Lakewood Informer

The Jefferson County Legislative meeting on April 24 revealed many different viewpoints and issues, ultimately leading the county to take an amend position on the governor's land-use bill, SB23-213. Commissioner Kraft-Thorpe brought up many reasons to oppose SB23-213, including that the county should show support for all the cities within the county that have officially...

At the April 5 Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) meeting, Lakewood City Council Member and DRCOG Representative Jeslin Shahrezaei expressed support for DRCOG taking the leadership role over regional pollution reduction grant. The grant is newly available through the EPA called the  Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG). These grants are a part of the...

The recent loan agreement for the removal of 995 Sheridan Blvd sparked questions about the finances and handling of the loan. Further reading into L.M.C. 3.26.030, shows another provision which states: “…the city shall never be a joint venture in any private entity or activity which participates in the economic development fund” The traditional interpretation...

At the April 10, 2023 Lakewood City Council meeting, Lakewood has taken the unprecedented step of authorizing money from the Economic Development Fund to demolish and remove a vacant building at 995 Sheridan Blvd for non-economic reasons. The building, the old Holiday Plaza shopping center, has been deemed a public safety concern. By paying for...

By Lenore Herskovitz On January 28, 2023 City Council held their Annual Planning Meeting to establish their strategic goals and priorities for the upcoming year. Two facilitators from Point b(e) Strategies assisted in this process. Their completed report is provided in the PDF at the end of this piece. The last part of the facilitators’...

*Correction 4/14/23: Councilor Able attended the full meeting, including data from Councilor Olver The March 20, 2023 Lakewood City Council meeting was to study multi-modal transportation; specifically bike lanes. The session included a presentation by staff for Council consideration. Council Member Rich Olver, an experienced biker, brought additional data in the form of pictures of...

Two Colorado bills were under scrutiny at the Lakewood legislative committee meeting April 3. HB23-1190 Affordable Housing Right of First Refusal: Concerning a right of first refusal to purchase qualifying multifamily residential property by a local government. This bill was first discussed at the last legislative committee meeting where votes were split on how to...

Guest post by Lenore Herskovitz This is a continuation of the story entitled “Lakewoodspeaks: Solution or Problem?” The software provider for the site Lakewoodspeaks is a company called Peoplespeak. When you search their website you will find a photo of Lakewood’s Planning Department Director Travis Parker featured as “Public-Private Innovations Advisor” next to pictures of...

The March 13th Lakewood City Council meeting included 3 hours of public comment, mostly regarding short-term rentals (STRs). People spoke both for and against STRs. However, the biggest reveal was that ALL sides spoke about the lack of enforcement of current ordinances, which leads to speculation of how new measures, like censure, may be implemented....

Lakewood City Council meeting on March 13th included 3 hours of public comment, mostly regarding short-term rentals. Rather than summarizing the arguments, this post links to a representative video for the various arguments. Argument AGAINST ALL STRs. Comments by Mr Josh (?), starting at the 1:19 mark... https://youtu.be/TOdHZL-smlg?t=4763 Argument IN FAVOR of OWNER-OCCUPIED STRs. Comments...