Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
By Regina Hopkins, in the Westword
There is a glaring lack of long-term thinking when it comes to neighborhood continuity and planning in Lakewood.
City council’s radical rezoning is a blueprint for rushed, cheap, builder-grade development over thoughtful planning. Mature trees? Bulldozed for convenience. Infrastructure for fire, water, traffic, parks? Afterthoughts, already failing to keep up with current demands.
Repost from Regina Hopkins
Lakewood’s leaders keep telling us everything is fine: “No elimination of single-family zones.” “Protecting neighborhoods while planning responsibly for the future.” “No threat to infrastructure.” Sounds nice, right? Too bad it’s all a scrambled spin of words, designed to trick you into thinking there’s no problem while they hand the city to developers. Here’s the truth:
The Single-Family Lie. Yes, you can still build a single-family house. But the exclusive protection for single-family neighborhoods is gone. No other Front Range city has done this — not even Denver. Developers now have free rein to drop duplexes, triplexes, apartments, warehouses, and more right next door. For all intents and purposes, this is the elimination of single-family zoning as we’ve known it. Don’t let their dressed-up words fool you.
The McMansion Distraction. The City waves around “new limits on McMansions” like it’s a gift to residents. It’s a classic bait-and-switch: distract you with something that sounds good while quietly removing the rules that keep neighborhood character and open space intact. Meanwhile, developers are encouraged to pack density into every block.
