Aurora Water offers limited incentive for mixed-use development

“The city of Aurora is aiming to win back the favor of developers interested in putting up storefronts and apartments near new light-rail stations after an increase in tap water connection fees upped those builders’ infrastructure investments.

“We did have some people who already had plans in place for mixed-use projects at some of our (Transit Oriented Development) locations,” said Vinessa Irvin, manager of Aurora’s office of development assistance. “We didn’t want to discourage them from continuing plans for those projects.”

Aurora Water created a $4 million incentive program to reduce the connection fees associated with bringing drinking water into new, mixed-use properties. Each potential developer can use up to $1 million of the rebate per project.

“To continue to encourage that kind of development, we wanted to offer an incentive for a limited amount of time and for a limited amount of money,” Irvin said.

Transit Oriented Development areas, or TODs, are prime plots located a half mile around the new FasTracks light-rail stations cropping up from the Interstate 225 and East rail lines.”

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Mitchell, Megan. Denver Post 17 December 2013.