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7 P.M. August 26, 2002
ITEM 1 - CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Burkholder called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Lakewood Civic Center South, 480 South Allison Parkway, Lakewood, Colorado.
ITEM 2 - ROLL CALL
Those present were: Mayor Steve Burkholder, Presiding
Tom Booher
Ray Elliott
Jackie Herbst
Bob Murphy
Jean Saum
Debbie Koop
Mike Stevens
Cheryl Wise
Barb Martin
Absent: Carol Kesselman
Others in attendance: Joni Inman, Director, Mayor & City Manager's Office
Roger Noonan, City Attorney
Full and timely notice of this City Council meeting had been given and a quorum was present.
ITEM 3 - PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
ITEM 4 - PROCLAMATION - ROCKY THE POLICE DOG
Mayor Burkholder presented a proclamation and medal to Rocky the Police Dog
for his performance during a police pursuit. During the pursuit, he was shot
in the leg, yet continued to assist in pursuing an assailant. Trainer/Police
Agent Darren Maurer accepted the proclamation and plaque and thanked all parties
involved at the crime scene and in Rocky's rehabilitation process.
ITEM 5 - PRESENTATION - WEST METRO FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
Rick Franz from West Metro Fire Department and Captain Dean Wall introduced
themselves as firefighters from Station No. 7. They are members of the Wind
& Fire Motorcycle Club. It is a motorcycle club that consists of all firefighters
that own Harley Davidsons. This year a memorial ride will be done, beginning
at the Fallen Firefighters Memorial outside City Hall and the motorcycle club
will ride to New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania and hold memorials
at each of the crash sites and return to Lakewood. Dean Wall reported on all
the events leading up to the day of the ride.
ITEM 6 - RESOLUTION 2002-55 - APPOINTING AND RE-APPOINTING MEMBERS TO THE LAKEWOOD HERITAGE, CULTURE AND THE ARTS COMMISSION
Councilman Stevens made a motion to approve Resolution 2002-55, appointing Robert Zachman, Letitia Wiliams, Zenat Shariff Belkin, and Joan Howard to the Lakewood Heritage, Culture and the Arts Commission. It was seconded by Councilman Elliott. Vote: 10 Ayes. 0 Nays. The motion carried.
ITEM 7 - RESOLUTION 2002-56 - APPOINTING A MEMBER TO THE LAKEWOOD LIQUOR AND FERMENTED MALT BEVERAGE LICENSING AUTHORITY
Councilman Stevens made a motion to approve Resolution 2002-56, appointing Lorrie Stevens to the Lakewood Liquor and Fermented Malt Beverage Licensing Authority. It was seconded by Councilman Elliott. Vote: 10 Ayes. 0 Nays. The motion carried.
ITEM 8 - RESOLUTION 2002-57 - APPOINTING A MEMBER TO THE LAKEWOOD BOARD OF APPEALS
Councilman Stevens made a motion to approve Resolution 2002-57, appointing Jim Gurley Lakewood Board of Appeals. It was seconded by Councilman Elliott. Vote: 10 Ayes. 0 Nays. The motion carried.
ITEM 9 - RESOLUTION 2002-58 - APPOINTING A MEMBER TO THE LAKEWOOD HOUSING AUTHORITY
Councilman Stevens made a motion to approve Resolution 2002-58, appointing
Geri Westkott Lakewood Housing Authority. It was seconded by Councilman Elliott.
Vote: 10 Ayes. 0 Nays. The motion carried.
ITEM 10 - PUBLIC COMMENT
Robert Baker - 50 South Cody Street - Lakewood, Colorado
Robert Baker read a portion of a letter into the record:
Dear Mayor Burkholder and Members of City Council:
It is time that our elected city officials gain a clearer understanding of just
how we have gotten to the point we are at now, spending major time, energy and
money considering how best to change the current ordinance, to limit the number
of unrelated people living in a single family home. While the city likes to
point out that this ordinance has worked well for over twenty years, the emergence
of this issue has brought into question the Council and staff's own degree of
understanding of the current ordinance and the wringing of hands about just
what to do, as witnessed at the study session of August 19, 2002.
