Greeley council advances Great Western Industrial Park annexation ordinances to Aug. 18 hearing

The Greeley City Council voted 6-0 Tuesday to introduce 15 ordinances annexing the Great Western Industrial Park property into the city and to set public hearings and second reading for Aug. 18. The package covers the Great Western Industrial Park serial annexations Nos. 1 through 15, a chain of small connector parcels and one larger tract totaling about 325.63 acres on land south of Eastman Park Drive, east of Colorado Highway 257, west of Great Western Drive and north of Weld County Road 62 1/4.

The first-reading action moves forward annexation requests filed by Windsor Renewal I, LLC and, for the main tract, GWIP, LLC. City staff had recommended introducing each ordinance and scheduling the Aug. 18 hearings. Planning Commission previously recommended approval of all 15 annexations on 4-1 votes.

Council members pulled Item 18 from the consent agenda after public comments raised questions about whether Greeley can serve the site, how the annexation affects neighboring Windsor, and whether the serial annexation creates an enclave or relies on a narrow "umbilical cord" connection to city limits.

During council discussion, city staff said emergency service to the site can be provided under existing arrangements while longer-term terms are still being worked out. A staff member said there is a preexisting mutual-aid agreement covering the area and that Greeley and Windsor are discussing some form of reimbursement agreement, adding that historic emergency calls there have been negligible.

Staff also addressed concerns about the shape of the annexation. A staff member said the connecting strip is 20 feet wide, with 10 feet owned by Global AI on the south side and 10 feet owned by the GWIP property on the north side, and said that means no enclave would be created for either property regardless of the council's action. The same staff member also said the Global AI property is not part of this annexation.

Council Member Craig Huddleston asked about criticism that the city was using a narrow strip to reach a much larger property. In response, a staff member said so-called flagpole annexations are common and permitted by law. Huddleston also asked whether the annexation had been initiated by the city; staff responded that the property owner approached Greeley and that the city conducts voluntary annexations upon petition of the landowner.

The ordinances before council are the first step in a larger process. Under the annexation package, the earlier ordinances cover the small contiguity pieces and Ordinance No. 36 covers the main 322.427-acre tract. The annexation documents say recordation with Weld County and filing with the state cannot occur until petition conditions are satisfied or waived in writing by the petitioner.