RTD buying unneeded land to satisfy UP deal

The agency must pay $15 million for 300 overpriced acres in Weld County even though the railroad’s relocation is dead.
By Jeffrey Leib
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 05/06/2008 11:34:05 PM MDT

 

RTD is paying nearly $15 million for about 300 acres of Weld County farmland it doesn’t need.

The Regional Transportation District arranged to buy the land as part of its proposed deal to move key Union Pacific Railroad operations from Denver to Fort Lupton.

RTD planned to use vacated UP property in central Denver for the FasTracks train to Denver International Airport and a commuter-rail maintenance center.

To get a head start on the possible relocation, Union Pacific started acquiring key properties last year in the Fort Lupton area, with RTD pledging to reimburse the freight railroad for the purchases.

In January, RTD said a UP study put the full cost of the relocation project at about $700 million — more than RTD could afford. That killed the relocation.

Now, fulfilling its obligation to Union Pacific, RTD is in the process of taking title to six Weld County properties east of U.S. 85 and the UP’s main north-south freight line.

RTD is paying between $28,000 and $83,000 an acre, according to Weld County land records and information supplied by RTD.

Lynne Derby, a real estate agent who specializes in Fort Lupton properties, said the current market value for similar agricultural land in the area is between $10,000 and $15,000 an acre, depending on available water rights.

“I’m just astounded,” Derby said when told the price RTD is paying for the land.

“Why would anybody put that much money on the line when they were not sure it was going to happen?” Derby said of the tentative UP move.

UP’s early acquisition of some Weld County properties was one of the risks RTD had to take if there was going to be a timely relocation of the freight railroad, said FasTracks spokeswoman Pauletta Tonilas.

RTD also is getting title to an 8-acre property in Denver near Quebec Street and Interstate 70 that it acquired for $3.5 million to facilitate the proposed shift of Union Pacific freight operations, said RTD property manager Susan Altes. The transit agency plans to sell that property as well, she said.

Later this month, RTD’s board of directors will be asked to offer the Weld County properties back to the former owners at the original sale price, Altes said.

“If they do not want to acquire it for what they paid for it, the property will go on the open market,” she said.

Noting that one seller got more than $80,000 an acre from UP for a 39-acre parcel, Fort Lupton city planner Tom Parko questioned who would buy it back at such a premium price.

“No one will offer to buy back 39 acres for $3.3 million unless there’s a gold mine there,” Parko said.

Published in The Denver Post

Getting a rotten deal?

In RTD condemnations, is current
Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer
Monday, May 5, 2008

Property owners facing condemnation proceedings if they don’t accept offers by the Regional Transportation District say they’re getting a rotten deal considering the collapsing economy and expectations of future, long-term growth.

While RTD says it is playing by the books and running a completely legal game, property owners along the future FasTracks West Corridor say the issue is about more than legality. They say it is about ethics, morals and reaching a truly fair market value. The coalition of property owners say RTD should be taking into consideration the sinking economy, as well as future projections for growth around FasTracks stations when developing offers.

A group of about 16 property owners have already received letters of intent by RTD to acquire their land. Anywhere between another 150 and 200 property owners will be receiving letters of intent by as soon as the end of the month, according to FasTracks officials.

As of Friday, nine offers had been made to the 16 property owners, said Pauletta Tonilas, spokeswoman for the FasTracks project. Of those nine offers, one has already closed and the rest are pending a resolution. Tonilas could not provide details of the offers and transaction, citing confidentiality concerns.

Fighting for the future

But the Colorado Property Rights Coalition says it is fighting for future land owners. The group pushed hard for legislation that would prevent RTD from selling portions of acquired land to private developers. But House Bill 1278 was recently killed by lawmakers.

For these land owners, the issue of fair market value comes down to replacing exactly what it is they have now. They say appraisals in today’s market are meaningless considering the poor economy and lack of true comparables. They also believe RTD should be providing them with an opportunity to develop property in the areas that they are currently in given the fact that the areas will likely become booming markets after the FasTracks stations and lines are complete.

“When you’re forced to sell to the government, you don’t get a fair deal,” said Steve Fesch, who received a letter of intent from RTD to acquire his property at Howard Place and Decatur Street near Invesco Field at Mile High. “I’m being forced to sell in a down market … I’m losing my long-term investment. I wasn’t looking for market value in today’s market. I’m looking for market value when the transit was setup — 20, 30 years down the road. This was supposed to be for my retirement.”

