Parker Chronicle 040623

South metro leaders oppose Polis’, Democrats’ housing bill

Would strip local control

BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

As Gov. Jared Polis works to nd a solution to the lack of a ordable and attainable housing in Colorado, local

leaders are voicing concerns over the sweeping legislation proposed through the state Legislature known as SB23-213.

e bill would preempt a great deal of local control over land use by setting state mandates for greater housing density and reduced parking requirements.

Nearly a week after Polis and Democratic lawmakers unveiled the land use bill to address the growing housing crisis, Arapahoe County Commissioner Carrie Warren-Gully said the biggest issue is taking away local power.

“Arapahoe County is a re ection of the good that is happening in

County leaders, residents worry about property taxes

Many wait for Polis’ plan

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Some Colorado homeowners reaped the bene ts of skyrocketing home prices in recent years, selling

homes for much more than they paid to buy them. But for those who stay put, there’s a drawback: When home prices rise, so do families’ property tax bills.

And this May, property owners in Douglas County could be in for a shock. Property values — as determined for tax purposes —

could rise by around 40% to 50% on average, one of the county’s elected leaders says.

“If you had a tax bill last year that was $6,000, next year in 2024 you’ll pay $9,000 unless the legislature does something to control

our state,” she said. “We have come together to look at our successes and take on our challenges. I have some concerns on how this one-size- tsall approach is going to work.”

Warren-Gully said with 13 cities and towns in Arapahoe County,

SEE HOUSING, P8

Council reviews community needs

Housing, land use discussed

BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Consulting group, Progressive Urban Management Associates (PUMA) provided a “halftime update” to the council on the status of Parker’s Economic Playbook, otherwise known as the Parker Economic Development Strategic Plan.

PUMA is a Denver-based real estate economics and planning rm with 30 years of experience and works with 300 communities across 37 states, including the Parker P3 Strategic Plan.

“We’ve gone through a pretty extensive phase of what we call ‘discovery’, so we’ve been talking to a lot of community members in the business community and beyond,” said Brad Segal, president of PUMA.

As part of the process, a community survey was sent to residents in February. With the survey closing at the end of March, the results will show how the community feels about the town’s quality of life, retail,

SEE COUNCIL, P7

PHOTO BY TAYLER SHAW

County to oversee Rueter-Hess Reservoir recreation

Will boost access

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Douglas County is poised to take charge of recreation at a major body of water in the county in an arrangement that will allow for more access, county o cials say.

at means more time for paddleboarding, canoeing and kayaking starting with this year’s water recreation season at Rueter-Hess Reservoir near Parker and Castle Pines. O cials also plan to eventually o er recreational shing.

Opportunities to enjoy the reservoir area will expand based on an agreement by the county and the municipalities that sit near the water, providing more sta and a streamlined nancial structure for overseeing recreation.

“Combining partner contributions into one budget makes sense, and it maxes our potential,” said Amy Knopp, a county recreation o cial, speaking to Douglas County’s elected leaders about the changes to the partnership among the county and municipalities.

e reservoir is a drinking-water storage facility owned and operated by the Parker Water and Sanitation District, the entity that provides drinking water to much of Parker and some nearby areas. But RueterHess also serves as a recreation spot for residents in a part of the Denver metro area where the terrain starts to

as a place for “history bu s, day hikers, dog walkers, water-sport enthusiasts, and local anthropologists alike,” the county website says.

Long time in the making e reservoir stands as a relatively new feature of the area. From the 1990s through 2012, the planning and construction of the reservoir occurred, according to Knopp.

And in 2015, partners formed the Rueter-Hess Recreation Authority and began planning for recreation at the reservoir, Knopp said.

e partners — Parker Water, the

and the county — later started working on a new agreement in 2022 to name the county as the managing jurisdiction for recreation at the reservoir.

With Douglas County at the helm, the new structure is expected to ll a need for sta to oversee recreation.

“ e absence of dedicated sta made it di cult to move forward on program implementation,” county sta said in a statement through a spokesperson.

After approving the new agreement, “we will hire the necessary sta to deliver recreation and maintenance” for the reservoir area, Knopp told county commissioners at their March 28 meeting. Sta will be funded with money the partners contribute, Knopp said.

County commissioners voted to approve the new agreement at the meeting.

Recent additions

e partner local governments share the goal of expanding access to recreation at the reservoir while not harming the water quality, Knopp said.

“ is summer, the county is increasing access to paddleboarding, canoeing, kayaking to four days per week,” Knopp said. “In the coming years, the county and its partners look forward to providing even more access.”

Recreation at the reservoir has been steadily expanding. In 2017, public access began with guided hikes and paddle days on the reservoir, a county sta report says. e incline and Newlin Gulch Trail opened in 2020. e trail system expanded to 6 1/2 miles of natural surface trails in 2022 with the completion of the Coyote Loop Trail. e incline features 132 steps, and the Rosie Rueter Trail loop that leads to and from the parking lot is just over a mile long, the Rueter-Hess recreation website says.

Last year, 64,000 people used the trail system, and about 1,500 people participated in paddle days, the county sta report says.

e county and its partners are working on a plan to include shing once they clear procedural hurdles.

“Parker Water and Sanitation — as the owner of the water — must rst authorize shing, and they are currently working with the state on

Along the way to building the reservoir, the land was the site of archaeological intrigue. Artifacts uncovered at the reservoir site within the last couple decades provided insight into civilizations of paleo-Indians and hunter-gatherers who lived in the area thousands of years ago, Colorado Community Media reported previously.

How funding works

e partner governments have been funding and will continue to fund recreation at the reservoir area, Knopp said at the meeting.

Annually, the partners contribute $870,000 toward recreation, the county sta report says.

Under the new agreement, the Rueter-Hess Recreation Authority — the body that includes Parker Water, Castle Rock, Parker, Castle Pines, Lone Tree and Douglas County — gets restructured into an advisory board rather than a managing entity.

Moving forward, the advisory board will make recommendations to the Douglas County commissioners about recreation planning and budgeting, and the county will carry out the plans and manage the budget.

Designating the county as the managing jurisdiction for recreation at the reservoir allows for a “streamlined process” for decision making, county sta said in the statement.

“Under an ‘authority’ structure, associated accounting and legal overhead was required,” the statement said. e new structure allows the partners’ investment to go directly into operations and recreational access, the statement adds.

“ e funding is $870,000 annually from the partners (and) remains the same” as part of the agreement, the statement said.

e payment amounts are $250,000 from Douglas County, $210,000 from Castle Rock, $210,000 from Parker, $100,000 from Castle Pines and $100,000 from Lone Tree.

In addition to the annual funding, the recreation authority will transfer about a $2 million recreation fund to the county, Knopp said. ose funds will support major maintenance and improvement projects. e county will also receive “ xed assets” that are valued at about $2 million, she said.

Scenery at Rueter-Hess Reservoir, o Hess Road just west of Heirloom Parkway near the Town of Parker.

PHOTO BY JOHN OTT

Colorado snowpack tops 140% in good year

Reservoirs remain low

BY JERD SMITH FRESH WATER NEWS

Colorado is awash in white this spring, with statewide snowpack topping 140% of average this week, well above the reading a year ago, when it stood at just 97% of normal.

“Conditions in the American West are way better than they were last year at this time,” state climatologist Russ Schumacher said at a recent joint meeting of the Water Availability Task Force and the Governor’s Flood Task Force. “In Colorado we went from drought covering most of the state to most of the state being out of drought.”

Like other Western states, mountain snowpacks in Colorado are closely monitored because as they melt in the spring and summer, their runo delivers much of the state’s water.

A drought considered to be the worst in at least 1,200 years has devastated water supplies across the West. While no one is suggesting the dry spell is over, Colorado water ofcials said 2023 will likely allow for a signi cant recovery in reservoirs and soil moisture.

e snow is deepest in the southwestern part of the state, where the San Juan/Dolores river basin is seeing a snowpack of 179% of average.

e Yampa Basin, in the northwest corner of Colorado, is also nearing historic highs, with snowpack regis-

tering 145% of average, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service Snow Survey.

ere is considerably less white stu east of the Continental Divide in the Arkansas River Basin, where snowpack remains slightly below average and in the South Platte Basin, where snowpack is just above average.

e outlook for the seven-state Colorado River Basin has improved dramatically as well, with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, in its March 15 report, showing that Lake Powell is likely to see some 10.44 million acre-feet of new water supply by the end of September, or in ows at 109% average.

e Colorado River Basin includes seven states, with Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming comprising the Upper Basin and Arizona, California and Nevada

making up the lower basin. And it is in the mountains of the Upper Basin, especially in Colorado, where most of the water for the entire system is generated.

at Colorado is seeing such spectacular snow levels this spring, bodes well for everyone. “ is is good news for the Colorado River Basin, no doubt about that,” Schumacher said.