My contention is that the scrutiny now attending Lakewood's ordinance would have been avoided completely were it not for the unfortunate and ill-conceived decisions made by city staff and the outrageous, arrogant and self-serving plans of CCU and their closely tied investor. But, now that it is evident that the current ordinance can be abused, Council will need to make changes. Unfortunately, this is a common sense issue that could have been backed up by the very code that is already in place, however, the city dropped the ball!
Here is my sense of what happened this past spring and early summer. The investor did approach the city to inquire about what they needed to do to be able to purchase single-family homes in our neighborhood and turn them into dormitories. Documentation from CCU was provided to the city about their "theme homes" which were also referred to as dormitories in their literature. In order to take full advantage of the portion of the code that allows one unrelated person per habitable room, they were told they must pull permits and install, up to code, ingress and egress windows in the basements if they were to move along with their plan of placing 8-12 students in each house. We are aware of at least seven homes purchased by the investor in our immediate neighborhood, all of which have had such windows installed, including the 1100 square foot house directly across the street from my house where they installed three new windows in the basement.
As I am a real estate broker, I was alarmed by such unusual alterations of these homes. Neighbors and I began to make inquires and started to figure out some of the intended plans of the university. After alerting Mid-Lakewood Civic Association at neighborhood meetings, I and Jim Moore of 85 S. Flower Street were asked to meet with the University to express our opposition to using homes in a single family neighborhood for housing large numbers of students. We met with Jim McCormick, VP of Student Life, and two other representatives of CCU in June. They claimed to be shocked to find out that people in the neighborhood would not want 8-12 CCU students living in these homes, since these would be serious Christian students with the school overseeing everything. Jim and I made it quite clear that the issue was more than whether the kids behaved, and the grounds were taken care of, and the parking, traffic, and safety issues, but rather that a large number of unrelated people, in this case students, living in a single family home with no sense of permanence would have a negative impact on the character, quality of life and home values in our neighborhood. We insisted that oversight by the University was not the issue and that we were unequivocally opposed to their plan.
That very afternoon, I received a call from Jim McCormick and was told that the city and insisted that CCU sever their leases with the investor to rent these homes and that they were indeed terminating those contracts…
Kate Horan - 10 Field Street- Lakewood, Colorado
Kate Horan continued reading a letter from Robert Baker into the record:
He warned that we would now be at the mercy of the investor who would probably
rent the houses to CCU students anyway but without the "benefit" of
the school's involvement.
The interesting part is that Frank Gray, head of Planning, and nonetheless encouraged the University to meet with us to see if CCU could be successful in winning us over with their plans. Meanwhile, the MLCA had also asked other neighbors, Jeri Coffey and Bill Hays to meet with Frank Gray and did so that same day. They too were encouraged to work something out with CCU despite the severance of the leases, and Mr. Gray was also told that the neighborhood wanted no part of the school's plan for the same reasons noted above.
By this time, the city staff must have begun to realize that they had made a big mistake and had not anticipated the huge outcry, resistance and anger of the neighborhood that would be further evidenced by the large turnout and signed petition and vocal outpouring of neighborhood attendees of the meeting called by MLCA and West Alameda Heights HOA (Cheryl Wise, Barbara Martin, Bob Murphy and Vince Harris were in attendance). I personally asked Roger Noonan, City Attorney, if he had ever rendered an opinion to staff about whether these homes would be considered dormitories, which the code does not allow, and his reply was that he had "not," and knew nothing of this issue prior to or during the City's granting permits for multiple basement windows and condoning the plans of CCU and the investor to turn these homes into dorms.
The staff has demonstrated poor judgment, and have let Council and the people of Lakewood down, by simply not saying that the CCU/investor plan was unacceptable and not permitted. However, now that the "go ahead" had been given and the investor had spent money to alter these homes to accommodate large numbers of unrelated people, I can imagine they may have turned to the city attorney and said, "Hey, we need to take the position that these homes are not dorms, we have never called them dorms (even thought the documentation from CCU did), and we need to stick to our story!". In fact, in a two and one half hour meeting on the eve of July 4, with me, neighbors Jeri Coffey and Linda Housley and city attorney, Roger Noonan and Councilors, Cheryl Wise and Barbara Martin, Frank Gray repeatedly asked us for our definition of "dormitory", as we argued that these houses were set up to be used as dorms for CCU, including uniform furniture apparently provided by the School. Amazingly, not until we looked further into the code after this meeting, did we discover that there is a very clear definition of "dormitory" right in the code, which no one from the city ever bothered to tell us even existed. Furthermore, we had to ferret out for ourselves that another part of the code expressly prohibits dormitories in the zoning, another point never volunteered by anyone at the city. They may well have been thinking, "We screwed up and there are lots of angry residents, but we don't want CCU or the investor to sue us." Early on, the city could easily have looked the investor and CCU in the eye and said, "You know, we don't care how wonderful your idea for 'theme living, Christian dorms' is, you can't do it. This is not a proper use in 2-R zoning and our code expressly prohibits dormitories, which are also defined in the ordinance. It is not in the best interests of our city or neighborhoods to allow you to pursue such a plan. Further it adversely affects the character, safety, and home values in the neighborhood."