Fesch said he has received an appraisal from RTD, but that he and his attorney sent it back to RTD because it was missing about 3,000 square feet of his property. Neither RTD nor Fesch would disclose the appraisal.

The Steamboat Springs resident said he had big plans for the property once the FasTracks project was complete. He said he was going to build a restaurant and sports bar at the location to attract Broncos fans riding the light rail.

His attorney, Bob Hoban, said he is looking forward to taking the case to court so that he can convince a jury that the property is worth more than its current value. Hoban will hire commercial real estate planning professionals to demonstrate how much the land is actually worth considering the FasTracks project and development potential. 

“Appraisal values for some of these properties are probably a third or fourth of what it would be worth to a real estate professional,” said Hoban, an Evergreen attorney who specializes in eminent domain and land use law and once ran for the RTD Board of Directors. 

Stuck

He said his clients are stuck because it is near impossible for them to currently sell the land to a private developer. No developer would purchase the land now and no lender would underwrite the transaction given the pending letters of intent by RTD, Hoban said.

“In practicality, it’s take our offer or we’re going to take you to condemnation,” he said. “I can’t imagine a situation in which property owners will get what they’re entitled to if they had put the property on the market themselves.”

RTD falls back on the argument that it is following the rules and conducting everything legally.

“It is important to note that RTD follows the federal amended Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 and follows state laws regarding property acquisition,” said RTD spokesman Scott Reed. “Fair market value, appraised at the highest and best use of the specific property, is paid to owners of property that is needed for public projects.”

He said the agency was careful to choose the 13th Avenue corridor for the West Corridor line, as opposed to 6th Avenue, Alameda. or Colfax, because it would require the least property acquisitions.

But Kim Snyder and Galen Lee Foster have brought another argument to the table. The couple says RTD plans to acquire their property at 14th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard in Lakewood for a parking garage, but will contract part of the land to a private developer. RTD says it is only trying to save taxpayers money.

“In some instances, RTD may look into opportunities for an outside party to build an element of a project for RTD, such as a parking structure, which could save taxpayers millions of dollars,” said Reed. “The amount of property required for the Wadsworth parking structure will remain exactly the same with or without the possibility of additional development on top of the four-story parking structure.”

Keeping air space

Hoban, who is also representing Snyder and Foster, said his clients should have the right to maintain the air space above the four-story parking structure, which is currently zoned for about 12 stories. Anything above and beyond what RTD builds should be developed by the original property owners, Hoban said.

“Take pictures of these properties now. They’re going to be lined with Tokyo Joe’s’ and Starbucks’,” he said. “No one is opposed to having those amenities in theory, it just happens to be illegal.”

Hoban added that Snyder and Foster will have a considerable problem getting a fair appraisal for the property considering there are not many 12-story buildings being built in the area.

For Snyder and Foster, however, it’s not about the money — it’s more about keeping their rights to the land.

“We’re not going anywhere,” said Snyder. “They’re going to have to come up with a Plan B, or they’re going to have to pry the property out of our cold, dead hands.”

“It’s not losing that would be bad to me. It would be not fighting for what I believe in,” she continued. “If I have to spend every last dime I’ve got, every last dime my mom’s got and every last dime my sister’s got, in the end we will have still done the right thing.”

Published in the Denver Daily News

Truth and reality are strangers to RTD

Letter to the editor
Wednesday, March 26, 2008

DEAR EDITOR: Ms. [Kate] Melvin is correct (in the column “RTD must be stopped in their tracks — fast,” March 24, Denver Daily News). 

RTD and truth/reality are strangers. They are not supposed to use eminent domain for any purpose but to acquire right of way. 

Let the developers pay a fair price to acquire property on their own. 

I was at a meeting three weeks ago where an RTD board member, while praising what a wonderful job the first phase was, stated there was a financial surplus. I am not sure how RTD can take a 32 percent cost overrun and turn it into a surplus.

Not only is there a cost overrun, but technically that puts RTD in the hole on the next phase by $1.4 billion. RTD is holding meetings and talking about changes to the next phases. 

I believe there is a law in Colorado that no tax may be collected that is not spent for the specific purpose voters were told. That would mean that since RTD overspent the first phase that they may no longer collect the added tax but will have to go back to the design board and come up with the alternative to cover this problem then go back to the voters with the new plan to get the tax reinstituted. 

I am not sure under which delusion that RTD operates under that even they can believe that people move to Colorado to live jammed into ghettos cheek by jowl with their neighbors just to ride a so-called light rail.   

