To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Gini Pingenot, Open Spaces Director
Prepared By:
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Michele Frishman, Grants and Acquisitions Manager, Open Spaces
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Subject:
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Proposed Addition to Bijou Basin Open Space
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) authorize the Open Spaces Director to execute a purchase and sale agreement for $900,000, contingent on approval as to form by the County Attorney’s Office, to purchase 362 acres from the Colorado State University Research Foundation (CSURF) to expand Bijou Basin Open Space. Open Spaces will incur additional due diligence and closing costs not to exceed $15,000.
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Background and Discussion: Open Spaces staff have been in communication with CSURF about a potential acquisition of four parcels totaling 362 acres. The parcels are located northwest of Arapahoe County’s Bijou Basin Open Space, and each of the four parcels shares a boundary with the open space.
A title search for the parcels found no concerning encumbrances or liens on the property. CSURF owns the mineral rights and the groundwater rights in the Denver Basin aquifer, which would transfer to Arapahoe County with the ownership of the property. There are no leases to develop the mineral rights and no permanent structures on the property.
The property was appraised at $900,000, or approximately $2,500/acre, including the water and mineral rights; CSURF is willing to sell it to the County for that price.
If the County and CSURF enter into a purchase and sale agreement, County staff would obtain a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment to determine whether any apparent environmental risks exist on the property. We also would obtain more information on the property’s water rights and the existing grazing lease.
Considerations for this potential open space acquisition include the following:
Connectivity to County Open Space and Other Protected Lands: The CSURF parcels directly abut Bijou Basin Open Space, which in turn is part of a larger mass of more than 15,500 acres of protected lands in the West Bijou Creek area. The County’s 939-acre Mule Gulch Open Space borders Bijou Basin to the south. Several private conservation easements, totaling 2,745 acres, abut the County’s open space properties. Another conservation easement encompasses 9,051 acres formerly known as the Plains Conservation Center West Bijou Site, most of which is now owned by the nonprofit Savory Institute.
Recreation Value: We are in the midst of the master planning process for Bijou Basin Open Space so that it can eventually be opened for public access. Adding new acreage now would allow us to include it in the planning process.
Habitat and Scenic Value: The property consists entirely of dry grassland. A small riparian drainage area exists on the northern portion of the property, with small berms that occasionally hold water. According to Colorado Parks & Wildlife maps, the property provides habitat for pronghorn and mule deer, and may provide habitat for white-tailed deer. The parcels are highly visible from E. Quincy Avenue and Bijou Basin Open Space.
Open Spaces Master Plan Alignment: Portions of the CSURF parcels overlap with several priority areas identified in the 2021 Open Spaces Master Plan, including the open space priority area (map 15) and recreation priority area (map 12). Additionally, the parcels are mapped as critical wildlife habitat in map 5, and a small portion of the property overlaps with the riparian corridor priority area (map 14).
Alternatives: If Open Spaces does not pursue this acquisition, CSURF could put the property on the market to find another buyer.
Fiscal Impact: Purchase price, due diligence, and closing costs not to exceed $915,000 from the Open Space Acquisition & Development Fund. The fund balance exceeds this amount.
Alignment with Strategic Plan:
☒Be fiscally sustainable
☐Provide essential and mandated service
☒Be community focused
Concurrence: Staff presented the proposed acquisition to the Open Space and Trails Advisory Board (OSTAB) on April 22, 2024. OSTAB members expressed support for the acquisition.
Resolution: Attached is a copy of the draft resolution.