Still the drought-strapped Colorado River system will see little storage recovery this year, according to Reclamation, which is forecasting that Lake Powell will see storage at just 32% of capacity by the end of the year. It had dropped to just 23% of capacity last year, prompting ongoing emergency releases from Utah’s Flaming Gorge Reservoir to help keep the system from crashing.

Within Colorado, statewide reservoir storage this month stands at

80% of average, up slightly from this time last year when it registered 75% of average.

Reservoirs within Colorado are expected to see a signi cant boost in storage levels. Colorado’s largest reservoir, Blue Mesa, was just 36% full earlier this month, but is projected to receive enough new water this year that it will be 71% full by the end of the year, according to Reclamation.

Flood task force o cials said the deep snows, particularly in the southwestern and northwestern corners of the state, could cause ooding this spring and summer, especially if there is a series of hot, dry, windy days or major rain storms.

“We are blessed in large part because our snowpack tends to run o in a well-behaved manner,” said Kevin Houck, section chief of watershed and ood protection at the Colorado Water Conservation Board. “But I will say that I am watching things more closely this year. It’s not just the presence of snow that creates our problems. It needs to have a trigger as well. e classic trigger is the late spring warmup. And what can cause even more damage is when we get rain on snow as well.”

Fresh Water News is an independent, nonpartisan news initiative of Water Education Colorado. WEco is funded by multiple donors. Its editorial policy and donor list can be viewed at wateredco.org

Colorado Joint Replacement

with

A 2022 view of hikers at Colorado’s St. Mary’s Glacier. Statewide snowpack is 140% of average, well above the reading a year ago.

FILE PHOTO BY ANDREW FRAIELI

School board rejects GOP idea to arm teachers

BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Douglas County School Board rmly rejected a request from the chair of the Douglas County GOP to allow teachers to carry rearms in schools.

Steve Peck, the Douglas County GOP chair and a former school board member, sent a letter on March 27 in the aftermath of the Nashville shooting, asking the district to let trained sta be armed at schools without school resource o cers. Peck did not respond to an interview request from Colorado Community Media.

“We cannot a ord to wait any longer or play political games with the lives of our nearly 63,000 students in the district, especially elementary and rural schools who have no SROs and are sitting today without any armed security,” Peck wrote in the letter.

Board members responded to the letter during the March 28 meeting by reiterating the district has no plans to allow sta to be armed in schools with the exception of school resource o cers, or SRO, who are trained law enforcement.

e district currently has an SRO at every middle and high school.

Board President Mike Peterson said a sta member with a concealed carry permit would not rise to the standard of training the district has for school resource ocers, so he would not support them being armed in schools.

“I’ve had three criteria for our folks who are armed in schools,”

Peterson said. “ e rst one is that they are competent, trained to a ridiculously high standard. Two, that they are pro cient, so they maintain that competency and skill for not just physical, but mental decision making. And third, that they are an integrated part of our planning and response.”

Board member Elizabeth Hanson said the letter created unnecessary chaos in the community because the elected panel has no intentions of arming teachers, which she adamantly opposes.

“I want to call it what it is, it was a political stunt, it was reckless, and I think it was very purposefully sent to create division,” Hanson said.

A statement from Lucy Squire, a third-grade teacher and the president of the local teachers’ union, Douglas County Federation, noted that allowing teachers to be armed would potentially pit them against their students.

“We know that often the perpetrator in a school shooting is a current or former student,” Squire said.

“Why would the Douglas County GOP want us to be confronted with the possibility of having to shoot our own current or former students?”

ough the board doesn’t support arming teachers, it is looking at ways to fund 10 more school resource o cers, which would help ll coverage gaps. e district estimates it would cost $5-6 million.

One possibility is that the district asks voters for the money as part of a mill levy override.

“We all respect our SROs,” Hanson said. “We mutually understand that what they bring to our district is absolutely invaluable and we want to continue to elevate that relationship and nothing else.”

Following the mass shooting in Tennessee where six people were killed, the Douglas County GOP group wrote a letter to the school board calling for arming teachers. The idea was rejected by the board. SHUTTERSTOCK IMAGE Hansen calls it

the increase,” said Douglas County Commissioner Lora omas.

Property taxes partly fund county governments, but they also fund school districts, re and library districts, and other local entities. Property taxes pay for Douglas County sheri ’s deputies, omas noted.

Even when tax rates themselves aren’t increasing, the amount that homeowners owe increases as the value of homes rises. e state legislature could intervene to cap the increase, but Colorado lawmakers face a delicate balancing act: A cap that’s too high could squeeze families’ nances in a tough economic time. But a cap set too low could force local governments to make cuts to services.

Douglas County o cials want to be reasonable and not see citizens “overtaxed,” omas said.

But “I don’t want to have to lay people o because we can’t pay them,” she added.

State in the mix

Rising property values are a problem statewide, not just in the Denver metro area, said omas, who has heard input from other counties.

To address the issue, state Rep. Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Roack, pushed a bill in the legislature that initially proposed a 5% cap on increasing residential property values between 2022 and 2025. Frizell later amended that to a proposed 10% cap after hearing feedback from rural counties.

Her bill met defeat in a committee — before reaching a full vote in the state House — in early March.

One Democrat voted for her bill, which failed 6-5, Frizell said, but that doesn’t mean the conversation is over.

“Uno cially, I was told that (lawmakers) were discouraged by leadership to vote for it,” said Frizell, adding that Democrats are anticipating a plan from the governor’s o ce and “didn’t want the distraction.”

Local o cials as of late March were waiting to hear what Democrats may propose, and a percentage for a possible cap isn’t clear yet, according to omas and Frizell.

A cap as low as 3%, for example, would pose problems for Douglas County’s budget, county o cials said.

“Local government revenues need to keep up with, at minimum, in ation in order to keep the lights on,” Frizell noted.

Local action in Douglas

If the state doesn’t take action, Douglas County may reduce residents’ tax bills on its own.

If property values increase around 50%, “we will do a temporary mill levy credit like we have done ve of the last seven years that I’ve been a commissioner,” omas said. e county has authorized such credits in 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, e ectively lowering county revenue by $30 million.

But omas hopes the state will step in. e budget that Douglas County o cials wrote for 2024 was based on expecting a 9% residential property value increase, she said.

“I would like to see us be able to

in uence (a legislature) bill to cap that property tax increase 7% to 10%, somewhere in there,” omas said.

(For example, if a home was valued at $500,000, with a 10% increase, its value would rise to $550,000 for 2024 tax purposes.)

If Colorado lawmakers pass a cap lower than that, the county services that could be a ected aren’t yet clear.

omas and her fellow commissioners haven’t had a conversation about that, so “I can’t even begin to guess what we would do,” omas said.

How property value assessments work

It’s the job of county assessors’ o ces to establish accurate values of homes and other properties to determine how much property owners will owe government entities in taxes — a process meant to ensure that the amount of taxes people pay is fair and equitable.

( e assessor doesn’t set the tax rate but determines the value of the property that the tax rate then gets applied to.)

e law requires the assessor to value properties every two years in June, so the property valuation homeowners will soon receive is based on June 2022 data, near the recent peak in the real estate market, omas said. So even though home prices have declined since then, property values determined by the assessor’s o ce re ect last year’s exceptional highs.

Since the start of 2010 — when the median single-family home price in metro Denver was about $200,000 — the median price had roughly tripled, according to a report by the

Colorado Association of Realtors based on data as of August. Statewide, it had tripled as well, according to the association.

Homeowners can see the breakdown of the property taxes they owe by typing in their address in a large search bar near the top of the Douglas County assessor’s webpage at douglas.co.us/assessor. at search function shows how the taxes are divided among each government entity based on the “mills” charged. Property tax rates are o cially called “mill levies.”

One “mill” is equal to one thousandth of a dollar. Generally, property taxes are calculated using a formula that involves mills — the tax rate — and the property value.

Living within a metropolitan district, such as Highlands Ranch, can make a big di erence in a home’s total property taxes, omas said. Metro districts are a type of government entity that can o er some government services.

A complex background

Part of why property taxes can rise so relatively high is that Colorado voters recently repealed the Gallagher Amendment, omas noted.

A state constitutional amendment, Gallagher prevented residential property tax bills from quickly rising by shifting the tax burden to commercial property owners through assessment rates, which help determine how much property owners pay in taxes, the Colorado Sun reported. But Gallagher collided with another constitutional amendment, the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights,

employment, and more.

T.J. Sullivan, president of the Parker Chamber of Commerce encourages those who live or work in Parker to complete the anonymous survey as it is an opportunity to in uence the town’s direction and investment in economic development.