Back in June, when CCU supposedly withdrew from any official involvement with these houses, we wrote a letter thanking them for a wise decision and for doing so and told them that we trusted that they would abide by the spirit of their decision and not facilitate the efforts of the investor to fill these homes with students. Instead, CCU continued to push for involvement with the investor and these homes. In fact, CCU is so unabashed and so unwilling to recognize the investor and these homes.
Jim Moore - 85 South Flower Street - Lakewood, Colorado
Jim Moore continued reading a letter from Robert Baker into the record:
In fact, CCU is so unabashed and so unwilling to recognize the opposition of
the vast majority of the nearby neighborhoods and the public relations nightmare
that they are creating for themselves, that Brian Bissell, VP of CCU just recently
led the Mayor and this very Council on a tour of some of these homes in vans
provided by the University, while continuing to state that CCU was no longer
involved and declined to answer questions about the ownership of all the large
quantities of uniform furniture in these home. Did that not seem odd to members
of City Council? In fact, today we received a letter from CCU stating that "the
to members of City Council? In fact, today we received a letter from CCU stating
that "the students in our theme houses will lease the homes directly from
the owner, and the college will act as a property manager for the owner."
What an incredible and obvious obfuscation to get around the fact that the city
had at least found it unacceptable for the CCU to directly lease these homes,
but still puts the school in the position of collecting room rents which are
apparently paid by semester with all utilities, water, phone and school furnishings
included in these payments made directly to the University, who then claim merely
to be acting as a "property manager."
In any case, there was a large meeting granted by Mike Rock, city manager, in late July attended by our attorney, Wayne Forman of Brownstein/Hyatt/Farber, myself, neighbors Jeri Coffey and Linda Housley and in addition to Mr. Rock, Mayor Burkholder, city attorney, Roger Noonan, enforcement, Vince Harris, and Councilors, Cheryl Wise and Bob Murphy. We continued to be stonewalled on this issue of whether or not these homes are being used as dorms for CCU. Our attorney argued that the city has had the tools all along, right in the current ordinance, to do the right thing and tell CCU and the investor that their plans were unacceptable and illegal, but to not avail. Not to be too cynical here, but I believe realistic, can you imagine how the arguments of the city might be different if one of these houses was suddenly next to Mayor Burkholder, Mike Rock of Frank Gray's residence? Instead, Mike Rock's line is to allow CCU and the investor to move forward while invoking the "late in the game" opinion of the city attorney that these homes are not dorms (by the way, again, not to be too cynical, is the opinion of a single attorney and a couple to top staff to be taken as gospel by Council, especially when many hundreds of citizens disagree and any common sense analysis of the facts would lead a reasonably intelligent person with no special agenda to a completely different conclusion?) then, as a back up to the party line, Mr. Rock trots out some "catch-all" nonsense about federal law allowing schools to do any thing they want, anywhere. If this is so, why doesn't the city allow CCU to build whatever facilities they need right on their own campus and not infringe on our single-family neighborhood.
Elisa Hansen - 40 South Dudley Street - Lakewood, Colorado
Elisa Hansen finished reading a letter from Robert Baker into the record:
Furthermore, if this is so, how in Jefferson County being successful in stopping
CCU from moving to their desired new southwest location?
