City and County of Broomfield

ARISTA PROJECT MOVES FORWARD DESPITE COMPLAINTS
The now controversial 206-acre Arista development project at the southeast corner of U.S. 36 and Wadsworth Blvd. in Broomfield got initial approval in 2001. At that time it was called Broomfield Urban Transit Village. The approval came a full six years after the land was identified as appropriate for development. Since then, some additional land has been added to the development, including land that will be home to the recently approved 6000-seat Broomfield Events Center. In addition, 1200 homes, 800,000 square feet of restaurants and retail, a park-and-ride and a 10-acre transit village will shape Arista. In 2004, developers announced that a California retailer, Frys Electronics, would make its entry into Colorado at Arista with a 146,000 square foot store. Recent activity on the project includes approval of the events center and an agreement that Broomfield will pay developers $2 million to buy the event center land and $1.4 million to oversee development of the center. City council voted on August 16 to approve an ordinance creating the Arista Local Improvement District (LID) in Broomfield. If approved by property owners in the proposed district in November, the LID will have the authority to establish a 0.2 percent sales tax, expected to generate about $360,578 annually within its boundary after build-out. The LID proceeds can be used for transportation, parking or other local improvements. Recently, a few nearby residents have complained about the project, especially the events center, and neighboring City of Westminster is raising concern that Arista will dump unmanageable traffic on Westminster roads. Arista is scheduled for buildout over the next 12 years.