08-22-2008 USFS LETTER OF AGREEMENT INVOLVING TOA, USFS AND OTHER PARTIES0
Statement of Mutual Interest and Agreement
to Pursue a Multi-Party Land Exchange
BACKGROUND AND PARCELS
Fundamental principles of sound community development, sometimes called
'smart growth," call for new commercial and residential projects to be
dense; to be located near existing development, utilities, roads, public
transit and other public infrastructure, and to avoid creating new isolated
focal points of construction. Eagle County and most towns have adopted
these concepts as part of their development philosophy.
Just completed, an Urban Land Institute study of the Eagle-Vail community
concluded that these same principles should be applied to future
redevelopment of this area, which includes property owned by the State
Land Board (hereafter referenced as Parcel 3). Eagle County recognizes that
maximizing the use of Parcels 3 and 8 may be in the best interest of the
County and surrounding communities.
The Town of Avon has actively pursued the protection of several key parcels
(hereafter referenced as Parcels 5 and 6) from development for nearly two
decades. These parcels are currently owned by the Forest Service. The Town
of Avon is engaged in a trail restoration project with the Forest Service on
Parcel 5 and is committed to taking on the conservation and stewardship of
these lands. Preservation of two State Land Board parcels (hereafter
referenced as Parcels 1 and 2) by conveyance to the Forest Service and
conveyance by the Forest Service of Parcels 5 and 6 to the Town of Avon
and Parcel 7 to Eagle County support planning principles and are of interest
to participating parties.
Conservation easements placed on Parcels 5, 6 and 7 and held by the Eagle
Valley Land Trust would assure that these lands continue forever as
permanently protected, publicly-accessible open space.
All of these properties are part of the mid-valley viewshed. They also provide
significant wildlife habitat, which is a public value and priority in every
community and county survey and is considered vital to the protection of
"quality of life."
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PARTNERS
THE TOWN OF AVON (..Town")
The public process used to create the master plan of the Town
(""Comprehensive Plan") identified that preserving visual and physical
buffers between established communities is of significant public value.
This was confirmed by a recent Town survey in which full time home
owners, full time renters and second home owners all placed open space,
preservation of views and availability of hiking trails among their top
priorities for the Town and the wider Eagle County area. Participating in
the multi-party, multi-property exchange meets the expressed wishes of
the community as well as the Comprehensive Plan.
EAGLE COUNTY ("County„)
Eagle County voters demonstrated their commitment to open space in
2002 and approved a ballot question to fund the acquisition and/or
protection of open space having one or more of the following values:
wildlife habitat, visual and physical buffers between communities, scenic
vistas, agricultural or ranch lands that reflect the region's western
heritage, access to streams, rivers and public lands and, environmentally
sensitive and fragile lands. In a recent Quality of Life survey,
respondents further demonstrated that citizens of Eagle County value
open space and are committed to acquiring and preserving property for
this purpose. All aspects of this land plan are consistent with the
expressed wishes of the electorate as well as the County's land use
planning.
COLORADO STATE LAND BOARD (`Land Board")
The Colorado State Land Board is responsible for achieving economic
productivity on lands held in trust for the support of public schools and for
sound stewardship of these lands including protecting and enhancing the
beauty, natural values, open space and wildlife habitat for current and
future generations. As part of this responsibility the Land Board manages
its lands in the path of development appropriately. The productive use of
Parcels 3 and 8 supports the Land Board's economic responsibility to our
schools while the conservation of Parcels 1 and 2 supports the
stewardship responsibilities and is a benefit to the surrounding region.
USDA FOREST SERVICE ("Forest Service")
The mission of the Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and
productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of
present and future generations. The Forest Service commitment to land
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stewardship and public service is the framework within which natural
resources are managed. Implicit in this statement is the agency's
collaboration with partners and the public. The Forest Service assists local
governments and private landowners in practicing good stewardship,
promoting rural economic development, and improving the natural
environment of cities and communities. While the proposed land
exchange moves some parcels out of Forest Service ownership, all but
one of these parcels are placed under a Conservation Easement and
maintained and managed as public land just as they were before the
exchange. The Forest Service gains acreage and, as a whole, land
protected and open to the public increases by 1,240 acres.
