The Parker Town Council will consider the adoption of an urban renewal plan for the Cottonwood Commercial Area on Oct. 15, 2012 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 20120 E. Mainstreet. Urban renewal is a tool authorized by State statute that will allow the Town and the Parker Authority for Reinvestment (PAR), the Town’s urban renewal authority, to enact positive change by facilitating the redevelopment and revitalization of the aging Cottonwood commercial area. The approval of an urban renewal plan will allow the PAR to fund public private partnerships and public infrastructure, as well as marketing and business development efforts in the area. The goal of urban renewal and these initiatives is to eliminate and reduce blight and the spread of blight.
The Cottonwood Commercial Area is an important gateway for the Town. The condition of the aging shopping center and the vacant anchor space at the northwest corner of Cottonwood Drive and Parker Road negatively affects our community. Several prominent storefronts and properties in this area, including the former anchor King Soopers, have been vacant for significant periods of time. The businesses located in and around the shopping center continue to suffer the impacts of the missing anchor tenant.
Some properties in the area lack public infrastructure, have deteriorated infrastructure or have existing aging buildings. Redevelopment and development of these properties are both more complicated and more expensive than new development on vacant land. Urban renewal, which is funded through Tax Increment Financing (TIF), provides tools for property owners to overcome constraints that prevent projects from being feasible. TIF is not an additional tax, but rather the new property tax revenues (tax increment) associated with new development or redevelopment that, without urban renewal, would not otherwise be available.
Additional desired outcomes of the revitalization effort are to retain existing businesses, attract more neighborhood-serving businesses and develop housing to increase the number of nearby residents to support those businesses. If approved, the Plan will be an important step for the Town and the PAR to facilitate the alleviation of blight through attracting private capital to redevelop and make improvements throughout the Plan area.
In developing the Plan, Town staff conducted outreach to both residents and businesses in Cottonwood in order to better understand the needs and issues in the area, and to answer questions about urban renewal.
For more information, please call Bryce Matthews at 303.841.0353 or email bmatthews@parkeronline.org.