would have thought of it: charge a higher sales tax at the mall than at other places. Perhaps this might work for stores with unique selling points, but will it work for a Super Target and a Lowes Home Improvement? Sadly, I misinterpreted the higher sales tax bit. It doesn't go to the city, it goes to Bayer (see the April 24, 2007 entry). Thanks ------ A big thanks to Dave, who not only reads my drivel, but remains my friend.