EAGLE /ALLEY LAND TRUST ("Land Trust")
The Land Trust is dedicated to preserving open lands for agriculture,
wildlife and scenic beauty in the greater Eagle River Valley. As such, the
Land Trust negotiates and facilitates land exchanges, purchases and
conservation easements that add to protected public lands and protect
private lands from development. The Land Trust holds conservation
easements as an impartial steward of their provisions. To date, the Land
Trust has helped protect more than 10,000 acres of land in the region.
The work of the Land Trust is supported entirely by charitable
contributions.
In joint recognition of our individual and shared values and objectives, we
five entities agree that the proposed multi-party land exchange will be
consistent with and will further these values and objectives. We further
agree to pursue the exchange exclusively, diligently and consistent with our
respective policies, rules and regulations.
PROPOSED LAND EXCHANGE
The basics of the proposed land exchange are the following coordinated
steps:
- The Land Board will convey two sections of land (Parcels 1 and 2) to
the Forest Service;
- The Forest Service will convey two tracts of land (Parcels 5 and 6) to
the Town which will grant deeds of conservation easement to the Land
Trust on all of Parcel 5 and all or part of Parcel 6, possibly reserving a
small portion of Parcel 6 for affordable housing;
- The County will consider in the manner required by State law and
County regulations a proposal to up-zone Parcels 3 and 8 by way of a
PUD;
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- The Forest Service will convey Parcel 7 to the County which will grant
a deed of conservation to the EVLT;
- The Forest Service will convey Parcel 8 to the Land Board;
- All Parcels, excepting Parcel 3, will be appraised using Forest Service
and Land Board required protocols; if deemed appropriate by the State
Land Board, Parcels 3 and 8 may be appraised before and/or after
establishment thereon of a particular PUD;
The precise mechanics and details of this overall transaction, including the
details of the Deeds of Conservation Easement and of the PUD, are to be
negotiated after development of an inter-entity agreement ("IEA") by and
between the four governmental entities and the Land Trust.
Nothing in this document shall be construed as suggesting that Eagle County
has prejudged or will in any way prejudge any application for upzoning of
Parcels 3 and 8 that may be presented to it as a result of the ideas discussed
in this Statement of Interest. Rather, the County will consider any such
application on its merits when and as it is presented and then decide
whether or not to approve it in accordance with the requirements of
Colorado Statutes and County Land Use Regulations.
TIMETABLE OF MAJOR MILESTONES
The timing is proposed in three stages:
(a) Development and agreement to a "Statement of Interest and
Agreement to Pursue a Multi-party Land Exchange" by mid-August
2008 and as satisfied by this document.
(b) Negotiation and drafting of the detailed IEA with approval by all
Parties by mid-October 2008.
(c) Consummation of the overall transaction after the Land Board shall
have applied to County for, and County shall have approved, a PUD
satisfactory to both the County and the Land Board. This stage may
require from one to two years for development by Land Board of its
application for a PUD and consideration by County of such
application. Thus, consummation of the transaction likely will occur,
assuming details will ultimately be negotiated and accepted by all
parties, sometime in 2010.
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OUTCOME
Transaction would result in approximately 2,140 acres protected, including a
gain of 1,240 acres; 1,440 acres protected through the Forest Service
(Parcels 1, 2, and 4) and 700 acres protected through conservation
easements (Parcels 5, 6, and 7).
Parcel 1 - State Land Board - approximately 640 acres
Parcel 2 - State Land Board - approximately 640 acres
Parcel 3 - State Land Board - approximately 640 acres
Parcel 4 - USFS - approximately 160 acres
Parcel 5 - USFS - approximately 470 acres
Parcel 6 - USFS - approximately 80 acres
Parcel 7 - USFS - approximately 150 acres
Parcel 8 - USFS - approximately 40 acres
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Agreed August 22, 2008:
Peter Runyon, Chairman
Board of County Commissioners
Eagle County, Colorado
Ci6d'y Cohagbrf, Executive Director
Eagle Valley Land Trust
N OF AVp
Ronald C. Wolfe, Mayor,
Town of Avon, Colorado
oh ejch Acting Director
.Qforl0do ate Land Board
While the Forest Service is an active partner in this proposal, in accordance
with the Forest Service Handbook, it is not a signer to this document.
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