The problem is that there is no oversight on RTD, its actions or spending. They answer to no one. I have contacted the governor’s office, the U.S. Congress/senator’s offices for Colorado, DRCOG, CDOT, etc., and have found no one who claims or wants to claim oversight for RTD.

Thank You,

Eldon Campbell
Denver

 

Published in the Denver Daily News

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HB 1278 has been resurrected in it’s original form and will be up for debate in the Senate very shortly. Please take the time to write the following legislators and express your support for private property rights.

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Attorney for RTD agrees to complete ethics course

By Kevin Flynn

Thursday, April 10, 2008

An attorney handling condemnation cases for RTD’s FasTracks West Corridor has agreed to take an ethics course to settle a complaint that he took the lucrative contract after first doing work for one of the landowners being condemned.

The terms of the agreement with the Colorado Supreme Court Attorney Regulation Counsel are confidential. But attorney Mark May, of Centennial, must complete the undisclosed course to dismiss a complaint from Steve Fesch.

Fesch consulted with May shortly after receiving an eminent-domain notice from RTD in late September on a parcel of property that Fesch owns at Morrison Road and Howard Place, south of Invesco Field and near the Federal Boulevard Station for the West Corridor light-rail line.

May cashed Fesch’s $2,500 retainer check, provided periodic advice and made several contacts on his behalf with RTD and Denver.

The same day Fesch gave May the check, RTD put out a call for attorneys to represent the transit agency on West Corridor condemnations, and May told Fesch that his firm might apply for that work.

RTD knew that Fesch had paid May a retainer when it got May’s proposal, and by early November May had cut a check to Fesch, refunding his entire retainer, and declined to represent him.

In December, May & Associates was awarded an RTD contract of up to $900,000 to work on West Corridor condemnations. Three firms were hired, and RTD said it would assign one of the other firms to Fesch’s case.

Neither May nor his attorney responded to requests for comment from the Rocky Mountain News.

“Once I had him retained, RTD shouldn’t have pursued him,” Fesch said.

RTD spokesman Scott Reed said the matter is between the attorney and the client, not RTD.

 

Original link here.

Miffed land owner may seek RTD post

By Kevin Flynn, Friday, March 7, 2008

One aggrieved property owner facing condemnation for FasTracks is adopting “If you can’t beat them, join them” as a political slogan.

Steve Fesch, who owns land near Invesco Field that RTD says it needs for the West Corridor light-rail project, told a FasTracks public meeting Thursday night that he’s running for the RTD board of directors in November.

He had been considering it for some time, but made it public while addressing 60 people attending a meeting on the Gold Line FasTracks corridor to Arvada-Wheat Ridge, where RTD is considering some changes to track alignment that would result in more private property being needed for that project.

Using his three minutes to address the people instead of RTD’s staff, Fesch said he believes his land is being taken to assemble a large parcel for future development. His is the only private parcel within a large swath of government-owned land.

While his land isn’t in the path of the light-rail tracks, RTD says it is needed for drainage work and street relocation. It says it is not acquiring any more land than it needs for the transit project. But it also says it intends to seek private developers to build FasTracks parking while taking advantage of unused zoning rights on the land to build commercial projects.

“If you own a piece of property, I urge you to stay in touch with us,” Fesch said on behalf of the Colorado Property Rights Coalition. “Are we going to allow the government to take private land for redevelopment because they messed up their budget?”

Fesch, an Aurora resident, would be running against one of only two board members who recently voted in favor of his position.

Barbara Yamrick, finishing her first term, voted last month to deny RTD staff the authority to proceed with condemnations on the West Corridor, including Fesch’s land. The motion won nevertheless.

Yamrick said she is running for re-election.

“The most qualified woman at this time has a very formidable male opponent as well,” she said after being told Fesch planned to oppose her. “Democracy can get messy at times.”

The Gold Line is a commuter rail project stretching more than 11 miles from Union Station to Ward Road near Interstate 70. The segment from Union Station to Pecos Street had long been planned to use Union Pacific property, but recently talks broke down when RTD couldn’t afford the price UP wanted for all of its properties around the metro area.

RTD is still talking with UP about the Gold Line property, but it is examining other routes out of downtown.

It narrowed the alternative to one, about 300 feet east of the UP tracks. It is nearly two-tenths of a mile longer and at $145 million would cost about $10 million more to build than the original pathway. Most of that is tied up in constructing 700 feet more in bridges than the original alignment.