The Council and Mayor ought to be outraged by the type of thinking and decision
making that seems to place more importance on CCU's desires and some investor
from Aurora than on the integrity of our neighborhoods. There is something fundamentally
wrong when you head of planning and development is quoted in the Sentinel as
having thought all along that CCU's involvement with these houses would be the
best long-term solution for the neighborhood and is making erroneous assertions
at our second meeting that our neighborhood is half rentals anyway. Further,
Council ought to have the guts to question and oppose such positions and hold
their employees accountable. Perhaps, Council should consider having the City
buy these homes and reselling them for proper usage or put pressure on the owner
to see that it is in his best interest to sell these home. The sale of these
homes for proper single-family usage would go a long way toward making things
right with our neighborhoods. The Mayor and Council need to take a hard look
at the quality of advice you are getting from your top staff.
Sincerely, Robert Baker
I would like to add a personal note that three of these homes are located at
1st and Bayaud where I live and one of them has previously held six CCU students,
those upright Christian students who on their first fall in their new home,
stole some of our Halloween decorations and promptly put them on their yard,
devastating my six year old at the time. These houses would be best with a smaller
number of unrelated individuals, students or otherwise and I firmly believe
that if the Council decides to change the limits to limit the number of unrelated
individuals, that the grandfather clause should not be up to five years like
the Sentinel says you're possibly considering. Students of this nature will
not be leasing those homes for more than a year or two and the grandfather clause
should reflect that view accordingly. I am willing to live with some of these
students in this house, but the high density of that many young individuals
in one place, grouping together, and doing what young college kids will do,
isn't healthy for a neighborhood full of retirees and families with young children
who play in the street and need to go to bed at a decent hour. I feel strongly
that a smaller number of unrelated individuals such as these young adults in
the college situation, would be a best option. I also wonder if City Council
in their study sessions would look into the IBC Code because there are some
designations for number of individuals in a home that would override the City's
general code about one per habitable room, depending on the style of framing
and the number of square feet in an egree window when it is open, other things
like that. It would be prominent and help this.
Newt Vaughan - 8663 W. Hawaii Drive - Lakewood, Colorado
Mr. Vaughan stated that he did agree with these neighbors. He stated he would
speak about the thin blue line in the police and fire departments throughout
the land. We have today a couple of weeks coming upon us a tragic event that
costs a lot of them their lives. Right now, with the training they are doing,
it has became a job that has not been a life-threatening situation even though
they are put at risk. I would like to encourage young people, 40 years and younger,
to start thinking about law enforcement or fire fighting as a career. It is
a rewarding experience. It is not a bad-paying job, especially for non-college
grads. I know the City of Lakewood is probably among probably less than 5% of
the agencies in the Country that require a college degree to become a police
officers. You also need to meet certain requirements. This may be contradictory,
but you need to be assertive and have a little bit of tact at the same time.
You need to be able to take a leadership role but accept commands. You have
to be able to take instruction, follow instructions. They do things because
they are suppose to do it that way. Being a member of the graduating class of
the Citizens Police Academy last year, I learned a lot about what law enforcement
is all about. I know there are several of you on the Council that have participated
in that class and can bear with that. If you would like to seek a career in
police or law enforcement, I would encourage you to take a ride-along with one
of our police agents in the City of Lakewood or State of Colorado. They all
offer ride-along programs. All you have to do is go to the desk of any police
department and you can get these applications. Some of the police officers may
have them with it, but I doubt it. It's a good way to find out if its what you
like to do. I would like to encourage the City of Lakewood to make this a full
shift instead of a half-shift. I would like to encourage you to go right from
the Roll Call to his final lock-up of his vehicle that night. Also, attending
the Citizens Police Academy is a good idea. There is another class fixing to
start, probably full, but those applications are available at the desk. I would
really encourage our young people to think about police or law enforcement as
a career. It can be very rewarding and probably not so reward at times. Thank
you.
Robert Johnson - 115 Estes Street - Lakewood, Colorado
Mr. Johnson stated he is President of the Mid-Lakewood Civic Homeowners group.
I have been the president of that organization for the last three years. During
that time, the Mid-Lakewood Homeowners group has contacted Colorado Christian
University several times about their potential to South Jefferson County. No
information has come forth from the University to the homeowners group about
their move. Although, the University did present a plan to Jefferson County
Board of Planners on August 31, 2000. However, the zoning issue before Council
is not about Colorado Christian University or its students. The issue is about
changing the ordinance that does not coincide with current zoning. The liberal
interpretation of the current law will allow the character of this neighborhood
to change as well as every neighborhood in the City of Lakewood. Many surrounding
municipalities have statutes to protect their single-family resident neighborhoods.