“It’s important to remind folks that the prosperity of businesses and whether they are creating jobs or selling goods, are really key to the tax base and the tax base is what allows this body to provide a quality of life that is really unmatched in the metro area,” said Segal.

As of March 27, there were 425 responses to the survey. Segal said the survey data and trends tend to be even more accurate if there are more than 500 responses.

rough analysis, surveys, interviews and roundtables, PUMA looks to refresh and create a forwardthinking strategy to guide economic development in Parker, one that promotes economic resiliency, diversication, fortify the town’s revenue base and create local job opportunities according to Segal.

“Economic development is different in every community that we work in, so we are looking at really tailoring to what does that mean in Parker and how do we best pursue that moving forward,” said Segal.

Naomi Grunditz Lacewell, an associate with PUMA, spoke about the key themes that emerged from interviews and roundtable discussions.

“ ere’s widespread support for existing businesses, desire to see those grow, to have more homegrown talent and an understanding of the environment that’s needed to do that such as smaller and more a ordable creative spaces to foster entrepreneurship,” said Lacewell.

Other themes included downtown redevelopment, diversifying dining, retail and entertainment experiences, expanding tourism experiences and an opportunity to create a

TAXES

FROM PAGE 6

in a way that had hamstrung government entities that rely on property tax revenue, the Sun reported.

See more on that at tinyurl.com/ SunGallagherExplain.

Nationally, Colorado has relatively low residential property taxes, according to an analysis by the conservative Tax Foundation. Colorado

conference center.

Interviews also revealed concerns about tra c congestion and transit in and out of the city as well as an emerging theme of sustainability and environmental issues.

Lacewell said there is recognition of limitations concerning land availability, housing and transportation costs as well as the physical location of Parker seen throughout the interview process.

“We’ve also heard from businesses, both large and small, that they are struggling to recruit talent due to housing, cost of living, transportation costs,” said Lacewell.  rough the market assessment, PUMA examined the existing conditions and plan to identify future economic land use and employment opportunities in the growing community.

According to Senior Associate Andrea Buglione, Parker has maintained its status as a retail destination and retail vacancy is at an all time low, however, this is creating challenges for smaller emerging businesses looking for a ordable space.

A recurring topic among the council and associates was the sense of community in Parker. According to the analysis thus far, a trend shows people feel like the sense of community is worsening. On the other hand, Councilmember Laura Hefta believes that is inaccurate as the town has added events to the PACE Center and arts and culture entertainment.

Moving forward, the group brainstormed how the survey could reach more people to get an accurate reading of the sense of community. e associate team also plans to conduct exit interviews for businesses that left Parker and look into partnerships with private and regional sectors.

“Economic vitality really needs to balance preserving that unique lifestyle [of Parker] moving forward, that is a key core value,” said Segal.  Associates at PUMA plan to to come back to the council for further discussion.

ranked 47th in property taxes paid as a percentage of owner-occupied housing value in 2020, according to the foundation.

And while businesses pay more, their taxes still appear to be lower than the national average, according to the Colorado Sun. Colorado had the 17th best “State Business Tax Climate” for 2020, according to the Tax Foundation. Colorado had the 14th best “property tax rank” for businesses in 2020, according to the foundation.

TURN TO THE COLORADO SUN FOR NEWS ACROSS THE STATE

The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning news outlet that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself.

In this way, The Sun contributes to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado.

The Sun, launched in 2018, is committed to fact-based, in-depth and nonpartisan journalism. It covers everything

SCFD Free Days

Want to learn more about history, spend time appreciating abstract or contemporary art or get in touch with nature? SCFD organizations have your entrance fee and cultural passions covered. For more information, including specific dates and locations, visit scfd.org

Full property tax payments due

Payments must be received by the Treasurer’s office by April 30, 2023. Payments received after the due date must include applicable interest. To obtain the amounts due or to pay online, please visit douglascotax.com and search for your account.

Spring cleaning is at your curbside

Do you have hazardous waste from a painting project, old oil from your car’s maintenance, or other waste from your recent DIY project? This curbside service is available to Douglas County residents for $30. For details call 1-800-4497587 or visit douglas.co.us and search Household Waste Management

What’s happening with your County government?

Our commitment to open and transparent government includes online posting of information about public meetings at which the business of government is conducted. To view public meeting agendas, participate in-person or remotely, or watch select meetings via live stream, visit douglas.co.us and search for Business Meetings / Public Hearings.

Keeping Your County Healthy…

from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education.

Now, The Colorado Sun co-owns this and other Colorado Community Media newspapers as a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy. The Sun is CCM’s partner for statewide news.

For Colorado Sun stories, opinions and more, and to support The Sun’s misssion as a member or subscriber, visit coloradosun.com.

You can help keep your community healthy. The Douglas County Health Department investigates communicable diseases. You can help by reporting infectious diseases along with animal bites that break the skin. To report, visit douglas.co.us and search Health Department

many of them are already working together to address the housing issues and what can be done at the local level.

e City of Centennial has been working for more than a year on a housing study focused on the local needs. Centennial Mayor Stephanie Piko said SB23-213 would wipe that out and require municipalities to follow new requirements.

In Castle Rock, Mayor Jason Gray said, “ e town’s policies — and more importantly, our planning — have provided for an array of market-based housing choices within Castle Rock while respecting property owners’ rights and ensuring quality town services, like longterm renewable water. We cannot allow the governor and the General Assembly to upend our community’s planning and character — and Castle Rock homeowners’ nancial investments — with this overreaching legislation.”

Gray said the council will vote on a letter and resolution to o cially oppose SB23-213 on April 4.

Castle Rock is not alone. In Parker, while the council hasn’t taken a stance on the bill, town o cials said a discussion and possible vote would be coming soon. Littleton may also consider an o cial action to oppose the measure.

In an email statement to Colorado Community Media, Littleton Mayor Kyle Schlachter said he appreciates the legislation the bill is trying to address, while noting that housing is

an important issue that even Littleton has labeled as a top priority.

“While I personally would support much of the land use changes SB23213 suggests here in Littleton, such as ADUs (accessory dwelling units), missing middle housing, parking requirements, and occupancy requirements — I am concerned about the unprecedented preemption of home rule authority,” he said. “I think removing local input from land use decisions would be a step in the wrong direction for our state.”

Home rule is a form or structure of governing de ned by the citizens of a municipality or county that allows for more control over matters of local signi cance.

rough home rule, Piko said, Centennial has worked directly with citizens to create housing options to t local needs, which SB23-213 would end.

“Centennial has recently engaged with our residents on several large housing projects, like e Streets at Southglenn and e District. Between e Streets at Southglenn and e District, we’re looking at adding an additional 3,000 units to our community,” she said. “ at process allowed for the opportunity to engage with citizens, the developer and the city to work through project proposals together to amend projects to meet the needs of our community. Even though not every citizen is happy with the outcome, they have the opportunity to have their concerns heard by their local o cials who can be held accountable for the outcomes of the development.”

Warren-Gully said Arapahoe County is working to address the housing shortage. e county cur-

rently has more than 108,000 units already approved for construction, which would provide homes for nearly 280,000 people.

“ at’s planned housing for all those people,” she said. “ e problem is all those homes will not be built by next year. Development will happen not overnight. is legislation just can’t make them get built faster.”

Arapahoe County is expected to reach 800,000 residents by the year 2030. e current population is just over 650,000.

Cherry Hills Village Mayor Katy Brown agreed with Piko and Warren-Gully, saying a lot of collaborative planning that has gone into meeting Arapahoe County needs at local levels would be undone with the bill passage.

“You’ve just heard a lot about the great work that’s being done to address housing needs locally in Arapahoe County,” she said. “You’ve heard about the smart and collaborative planning and development that takes into consideration the unique communities in our county. But this bill would put an end to all of that by taking decision-making out of the hands of local communities and giving it to the state.”

Under Polis’ land use bill, cities and towns would be barred from limiting the construction of multiplexes and add-on housing units.

Opponents say that is not so simple.

In Colorado, Warren-Gully said, it may sound good to create these plans to force more housing, but the cost is not necessarily going to compute. To give an example, WarrenGully said when a home valued at $450,000 is instead developed into a triplex where the units are sold for $750,000 each — a ordability is still an issue.

“Density does not address affordability,” she said. “We have to be much more intentional to make things a ordable.”

Brown said zoning is currently created by local governments with extensive input from the community.

