The URL can be used to link to this page

Browse Search

Home My WebLink About20102182.tiff Esther Gesick rom: Kim Ogle nt: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 5:22 AM o: Esther Gesick Subject: FW: URS 1754, Wild West Corn Maze traffic comments Attachments: bocc letter,usr1754,9.20.10.doc Please add to file, USR-1754 Thanks, Kim From: Joe Racine [mailto:manager@hudsoncolorado.org] Sent: Monday, September 20, 2010 3:36 PM To: Kyle Ostrand; Gloria Hice-Idler; Larry Haas; Kim Ogle; Tom Parko; Vince.Ruscitti@sparboe.com; Connie O'Neill; r_fronczyk@msn.com; svineyard@cornellcompanies.com; 'Barb Baker'; 'Isidro Guardado'; 'John M Honnold'; Matt Cole; 'Neal Pontius'; 'Ray Patch'; 'Tammy McCain' Cc: Lorraine Trotter; tim@hudsoncolorado.org Subject: URS 1754, Wild West Corn Maze traffic comments All, attached are the Town's comments on the proposed corn maze traffic. Let me know if you have questions. Joe Racine Town Administrator (303) 536-9311 • • [ �' 1 aoeo-aiCo? r400ta• COL044- TOWN OF HUDSON -< ry o >-- 557 ASH STREET, P.O. BOX 351, HUDSON, CO 80642-0351 Phone: (303) 536-9311 FAX: (303) 536-4753 \.! 3 ' www.hudsoncolorado.orq EST,MI September 20, 2010 Board of County Commissioners Weld County P. O. Box 758 Greeley CO 80632 Re: Wild West Corn Maze application, USR-1754 Dear Commissioners, This letter is being sent at the request of the Hudson Board of Trustees and the Hudson Planning Commission in regard to traffic issues associated with the proposed Wild West Corn • Maze, USR-1754, to be considered by the Commission on September 22°d. The Town supports this business that will provide some fun and interesting activities for people in the area, but is concerned about traffic. Last Friday I met with representatives from Weld County, CDOT and the Hudson Correctional Facility to discuss alternative approaches to managing the additional, intermittent traffic on the I-76 frontage road that is expected to be generated by this activity. The access problems with the corn maze and its many other proposed entertainment activities this fall and for the extended term in future years stem from its awkward location and its dependence on access via the frontage road and the already problematic intersection on Highway 52 next to the southbound 1-76 exit ramp. CDOT and County staff had settled on a recently proposed "solution" that would entail barricading the frontage road south of CR12.5, and detouring the traffic during Thursday through Sunday operating hours (including as long as 13 hours on Saturdays) onto nearly one mile of CR12.5 and Hudson's 10th Avenue to the intersection of CR12.5 and Highway 52 at the west end of the Town's wastewater lagoon site. The Town objected to this approach for a number of reasons: • Not only corn maze traffic, but residents and employee and industrial traffic from established businesses in the area would be detoured. Businesses include Sparboe Farms, the Hudson Correctional Facility, and a Kerr McGee gas plant. Oil field service traffic and traffic from agricultural operations also use the frontage road. • The roadway is built with sandy class 5 road base that is rutted, washboard and not built or maintained for this type of traffic. Even with maintenance, the road is unlikely to • perform well with heavy truck traffic. • There is no warning signage at the sharp turn where CRI2.5 meets the highway. • Board of County Commissioners September 20, 2010 Page 2 • The intersection of CR12.5 is on a curve, with no illumination and 65 mph intersecting highway traffic. Whereas, at the current frontage road intersection, the highway traffic is 25 or 35 mph, depending on the direction of travel. It also is on a straight section of highway and is illuminated somewhat by the truck stop. We understand that the current frontage road intersection has its own set of issues, including poor sight distance across the I-76 overpass and conflicting turning movements from the exit ramp. • Some traffic will likely shortcut the detour, mixing with Love's Travel Stop truck traffic on the Town's Hickory Street. • There has been no discussion with the Town about maintaining the affected Town streets or any additional Sheriff services that might be needed to manage the impacts on the Town as a result of this new activity. • The proposed detour would be for the hours of operation, not just for the intermittent peak times during those hours of operation when the problems are anticipated. A prime concern with the proposed detour is the nature of the anticipated traffic. It is likely, for example, that the traffic exiting the corn maze at the 11:00 p.m. closing time on Friday and Saturday nights will be teenagers. We are concerned about groups of teenagers, that time of night, being directed on to nearly one mile of washboard gravel in the dark to a