LAKEWOOD INFORMER

Local author started a substack newsletter to talk about things bigger than just Lakewood. Check it out when you have time. Time to Sue Colorado? From Somebody Should Do Something A group of young plaintiffs recently won a suit against the state of Hawaii. The suit centered around the failure of the Hawaii DOT to reduce transportation-related emissions. Now, someone should do Colorado. Colorado might claim that they are trying to cut down on people having to drive. While failing to mention that it is due to the state’s and municipal failures of planning that so many people have to drive to their jobs. Regional Transportation District (RTD) has been in existence since 1969 (so, since before many of us were born) and it (along with CDOT) has failed to implement, maintain and adapt a transportation system comprehensive enough to eliminate the need for most to drive on a daily basis. Why did the RTD and Denver, and Colorado state legislature fail to secure the rights of way for future transit build-out decades ago, when the land cost the proverbial pennies on the dollar? Read more…

Red light and speeding traffic cameras are a contentious and well known issue. Lakewood specifics from the staff memo:

Lakewood is following Denver’s lead on allowing micro-communities, or pallet homes, to be built in Lakewood. This program would provide transitional housing for the unhoused. According to Denver7, Lakewood is considering building these housing units themselves. Lakewood remains opaque as to their intentions and where these communities might be built. The vote to change the municipal code is Monday, September 9. Micro-communities are the kind of affordable housing that city officials have been talking about for years. Residents have been interpreting “affordable housing” to mean housing that teachers could easily afford. In reality, studies have shown that the only the homeless and extremely low-income need additional housing units. Micro-communities would fill this need, especially since they are generally subsidized by taxpayers. As one Lakewood resident points out on LakewoodSpeaks, Denver is spending $7 million on 200 pallet homes, a cost of $35,000 each. The new Lakewood municipal codes and pallet homes do not address long-term solutions. Denver has been spending increasing amount without seeing a decrease in homeless. Denver receives first batch of tiny homes as it looks to house 1,000 homeless by the end of the year Lakewood is already seeing the new navigation center acting as a magnet to attract homeless to Lakewood. As reported in the Lakewood Informer news, Lakewood hired a consultant to change the zoning codes to densify neighborhoods. This was done without finalizing the comprehensive plan and without alleviating the problems that high-density brings, like increased parking problems. The proposed changes eliminates the need...

The residents lost their appeal on the Whippoorwill development. At the Planning Commission meeting on August 21, residents brought up the numerous problems with the development. One of the main complaints was that Lakewood does not have jurisdiction to merge these parcels, which should be done through Jefferson County. The meeting lasted five and half hours and ended in a 4-2 vote against the residents. There is no further public review scheduled. Most of the commissioners that voted against the appeal stated that this wasn’t a site plan review so the concerns raised were not relevant. This was an appeal of the subdivision, which wasn’t a subdivision but a merger. The master site plan will have no public review. The approval will be made exclusively by city staff. City staff, Travis Parker and Max Kirshbaum, are the ones allowing the problems to happen. They could require the entrance and exit to be moved to Colfax. Commissioner Steven Buckley made an impassioned plea at the end of the meeting. He said: “I have become convinced tonight that it does meet the [subdivision] standards. And equally and firmly convinced that this project as it is currently proposed doesn’t meet, most likely, some of the  site plan approval standards. If it was my driveway, it was in that configuration, it was in that slope, I would be  scared as hell of what is proposed. “It is my hope, and it is my plea that the staff who is listening to my appeal and...

Due to the number of complaints the City and Council receive about people speeding, Council is driven to do something – anything. Therefore, the first reading of a proposed speed limit change to residential streets will be heard on Monday, September 9. This change is intended to decrease accidents and fatalities. However, evidence shows lowering speed limits does not change driving habits. Lakewood has not presented the number of speeding tickets, range of speeds those are given for, nor number of accidents related to speeding. This proposed change will cost Lakewood an estimated $75,000. “It is important to note that just changing the number on the signs doesn’t significantly change driver behavior.” –Lakewood staff memo People who drive significantly over the speed limit will continue to do so. Is speeding causing any problems besides complaints? Will complaints go down after giving residents more reason to complain? Lakewood staff point out that there has only been one fatality, due to a speed so much over 30 mph, that it went up the berm into a house on the second story.  That driver would not be obeying any speed limit sign posted. Staff showed that Lakewood has the same amount of accidents as other cities statewide. This data included cities with lower speed limits so the Lakewood speed limit is not causing more accidents. Are the drivers involved in accidents on cell phones? Are they driving under the influence? None of these factors are being presented. Most of the crashes involving pedestrians...