From savebelmarpark.com
May 7th at 7:00 PM at 480 S Alison Parkway, Lakewood, CO
You may now enter public comments online at: https://lakewoodspeaks.org/meetings/869. You may have to click on item 3.
If you submit a comment online or in-person, we suggest you specify to which specific section in Lakewood’s Zoning Code or Comprehensive Plan your comment is relevant.
Simply submitting a general comment without linking it to the Zoning Code or Comprehensive Plan may result in your comment being disregarded or misinterpreted.
If you can afford to hire an attorney to help formulate your concerns and possibly submit your concerns on your behalf, that would be excellent.
This is a quasi-judicial hearing which closely resembles a court proceeding rather than a city council meeting.
You may also view the hearing online at LakewoodSpeaks.Org
Please feel free to attend and comment in-person. However, since Lakewood is not consistent with transferring oral comments into the public record (other than archived videos), you may want to also submit your comment online which allows you to verify the comment was accepted.
If you attend in-person, keep in mind a quasi-judicial proceeding is similar to a courtroom so applauding comments or cheering comments could get you removed from the chamber or other negative consequences could accrue.
The hearing concerns whether the large housing project at 777 S Yarrow Street adjacent to Belmar Park in Lakewood, Colorado should be approved.
If the commission approves the major site plan, there could be a legal challenge to that decision raised in a court of law because some citizens have funded a charity that has retained an attorney and stated its intention to raise such a challenge if necessary.
Having comments submitted from informed citizens who explain how the major site plan fails to comply with the zoning ordinance and/or comprehensive plan could possibly be utilized in such an appeal, especially if such comments are researched in advance by your attorney in order to improve the legal impact and clarity of your citizen comments.
Assuming there is a future appeal in a court of law, any comments you submit to the Planning Commission could eventually be rebutted by the developer’s lawyers so comments that have been legally vetted by your attorney may be more effective.
Because any attempt to introduce additional evidence will likely be rejected at the appeal level, it is important to get all relevant documents and comments into the hearing record on May 7. You may upload one document per comment.
You can rely on the fact that the developer will have top notch legal representation at the hearing. It is up to the public to debunk the rosy presentation those attorneys may make on behalf of the developer.
Some developers find advocates that can make almost any type of project sound like a dream come true. That could be the type of presentation the public will be up against on May 7th.
Therefore, especially if you have a legal background or can afford to enlist legal support, please step up now and prepare to make your best argument to the Lakewood Planning Commission.