poorly marked, • abrupt turn and an un-signalized intersection on a curve of a 65 mph highway. These hours also coincide with the night shift change at the correctional facility. Incoming traffic, 85 percent of which the applicant's traffic engineer estimates will be eastbound coming in from the Fort Lupton direction, will be stopping or slowing on this 65 mph curve with no turn lane to make left turns onto CR12.5. The logical solution that the Town proposed in early conversations about this project would have been to negotiate with neighbors for a driveway access to nearby CR49, providing very close and convenient access to the Kersey Road I-76 interchange. That would have removed the need for access via the frontage road. However, the applicant did not pursue that option. Absent direct access to Kersey Road, this is a difficult problem. However,the solution to the problem should be more than just making it everyone else's problem. At the meeting last week, we agreed to take a"wait and see" approach, monitoring the actual traffic on the paved frontage road for a week to see if a detour or other traffic control measure is warranted. This will also preclude requiring the applicant to spend money on traffic measures that might not be necessary. Other components of the proposal, should the detour be implemented at some point in time, would be to barricade Hickory Street at CR12.5 to eliminate the shortcut, and to have corn maze staff be available to move barricades on the frontage road for correctional facility inmate buses that are not allowed to be driven on gravel. • No one knows for sure how much traffic will be generated or at what times the traffic will peak, although the applicant's traffic study speculated that the project would generate about Board of County Commissioners • September 20, 2010 Page 3 15,000 vehicle trips during a 4-week period. The Town supports the interim approach as a prudent way to carefully match mitigation measures to observed problems rather than speculation. We further request, as a condition of the USR, that the applicant be required to monitor and report hour-by-hour customer traffic. If the detour is implemented,we ask that the implementation be matched to the peak times when there is an observed problem, and not necessarily for the extended hours of operation. (We understand that CDOT does not support that limited implementation schedule, nor does it support a"soft"closure with barricades on only one side of the road.) The USR should include language that it can be revisited in the event that unanticipated problems arise, and that the Town be held harmless from costs associated with road maintenance and additional Sheriff coverage that may become necessary. This issue highlights the impending need to realign and improve the frontage road south of CR12.5. With a collaboration of public and private interests, that project can hopefully be implemented in the near future, providing a safe and properly designed and located intersection on Highway 52. In the event that the County is presented with permit or land use approvals that entail physical improvements on the site, we anticipate that the terms of our Coordinated Planning • Agreement would apply, including the referral for annexation. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you also to your staff for their work on this project. Please let me know if you have questions or if you require additional information. ncere r//( Joseph A. Racine Town Administrator ec: Kyle Ostrand, Wild West Corn Maze Gloria Hice-Idler, Access Manager, CDOT Region 4 Larry Haas, Traffic Engineer, CDOT Region 4 Kim Ogle, Planner, Weld County Tom Parko, Planning Manager, Weld County Janet Carter, Traffic Engineer, Weld County David Bauer, County Engineer, Weld County Vince Ruscitti, Sparboe Farms Scott Vineyard, Hudson Correctional Facility Hudson Board of Trustees Corey Hoffmann, Town Attorney • Roy Fronczyk, Town Planner • MEMORANDUM II TO: Board of County Commissioners DATE: September 22, 2010 COLORADO FROM: Kim Ogle, Planning Services SUBJECT: Amendment to USR-1754 A Site Specific Development Plan and a Special Review Permit for a Recreational Facility with uses similar to those seen at guest farms and fairgrounds in the A(Agricultural) Zone District Kevin or Heather Willard (Property Owner) Kyle Ostrand (Property Tenant), Applicants The Department of Planning Services recommends the following Conditions of Approval be deleted as the applicant has provided evidence of compliance B. The applicant shall submit evidence that a building permit has been reviewed, approved and obtained for the existing structure utilized for hay storage and for this application utilized for habitable occupancy space. (Department of Building Inspection) C. The applicant shall submit evidence that a building permit has been reviewed, approved and • obtained for the proposed tractor trailer banner sign utilized for advertising the corn maze for this application. (Department of Building Inspection) and-approval by the Department of Public Works, Colorado Department of Transportation Planning Services. (Department of Public Works) the-Colorado-Department of Transportation(CDOT)for 2010.