EAGLE, Colorado — Eagle River Station is a decision that's been three years in the making.

On Tuesday, Eagle voters will decide the fate of Eagle River Station — a controversial commercial/residential project that has been picked apart during hundreds of hours of public hearings and generated thousands of pages of analysis and comment.

Proponents call the development a lifeline for Eagle's financial future. Opponents see it as a scourge to small town character. In preparation for Tuesday's vote, here's a primer about ERS including the project's basics, the arguments for and against and a head-to-head examination of some of the claims and counter-claims about the project.

Here are the basic components of the Eagle River Station plan:

• Eagle River Station is a commercial/residential development proposed on an 88-acre tract located on the eastern end of town, south of Interstate 70 and north of U.S. Highway 6.

• Trinity/RED Eagle is the project developer. Vince Riggio of Edwards is the Trinity representative. RED Development is a shopping center developer based in Kansas City, Mo.

• The plan includes 552,000 square feet of commercial space including a 132,000-square-foot Target that would anchor the development.

• Eagle River Station proposes 581 residential units and a 150-room hotel.

• The estimated cost of the development is $346 million.

• Of that amount, $62.4 million is earmarked for public improvements including a new Interstate 70 interchange.

• Trinity/RED Eagle has proposed a revenue sharing plan to finance the public improvements package.

• The financing plan calls for a metropolitan district to issue bonds for the infrastructure — the town of Eagle would not issue the bonds.

• The town would rebate revenue collected from its 4 percent sales tax to the metropolitan district to pay off the public improvements.

• The sales tax rebate would only affect collections generated at Eagle River Station businesses.

• When the bonds are paid, the sales tax money would go back to the town.

• In the interim, a Public Improvement Fee would be charged on Eagle River Station retail purchases. Proceeds from the 1.3 percent fee would go to the town.

What does YES for Eagle's Future have to say?

Here's some of the reasons the pro Eagle River Station group has given for a “yes” vote:

• Finances: The proponents cite the payment of an estimated $17.5 million up front in town required impact fees and an estimated $2.5 million in sales generated revenue per year.

• Long-term finances: Trinity/RED estimates that the project will generate more than $400 million for the town and Eagle County over a 20-year period.

• Jobs: Trinity/RED Eagle estimates 1,900 construction jobs associated with the project and creation of an additional 1,500 permanent jobs.

• Public improvements: The developers say there will be $30 million of public improvements for public infrastructure improvements to be funded by the project including:

— Water/Wastewater: A new 1.3 million gallon water tank, water main upgrades on Chambers Ave., fairgrounds loop water improvements, sanitary sewer improvements and sewer main upgrades,

—Transportation: A new Interstate 70 interchange, extension of Chambers Avenue with a connection to U.S. Highway 6, Highway 6 Improvements, Eby Creek Road improvements and construction of a bike path the length of the development.

• Prevention of sales tax ‘leakage.' With a Target department store and a green grocery, proponents say area residents will spend more of their money in town, contributing to Eagle sales tax collections.

• The developer has committed to LEED certified construction including energy efficient building systems, alternative energy sources, regional and recycled building materials, water efficient landscaping, quality control stormwater design.

• Of the 581 new housing units, 10 percent (58) units would be deed-restricted, for sale affordable housing and 20 percent (105 units) are classified as workforce housing units.

• The Eagle River Station debt has been structured so that the town of Eagle is not at financial risk to pay back the bonds. The bonds will be issued by the Eagle River Station Metropolitan District, not the town.

— Source: www.yesforeagle.com

What does Smart Growth-Not Urban Sprawl-Vote No on ERS have to say?

Here's some of the reasons the anti-Eagle River Station has given for a “no” vote:

• The proposal is too big and out of scale with the rest of the community. It isn't compatible with Eagle's small town character. It is more reflective in size and scope of a typical suburban sprawl-like mall found in major metropolitan areas.

• The development uses land inefficiently, is costly to the taxpayer and does not go far enough to preserve or integrate critical open space at the gateway to the town.

• If ERS is approved, the developer is not required to begin the project for three years. Once construction begins, the developer can request two 18-month extensions, potentially delaying completion for six years. There are no requirements for the developer to begin construction and hire construction workers in the immediate future, or build the project at all.

