Public Infrastructure, Benefits

The Village has over $85 million in infrastructure investment by the Traer Creek Metropolitan District (with financing provided by Traer Creek), with more to come. Included are:

• Highway improvements for I-70 exit 168

• 6 roundabouts on Post Blvd, including a railroad underpass

• Underground parking structure with approximately 180 parking spaces.

• 2-million-gallon water tank located in north of I-70

• East Beaver Creek Boulevard

• Crescent Hill Road

• Swift Gulch Road

• Wagon Trail Road

• Piping of the Nottingham Puder ditch along the entire valley floor, with an associated pedestrian trail

The Town of Avon benefits include:

• Diamond I-70 Exit 168 was funded and completed by the District on time and at no cost to the Town in the first phase of development in the early 2000s.

• Post Blvd was completed by the District on time and at no cost to the Town in the early 2000s.  Post Blvd is a 4 lane road connecting Swift Gulch Road-Wagon Trail Road and Highway 6 and is 1 mile in length per lane.  The road also includes sidewalks, water and sewer utilities, a bridge and railroad underpass, 6 roundabouts of approximately 1 acre each.

• Exactions for East Avon ($2 million) and Chapel Place ($100,000) satisfied by the District.

• East Beaver Creek Blvd. improvements, which constitute one road connecting Post Blvd to East Beaver Creek Blvd at Chapel Square, completed in phases on time and at no cost to the Town.  At present, each lane is about 1 mile in length.

• The District funded and built Swift Gulch Road on time and at no cost to the Town in the early 2000s.  The road connects Post Blvd to the Town’s public works and transportation center on Swift Gulch Road and is about 1.3 miles per lane.

• Traer Creek originally (in 2001) had an obligation to convey 4 buildable acres to the Town for the purpose of establishing a public works facility, which facility was to include a fire station. Traer Creek, in a good faith effort to help the Town, agreed to convey the 4-acre site to the Town for a public works facility, and an additional and separate 1.231-acre site for a fire station to Eagle River Fire Protection District.  These parcels were conveyed on time and at no cost to the Town. In connection with the current proposed PUD Amendment, Traer Creek is being asked to agree to expand the use on the Town’s parcel, also known as “Lot 5,” to include community housing for the Town, currently not an allowed use.

• While not obligated, Traer Creek donated, at no cost, .611 acres of turn-key land next to I-70 exit 168 to Eagle County Health Service District (commonly known as the Ambulance District) for an emergency response station.  The conveyance resulted in reduced response times to the center of Avon, Minturn and Eagle-Vail; any reduction in response times, even just some seconds, is extremely important for anybody in need and can be the difference.

• Traer Creek reimbursed the Town $50,000 for all third-party consultant fees to review the original 1998 Annexation Agreement.

• Traer Creek was obligated to convey land or cash-in-lieu to Eagle County School District (School District), however, the School District does not anticipate needing a school site in the foreseeable future. As opposed to never conveying a school site, Traer Creek conveyed, at no cost to the Town, a pad ready 3.536 acre site on the valley floor across from the Piedmont with access to all needed utilities.  In connection with the proposed PUD Amendment, Traer Creek is being asked to agree to expand the use from a school and similar uses, such as daycare or early childhood education center, to permit community housing.  In addition, the Town is asking for the conveyance the .5 acre Lot 8, adjacent to the 3.536 acre parcel, at no cost to the Town. In the future, an affiliate of Traer Creek is further committed to convey an additional 3.764 acres within Planning Area I.

• The District paid the Town $200,000 on time for the Highway 6 recreational trail.

• The Town receives 1.097% in sales tax and fee revenues on retail sales transactions in the Village. To date, assuming $130 million in annual retail sales and property taxes collected within the Village, the Town has collected about $17.5 million. The Town of Avon collects more than $1,000,000 in annual revenue from sales and property taxes within the Village.

• The Village currently generates over $6 million in public revenues per year.

• While not obligated to do so, Traer Creek, from 2002-2006, advanced about $10.5 million, plus interest, to cover District responsibilities for upfront public improvements and exactions required by the Town as well as payments for municipal services and sales tax shortfalls.

• Planning Area B, a Public Park area, was conveyed to the Town as an amenity within the master planned Planning Area A. Previously, Planning Area B was to be financed by the District. Planning Area B will be designed in close coordination with Traer Creek in connection with the Planning Area A Master Plan.

• P3 - Construction of 50% of an approximately 13 acre community park in Planning Area P3 will begin prior to the Town issuing a certificate of occupancy for the 601st dwelling unit. The second half of P3 construction will be done when the 1,200th certificate of occupancy is issued.

• The District has built a 2-acre pocket park between Walmart and Home Depot. Additional pocket parks and bike trails are obligated by future triggers.

• Traer Creek paid $80,000 a year between 2015 and 2019 for asphalt overlay.

• Traer Creek, with no obligation to do so, also paid about $85,000 for landscaping (and replacement of trees due to poor performance of the contractor) to further screen areas south of the railroad right-of-way to be sensitive to the neighbors on Eaglebend Drive and Hurd Lane.

• The 244-unit Buffalo Ridge Housing affordable housing complex opened in conjunction with the first phase of development when only 100 units were required by the Town of Avon.