“By allowing increased density on

any single-family lot as a use-byright, this bill takes away a community’s ability to situate housing where it makes sense,” Brown said. “Where it can be sustainable for things like water and sewer. Questions like — Are the pipes underground big enough to handle the increased volume of water and well, frankly, poop that has to go down them? Are the roads and tra c, are the roads wide enough to accommodate the travel, parking and emergency vehicle access? My community still has some narrow dirt roads. It wouldn’t make sense to build an apartment building there, but we might be required to do so under this new legislation.”

Piko said she supports the idea of building more townhomes and condominiums in the metro area, however, past legislative decisions and liability for developers have created a hesitancy to build them over the years.

Schlachter said SB23-213 could also create extra layers of bureaucracy and regulations and that passage of this legislation would mean restricting development of new housing instead of encouraging it.

During a recent town hall, Sheridan Mayor Tara Beiter-Fluhr said with current projects and future plans, the city is working to increase a ordable housing without mandates from the state. SB21-213 does not actually guarantee a ordable housing while municipalities like Sheridan are working to provide “truly a ordable housing,” she said.

With housing being a statewide concern, Schlachter said SB12-213 does not cover it. Schlachter said solutions that work for Denver may not make sense for Littleton, just as Littleton solutions may not work for neighboring communities.

“I wish the a ected municipalities had been brought to the table sooner to help craft legislation that would better address the issues regarding housing a ordability,” he said.

SB23-213, which was o cially introduced on March 22, will be discussed in committee on April 6.

Nina Joss contributed to this story.

Gov. Jared Polis takes questions from reporters at a news conference Jan. 17 where he stressed housing is a top priority for the state. PHOTO BY ELLIS ARNOLD

2023

OFTHE BEST BEST

BEST OF THE BEST VOTE NOW!

Douglas County Republicans oppose limiting debate on bills

Democrats invoke Rule 14

BY THELMA GRIMES TRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Colorado state Rep. Brandi Bradley had strong feelings about recent actions taken by Democrats to limit debate and discussion over controversial gun bills in the 2023 legislative session.

During a town hall in Castle Rock on March 29, Bradley, a Republican from the area south of Highlands Ranch who represents House District 39, joined fellow Douglas County state Reps. Lisa Frizell, RCastle Rock, and Anthony Hartsook, R-Parker, to talk about the current session and issues they have with how Democrats, who hold the supermajority in the House, are silencing their voices.

After hours of debate had arleady taken place, on March 24, House Majority Leader Monica Duran, DWheat Ridge, moved to limit debate to one more hour for Senate Bill 169, which, if approved, will make it easier to sue gun manufacturers and sellers, and Senate Bill 170, which would expand the controversial red ag law.

e vote, which falls under Colorado House Rule 14, passed 39-19, with all Republicans voting against it.

According to the Colorado General Assembly, the legislature’s rules allow the majority party to limit discussion whenever they want. In this case, Democrats hold a supermajority in the House with 46 Democrats vs. 19 total Republicans.

Bradley told several dozen Douglas County residents that when Republicans have been in power, they have not invoked Rule 14.

“ is is a problem. is should not be a party issue,” Bradley said. “And I appeal to the Democrats. What if Republicans got up there and stripped abortion rights. eir precious abortion rights. Do you think that they would say, ‘Yeah, we are only going to take 10 hours’? ey would not do it. is is not a party issue. is is wrong to limit our ability to speak for all of you.”

Frizell said despite losing the ability to debate and ght a bill, Republicans have not quit. Delay tactics now include requiring the bill to be read multiple times.

“Our strategy at this point is to drag this out as long as possible,” Frizell said. “ ey are going to keep invoking (Rule 14) and our response to that is to keep reading the bill out loud and sometimes twice. at will back the calendar up. We are up libustering on every bill. We are going to go after them. at is why we are there so much. We are slowing things down.”

Reading an entire bill at length multiple times is not considered debate, which means the amount of time to read the bill in its entirety does not count.

Frizell, in her rst term, said Democrats had to take the extreme action to limit discussion because Democrats have more than 600 bills on deck this year and only 120 days to push them through. Halting opposing voices allows Democrats to continue to push through bills aimed at limiting parental rights, property rights and other rights, Frizell said.

Bradley said at the current rate, Democrats are trying to push through one bill per hour, every day.

“ ey are angry that we are holding things up to speak our truth,” she said.

In a statement from state Rep. Robert Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch, Rule 14 was only invoked after the GOP broke two agreements to limit debate. Marshall is the only elected Democrat from Douglas County.

“ e GOP was using debate simply to kill time in a legislature, that, by law, can only sit for 120 days,” he said in the March 25 statement. “ is was not legitimate debate to convince the majority that a bill should be amended, changed or rejected. After 18 wasted work hours and multiple broken agreements, this was a legitimate invocation for Rule 14.”

Even with the Democrats’ motion to limit discussion, according to a Colorado Sun report, total debate for Senate Bill 170 lasted about nine hours, and Senate Bill 168 continued for about 10 hours.

Douglas County Republicans Lisa Frizell and Brandi Bradley object to the Democrats’ use of Rule 14 in recent debate over gun legislation in the state House.

PHOTO BY THELMA GRIMES

Thu 4/13

Colorado Country Dance Social @ 6pm / $10

Stampede, 2430 South Havana, Aurora

Music City Hit-Makers; From Nashville with Strings @ 6:30pm

Lone Tree Arts Center, 10075 Commons St, Lone Tree

Tue 4/18

Spring Cherry Creek Race Team | Ages 9-18 @ 3:30pm / Free Apr 18th - May 16th

Cherry Creek Reservoir, 4800 S Dayton St, Greenwood Village. 303-757-7718

Sarah Banker @ SUNROOM BREWING @ 5pm Sunroom Brewing, 3242 S Acoma St, En‐glewood

Enslaved @ 5pm Gothic Theatre, 3263 S Broadway, Engle‐wood

Phat Daddy @ 7pm

The Angry Clover, 15350 E Smoky Hill Rd, Aurora Knolls

Guayacán Orquesta @ 8pm Stampede, 2430 S Havana St, Aurora

Jay_Martin @ 6:30pm Rocker Spirits, 5587 S Hill St, Lit‐tleton

Dear Marsha,: Tax Day with Dear Marsha and her Freaky Band @ 8pm Mirage Sports Bar, 8340 W Coal Mine Ave, Littleton

Sun 4/16

2023 Rockin' on the River 5K @ 8am / $20

The Hudson Gardens & Event Center, 6115 South Santa Fe Drive, Littleton. SarahN@ ssprd.org, 303-483-7034

Tony Medina Music: The Open Mic at The Alley @ 5:30pm The Alley, 2420 W Main St, Little‐ton

Wed 4/19

Ladies Night @ 5pm / $10 Stampede, 2430 South Havana, Aurora

Meaghan Farrell @ 6:30pm

Parker Arts, Culture & Events Cen‐ter, 20000 Pikes Peak Avenue, Parker

DeMoor Global Running

Distance Classic 2023 @ 11pm / $35-$35

Apr 14th - Apr 23rd

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Fri 4/14 Sat 4/15

Jay Stott Trio at The Alley, Littleton @ 7pm

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Vamonos Pest/Mobro: Va‐

monos Pest at Brewability Lab @ 5pm Brewability Lab, 3445 S Broadway, Englewood

Judd Hoos @ 5pm Tailgate Tavern & Grill, 19552 Mainstreet, Parker

Finn O'Sullivan: Sofar Sounds @ 7pm Sofar Sounds, Englewood

The Sound of Animals Fighting @ 7pm Gothic Theatre, 3263 South Broadway, En‐glewood

Cory Michael @ 12pm Wide Open Saloon, 5607 US-85, Sedalia

DJ Rockstar Aaron: Forbidden Bingo at 'Bout Time Pub & Grub @ 7pm Bout Time Pub & Grub, 3580 S Platte River Dr A, Sheridan

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LIVE AT THE STAMPEDE 4/20 THROW DOWN @ 5:30pm / $50 Stampede, 2430 South Havana, Aurora

The Word Alive @ 6pm Gothic Theatre, 3263 S Broadway, Englewood

DJ Rockstar Aaron: Forbidden Bingo - Tailgate Tavern & Grill @ 7pm Tailgate Tavern & Grill, 19552 Mainstreet, Parker

Sean Curran: The Whosoever Tour with Rend CollectiveDenver (Highlands Ranch), CO @ 6pm Cherry Hills Community Church, 3900 Grace Blvd, Highlands Ranch Rend Collective @ 6pm Cherry Hills Community Church, 3900 Grace Blvd, Highlands Ranch

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Answers in short supply FROM THE

EDITOR

Afew weeks ago I wrote about the need for school resource o cers, or SROs, in local schools. I did not have crystal ball, but days after the editorial went live the shooting at East High School occurred.

