Lafayette and Erie are poised to settle their nearly three-year-old “Nine Mile Corner” lawsuit under a proposed intergovernmental agreement, records released Friday evening reveal. The suit is at the center of an unprecedented border dispute that has threatened to derail a multi-million dollar commercial development in Erie and tested how Colorado courts oversee the use of eminent domain between neighboring towns.
The deal — a “global settlement” poised for approval by Erie trustees on Tuesday — could lay the groundwork for a renewed relationship between the long-at-odds communities on the eve of their respective administration changeovers, Erie officials said. Both Erie and Lafayette have new city administrators starting in the coming weeks.
Lafayette’s efforts to condemn 22 acres at the southeast corner of U.S. 287 and Arapahoe Road where the development is proposed awaits a decision by the Colorado Supreme Court and has cost both communities hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees.
According to the deal’s specifics, Lafayette would drop its lawsuit in exchange for a buffer on the property’s southern border that it sought with its condemnation.
That buffer has been negotiated down to 250 feet, and will allow a limited number of structures for the Nine Mile project, such as parking and drive-thru type development.
The latest plan iterations suggest the development is slated to host a 130,000-square-foot superstore, a 130,000-square-foot home improvement store, an 18-pump gas station and at least 35,800 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
Apart from settling the Nine Mile litigation, the deal also includes provisions that regulate the two communities’ “influence areas” over the next decade, drawing lines across the county dictating where each can develop and annex in the years ahead.
A map for the agreement suggests Erie will govern the area roughly north of Arapahoe Road and East of 119th Street, while Lafayette gets the south and west side.
Lafayette will pay Erie’s $460,000 in attorney fees as part of the agreement, which also includes the settling of two other legal disputes surrounding access permits on their neighboring borders.
A provision would allow Erie to construct a three-quarter intersection at the slated Nine Mile entrance along U.S. 287, which had been previously denied because of Lafayette’s recently installed traffic signals less than a mile down the road.
A second would allow for Erie to construct an access at its new Parkdale development, located north of Colo. 7 between 119th Street and County Line Road.
The deal’s last provision proposes that if Lafayette were to annex a Stephen Tebo-owned property at the southwest corner of U.S. 287 and Arapahoe Road and eventually develop it with commercial space, Erie would be entitled to 40 percent of the sales tax revenue.
Officials say the agreement is a “work in progress,” and the specifics could vary ahead of official approval.
Lafayette’s side of the deal likely preempts a loss at the high court, judging by previous decisions and past speculation by municipal attorneys.
In June, an appellate court upheld a Boulder County District judge’s ruling that while Lafayette sold its proposed condemnation as a play for an open space buffer, it had acted in “bad faith,” and its true motivation was to halt Erie’s Nine Mile Corner retail project.
And as Erie’s development stalled, Lafayette continued to move forward on several of its own projects across the street. Apart from a series of smaller pad stores such as a Tractor Supply and a 24 Hour Fitness, the city has begun construction on a Kohl’s planned for the western side of U.S. 287.
The two communities’ respective leadership have almost entirely transitioned from when litigation began, and Erie officials said Friday that the agreement represents a bid to reset relations in the coming years.
Lafayette officials declined to comment Friday on the proposed deal. The city will have to separately approve the language before it is officially adopted.
Anthony Hahn: 303-473-1422, hahna@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/_anthonyhahn