What is good for a single-family resident neighborhood in Aurora, Boulder, Denver,
and Wheat Ridge, is good for Lakewood. I would ask Lakewood City Council to
not get carried away with formulas that are open to interpretation. Let's finish
this business by changing the ordinance to only allow 3-4 non-related people
to live in a rented house and enforce the current zoning that does not allow
dormitories in R1 or R2 neighborhoods. Thank you.
Katie Smith - 45 South Flower Street - Lakewood, Colorado
This is the definition of dorm, according to the city ordinance that currently
exists…"a building containing living and sleeping facilities for students
of a college or university and which may contain study areas and/or shared kitchen/dining
facilities." I read nothing about length of lease, yet when I spoke to
the zoning enforcement office, they informed me that the students in these houses
have a one year lease, therefore they are not considered dorms. From what I
can tell, CCU is purchasing, renovating, furnishing, filling the houses with
students and managing these properties. What about this does not fit the definition
of dorm under the existing city ordinance? Last week at the study session we
were told that CCU could tear down one these houses and build a dorm and that
would be entirely within their rights under the existing zoning. This is not
interpreting the code. This is changing the zoning of the neighborhood without
going through the proper procedures. Last week, a number from our neighborhood
group, approached a City Council member and pointed out that the Council could
just as easily and legally ruled in favor of the neighborhood, rather than CCU.
His response was, so sue us. Gosh, I wish we could. Our lawyer told us that
the court almost always rules in favor of the city, despite the validity of
the complaint. As I was passing about flyers, encouraging people to come to
this meeting, I saw flags and stickers on people's houses. One in particular
said, "Let freedom ring." I thought to myself, so this is a taste
of what it's like to live in a country where people's representatives refuse
to represent them and there is no impartial court to turn to. Now, I understand
why people become politically active. They have no other choice. I only wish,
I, and all the other amazing people in this group, didn't have to spend our
time and energy, fighting for a cause that shouldn't even exist. Thank you.
Michael O'Beirne - 25 North Cody Court - Lakewood, Colorado
I know my clock is ticking and I have a lot of information to part upon Council,
but I'm going to deviate from my prepared text because I feel as though some
things need to be touched on that are of grave importance to the City as it
is, the whole city, from Denver to Wheat Ridge, from Golden to Littleton, the
whole city. We have an incipient plaque taking hold of our city. We have city
staff who are orchestrating study sessions to serve their ends. Let me just
summarize John Locke's Social Contract for you, "a voluntary agreement
among people defining the relationship of individuals with one another and with
government and by this process, forming a distinct organized society."
Mr. Gray, your fear mongering is unnecessary, steering this Council to serve
your ends is not serving your fiduciary responsibilities as a civil servant.
I know this is an indictment and this is strong language, but I've considered
the evidence. I've tried to impartial in this whole thing. I've urged my fellow
citizens to back off of CCU and to let cooler heads prevail, but after August
19th, I have to say that I've lost my respect for this process. It has been
perverted and subverted. I cannot tell you the parallels to history. This reminds
me of Boss Tweed's gerrymandering in the 19th Century. This sort of arrogance
is why we're here debating these issues. Council should be impartial. During
enlightenment, rational minds were supposed to be the rue of the day. You are
rational until proven otherwise and we live with that today. But, knowledge
and wisdom, hopefully, transcendent wisdom which is the reason for religion
and most of our quests in life, is based on information and if that information
is skewed by individuals who are trying to covering their tail, then it's not
true information. It's simply damage control.
Mary Lou Akers - 8702 Meadowlark - Lakewood, Colorado
I want to commend the Mayor for the way he conducted the last Council meeting.
He is right, we need cool heads. We need to approach this situation with level
heads, sound reasoning, and necessary logic. Meadowlark has become a speedway.
The problem lies in the fact that it has busy access, not only to 6th Avenue,
but also to Garrison and Carr, not to mention the daily and nightly draw of
the park. Yet, a small handful of us are asked to bear the burden of one-half
of the City's expense for the two speed bumps we need. My sister and I own a
home in Wheat Ridge. She tells me that after complaints of speeders between
26th and 29th, the City simply installed two speed bumps at no cost to the residents.
While, we, here on Meadowlark, have resigned ourselves to waiting for someone
to be injured, or worse yet, killed, before the City, I hope, will last. I see
children walking three of four abreast to the park or school, while cars fly
by. Last week, I saw a car swerve to miss four kids. Traffic in this areas has
increased tremendously. Do I think they are mostly CCU students? Of course not.
