Now is the time to move to Erie!

I miss all the good stuff. We bought our first house before the feds started giving tax credits for buying a house. Then we bought our second house right before they offered the "move up" tax credit. Now this...

The board of Trustees decided last night that we need more people buying homes in Erie, so to entice them in to our lovely town, Erie is now offering the following for new homebuyers:

• 3-Month Family Pass to Erie Community Center (Valued at $189 / Limited to first 60 homebuyers in 2011) - This offers the new resident the opportunity to "try before they buy" and provides the potential for additional revenue in the first year should they upgrade to an annual pass or renew the 3-month pass on the expiration of the initial 3-month trial period. 

• Tree Incentive Program – (Value: $125) Certificates are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis until all have been claimed for the calendar year.

• Free Irrigation Audit – (Value: $110) The irrigation audit is designed to pinpoint inefficiencies in an irrigation system which contributes to water waste, unnecessary runoff, increased run-time and maintenance costs.

And then if you buy a NEW home (you are welcome, Taylor Morrison), you get the additional goodies:

• Free Tree Program – (Value: $200) Each buyer of a new home in Erie receives a $200 Tree Certificate good towards the purchase of trees at participating nurseries.

• Colorado National Membership Discounts (Valued at $2,250) - One Free Golf Membership Initiation Fee ($1500 value) and six months free dues with one year paid in advance ($750 value) (Associate Membership only)

• Vector Air (Value $99) – Free welcome to Erie flight. This flight will introduce new Erie residents to the airport and provide an aerial tour of Erie.

I'm a wee bit jealous of the golf membership and Vector Air free trip... so if you are going to buy a house here and you for some strange reason do not want any of these freebies, you go ahead and let me know!

This looks like a win-win situation for the town, homebuyers, and local establishments. According to Mayor Wilson, the program pays for itself with one new home being built. The town collects roughly $40,000 on fees from builders. Not too shabby.

*Information of town incentives pulled from www.erieco.gov.

Luring in Business

It is no surprise to anyone who has lived in Erie in the past few years that there is a lot lacking by way of commercial enterprises within the town limit. I drive over five miles to get to the nearest grocery store and hardly ever eat out in town. As I drive outside the city limits to do shopping, I pass by many empty buildings and vacant prime commercial lots.

So what is it about Erie that has developers (other than Residential!) so weary? According to this Daily Camera article, it has a lot to do with the application process which takes nearly two years!

Nickerson, based in Arvada, issued a preliminary report earlier this month stating that the nearly two years it takes for Erie to approve a commercial development application is too long. The firm recommended that the town reduce the fees it charges developers and shorten the time frame for approving projects.

"Major retailers do not plan much more than a three-year horizon on store development," the report noted. "If they were looking at almost two years in processing in Erie, they might look elsewhere."

With a town of 18,500 + people, it seems as if we could support some more commercial development within our own borders, while at the same time drawing people in from surrounding communities who are also underserved (Anthem in Broomfield, parts of Frederick, Dacono, North Thornton, etc...). I believe part of the issues is access to the town. While I certainly appreciate the open space and farm land surrounding the town, it takes a while to get to the heart of Erie ("Four Corners" area) if you don't know where you are going. Not to mention we've got two lane roads coming in and out of town from I-25 and 287 with no visual cues to where the town actually lies. So what to do?

First of all, the trustees need to get on board with Mayor Wilson and plans for growth. It seems like there the New Town/Old Town faction going on. Let's look forward to more development and smart growth in the areas that will easily be accessed by current, and future residential neighborhoods.

Lower taxes and/or offer incentives for specific locations within the town. Everyone likes a hand out... and the incentives pay back exponentially with sales tax revenue. Let's make our town attractive to business!

Lower fees and streamline application process. As the consultant mentioned, it's too daunting of a task. Let's make it easy while at the same time maintaing the town's goals and the overall development plan (as an aside... I know I'm mentioning we need to ease the rules, but let's keep the town looking good. I'm not a huge fan of some of the architecture going up).

So let's do this, Erie. The more business that come in, the more apt people will be to moving here as well. The biggest complaint I get when talking to people about Erie is that we are so far from everything. Bring the business in, and we won't have to leave town. I for one would much rather have those tax dollars spent in my back yard.