John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... Sterling Ranch no longer is interested in becoming part of Littleton.
Sterling Ranch officials today informed the Littleton City Manager that it has ceased talks regarding the possibility of annexing the proposed community in the Chatfield Basin to Littleton, questioning the city’s ability to handle the mixed-use development that is expected to have a completed value as high as $4 billion. Instead, Sterling Ranch will continue moving forward with its zoning application in Douglas County.
Last week, the Denver Post quoted Littleton Mayor Doug Clark as saying that the developers of Sterling Ranch are “pretty desperate for water or they wouldn’t be doing this. Anyone looking at this would say is a stupid deal for Littleton.”“It is clear to us that the Mayor and City Council have differing visions about the future of Littleton,” Harold R. Smethills, one of the developers of Sterling Ranch wrote in a letter to Littleton City Manager Jim Woods.
On March 23, Sterling Ranch officials made a presentation to the Littleton City Council, after the city had initiated interest in possibly annexing the development, which over the next 20 years is projected to house 31,700 people. That would about a 77 percent increase from the city’s current population of 41,000, although even without Sterling Ranch, the city is expected to add people over the next two decades. During the presentation, the Sterling Ranch team highlighted what they saw as benefits to Littleton- thousands of new construction and permanent jobs, as well as millions and dollars in new and recurring revenue to the city, reducing costs to current Littleton citizens.
Not desperate for water
Smethills, one of the principals of Sterling Ranch, denied that they were desperate for water, in today’s letter to City Manager Woods.
“During the presentation we also made it clear that we had no need for and did not plan to take advantage of the Denver Water agreement currently in place with Littleton,” Smethills wrote to Woods. Smethills said it is their intention to supplement their current renewable water supply by negotiating a separate agreement with Denver Water and the WISE Partnership. (The WISE, Water Infrastructure Supply Efficiency, is a partnership between the three largest water suppliers along the Front Range – Denver Water, Aurora Water, and the South Metro Water Supply Authority.)
Tuesday’s meeting on annexation may be moot
“It’s not much of a surprise,” Kelli Narde, communications director for Littleton, said in response to the letter saying Sterling Ranch is no longer pursuing annexation. “It is scheduled for the council meeting on Tuesday night. They never did take a formal vote on it. That might have been the outcome on Tuesday night.” She said the agenda already had been prepared with Sterling Ranch on it, but she said she’s not sure if it is a moot point in light of today’s letter. “They can deal with that Tuesday,” she said. As far at Smethills’ saying that Sterling Ranch wasn’t coveting Littleton’s water, she said: ”I would have no comment on that. I wouldn’t know how to respond to that.”
$4 billion economic engine
Instead of the money flowing to Littleton, the $3 billion to $4 billion proposed community is projected to be a huge economic engine for Douglas County, generating thousands of construction and permanent jobs, and millions in revenue to the county, Smethills said. The mixed-use community covers 3,406-acres south of Chatfeld Reservoir. The reservoir would be a geographic barrier between most of Littleton and Sterling Ranch, which also was a negative to at least some city council members.
Can Littleton handle Sterling Ranch?
Smethills questioned whether Littleton could handle a project of the size of the size of Sterling Ranch.
“With this current lack of a cohesive future vision we are concerned about the ability of the city to undertake an economic opportunity of the magnitude presented by our $3-$4 billion project,” Smethills wrote in the letter.
Smethills said that the Sterling Ranch principals are confident that “we have adequate water both to serve our Sterling Ranch future residents and to share water with our neighbors, and we will be a key player in the regional water solution.”
Sterling Ranch is being developed by third-generation Coloradans. In addition to Smethills, the team includes his wife Diane and her brother Jack Hoagland. They are striving to make Sterling Ranch one of the most efficient master-planned communities in the country as far as minimizing water usage. They hope that it will serve as a model for other communities across the country.
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.
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