It was a tragic day. Not only were two innocent administrators shot, but a young man who was allowed to continue coming to school despite his troubled record died. Had that student been placed in online learning or so many other options we as parents have today — would we not have lost him and would our teachers not be feeling like they are in a war zone?

I was impressed to see the superintendent of the school district stand up and say something has to be done and that means SROs back on campus protecting our students.

I can’t imagine what those parents in that district are feeling as details come out and the constant political debate continues. I had a sinking feeling to nd out the student who is now dead had attended my own children’s school district. A little too close for comfort.

Bottom line — teachers and administrators deserve protection too. at means school boards, superintendents and principals are going to have to speak louder as politically correct decisions are being placed above their safety and our general student population. A teacher being shot by a 6-year-old is not OK. A teacher videoed being beaten unconscious by a student who was mad she took his game is not OK.

en, we had another mass shooting at a school in Tennessee. ree children at the age of 9 were killed. ree adults trying to save lives were also killed.

Like every shooting, as soon as tragedy strikes — we lack the ability to come together as a country today. We lack the ability to be empathetic and sympathetic because it might create a problem in subjecting political will.

My son is 9 years old and with each shooting I become even more disheartened. ese children should not be the target in a world where adults have created a politically driven war zone in every aspect of our lives.

Of course, the gun debate comes up almost immediately. I saw articles and comments online where a father of one of the innocent victims said simply that he hopes his daughter nds peace in heaven. He was put down for taking that approach. I saw comments where people thought he should be angry and point to gun control.

I say this — He lost his daughter. He has a right to comment and react however he chooses and we as a society should be sympathetic and supportive. en, I saw a troubling statement online about the fact that stopping these shootings may be causing political division and debate but stopping them is not so simple.

Our country has an astounding mental health crisis on our hands and when you have a gunman decide that they are going to take weapons and kill innocent people with the objective of dying that day themselves — What do we do to stop it?

In the end, I want an SRO, a trained member of law enforcement, posted at the front doors, back doors and in each hallway of schools. ey are trained to go ahead and complete the wishes of the disgusting people who are on these suicide missions. And they may do so before innocent lives who deserve none of this are killed.

elma Grimes is the south metro editor for Colorado Community Media.

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MICHAEL DE YOANNA Editor-in-Chief michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Another season of new beginnings

The weeks seemed to be piling up, one right on top of the next. With the time ying by so fast, it also seemed as if the to-do list grew longer while the things checked o kept getting shorter or couldn’t keep up with everything that needed to be done and the additional things being added to the list. As they woke up to start another day, she asked her husband, “Why does everything have to be so difcult right now?”

She moved across the country with her 4-year-old son to start a new life and to reconnect with family. Her son was having a hard time adjusting to the new time zone, new surroundings, and new family members he had to get to know. His lack of sleep meant that she wasn’t getting any consistent sleep either, and the vicious cycle of no sleep and stress began. Additionally, she started a brand-new job, and he started school for the rst time, causing even greater disruption and stress. She looked in the mirror one morning and asked, “Why does everything have to be so di cult right now?”

As a career leader and salesperson he knew how large and complex deals could take longer than others. He had started the process on a new opportunity many months ago. As with any sales role, pressure comes when deals slip or push month-to-month and quarter-to-quarter. He was doing everything by the book, awlessly following the process and aligning with the buyer’s journey, yet the deal kept slipping. Finally, almost at the nish line to win the business, a week of discussion with the customer’s legal team forced more delays. He asked some of the people on his team, “Why does everything have to be so di cult right now?”

We all know stories like these, don’t we?

ERIN ADDENBROOKE Marketing Consultant eaddenbrooke@coloradocommunitymedia.com

AUDREY BROOKS Business Manager abrooks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

We have all felt like this at times, haven’t we? I could add several more just like the ones above, but instead, let’s focus on what happens next.

Here we are in another season of new beginnings, and for many of us it is because we associate it with Easter as we celebrate the Risen Christ. In the week and weekend ahead, hope lls our hearts, and our outlook becomes elevated as we have new encouragement and inspiration. For some, it’s just about springtime and the budding of trees, grass turning green again, more sunlight pouring through our window, owers beginning to bloom, and the start of baseball that gives us a new and positive attitude.

Another season of new beginnings. So I say to the couple, the mom and her son, and the professional salesperson all mentioned above, as well as any of us who may be saying the same thing right now, “Let today be a day of new beginnings.” If what we are doing right now isn’t working, let’s start over and develop a new plan that aligns with who we want to be, where we want to go and grow, and what we want to enjoy in this life. Everything will get better for you as a couple, a new, safe, and happy new life awaits you mother and child, and that deal will close as will many others for you in your brilliant sales career. is season of life will pass just like every previous season. If we hold on to the yesterdays of life that have caused us stress, fear, worry, and doubt, we are only anchoring ourselves in that negative cycle of gloom and doom. As Zig Ziglar said, “Failure is an event, not a person, yesterday really did end last night.” It’s time for another season of new beginnings.

How about you? Are you asking yourself why things are so di cult right now? Would it be helpful if you could see the light and

SEE NORTON, P13

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Columnists & Guest Commentaries

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Thelma Grimes

Teacher pay has become a business issue

On a recent Saturday morning, Douglas County Schools Superintendent

Erin Kane stopped at a Parker restaurant for breakfast burritos. e woman working behind the counter instantly recognized her and chatted her up.

e woman was not a parent with a concern, or a teenager who remembered Kane from her  days as a school principal. She didn’t recognize Kane from news coverage of the previous year’s school board sta ng and political tumult.

She recognized Kane because she currently works for her – an employee of the Douglas County Schools working the second job she needs to pay rent.

In the 2022 election, Douglas County voters rejected ballot measures 5A and 5B which would have generated more revenue for salaries and top infrastructure

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Reformers Redux

On April 6, Colorado Parent Advocacy Network (CPAN) will hold a Denver rally for conservatives supporting “parents’ rights” at the state Capitol. e related legislation in the US House pushed by MAGAs is no coincidence.

CPAN’s practical problem is clear … informed people here in DougCo won’t be sidetracked by the current right-wing triggers — “parents’ rights” and “woke.” We haven’t gotten over the damaging divisiveness of last year’s fake triggers — “critical race theory,” “Marxist teachers unions,” “teaching homosexuality and transgender in public schools” and more. Triggers concocted by the central planning process coming out of the dark-monied “libertarian in name only” think-tanks on the East Coast, with a helping of Bannonista rhetoric.

Our own DCSD has been besieged by the local Reformers mix since 2007 and before. Back then, there was a direct line from Reformers politics to the Koch-funded Tea Party and think-tanks Americans for Prosperity, American Enterprise Institute and the Independence Institute, among others.

CPAN is the latest of many darkmonied Reformer committees established to hornswoggle voters in the runup to DCSD and other school board elections in November. During CPAN’s November 2022 evening kicko , multi-layered connections between the current DCSD Board

NORTON

FROM PAGE 12

love at the end of the tunnel? I would love to hear your story at gotonorton@gmail.com, and when we can prepare our hearts and minds for our own season of new begin-

priorities. Frankly, the timing was terrible. In ation and interest rates were surging, and asking for a tax increase from economicallystressed homeowners was predictably doomed to fail.

e bond request for school construction failed by more than eight points. e request for a mill levy increase – to retain and attract quality teachers and sta – came closer, falling short by a mere 2,495 votes.

So here we are in 2023. Douglas County is now the only school district in the metro area where starting pay for a teacher is below $50,000 per year. A teacher commuting to Parker from Aurora will likely pass several Cherry Creek schools where the average teacher makes $18,000 more per year.

Anecdotally, the Douglas County teachers who can a ord to stay teaching are those with economically-secure partners. Young teachers are hard to recruit, and those who do take jobs quickly move to better-paying jobs in nearby districts after a year or two.

It is likely that the school district will try again in the upcoming

majority and the host of Trumpist/ anti-minority organizations were in plain sight. e proof is in the bitter pudding of the same cast of roving anti-minority activists who continue to show-up for false-fronted nonpro ts like CPAN.

“Stripping back the layers of the onion” shows the same worn-out ideological players: current “CPAN award winning” DCSD Superintendent Kane and her four board members; CO and DougCo GOP; old-timey Reformers/Tea Partiers; billionaire funded local think tanks (Independence Institute et al.), Clarity (Anschutz) Media and radio KNUS, Foundation Against Intolerance and Fascism, some churches and grifting election deniers. Among others.

e DCSD community has already seen how quickly the current DCSD Board majority (aka Reformers Redux) stripped away the institution’s standing, energizing a new era of mistrust and disappointment. It behooves each of us to stay informed about school board politics and demand good faith candidates we can comfortably support in November. And it is time to pass the MLO and bond measures despite heavy reservations.

