High home prices, lack of supply sever metro residents from communities

BY ROBERT TANN COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

When Chris Laney moved into his new three-bedroom home last summer, he felt like he’d won the lottery. After more than a decade of chasing the cheapest rent across the metro area, the Littleton bartender nally has a house to call his own.

“I almost feel guilty that I have it,” said Laney, 49.

Laney is one of a handful of residents who have secured housing through a subsidized program aimed at helping lower- and middle-income people live where they work. But as cities and towns contend with historically high home costs and a lack of supply,

SEE PRICES, P17 e boards for the Inter-Canyon, Elk Creek and North Fork re departments, heartened by the results of a survey of constituents that said the majority favored consolidation, have agreed to spend a minimum of $80,000 to consultant Turn Corps to make sure residents — and voters — understand the positives and negatives of consolidation. e cost is being split equally among the three departments, and the price could increase if the re boards decided to add in mailings to homes. e re chiefs have been talking for years about whether consolidation would be good for the departments and their constituents. Indian Hills Fire originally was part of the discussions but backed out last year. Assuming they go forward with consolidation, the three re de-

SEE CONSOLIDATION, P5

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Bike park developers ask for special use permit e developers of the proposed Shadow Mountain Bike Park have led an application with Je erson County for a special use permit two years after originally proposing the venture. ey have supplied reports on drainage, transportation, vegetation assessment, visual analysis, wastewater, water supply and more. e documents are available on the Je co Planning & Zoning website under Active Cases. e Plannng Commission recommends approval or denial of the proposal, and the Board of County Commissioners will make the nal decision. e State Land Board, which owns the property, has promised to abide by the county’s decision. e proposal has faced backlash from neighbors and support from mountain bike enthusiasts.

Now that Je co Planning & Zoning has the application, it will be several months until the proposal comes before the Planning Commission. e public will have a chance to comment at both the Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners meetings.

Developers Phil Bouchard and Jason Evans, who have partnered with the Colorado Mountain Bike Association, want to put the downhill mountain bike park on 235 acres owned by the State Land Board two miles up Shadow Mountain Drive.

Evans and Bouchard propose a day-use bike park with a chairlift that would be open generally from March to October. It would have a parking lot for 300 cars, 16 miles of trails, a lodge for registration and a small shop. Estimates show about 700 daily visitors to the park.

According to the application letter, e project will bene t the local community and greater Je erson County by providing an easily accessible recreation opportunity, reducing over-congestion on current

“ e materials provided show that the existing and proposed infrastructure is adequate to support the project and that there would be minimal impacts to resources in the area given the proposed design criteria and mitigation measures.

Je erson County Open Space land, while bene ting the local economy by creating dozens of primary jobs and putting millions of dollars in economic revenue into the local community annually.

A group called Stop the Bike Park has created a video to help viewers visualize the negative impacts of the park on the way of life of residents, wildlife and the environment called “Is It Worth It?”

Evergreen Fire/Rescue starts master plan

Evergreen Fire/Rescue will embark on a master-plan process to guide the department’s direction for the next 10 years.

It has requested proposals from rms to research and help establish goals and the vision for the department, “recommending organizational structure and sta ng, guidelines and metrics for meeting safety and response standards, infrastructure changes to address the growing needs and demographics of the community, and provide a framework for accomplishment of these recommendations,” according to the request for proposals.

e Evergreen re board hopes to hire a consultant by March 1 and have the master plan completed before the end of the year. e department has budgeted $60,000 for the process.

Board members agreed that community feedback would be essential

A member of the Elk Creek Fire board wants the board to start a strategic-planning process.