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January 16, 2014
Free Douglas County, Colorado | Volume 1, Issue 24 A publication of
castlepinesnewspress.net
IREA substation could block views Happy Canyon not all happy with proposal By Virginia Grantier
vgrantier@coloradocommunitymedia.com Happy Canyon Estates, a rural subdivision of about 200 homes on multi-acre lots, got one step closer to being in an urban neighborhood when Castle Pines Planning Commission voted Jan. 10 to recommend approval of an IREA substation that will be located within about 800 to 1,000 feet of the nearest home. The new substation, which will be located about a quarter mile east of Inter-
state 25’s Happy Canyon exit, will cover more than an acre and have structures up to 75 feet high. It’s needed to supply additional power for the 3,300-acre Canyons development —zoned for 250 acres of commercial area and 2,500 homes — just north of Happy Canyon Estates, as well as to supply power for other expected development in the City of Castle Pines, an IREA spokesman told the New-Press. Final approval of the substation will be in the hands of Castle Pines City Council at a future meeting. Michael Anderson, president of the Happy Canyon Homeowners Association, told the planning commission before the vote, that he didn’t understand why the
substation had to be located near Happy Canyon’s homes. “The Canyons has chosen not to be a good neighbor as demonstrated by their actions not to engage the Happy Canyon HOA in the planning and design of this facility,” he told the commission prior to the vote. He told the News-Press he’d prefer the station be farther north in the Canyons’ designated farm zoning — 500 acres that runs along the east side of I-25 in between the Happy Canyon and Castle Pines Parkway exits. The couple of other Happy Canyon residents who spoke had mixed comments, one saying when he first heard about the substation it was about the worst news a
homeowner could hear. But it was his understanding that the Canyons had moved the substation to a better location with less impact and he appreciated that. Tom Matthews, who built his home in 1984, and will be about 800 feet away from it, said he appreciated that IREA planned to cut into the hillside, making the facility less apparent. But that he would still see it. The Canyons has agreed to put three evergreen trees on several homeowners’ properties to help block the substation and there will be some berming. Matthews told the News-Press later while he appreciates the free trees, he’s never heard of a developer mitigating IREA continues on Page 12
Financial deal OK’d for project Council approves first step for Promenade By Virginia Grantier
vgrantier @coloradocommunitymedia.com
When Jamie LaRue accepted the executive director post in 1990, Douglas County had the worst library system in the state. It’s now the best in the country in its circulation class. Now it’s goodbye. LaRue is leaving Jan. 17. Photo by Virginia Grantier
A REAL PAGE-TURNER
LaRue leaving after transforming Douglas County Libraries By Virginia Grantier
vgrantier@coloradocommunitymedia.com He was age 6, and bored out of his mind one day, while in the middle of playing a baseball game — even then, not a teamsports fan — when he spotted something. And he started walking. He walked right out of the baseball game, no one stopping him, and he kept walking. “I saw this blue shimmer, and it kept
getting closer and closer,” recalled Jamie LaRue, now 59, and the long-time Douglas County Libraries executive director. What LaRue saw was a bookmobile in his hometown of Waukegan, Ill., the first one he’d ever been in. Inside, a smiling librarian. And all of those books. At age 10, that same librarian, Mrs. Johnson, handed him “The Dialogs of Plato,” which he said changed his life. He said he still remembers the sentence he opened it to: “Socrates asked `what is wise?’ ” “I’ve been thinking about it ever since,” he said. Eventually he was reading a book a day. At one point LaRue decided to become a theoretical astrophysicist until he tried to get through a trigonometry class and real-
ized he was the “dumbest kid in the room.” It then occurred to him librarians were the people who had helped him all of his life. “The library for me was a sanctuary and intellectual playhouse,” he said. He doesn’t watch TV. He writes poetry, loves walks, reads while he walks and plays music. A popular song with audiences — when he performed with his guitar and banjo and a friend, an acoustic duo who called themselves the “Tuna Boys” — was “Blow up your TV,” by John Prine. LaRue said he has about 300 books near his bedside that he re-reads every year, and thousands of books about everywhere else in his Castle Rock house. LaRue continues on Page 14
After hearing both support and concerns at its Jan. 7 meeting, Castle Rock Town Council OK’d a first step for Promenade, the 900,000-square foot proposed development next to Outlets of Castle Rock. Outlets of Castle Rock — concerned about having an outlet-type development next to it that’s twice its size and could lure away some of its 100 tenants — sent a list to Castle Rock’s attorney of about 200 stores it didn’t think the proposed Promenade development should be able to have: Including Starbucks, Subway and others. Castle Rock Councilmember Clark Hammelman — prior to his resignation later that night — told attorney Jim Mulligan, who represents the outlets owner, Craig Realty, the area already “has a bunch of those,” and that it would be unreasonable for the proposed 900,000-square-foot Promenade not to have stores such as Starbucks. A couple of residents also expressed concerns about Promenade: One was worried about impacts to downtown businesses if so much business growth was occurring north of downtown. The other, Stacy Wagner, who lives in The Meadows, which is east of the Outlets of Castle Rock, worried that such massive development would change the town. She said she “chose Castle Rock over Highlands Ranch, Parker and Centennial” because of Castle Rock’s small-town charm. Council OK’d a public finance and Promenade continues on Page 13