So, the question for DCSD taxpayers — isn’t it time we demand good choices among local school board candidates, people who have the intellectual and decision-making

o -year election. ey have to – or Douglas County teachers will only fall farther behind. Meanwhile, the surging county population is screaming for new schools. We won’t know until the school board authorizes the ballot initiatives this summer, but Kane and her team are already gearing up. is time, the outcome will hinge on voter turnout. In o -year elections, voters tend to be whiter, older, and more conservative – not exactly the ideal demographic mix for a successful public education funding initiative. To pass, the new measures will require strong turnout from DCSD parents to counteract those dependable Douglas County voters who re exively say NO to anything resembling a public funding increase.

Fortunately, the economic outlook is better this year than last.

ey have that going for them.

Public education has no shortage of critics and skeptics (frequently, I am one). However, Parker’s economic and workforce competitiveness cannot be separated from the issue of public school funding. is year, public school funding will

need to be a priority issue for businesses.

e Parker Chamber of Commerce’s Government A airs Committee met with Kane’s team recently to discuss the anticipated 2023 ballot request. All agreed that, this time, an endorsement will not be enough. A uni ed message is needed, and chambers, major employers, and concerned parents will need to make clear that investment our community’s teachers is an urgent business priority.

e schools in Douglas County are academically competitive with every other district in the area, but the deterioration of teachers, sta , and infrastructure chips away from success potential every year that funding falls dramatically short of need.

You simply can’t attract primary employers and top-notch talent to a place where special education teachers wrap burritos and re ll salsa stations to a ord groceries.

T.J. Sullivan is the CEO of the Parker Chamber of Commerce. Find him on Instagram at @ParkerChamberCEO

nings, it really will be a better than good life.

Michael Norton is an author, a personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations across multiple industries.

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

An tiques might seem like a eld that’s struggling to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the local scene in Elizabeth — and elsewhere in Colorado — suggests a renaissance of sorts might be occurring in the industry.

Randy Wallace owns Randy’s Antiques and Art on Main Street in Elizabeth. e bustling scene in town — featuring e Prickly Pear Antiques, e Carriage Shoppes and 1897 House of Antiques, among others — breeds community, not competition, he said.

“ e more stores in town, the better,” Wallace said. “People love to come antique shopping when there are multiple stores. Each one of our shops has a di erent niche, each one has just a little bit di erent style; I think customers enjoy having a di erent variety when they come to Elizabeth.”

Wallace said that while his shop specializes in antique art and furniture, others cater to di erent interests, like the Prickly Pear’s tearoom.

Over in Littleton, owner Joe Crawford of Old Crow Antiques had the novel idea to add a root beer bar to his shop, with the eventual goal of making the soda section — which currently carries between 60-90 varieties of vintage soda pop at any given time — the largest root beer bar in the world.

Crawford said Old Crow — which he opened three years ago with his brother — is one of the “new kids on the block” in the local

antiquing scene, but said they’ve been welcomed into the scene with open arms.

“I feel like we’re part of a larger community in the metro area,” Wallace said. “ ere are stores throughout the area, and we’ve gotten to know the people who own and work there — some have been here a long time.”

Nostalgia and good, old-fashioned, quality craftsmanship

Antique shops can often sprawl thousands of square feet — Old Crow’s showroom is over 45,000 square feet — packed with items from all eras and purposes. Shopkeepers say that a sense of longing for a di erent time helps people nd what they’re looking for out of the scores of inventories, in addition to the fact that many antiques have stood the test of time for a reason.

“In antique furniture, it’s already lasted 100 years, and — if you take care of it — it’ll last another 100 years,” Wallace said. “A lot of today’s stu is kind of throwaway.”

Julie McCoy, who runs own Unique Treasures Antiques and Collectibles in Wheat Ridge with her parents, echoed Wallace’s sentiment.

“(Antiques are) made so much better,” McCoy said. “ ey’re around 100 years later for a reason. It’s not like Ikea stu that you put together and throw away. It’s good quality

SEE NOSTALGIA, P15

NOSTALGIA

stu that’s built to last. It builds a lot of memories with people.”

People also point to childhood nostalgia or family memories as reasons for antique shops’ sustained popularity.

“(People seek out) childhood memories,” McCoy said. “Stu that’ll last, people come in and say, ‘My mom had this,’ they need to have that again to relive their childhood.”

Crawford said his family got into the antiques business because of a love for history and historic items cultivated from time spent with grandparents as kids.

“We tell people it’s a walk down memory lane,” Crawford said. “You’ll see something that reminds you of another time, maybe a simpler time, or childhood. Something you haven’t thought of in maybe 50, 60 years.

“I’ll be reminded of my grandma, my family and that’s what it is for me, the stories and experiences of everything that’s here,” Crawford continued. “We say, ‘ ere are a lot of ghosts under this roof.’”

The exterior of

Treasures Antiques and Collectibles in Wheat Ridge.

COURTESY UNIQUE TREASURES

Randy’s Arts and Antiques features a menagerie of furniture and art from di erent eras.

COURTESY RANDY WALLACE

Part of the showroom at Old Crow Antiques in Littleton.

COURTESY JOE CRAWFORD

EASTER Worship

HOW MANY?

Paul Taylor Dance Company performs at Newman Center

Brings 64 years of modern dance

BY SONYA ELLINGBOE

SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Every seat was lled at the Newman Center’s Gates Concert Hall on March 27 when the New Yorkbased Paul Taylor Dance Company performed as part of this season’s “Newman Center Presents” series.  e company, which rst performed in New York City in May

of 1954, is now directed by former company member Michael Novak, following Taylor’s death in 2018. He was chosen by Taylor to follow as director and is leading the current national tour.

In the course of Taylor’s 64 years with the modern dance company, he choreographed 147 dances, as well as performing works by other choreographers. He used music from many di erent genres.

On March 27, the program began with a dance called “Arden,” with music by British composer William Boyce (1711-1779), a contemporary

of Handel. We assume it refers to England’s legendary Forest of Ardena, where 1,000-year-old trees are still found.

Taylor’s choreography is never stately like an ancient tree might be, but this work, which used nine dancers, was somewhat more slowly-paced than the works that followed.

A medley of Andrews Sisters’ songs from the WWII era was used for a slightly-less frantically-paced work called “Company B.”

It was rst performed in 2992 and seems slightly more relaxed in pace. It included a number of songs that were popular in the 1940s. Older readers will remember “Bei Mir Bist du Schone,” “Pennsylvania Polka,” “Two-Two,” “Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!,” “I Can Dream, Can’t I?” and “Joseph! Joseph!” from school dances and radio broadcasts perhaps. It called out the 16-member traveling company and was rst performed in 1991.

“Rush Hour,” the third dance the troupe performed is set to music by American composer Adam Crystal, showed a particular interest in writing for dancers and lms. It dates to a 2016 rst production and involve all 16 dancers who are touring, with frantic movement as singles, pairs and as groups.

With “Rush Hour,” special geometric lighting design by Clifton Taylor and trim black and grey costumes by Fritz Masten added an additional theatrical feel to this work, which verges on frantic o and on.  It involved all 16 dancers who are part of this tour and was originally

presented in March, 2016.

At the start, a large pink Peony lls part of the rear wall and by the second part, dancers, clad in cleverly-designed costumes in black snd grey,s, with a good bit of detail on them. oor and stage walls have changed to geometric forms instead... e Crystal music is borderline-frantic-or at least darker in mood, as all sixteen dancers rush, leap and move otherwise—with precisely-designed combinations of steps in every case, but designed to give an impression that everyone is urgently going somewhere, in a disjointed, frantic manner... Has a New York City street scene feel about it, for sure! Or, it could be London, Paris or Hong Kong...

Members of this dance company mostly bring college degrees to the job and the talented Taylor was a MacArthur Genius awardee, who received a 1993 National Medal of Arts-our highest honor-from President Clinton.

He choreographed 147 of the more than 170 dances in the company’s repertoire.

e company has toured all parts of the world on good will visits on behalf of the U.S. State Department, sharing it’s teeasure trove of dances, as well as appearing in many U.S. theaters. We’ll hope for a return.

In May, the Newman Center plans to announce its next season of “Newman Center Presents, which will include concerts, lecture and more dance. We look forward to another season there and elsewhere around the area—thankful that the arts are up and running again!

Larry Keigwin’s “Rush Hour” was a number performed by the Paul Taylor Dance Company on March 27 at the University of Denver’s Newman Center.

PHOTO BY WHITNEY BROWNE

Tracy wins the 2023 Denver Lyric Opera Guild’s top award

Since 1984, members of the Denver Lyric Opera Guild have raised enough to give over a million in support money to help young (23-32) opera singers get started on their professional careers.

e top award of this year’s competition was given by the judges to operatic bass Gry en Hagen Tracy, a Coloradan, who has been an apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera and is a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where he had a residency and received a Master of Music Degree.