Do I believe they had or will contribute to the problem. Absolutely. I take
offense at the way our neighborhood is sometimes portrayed as if we are against
these students. That is utter nonsense. They are probably all great kids, or
most of them. We have no animosity towards these kids. We weren't born old.
We all went through these ages and probably cut up every chance we got and that
knowledge alone, the logic, should tell us that putting six to twelve students,
just out from under parental restraints, sharing a house with their peers, is
a recipe for disaster in any single family neighborhood. I always liked living
close to CCU and had a great deal of respect for them. But, just because they
sold the land around the school and have no place to build more dorms, why are
they putting their burden on us? Have they no Christian respect for their neighbors?
I am here to urge you to change this ordinance on dorms and multiple rentals.
All of Lakewood falls under this law. You know as well as they, and I, that
this is a mega moneymaker that will devastate this community. I feel, if it
is allowed to continue, it will spread like a cancer throughout the entire city.
By the way, we're not all old. Within one block radius of my home is a young
family with a new baby, another with a toddler, a family with two young teens
across the street, and three other homes with folks living there between 25
and 35, none are renters, all are permanent residents. Thank you.
Kathy Byer - 165 Dudley - Lakewood, Colorado
I wanted to make it here to the meeting to support my neighbors and the neighborhood.
I also want to ask the Council, since we do have students and will have students,
while you're thinking about all of this, to also enforce the new law that just
went into effect in Boulder about the couches. Surely, the students and other
type people coming in, there will be indoor furniture placed outdoors and that's
an eyesore that will happen automatically. I think it has happened at Linda's
house and I strongly oppose this ordinance and look to you to reduce the number
of students and non-related individuals to be allowed in the houses. Thank you.
Linda Povalco - 8540 W. Cedar Avenue - Lakewood, Colorado
I live right behind one of the four dorms that were just built. I called the
City because I wanted something done, no only all through the year, but particularly
what happened this summer, which consisted of various groups that would come
in vans and they usually said, like Southern Baptist Church. We had a wide variety
of vans and groups and preteens, teens, all running loose, with no supervision
and they would stay for a while and then leave because they were renting out
the empty dorms for the summer. They have no clue what the zoning rules are
about noise. My neighbor and I had to stop at one point, go over and tell the
kids to turn off the amplified guitars and keyboard because they couldn't do
it, it's after ten. We have to take the initiative to police these dorms in
the summer. These are doing the weeknights when people have to get up early
and go to work the following morning. And I don't' think it should be our responsibility
to act as the neighborhood police for CCU. And if you don't mind I have a tape
recording of one of the incidents that we called the police repeatedly on. (She
played a tape of music.) I think you get the point, but this went on between
ten and twelve o'clock at night. Why are we subjected to this? I called and
they said, well it seems to be okay. There doesn't seem to be a problem or a
violation. Calvin Van Essen can do what ever he wants in the summer time? We
are right over the fence from this. And is anybody going to do anything about
the lighting that we are subjected to from the dorm rooms who have fluorescent
lighting that lights up our bedroom windows?
Walt Heidenfelder - 13009 W. Ohio Drive - Lakewood, Colorado
The City of Lakewood is really very fortunate in having an excellent city manager
as well as planning department with top-notch staff. Nevertheless, about a month
ago City Council voted to approve a redevelopment plan in the area of Colfax
and Wadsworth involving the building of a new Wal-Mart. At the July 22nd City
Council meeting, one citizen, to his credit, Mr. Newt Vaughan, spoke up to remind
us that redevelopment would destroy small businesses presently at that location.
Although I attended that meeting, I was not prepared to make the comments I
am now going to make. Wal-Mart is one of the largest corporations in the world.
It is an imminently successful merchandising machine have built stores across
America and other parts of the world. It is also known for its callus disregard
of the wishes of local citizens whose lives are impacted in dramatic and destructive
fashion by the intrusion of these monstrous retailing establishments. Time and
again Wal-Mart has moved into areas populated by family businesses and destroyed
the character and beauty of small town America. Time and again Wal-Mart has
built their ugly concrete block buildings and destroyed part of our history
and our heritage along with the existing small business community. Surely, everyone
must by now aware, that America's corporations do not care about American people.