-(Department of Public Works) F. The applicant shall provide evidence of an access permit from the Town of Hudson and meet any additional requirements needed to obtain or upgrade the permit. The Town of Hudson has jurisdiction over all accesses. (Department of Public Works) G. The applicant must submit an Amended Flood Hazard Development Permit(AmFHDP)to the Department of Public Works for any structures or buildings that will be constructed within the FEMA defined floodplain. Please show new structures such as building or towers that are located within the floodplain on the Final Plat. (Department of Public Works) operation for review and approval from the Colorado Department of Transportation(CDOT), approval shall be submitted in writing to the Department of Planning Services. (Department of Planning Services) The applicant shall submit in writing,evidence that the existing domestic water tap has been • re-permitted for a commercial water tap. Further, the applicant shall submit written evidence that the concerns raised in the referral from the State of Colorado Division of Water , Resources, dated August 9, 2010 have been addressed to their satisfaction. Written evidence of approval shall be submitted in writing to the Department of Planning Services. (State of Colorado Division of Water Resources) • J. The applicant shall address the requirements of the Department of Building Inspection, as stated in their referral response dated July 30,2010. Evidence of approval with all conditions met or mitigated shall be submitted in writing to the Department of Planning Services. (Department of Building Inspection) K. The applicant shall submit a Lighting Plan for all on site lighting. This information must include cut sheets describing the lighting fixtures, including permanent and temporary fixtures. The plan must also include the locations of all lighting fixtures. (Department of Planning Services) L. The applicant shall submit to the Weld County Department of Planning Services a recorded copy of any agreement signed by all of the owners of the property crossed by the emergency access. The emergency access shall be for ingress and egress and shall be referenced on the plat by the Weld County Clerk and Recorders reception number.(Department of Planning Services) M. The applicant shall submit for review by the Department of Planning Services a method of documentation for the daily visitor numbers to the Wild West Corn Maze facility. (Department of Planning Services) N. The applicant shall complete an Improvements Agreement according to policy regarding collateral for improvements and post adequate collateral for all required materials. The agreement and form of collateral shall be reviewed by County Staff and accepted by the Board of County Commissioners prior to recording the USR plat;or,the applicant may submit evidence that all the work has been completed and approved by County staff. (Department of • Planning Services) • • r MEMORANDUM I Lwin C TO: Board of County Commissioners DATE: September 22, 2010 COLORADO FROM: Kim Ogle, Planning Services SUBJECT: Amendment to USR-1754 A Site Specific Development Plan and a Special Review Permit for a Recreational Facility with uses similar to those seen at guest farms and fairgrounds in the A(Agricultural)Zone District Kevin or Heather Willard (Property Owner) Kyle Ostrand (Property Tenant), Applicants The Department of Planning Services recommends the following additions to the Development Standards. • The applicant shall post"No Smoking" signs in sufficient locations to ensure fire will not be allowed near corn stalks or flammable areas. • The applicant shall remove, handle and stockpile manure from the livestock area in a manner that will prevent nuisance conditions. The manure piles shall not be allowed to exist or deteriorate to a condition that facilitates excessive odors, flies, insect pests or pollutant. • The semi trailer being used for advertisement of the Wild West Corn Maze shall be an allowed use from the date of approval by the Board of county Commissioners. The trailer shall be maintained in drivable condition and shall maintain current licensing. • The applicant shall maintain accurate counts of persons on site in hourly intervals during times when the facility is open to the public. • ‘-/ttim 3 ' a E Co o U W •\ , w.+ i r- . \ \ w WD W �J i 01 la ell CI 14 N \ \ 0 N angn a) a e e \ \ a) it evs V y eu U U V ea ea \ \ A MI -vs end a \ \ ;4 P4 pa . . . \ \ — .