He has been in Central City Opera Company’s training program and received his Bachelor of Music degree from Lamont School of Music at DU. He also has a Master of Music from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

It’s necessary for these young singers to travel to auditions in order to be cast in operatic performances and these awards help them with launching into a professional career. e group meets monthly at Columbine Country Club in Littleton and welcomes new members. Visit the website.

Kathy van Arsdale will be the next DLOG president.

Colorado Ballet

e Colorado Ballet has announced performances of “Sinfonetta,” originally planned for the 2019/2020 season and nally appearing. e work, choreographed by Jiri Kylian in 1976 and new to Denver audiences, is set to a score by Leos Janacek and blends clasic and contemporary techniques.

Elie Caulkins Opera

A horn fanfare is performed from the audience at the Elie Caulkins Opera House. Performances: April 14, 15, 21, 22 at 7:30 p.m. and April 15, 16 and 23 at 2 p.m. 303-837-8888, ext. 2. Ballet Masterworks tickets start at $40. See ColoradoBallet.org.

Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center

Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center, one of History Colorado’s community museums, is among 15 nalists for the 2023 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. It is located in the San Luis Valley and shows visitors what a frontier fort

looked like. It’s a great site for a family visit with kids who are learning about our state. Well organized to tell a story. e address is 29477 Hwy 159, Fort Garland, CO and is open every day from 9 a.. to 5 p.m.. Call 1-719-430-3512 for information. Or, try 303-HISTORY.

Mary Louise Lee Orchestra

e Mary Louise Lee Orchestra will play a Tribute to Natalie Cole at 8 p.m. April 21 at Lone Tree Arts Center, 10075 Commons St., Lone Tree 720-509-1000. Tickets cost $31 to $45.

Colorado Gallery of Art

e Colorado Gallery of Art at Arapahoe Community College Littleton Campus has an exhibit of work by invited students and alumni. Ooen Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Grapefruit Lab to perform

Grapefruit Lab performs “Strange Bird, Queer Bird” April 7 to 15 at Buntport eater, 717 Lipan St., Denver. Original music by Teacup Gorilla, choreography by Kate Spear and design by Colorado Shoe School. Fridays, Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 15, additional matinee at 2 p.m. Name your price for tickets.

Parker Symphony Orchestra

Parker Symphony Orchestra will perform a Concert called “Arabian Nights” at 7:30 p.m. at the PACE Center, 20000 E. Mainstreet, Parker.

The Arvada Center invites audiences to join its book club

Anyone who has been in a book club before knows they can be a brilliant opportunity to bond with friends, both old and new, over a shared love of the written word. And they can also be ground zero for all kinds of interpersonal messiness.

In the Arvada Center’s production of Karen Zacarías’ laugh-out-loud “ e Book Club Play,” one group becomes the subject of a documentary lm maker, resulting in all kinds of hilarity as the members let the camera into their lives.

“I love books. And I nd book clubs fascinating,” wrote Kate Gleason, who plays several pundits in the show, in an email interview. “I like how book clubs are a chance for very di erent characters to come together in a shared experience. I was challenged and excited to play several wildly di erent characters with one common thread — books.”

“ e Book Club Play” runs at the Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., through May 18. Directed by Lynne Collins as part of the Black Box eatre repertory season, performances are at 7:30 p.m. on ursdays through Saturdays, 1 p.m. on Wednesdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Gathering with others who share a love of books is a tried-and-true setting for all kinds of stories, and there’s a good reason for this — in book clubs, members have a tendency to really let their hair down and cut loose. Not only does this make for a very dynamic energy between

COMING ATTRACTIONS

characters, but it can be a vehicle to explore how we connect with each

“It’s about the relationships we have with our friends, family, and ourselves, all centered around great, or not so great, books,” Gleason wrote. “ e ability to agree or disagree is all part of the fun.”

Stories involving book clubs provide opportunities to explore all kinds of culture: classic highbrow novels and the authors who write them, as well as trashy books that provide an opportunity to get together and complain with friends. With that kind of range, audiences who see “ e Book Club Play” can expect laughs and literary references galore.

“Creating family and community are all part of our shared human experience. In all its glory and messiness,” Gleason wrote. “And books can connect or disconnect us from each other. Let the hilarity ensue.”

For more information and tickets, visit https://arvadacenter.org/ events/the-book-club-play.

History Colorado takes travelers on a tour of Arvada

matter where you live, there’s always an opportunity to learn a little

more about your town or city. at’s the ethos behind History Colorado’s Tours and Treks adventure series — a series that goes back more than 50 years.

As part of this year’s lineup, History Colorado is hosting a Historic Arvada Walking Tour from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 15. According to provided information, the tour will provide a look at “historic buildings, tales of champions of religious and racial tolerance, and delicious spots to stop for snacks.”

All the details for the tour can be found at www.historycolorado.org/ tours-and-treks.

Clarke’s Concert of the Week — Snail Mail at the Fox Theatre

Lindsey Jordan, who records under the name Snail Mail, makes the kind of indie rock that fans of the genre’s early days in the 1990s will immediately recognize. While there are certainly familiar elements to Snail Mail’s music, she’s uses a razor-sharp pen to artfully delve into themes of loneliness, identity and human connection.

Snail Mail will be stopping by Boulder’s Fox eatre, 1135 13th St., at 8:30 p.m. on April 11. She’ll be joined by Water From Your Eyes and Dazy, both bands that represent exciting new talents that add a lot to indie rock. Get tickets at www.axs.com.

Clarke Reader’s column on culture appears on a weekly basis. He can be reached at Clarke.Reader@hotmail.com.

303-805-3289. Box o ce MondaySaturday noon to 5 p.m.

Denver Audubon

e 2023 Birdathon will be held May 1-31 by Denver Audubon. Form a team, pick one day in May for a team. Have team members collect donations for Audubon on one day in May and look for birds during that day in your yard, on a hike... Pledges might be for $1 a bird. A Birdathon Meet and Greet will be held at the Kingery Nature Center at Denver Audubon, 9303 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Littleton. email info@denveraudubon.org, Can donate there as well. Donations will be used to add more educational programs and reach more schools year- round.

Arvada Center

“Damn Yankees” plays April 7 to May 7 at Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd. , Arvada. Tickets start at $53. 720-898-7200, arvadacenter.org.

*Call for artists: CORE Art Space, 6501 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood. invites entries for “Flower Power” which will run May 12 to 28. Entries due by April 16 at CAFE, .callforentry.org. Juror Michael Paglia. Show runs may 12-28, with a reception May 12, 5 to 10 p.m.. Gallery open 12 to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday* eater for kids: “Robin Hood” will play april 8-22 and May 27-June 24 at Miners Alley Playhouse, 1224 Washington Ave, Golden,: Saturday at 1 p.m. and June 17 and 24 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. 303935-3044.

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Clarke Reader

Gri en Hogan Tracy is the winner of Denver Lyric Opera Guild’s 2023 competition for young opera singers. COURTESY PHOTO

SONYA’S SAMPLER

Polis targets local land use over a ordability

Governor backs sweeping reductions in cities’ powers to control zoning

BY JESSE PAUL AND ELLIOTT WENZLER THE COLORADO SUN

Fast-growing, housing-strapped Colorado communities would be barred from limiting construction of duplexes, triplexes and add-on housing units under a marquee measure unveiled in March by Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic state lawmakers aimed at addressing the state’s housing crisis by increasing residential density.

e land-use bill would also block limits on how many unrelated people can live in the same home and prevent Colorado’s largest cities from restricting what kind of housing can be built near transit stops. A separate measure, meanwhile, would ban municipalities from imposing new growth caps and eliminate existing ones.

e land-use proposal would apply di erently throughout the state depending on population size and housing needs, with the biggest impacts on Colorado’s most populous cities — Denver, Aurora, Boulder, Lakewood, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction and smaller suburbs near them — but also rules for rural communities and resort towns, which have faced their own unique housing struggles.

“ is is an a ordability crisis around housing in our state,” Gov. Jared Polis told e Colorado Sun. “Absent action, it’s only going to get worse. We absolutely want to move our state in a way where homeownership and rent are more a ordable, and this will help get that done.”

Polis said the bills — one of which is more than 100 pages long — represent the most ambitious land-use policy changes in Colorado in about 40 years. e policy changes would take years to go into e ect, but the governor said if the state doesn’t act, Colorado could start to look like California, where homes are even less a ordable, and tra c is worse.

“We want to make sure we get ahead of the curve,” he said.