Wal-Mart is a prime example of this attitude. Should we continue to do business
with companies like this and pretend that everything is okay? Is this the era
where community value is merchandising? What happens if Wal-Mart discovers that
they cannot make a profit at their new location? Does the City of Lakewood get
stuck with the burden of paying off the bonds? Will the City of Lakewood wind
up in court against the retailing giant of the world? Besides the little people
that will be put out of business, will the taxpayers of Lakewood end up paying
for a failed merchandising venture? Thank you.
Councilwoman Wise stated that as one of the elected representatives for the Meadowlark Neighborhood, which is located in Ward 1, she thanked each and every one of the residents for attending. The citizens' involvement is so welcome. It is good to know that the citizens care about the character and the values that are represented in your neighborhood. Although this process is frustrating, I am deeply committed to the integrity, not just this neighborhood, but to all of the neighborhoods in Lakewood. I have worked with staff and the other Councilors and they are working equally hard to try to help the neighbors have their values reflected through the laws of the City of Lakewood. At last week's study session, Council directed staff to go back and look at the existing ordinance and believe we'll get the numbers down that are acceptable to the citizens. Council also asked staff to look at the use-by-right issue. A draft ordinance will be coming forward to Council. Council is taking this issue extremely seriously and are listening.
Councilman Elliott stated that regarding Wal-Mart going in at Colfax and Wadsworth, although Council has approved a redevelopment plan, if Wal-Mart decided they did not want to locate on that parcel of land, there are absolutely no costs that will be incurred by the residents or taxpayers of the City of Lakewood. The City will not reimburse anything for anybody. The City of Lakewood is not taking on any additional debt. The public improvements and everything planned for the site will be paid off by money received by Wal-Mart in the form of a Public Improvement Fee.
Councilman Murphy responded to Walt Heidenfelder's comments stating that the simple statistic of $80,000 a year in combined sales tax and property tax revenues is a poultry sum for 30-acres of the busiest intersection in Lakewood. It's rather obvious testimony to the fact that there isn't that much going on there right now, unfortunately. That's why we're working so hard to try to make it better. Secondly, it will not be an ugly concrete block building, the designs that we are looking at right now, are far from that. It's not going to be a cinderblock Wal-Mart that was several generations ago. If for some reason some years down the road, the business didn't work out, it is a private bond issue, not a public bond issue. The taxpayers of Lakewood have absolutely no responsibility. The private bond purchasers have that responsibility.
CONSENT AGENDA - The following items from the Consent Agenda were read into the record by the City Clerk.
ITEM 11 - RESOLUTION 2002-59 - FOR AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT FOR DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES FOR THE MUNICIPAL COURT REMODEL AND RENOVATION AT THE PUBLIC SAFETY CENTER
ITEM 12 - RESOLUTION 2002-60 - FOR ACCEPTANCE OF BID AND AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF MOUNTAIR PARK STREET IMPROVEMENTS
ITEM 13 - ACCEPTING MINUTES OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
Board of Appeals July 9, 2002
Councilwoman Wise made a motion to accept the minutes of Boards and Commissions; and ordered all ordinances introduced on first reading to be published in the Lakewood Sentinel with public hearing set for the dates included in the ordinance; and ordered the adoption of resolutions, all of which were included in the Consent Agenda items introduced into the record by the City Clerk. The motion was seconded by Councilman Elliott.
Vote: 10 Ayes. 0 Nays. The motion carried.
ITEM 14 - ORDINANCE O-2002-28 - DECLARING THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ONE HORSE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT, DESCRIBING THE BOUNDARIES AND SERVICE AREA OF THE DISTRICT, AND GIVING IT THE CORPORATE NAME SPECIFIED IN THE PETITION AND FURTHER DECLARING AN EMERGENCY
Councilwoman Wise made a motion to adopt Ordinance O-2002-28. It was seconded by Councilman Elliott. Vote: 10 Ayes. 0 Nays. The motion carried.
