Erie, CO: Community Information

The Town of Erie was incorporated in 1874, following several years of active growth as a mining community serving the Union Pacific Railroad‘s main line between Denver and Cheyenne with coal. As more mines opened in the sparsely populated ranchland, Erie became a commercial center for the Northern Colorado Coal fields. Located about 20 miles north of Denver and 15 miles east of Boulder, the Town’s early history is a snapshot of the rural Colorado mining experience, with boom and bust cycles of attendant population surges. The decline of coal mining in the 1940s led to decades of relatively slow growth. The historic downtown is centered on Briggs Street, and the architecture and charm of the old west can be easily appreciated while visiting the handful of shops and restaurants.

The town’s historic rural character and proud self-perception of being a small town without the pretensions and politics of nearby Boulder attracted many of the new residents during the housing boom of the 1990s, when Erie was discovered by developers and employees of Boulder County’s burgeoning tech sector boom and the general economic opportunities in the Denver area. Besides the “feel” of the town, large, new homes in Erie were less expensive than what could be found in the employment hubs of Boulder and Denver, and the town grew from 1,300 in 1990 to 16,600 in 2007.

Erie has a massive 48 sq mile planning area, and the long-range opportunities for residential growth are only limited by a combination of political vision and market demand. The Comprehensive Plan outlines major potential regional commercial and mixed use developments along the I-25 corridor, along with rural residential development that will retain the more wide-open feel you can see when driving north and east of Old Town currently.  The town’s outer growth boundary is flanked by the north-south US 287 and I-25 Highways, with US Hwy 7 forming the southern boundary. Hwy 52 and the recently completed Leon Wurl Parkway are the other main east/west transit corridors.

As Erie is split between Boulder and Weld Counties, the different growth management philosophies of those jurisdictions are reflected in both the current and future types of development. Within the Boulder side, on the western edge of Erie’s planning area, there is more land designated as open space; the eastern edge balances this with development in proximity to I-25 and Hwy 7.

Over the last ten years, Erie has experienced a political roller-coaster ride that has seriously impacted its current opportunities and competitive advantages regarding budget funding options. Six years ago in Erie, warring factions of pro- and anti- growth advocates were in high gear. It had almost a Junior High atmosphere, with accusations of incompetence and greed, ethics charges, a failed recall election and the firing of a Town Administrator. The previous network of leaders from the so-called “old guard” of long term residents saw their embrace of building permits--which funded such civic upgrades as paved streets downtown, a sewer system and remodeled Town Hall in the late 90s--turn on them as liabilities in the minds of more recent arrivals who were concerned about the pace of growth.

The 2002 election ushered in a slow (some would say anti-) growth majority to the Town Board. Erie’s commercial and retail growth was stunted while Broomfield snapped up land along Erie’s border and aggressively courted interested developers. The election of Mayor Andrew Moore in 2004 and the more balanced approach to attracting sales-tax generating development he has championed has been largely supported by voters.

Although Erie is showing nascent examples of revenue-generating commercial growth, residential developments continue to fill out--and more continue to be approved. Erie is now blossoming with new public amenities that are moving from the drawing board into reality. The new 63,000 sq ft Community Center, opened in January, has been built with energy efficient and sustainable materials and techniques. The brand new 50,000-book public Library just opened and a new water treatment plant is being built. New traffic lights on Leon Wurl Parkway and Ball Fields at Erie Commons are planned.

To address concerns by citizens that their community is a sea of subdivisions, in early 2008 the Board of Trustees approved and updated a Transportation Plan emphasizing increased bicycle travel opportunities by constructing more bike trail, path, and lane facilities providing missing connections in the system and elevating the status of cyclists to gain parity with automobile travelers. This vision of multimodal transit options is part of an overarching goal to make Erie a more pedestrian-friendly community through a variety of maintenance projects. Along with this vision there is a fledgling open space program with 241 acres--the tax revenues funding acquisition are not substantial enough for any major purchases.

Erie remains a bedroom community with no major corporate business parks; employment in Erie is clustered around professional services and retail jobs; hospitality industry (restaurants) and some service and light manufacturing companies. The attraction of major corporate headquarters and primary employers in general is not likely to be an immediate priority in the short term, based on a variety of competitive factors.

The future of Erie’s growth on the commercial side will depend on the perception of demand national retailers analyze when determining their next location. Erie’s neighbors, Lafayette to some extent and certainly Broomfield, will continue to develop commercial properties with an eye towards serving Erie’s residents while capturing the sales tax generating by their purchases. The town’s economic development strategy is to concentrate on attracting developers to the interior of the community, where competition with adjacent cites is not as severe. The land west of the new Community Center, for example, has recently been purchased by a grocery store developer. A major grocer as an anchor tenant along Hwy 7 and Vista Parkway is also being negotiated. The town continues to work on ways to provide sewer and water utilities to the Airport and Hwy 52 and I-25 corridor properties identified for development.

The Erie Municipal Airport does not have major plans for growth; however the potential for increased traffic to the airport exists. Proximity to the airport could be a concern to prospective residents. In the same vein, Erie has two regional landfills in the central/east section of its planning area, north of the Vista Ridge development. At times the wind and odor issues from these otherwise important revenue sources have caused irritation to nearby residents.

Residential growth will follow the perceived market opportunities, which in general show a continuous trend of demand as Erie’s relatively convenient location and affordable housing prices will continue to attract newcomers to Colorado. The town’s projected population in 2015 is approximately 25,000.

In April 2008 four Town Board seats including the Mayor’s will be up for election. The challenge facing the new Trustees will remain how best to meet the increasing demands for social and civic amenities to an ever-growing residential population in the face of commercial sales-tax generating development trying to play catch up.

Additional details:

The Erie Board of Trustees consists of seven members. To see the Erie Comprehensive Plan click here. A map of Erie’s open space holdings is here.