The new alignment would involve buyout of 13 businesses and partial taking of 11 others, while the original alignment affected six businesses.

flynnk@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5247

© Rocky Mountain News

Original link

I’m running for RTD Board of Directors.

I’m officially announcing my candidacy of the RTD Board of Directors. I’m a Denver native who is fed up with budget problems and mismanagement of RTD. It just so happens I’m also a land owner being threatened with Eminent Domain at the Decatur light rail station.

 

The voters of approved the Fast Tracks project at a budget of $4.7 Billion Dollars. The debt is currently $6.1 Billion and it’s increasing dramatically. It’s time the RTD board of Directors accept responsibility of this. I also believe private property rights are being violated and there needs to be a change in policies. There is a better way of doing business and it starts with taking care of the landowners who will be affected by eminent domain. Eminent domain is a necessary process that will have to be exercised in order to complete FasTracks. It should not be used as a tool to further financial interests. It should only be used as a last resort and only for public purposes.

I also believe a financial audit is in order. The FasTracks budget deficit is out of control. The rise in materials costs is not an excuse to take people’s property away from them.   The way I see it the current RTD board and staff need to work together to get things back on track.

 

I have some innovative ideas instead of Eminent Domain.  For instance, if RTD needs a parking garage for transit purposes, they should first approach the landowners in cooperation. Land owners are capable of partnering developers and assisting RTD with Transit Oriented Development. RTDs current policy is to circumvent the land owners in the planning and they do not give landowners sufficient notice to adjust to such a major change. The Eminent Domain process should focus on taking care of the landowners who are being asked to make the ultimate sacrifice.

The land owners should benefit from any financial upside and eminent domain is only used as a last resort.  The FREE MARKET is very capable of getting development done.  It’s a win win approach. I believe there is a gap in communication between RTD and the landowners. I would like to bridge that gap and serve as a liaison to the landowners.  

 

RTD needs to step out of the development business and back INTO the transit business. If elected to the RTD Board of Directors, I believe that we can work to effect positive change within this organization.  

Feel free to contact me to share your ideas. I look forward to hearing from you as I unveil my platform in the coming weeks.

 

There is a board meeting March 18th at 5:30pm at 1600 Blake Street. I encourage you to attend. With greater participation from the public, we can effect positive change within this organization.

  

 

Steve Fesch

Aurora, Colorado

HB 1278

The amended version of HB 1278 has been posted on the Colorado General Assembly website.

Click here to view/download.

Rally protests abuse of eminent domain

By John C. Ensslin
Monday, February 18, 2008

About 90 people, several of whom have been on the blunt end of condemnation proceedings, rallied under snowy skies in Civic Center on Sunday to hold a tailgate party against what they see as government abuse of eminent domain.

They spoke about cases in Commerce City, Boulder, Lakewood and Denver, but the thread that ran through their talk was concern over the way in which cities and agencies such as RTD acquire property by condemning it.The rally - which featured a pig roast - was sponsored by the Colorado Property Rights Coalition.

Several people spoke in favor of House Bill 1178, a proposal that would prohibit RTD from condemning homes and businesses for commercial development.

“(RTD General Manager) Cal Marsella has been really good about staying on message,” said Lakewood resident Kim Snyder. “The voters did approve FasTracks. But they did not approve redevelopment.”

Snyder and her husband, Galen Foster, are among a group of property owners who filed a government immunity notice Jan. 31, the first step in filing a lawsuit to block the condemnation proceedings.

The couple has owned Pro Tint, a window-tinting business at West 14th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard, for 20 years. RTD wants the property for a new light-rail station. But the couple contends RTD plans to allow developers to build a five-story retail, office and housing complex on the property.

RTD spokesman Scott Reed disputed Snyder’s statements at the rally.

“We are purchasing the property needed for the voter-approved transit project,” Reed said. “We do not acquire property for private development.”

But opponents point to RTD’s plans to solicit developers to build a 1,000-car parking garage in exchange for development rights for a high density project.

Rep. Ken Summers, R-Lakewood, sponsor of HB 1178, said the measure “declares that how government proceeds in these issues is as important as what it does.”

“Eminent domain should not be a revenue-producing vehicle,” he added.

The bill comes up before a House transportation committee Tuesday, he said.

People at the rally gravitated either toward the speakers at the Greek Amphitheater or toward a large Bronco-orange bus that served as backdrop for a tailgate party.

On the other side of the amphitheater, people held up signs that read “Honk to Support Property Rights” and “Stop Eminent Domain Abuse.”

ensslinj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5291

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