The #Jeffco Planning Commission is continuing the #ConiferHeights rezoning case until March 27. This is the second time it's been continued. No public comment at that time, just discussion with the board, staff & project team and a recommendation.
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After hours of contentious discussion, the Jefferson County Planning Commission opted to continue a public hearing for a rezoning proposal that could bring 101 single-family homes to 25 acres near the intersection of Barkley Road and Highway 73 in Conifer.
*Note: the decision was postponed further following the Planning Commission Hearing the evening of March 6th. There will be a 3rd Planning Commission Hearing, without public comment, to be held on March 27th. The hearing on this development before the Board of County Commissioners, originally scheduled for March 26th, will also be moved back.
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The Conifer Heights next Planning Commission hearing will be on Wednesday, March 27th at 6:15 pm in Hearing Room 1. Public comment is closed for the Planning Commission so they will not be allowing citizens to comment further.
The Board of County Commissioners hearing will be on Tuesday, April 16th at 8 am in the same hearing room. Public comment will be accepted at that hearing. As always, you can use this link to watch any of the hearings for this, and any other case remotely:
Nick Nelson
Planner, Jefferson County
100 Jefferson County Parkway
Suite 3550
Golden, CO 80419
o 303.271.8727 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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As posted in
another thread,
the Jeffco Planning Commission has recommended denial of the project by a 5-2 vote and the matter now goes before the Board of County Commissioners on April 16th.
Jan Karpinski Kray posted this message to our Facebook Page yesterday referencing a letter that the Elk Creek Fire Protection District Board of Directors submitted to the county, and the testimony by Chief Bill McLaughlin at the Planning Commission Hearing:
For those of you following the Conifer Heights development progress, this is something that could have an impact on the next development:
The Elk Creek Fire Protection District Board submitted a letter (attached) to the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners.
The last paragraph is key:
"At this time we request that Jefferson County place a moratorium on new development in Conifer other than already permitted single family homes until such a time that an impact fee agreement is in place, and to require all current commercial and multi-family developments in process be subject to the impact fees."
Please read the entire letter, as it speaks to the Conifer area’s expanding growth, along with reduction in funds and resources for our fire district:
8% increase in requests for service
11% decrease in the general fund budget
only 2 or 3 firefighters on duty each day
many of the volunteers live "down the hill"
depending on the emergency call demand, there could be times when there is no staff available to answer and/or respond to the call because they are on another emergency call - let that sink in....
Fire Chief, Bill McLaughlin, spoke at the Conifer Heights' Planning Commissioners (PC) hearing on March 6, 2019, and itemized his organizations issues that impact their abilities to respond to calls with the current funding and resources available. For those who were unable to attend the March 6th meeting, to view the Fire Chief testimony, please access this link -
The Fire Chief's testimony starts at about 8 minutes into the video.
At the March Elk Creek Fire Protection District Board of Directors Meeting, the Board voted unanimously to write and submit a letter to the Jeffco Commissioners regarding this proposal and all future developments in their district. That letter can be found in its entirety here, with our thanks to Director Barnett for sending this along as it hasn't been officially added to the documentation for the Conifer Heights Case on Jeffco Planning & Zoning yet:
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There've been many community members who've submitted comments
(awesome!), but I want to highlight this one from Peter Barkman, the senior hydrogeologist for the Colorado Geological Survey at the Colorado School of Mines:
He's not the only one to lend valuable expertise and knowledge to these situations; we are blessed to have experts who live among us and actively participate in our community.
In addition to water issues, we definitely have a "growing pains" problem with our local fire departments as mentioned by Chief McLaughlin. They are underfunded, understaffed, and unable to meet national standards for response times and # of personnel to incidents, and our fire danger is among the highest in the country already. These are issues which we need to impress upon our Commissioners (and I can vouch that Lesley Dahlkemper has already engaged Chief McLaughlin to learn more, as he mentioned at the last ECFPD Board of Directors Meeting) because our service agencies face unique challenges from those "down the hill."
Please keep those lines of communication open and informative with our representatives and government officials! Thank you to everyone who has written in so far, attended meetings, and given testimony.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
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