ITEM 15 - ORDINANCE O-2002-29 - AUTHORIZING THE CONVEYANCE OF A QUIT CLAIM DEED FOR 20 FEET OF PROPERTY SOUTH OF 8525 W. ALAMEDA AVENUE IN EXCHANGE FOR A QUIT CLAIM DEED FROM THE PROPERTY OWNER FOR THE 30 FEET NORTH OF THE SECTION LINE ADJACENT TO THE SAME PROPERTY LOCATED IN THE SOUTHEAST ONE-QUARTER OF SECTION 10, TOWNSHIP 4 SOUTH, RANGE 69 WEST OF THE 6TH PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, CITY OF LAKEWOOD, COUNTY OF JEFFERSON, STATE OF COLORADO, FURTHER DECLARING AN EMERGENCY
Councilwoman Wise made a motion to adopt Ordinance O-2002-29. It was seconded by Councilman Elliott. Vote: 10 Ayes. 0 Nay. The motion carried.
ITEM 16 - ORDINANCE O-2002-30 - AMENDING CHAPTER 9.80 OF THE LAKEWOOD MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO THE ABATEMENT OF NUISANCES
Councilwoman Wise made a motion to adopt Ordinance O-2002-30. It was seconded by Councilman Elliott.
Public Comment:
Newt Vaughan - 8663 W. Hawaii Drive - Lakewood, Colorado
Mr. Vaughan asked for an explanation of the ordinance.
Barb Brown, Code Enforcement Supervisor
There is an ordinance in the City of Lakewood that regulates the overgrowth
of weeds and grass, the accumulation of junk and rubbish, and the parking of
cars, including inoperable motor vehicles. The ordinance before Council tonight
is simply an update of an existing ordinance.
Councilman Murphy stated that one of the issues discussed in budget meetings is the possible increase in manpower to code enforcement.
Councilman Stevens that one area being changed in the ordinance is the wording change from "junk motor vehicle" to "operable and unlicensed."
Vote: 10 Ayes. 0 Nay. The motion carried.
ITEM 17 - GENERAL BUSINESS
None.
ITEM 18 - REPORTS
Mayor Burkholder
The Graduation Ceremony for the new police agents is being held this Friday
evening at 6:00 p.m. in the Cultural Center. The public is invited to attend.
Councilman Elliott
There will be a meeting on Wednesday, August 28th, 7:00 p.m., at St. Joseph's
Episcopal Church, regarding a proposed Hutchinson Park Tot Lot. The Council
has approved this as part of the neighborhood participation program and there
will be further discussion at the meeting.
Councilwoman Wise
Stated that the new sidewalks along Garrison, north of Alameda and south of
1st Avenue, are incredible in regards to safety and the looks of the area. She
thanked the citizens for the tax dollars that they give to the City to put those
sidewalks in.
Councilwoman Koop
Reminded the neighbors in the O'Kane Park Neighborhood Association area that
there will be a meeting tomorrow night, Tuesday, August 27th at 7:00 p.m., at
the Washington Heights Center. Councilman Murphy and she will be there to give
an update on the City and there will be a video on the history of the old Lakewood.
This summer, 186 students at Stein Elementary School participated in the Stein Summer Book Club. Each student who wanted to participate was given a packet at the end of the school year and each student read a book, wrote a letter to their teacher telling them all about the book, and also about their summer break. Each teacher wrote the student back and told them about their summer and sent them back a new book. Some of the students read up to 5 or 6 books this summer. She congratulated all the students and teachers who participated in the program.
Councilman Stevens
Announced that there are several openings on several of the boards and commission.
Applications will be taken through 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 1st. There is
an opening on the Board of Adjustments from Ward 4, vacancies on the Commission
of Cultural Diversity and Human Relations, and the Senior Citizens Advisory
Commission.
Councilwoman Martin
Thanked the Mayor and let the public know that she is serving on the Union Station
Advisory Committee to look at ways to develop the 18-acre transportation site.
The station will remain as it is a historic structure.
Councilman Murphy
Announced the winning Lakewood slogan. The new slogan is "City Lights,
Mountain Nights." The contest was sponsored by Citizens for Lakewood's
Future, City of Lakewood, Lakewood Sentinel, and the West Metro Chamber of Commerce.
The winner was Kathy Harris and she was thanked with a check for $1000. He thanked
everyone for the many entries.
Announced that Bonnie Ferguson's husband, Bruce, passed away this morning and stated that Vicki Stack is coordinating an effort to collect funds on the family's behalf.
ITEM 19 - ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Council, Mayor Burkholder
adjourned at the meeting at 8:35 p.m.
Submitted by
Margy Greer, City Clerk
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