Lakewood Informer

via Karen Morfitt, CBS Colorado "The City of Lakewood is one of the many Colorado communities where a debate about the future of short-term rentals has been taking place. As the popularity of such rentals grows, concerns surrounding the impact to the communities around them have also grown. The Lakewood City Council on Monday voted...

The Board of Directors for West Metro Fire Rescue had three openings this year. Since there were only three candidates for three seats, the election was canceled and the results certified. The 2023-2027 Board Directors are: Amira Watters Mike Williams Bill Clayton For Mike Williams and Bill Clayton, this will be a continuation of service....

via  Cathy Kentner on YourHub In a local and national housing crisis, Lakewood City Councilors voted to amend proposed legislation legalizing short-term rentals. As amended, the ordinance would allow investor corporations to buy housing for the sole purpose of providing short-term rentals. Read more...

The Colorado Attorney General's office is asking the public for input on what this merger of Kroger (King Soopers)/ Safeway would mean for them. “My office is already hearing from shoppers, retail workers, farmers, food manufacturers, and others from around our state who are directly affected by the proposed merger.” Attorney General Phil Weiser, via...

Guest post from Lenore Herskovitz Lakewoodspeaks is touted by city staff and its platform provider Peoplespeak as a place to make hearings “Inclusive. Transparent. Easy. Convenient.” Theoretically, this sounds very impressive but in reality, this costly site has been plagued with numerous problems. Between 5/10/2018 and 12/21/2022 the City paid Peoplespeak a total of $270,800.00....

A legal conundrum underlying the Short-Term Rental (STR) discussion is whether STRs (like Airbnb and Vrbo) are home businesses or not. The answer is: Yes – for licensing, insurance, incorporation and taxing No – for zoning, building codes, and public hearings And definitely don’t ask how they differ from hotels for any of the above....

UPDATE: 5 March, 2023. Public comment is not being accepted for this item on Lakewood speaks. Until and unless they enable this feature, you can comment under agenda item 6: General Public comment. The latest redline version to be voted on is available on https://lakewoodspeaks.org/items/2887. Over two years of committee work on Short-Term Rentals (STRs)...

During the February 13 City Council meeting, item 8, approving $472,000 for a public benefit agreement, was pulled from the consent agenda for public discussion. Although any item can be pulled for more discussion, the tool is rarely used because items on the consent agenda are routine and assumed to have support. The agreement in...

A Lakewood City Council Study Session of February 6, 2023, included a presentation on the Strategic Housing Plan that Lakewood might utilize in determining plans for affordable housing. Lakewood received a grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) for funds to conduct a housing study and hired Gruen Gruen + Associates to conduct...

Consolidated Neighbors report that Consolidated Mutual has "completed unauthorized filling of the ditch and changing the grade most likely to heighten the base of the fence. CMWC crossed over public right of way and deposited approximately 100-150 cubic yards (10 large truck loads) of unspecified soil, apparently commingled with asphalt, into the Rocky Mountain Ditch...