-, .. a \\\ a y u CO .74 %\\ \ \ \ \ cn E." [--IE- H ›. IIIII \ \ rl e-I N eb N H 4 u I 1S 1wPa° ' \ \ \ u6 \ • \S \ \ `\ N \� \ \ \ N .5 \ \ \\\ U \ \ : IS> stA \ \ \ 6W \ \ °z o I 1S tio)l0!H \ \ \\\ CO \ NNN C•1 0. O \ \� O N t 3 \\\ — -a \\\ in i g _ \ w �3 : e c C om 2s oo . O i wsm= � s �� 'O := mg c 19'as >+ _ \ \\ C O QW 01 U " \\ \ 0 w+ 3M .1 m y zWLL co � c -�a 2 . . . rn = el Zpi & SRI ; * > d ° 2 § cG a y c 1 ex • serg o S ' 2Q 42 3 3 0 ca • ++ v o x re p; “ 5 5 N d V a *'S Z ..'a y r L i W b ct � mgx � i. Q m '1 N = 5 1/1b., O .-.LL $ x � a Na L IC Y Few as z W SPUR PRODUCTIONS LLC WED WEST MAZE Memorandum TO: Weld County Planning Department FROM: Kyle Ostrand, Events Director, Wild West Maze DATE: September 21, 2010 RE: USR 1754—Water Usage In regards to the use of water in conjunction with proposed USR 1754,the Wild West Corn Maze does not intend to use any water from current on site wells. The current domestic&stock wells on site are drilled to a depth of approximately 50 feet. It is my personal choice to avoid drinking the water pumped • from these wells due to the fact that the Box Elder Creek basin is very near to the well locations. There are many agricultural&farming operations in the area that use herbicides or insecticides& I don't feel that water from such a shallow well is safe for consumption. Since I do not feel that it is safe to consume the water from the on-site wells, I also do not feel that it would be safe for guests to our farm to consume the water either. It is our choice in trying to make this operation run well that we will instead utilize large quantities of bottled water. We will supply bottled water for both employees&guests to the corn maze to consume. Deep Rock Bottling Company of Denver, CO currently supplies bottled water to the farm &they will continue to supply increased quantities to the farm during the operation of our corn maze or any other events. There are also 2 irrigation wells located on site&currently used for irrigating approximately 180 acres of farm ground. It was initially discussed that we could use these wells to supply water for dust suppression purposes, but we have decided to purchase our water from A&W Water Supply for this purpose instead. As our current driveway/property access warrants the need for dust suppression we will apply it with our own equipment. We hope to formally re-permit one of the irrigation wells to be utilized for on-site water supply for dust suppression eventually. In speaking with the Colorado Division of Water Resources the re-permitting of a well for such a use has a very lengthy process. The process of changing our well to allow such activity includes a 2—6 month permit process that would include legal fees&documents. It has been , determined to place a hold on such processing, due to the nature of expense& lack of time. • 6876 WCR 47 Hudson,Colorado 80642 Tel 303-536-9200 Fax 303-536-4886 wildwestmaze.com • 4/4 W SPUR PRODUCTIONS LLC WED WEST MAZE I hope that this document includes essential information in regards to the water usage related to USR 1754. If there are further questions or concerns on this, please contact me at any time. Sincerely, tit ICZ O Kyle R Ostrand Events Director • • 6876 WCR 47 Hudson,Colorado 80642 Tel 303-536-9200 Fax 303-536-4886 wildwestmaze.com Esther Gesick From: Kim Ogle nt: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 5:31 AM o: Esther Gesick Subject: FW: corn maze Attachments: 0917101220a.jpg; 0917101220b.jpg Good morning Esther Please add as an attachment to the file. Joe may want to discuss the images provided here. Thanks, Kim From: Joe Racine [mailto:manager@hudsoncolorado.org] Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 1:10 PM To: Janet Carter; Larry Haas; Gloria Hice-Idler; Kyle Ostrand; Kim Ogle; David Bauer; Tom Parko; svineyard@cornellcompanies.com Cc: Jim Jones; r_fronczyk@msn.com; Vince.Ruscitti@sparboe.com; Rick Veach Subject: corn maze Thanks to everyone for the meeting today. Attached are photos at the west end of CR12.5. Note a couple of things. First, there is no warning signage of the abrupt curve prior to the Hwy 52 intersection. Seems there should be at least an arrow sign at the point of the turn. Second, even though the road appears to have been recently graded, note that the washboard is clearly visible. Traffic, especially truck traffic, will tear this road up quickly. •opefully the CR12.5 option will not be needed. Joe Racine Town Administrator (303) 536-9311 tt 1 Jk• s ' t J ,. Ft i mans 4 R i .s � � 3 � srI '. , r II is .r _ -.� _ 1 It � ' ,P, .' 1 - ! a ' • / S 4 ' r a. lir 1 r —• i a it j • t J I n ♦I' • J I 4 '! . 1 . Or • 1 I , d Apr 1 ! 1 1 f , 7 I _ . 1 It 1 ` i { • 44 • 3 _ t % di leit • , ., nit . '� f ` , . _ _ . A - F A J 1 Hello