August 4, 2025/
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Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
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August 4, 2025/
From Eve S Build! Build! Build! That is the priority of the Ward 1 Council members. I live within a mile of Graham Park and this is the first I have heard of this new Build project. Who asked them to build at Graham Park? Have they done any environmental impact studies? How many trees will they cut down? Graham Park is located at 2345 Routt St. in Ward 1. See Graham Park Improvements | Lakewood Together. Before ruining this park, Lakewood should be required to study the impact of redevelopment on the native and migrating species that have been surviving on this small green space. This research should be done across all seasons so migrating species of insects and birds are not excluded. The existing trees should be examined and their uses should be included. The Lakewood forestry experts do NOT value old growth trees, but these are essential to many insects. Chickadees and raccoons build nests in the rotten spots of old trees, but Lakewood regards big, old trees as worthless. The city removes them and replaces them with non-native saplings. At Belmar Park Lake, the city ignored the requests of many residents to consider our wildlife and our ordinances. Among other negative decisions, they declared that roof tops fulfill the “open space” requirements. The Council members love concrete and asphalt and they hate all natural creatures and plants. Lakewood said: “2025: Funding is allocated in the 2025-2026 budget for the removal of the Graham House...
August 4, 2025/
Lakewood seems to be giving up local control through home rule: The sacrifice is being made in order to gain state funding for local initiatives that ALSO have not been transparent and do not have resident support. Lakewood City Council is throwing away the bedrock of local representation – home rule – in a bid to win political support for zoning changes. New Colorado statutes preempt local zoning code, a move other cities are fighting. But Lakewood is using Colorado’s preemption to show: The majority of Lakewood City Council agree with the proposed zoning changes and have already voted by resolution to accept the proposal (only Councilor Olver dissenting – Ken Cruz and Bill Furman not yet on Council). No Reason With the majority of Council in favor of the proposed code, Council should not have to worry that the changes will pass. There is no need to sacrifice home rule in order to pass the new code. Lakewood could fight for the principle of home rule – a principle Lakewood was FOUNDED ON over 50 years ago – and still enact the zoning code changes that Council feels are necessary. Instead, Lakewood will change its code so that for the first time state statutes will override local zoning (see highlighted insert from the version 3 redline proposal below). No Transparency According to resident Karen Gordey in Lakewood Informer news, the authority for the zoning came from home rule itself. She wrote: “… the Authority section (17.1.5). It originally cited “the...
July 25, 2025/
Lakewood spent two years fighting against releasing body cam footage in a fatal shooting case but has now lost in the Court of Appeals. The issue was first raised by then-City Councilor Anita Springsteen. The original story can be found at Fox31: 17-year-old’s killing by police raises questions for councilor. After turning down multiple requests for the video release, Scripps News filed a lawsuit, naming Springsteen as the requesting official. Lakewood lost in lower court, then appealed and has now lost the appeal. The ruling was made July 10. The footage has not yet been released. By Jeffrey A. Roberts, Executive Director, Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition Appeals court: Children’s Code does not bar public disclosure of blurred body-cam footage showing Lakewood officers killing 17-year-old robbery suspect Colorado’s Children’s Code does not prohibit the public disclosure of blurred body-worn camera footage of Lakewood police shooting and killing a 17-year-old robbery suspect in 2023, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday. Affirming a district court decision, a three-judge appellate panel rejected the city of Lakewood’s argument that the statute which protects the confidentiality of juvenile records trumps the footage-release provisions in the 2020 Law Enforcement Integrity Act. The statute, the judges concluded, “unambiguously required the court to release” the video. The body camera footage is not a “juvenile record” under the Children’s Code, the opinion says. Rather, “it is a conduit through which information from a juvenile record might be disclosed absent blurring of the video. And even in that circumstance — where the...
July 20, 2025/
Littleton residents claim to be amateurs in the political sphere but you won’t believe it when you see how they have successfully organized against density-driven zoning changes. Rooted in Littleton got density changes postponed in January and kept fighting to recently gather enough signatures for a petition. Their website reads: “We are passionate about preserving the small-town charm and beauty of Littleton. Our deep roots inform the perspective that good things grow slowly and knee-jerk responses to large social issues don’t produce lasting results. Let’s not let increased density usher in a new era of increased traffic, crime and big city-problems in our little town.” Does that sound familiar? They have many of the same objections to densification as Lakewood residents, such as the attempt to “to erode our home-rule rights with a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach that could strip our community of its uniqueness.” Check out their website for excellent material that could be used as a blueprint for others fighting this issue: Survey Have you ever felt that Lakewood presents data on “housing density and housing shortages in 2024 [that] was insufficient and skewed toward City Council insiders”? That’s what Rooted in Littleton wrote but Lakewood residents have also been making that point for months. The argument really gained traction after the Belmar Park fiasco. (See these articles from savebelmarpark.com: Lakewood’s Housing Affordable Surplus, Lakewood’s 10-year Housing Surplus, Denver Has Enough Housing.) Instead of just complaining about it, Rooted in Littleton organized a survey of their own and provided...
July 19, 2025/
From Ramey Johnson’s Newletter The decay and decline in our community are visible, real, growing, and palpable. Driving along 6th Avenue (though managed by CDOT) feels like a scavenger hunt through cans, rags, tires, car parts, cardboard, overgrown weeds, buckets of dirt, broken glass, and filth. On West 14th Avenue and nearby side streets, the scene is equally disheartening: homeless encampments, tents, graffiti, fenced-off vacant lots, trash, needles, and even human feces have become the norm. Colfax has all but collapsed. Every block from Sheridan to beyond Simms is littered with For Sale and For Lease signs, boarded-up buildings, graffiti, shattered storefronts, shuttered businesses, and abandoned shopping carts – sometimes overflowing with belongings. Businesses are fleeing this once-thriving street. But what does it do to the psyche of those of us who call Lakewood home—and pay property taxes – to live amid decay, squalor, and a declining local economy? Having grown up here, I decided to find out. As it turns out, researchers have studied this very thing. The most familiar is the “Broken Windows Theory.” This criminological concept uses broken windows as a metaphor for anti-social behavior and civil disorder. It draws a stark contrast between caring and apathy toward the physical appearance of a neighborhood. Visible signs of crime and neglect, like broken windows, create an environment that encourages further crime and disorder. The theory suggests that addressing small offenses and maintaining physical order can help prevent more serious crimes. Rooted in the idea of social disorder, Wilson...
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