• There is no guarantee that the entire development will be completed once it is started, and the developer is the one to decide what components of the development are built — if and when they even decide to build it.

• If approved, Eagle River Station will effectively create the fifth commercial district in the town, when existing commercial districts currently have vacant retail store and restaurant spaces as well as un-built commercially zoned land. Eagle River Station would effectively put a moratorium on new restaurant and retail business growth throughout the town of Eagle and Eagle Ranch.

• Eagle River Station will negatively affect traffic in town, particularly along Eby Creek Road. At full capacity Eagle River Station is estimated to generate 26,964 car trips on an average weekday, of which 21,758 will be retail traffic. Eagle River Station estimates that 75 percent of the vehicle trips generated by the development will access the site through a new East Eagle I-70 interchange and will not have to travel through roads in Eagle. Therefore, Eagle River Station will add 6,000 daily car trips daily to the local roads in Eagle.

• The majority of the “off-site” improvements to the town infrastructure proposed for Eagle River Station are mainly needed to service the shopping complex, not to benefit the rest of town.

— Source: www.votenoers.com

Alternate ‘realities'

During the Eagle River Station debate, there's been a number of heated battles. Here are a few examples:

40 percent

• According to the anti- Eagle River Station forces, Trinity/RED Eagle contends (despite the biggest downturn in the economy in more than 70 years) that it will have 95 percent occupancy at opening and that its sales projections will be unaffected by the economy. Their own market study proclaims that people will drive 45 minutes to shop there and spend 40 percent of their income at ERS.

• Representatives from Eagle River Station say that the 40 percent figure is being misrepresented. They say the 40 percent figure refers to discretionary income spent on retail that is skewed further by the high number of visitors in the local tourism economy.

Election complaints

• Supporters of Eagle River Station are taking opponents to task for claiming donations to their campaign are tax deductible. At issue is some fine print in a mailer the Smart Growth - Not Urban Sprawl - Vote No on Eagle River Station group sent to Eagle homes asking for “a few tax-deductible dollars.” Yes For Eagle's Future filed complaint forms with the Colorado Secretary of State and the Internal Revenue Service claiming Smart Growth has been soliciting tax deductible donations, even though the group is not a charity. Smart Growth campaign consultant David Flaherty said the group is not trying to dupe anyone. It simply made a mistake in referencing tax-deductible donations in the mailer.

• Opponents of Eagle River Station have filed a legal complaint against the town of Eagle saying the town broke state campaign laws when it sent out an e-mail promoting a pro-Eagle River Station event. The town says it didn't violate the law. “Smart Growth — Not Urban Sprawl — Vote No on Eagle River Station” filed the with the Colorado Secretary of State saying the town used its e-mail system to advertise a “YES For Eagle's Future” campaign event.

“This abuse of town resources to promote a campaign event is outrageous to say the least,” ‘Vote No' campaign manager David Flaherty said. “Is it too much to ask the supporters of Eagle River Station to abide by the law when promoting their own campaign events?”

Eagle Town Attorney Ed Sands said the e-mail does not violate the law. He said the e-mail's language takes no position on Eagle River Station — just informs people about an upcoming meeting.

“The other thing I would categorically assure you of: There was no collusion between any town trustees or town employees with [developer] Trinity RED or any other advocate of Eagle River Station to disseminate that,” Sands said.

RED ‘bailouts'

• RED Development has been involved with a retail project in Lee's Summit, Mo., called Summit Fair. RED has been accused of needing a taxpayer funding — spurring a nine-minute YouTube video tiled NoBailout4RED. The video, produced by the Carpenter's District Council labor union, slams RED Development over financing issues surrounding Summit Fair and alleges that RED received $52 million in “direct taxpayer subsidies” but needed an additional $9 million loan from the city to complete construction.

• Lee's Summit Mayor Karen Messerli has denied the $9 million “bailout” characterization. She said that Lee's Summit was obligated to issue bonds to pay for public improvements once the project reached a certain level of leasing. RED requested a partial bond issue to pay $9 million in off-site improvements that had already been completed. As an alternative, the city staff proposed a $9 million loan to the developer, which would generate higher interest than existing investments and save $400,000 in bonding costs. The $9 million construction loan will be absorbed into the overall debt once the center is finished, said Messerli.