Local government leaders have been wary of the proposals, previewed in the governor’s State of the State address in January, because of how it would restrict their power to create and enforce housing policies.

“Respectfully, get o our lawn,” Kevin Bommer, executive director of the Colorado Municipal League, said at a gathering of local ocials in February when describing negotiations on the legislation with Polis’ o ce.

e organization’s board voted to oppose the land-use bill last week, Bommer said. “CML opposes this sweeping and breathtaking attempt to centralize local land use and zoning policy in the state Capitol, while doing nothing to guarantee a ordability,” Bommer said in a written statement, also calling the measure a “breathtaking power grab.”

e only Colorado mayor who spoke in support of the bill at a Capitol news conference on March 22 rolling out the legislation was Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett. “

ere’s still some work to be done and I’m sure there’ll be changes hashed out,” he said. “But there is so much at value here.”

e bills are also expected to meet erce pushback from the few Republicans in the legislature, who are in the minority in the House and Senate and have little say over which measures pass or fail.

e measures have been the talk of the Capitol since the 2023 legislative session began in January, but the details of what’s in the legislation have been under wraps

until now. Democrats will have less than two months to pass the bills through the House and Senate before the lawmaking term ends in early May.

e governor’s o ce says the land-use bill was drafted after more than 120 meetings with housing and business experts and local o cials and through research on similar policies passed in other states. Oregon, for instance, passed a law in 2019 requiring cities with a population greater than 1,000 to allow duplexes, while cities with more than 25,000 people must allow townhomes, duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes.

Rep. Steven Woodrow, a Denver Democrat who will be one of the prime sponsors of the land-use bill, said the measure is supposed to prevent some Colorado communities erecting barriers to development while their neighbors sprawl out of control, which can cause gentri cation and water issues.

“We have to do this at the state level because local political pressures are such that it hasn’t been hasn’t been done until now,” Woodrow said.

e measure reshaping land use in Colorado would apply only to municipalities, not counties. e governor’s o ce and the bills’ sponsors believe they can impose policy restrictions on cities and towns because housing is an issue of statewide concern, a position that could be tested in court.

“Research has shown that increasing housing supply, like building units like duplexes and townhomes, can increase a ordability,” Senate Majority Leader Dominick Moreno, a Commerce City Democrat and a lead sponsor of the bill, said at a news conference as the bill was unveiled. “Yet these types of housing are often prohibited in many of the communities that need them the most. And that doesn’t make sense.”

Workers frame townhomes in Littleton.

FILE PHOTO BY DAVID GILBERT

LAND USE

An unanswered question is whether developers will take advantage of the bill, should it pass.

“I think that people are anxious to provide housing,” said J.J. Ament, president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, which supports the bill. “I don’t think it really is a capital problem in Colorado. It is regulatory and environment. I think the capital will ow because the demand is there.”

e legislation is slated to be formally introduced this week. e measures were described in detail to e Sun by their sponsors and the governor.

e requirements will vary for di erent parts of the state depending on which of ve categories they fall into based on their population and housing needs. Here’s how the requirements would break down:

Tier 1, with cities that include:

Arvada, Aurora, Boulder, Brighton, Broom eld, Castle Pines, Castle Rock, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Columbine Valley, Commerce City, Denver, Edgewater, Englewood, Erie, Federal Heights, Glendale, Golden, Greenwood Village, Lafayette, Lakewood, Littleton, Lochbuie, Lone Tree, Longmont, Louisville, Northglenn, Parker, Sheridan, Superior, ornton, Westminster and Wheat Ridge.

Outside of the Denver metro area, Greeley, Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor, Colorado Springs, Fountain, Grand Junction and Pueblo would also be considered Tier 1 cities.

Cities in this category have a population of at least 1,000 and are in a metropolitan planning organization — such as the Denver Regional Council of Governments — with a population greater than 1 million and in a Census Urbanized Area with a population greater than 75,000. Cities with a population greater than 25,000 and in a metropolitan planning organization with a population less than 1 million would also fall into this category.

Tier 1 cities would be most a ected by the land-use bill. ey would be prohibited from restricting duplexes, triplexes and multiplexes up to six units, as well as accessorydwelling units, sometimes referred to as ADUs or granny ats. ey would also be prohibited from requiring parking tied to those kinds of housing.

ADUs are habitable structures that are on the same property as a house but a separate building, such as an apartment over a garage. Many municipalities across the state restrict where and how they can be built.

Tier 1 cities would also have to

allow the construction of multifamily housing near transit centers, which are de ned as the half-mile area around xed-rail stations. Cities wouldn’t be allowed to require new, o -street parking for multifamily homes built in transit corridors, though developers could provide any amount of parking they feel is needed.

Tier 1 cities would also be subject to development guidelines aimed at promoting housing density and walkable communities around socalled key transit corridors, which are de ned as areas within a quarter mile of bus-rapid-transit and high-frequency bus routes.  Finally, Tier 1 cities will also be required to complete a housing needs plan based on a state housing needs assessment, as well as participate in long-term planning to stop sprawl and address environmental concerns, like greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and limited water.

Tier 1 cities have the option of meeting minimum land-use requirements set by the state, which the governor’s o ce refers to as the “ exible option.” If not, they would be forced to adopt a statedeveloped land-use code. e state code would be created by Colorado Department of Local A airs regulators at a later date.

Tier 1 cities would have to submit codes compliant with the bill to the state by December 2024. Any Tier 1 cities that don’t meet the minimum standards under the legislation’s so-called “ exible option” would be forced to operate under the model land-use code starting in December 2025.

Tier 2 is next, which includes Dacono, Fort Lupton, Firestone, Frederick, Evans, Berthoud, Johnstown, Timnath, Eaton, Miliken, Severance and Monument.  ey are de ned as cities in a metropolitan planning organization that have a population of between 5,000 and 25,000 and in a county with a population greater than 250,000.

Tier 2 cities would be prohibited from restricting accessory-dwelling units and parking associated with ADUs, though they would be able to block duplexes, triplexes and multiplexes. ey would also be exempt from provisions around transit centers and corridors.  ey would, however, still be required to conduct housing needs assessments and create the same type of long-term housing and sprawl and environmental plans.

Tier 2 cities would have to submit codes compliant with the bill to the state by December 2024. Any Tier 1 cities that don’t meet the minimum standards under the legislation’s so-called “ exible option” would be forced to operate under the model land-use code starting in

TURN TO THE COLORADO SUN FOR NEWS ACROSS THE STATE

The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning news outlet that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself.

In this way, The Sun contributes to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado.

The Sun, launched in 2018, is committed to fact-based, in-depth and nonpartisan journalism. It covers everything

from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education.

Now, The Colorado Sun co-owns this and other Colorado Community Media newspapers as a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy. The Sun is CCM’s partner for statewide news.

For Colorado Sun stories, opinions and more, and to support The Sun’s misssion as a member or subscriber, visit coloradosun.com.

December 2025.

Another category is dubbed, Rural Resort Job Centers. is category includes Aspen, Avon, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Dillon, Durango, Frisco, Glenwood Springs, Mountain Village, Silverthorne, Snowmass Village, Steamboat Springs, Telluride, Vail and Winter Park.

Rural resort job centers are dened as municipalities that have a population of at least 1,000 and at least 1,200 jobs and are outside of a metropolitan planning organization. ey also have regional transit service with at least 20 trips per day.

is category is intended to prompt local governments to work with their surrounding region to address housing shortfalls. e communities would be required to allow ADUs but then have to develop a regional housing needs plan to identify where zoning should happen for duplexes, triplexes and other multiplexes. e communities would also have to work together to boost transit corridors and housing surrounding them.

“ ere’s often a dynamic in rural areas where people may live in one community but work in another, and because of that the additional exibility is that they can reach agreements with their partner communities to have a more regional approach to some of the goals that are in the bill,” Moreno said.

Like Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, rural resort job centers would have the ability to choose between a minimum level of housing policies while maintaining some of their own design standards or be forced

to adopt a model land-use code that will be created by the state. e speci cs on those two options are not laid out in the bill and would be determined later by state regulators.

“ e goals aren’t as stringent as the (ones for) urban municipalities,” said Moreno.

Rural resort job centers would have to submit land-use codes compliant with the bill to the state by December 2026. Any rural resort job centers that don’t meet the minimum standards under the bill’s exible option would have to operate under the state’s model land-us code starting in June 2027.

Yet another category is called Non-Urban Municipalities. Any municipality with a population greater than 5,000 falls into this category — as long as it’s not in another category — including Alamosa, Brush, Cañon City, Carbondale, Cortez, Craig, Eagle, Fort Morgan, Gunnison, La Junta, Lamar, Montrose, Ri e, Sterling, Trinidad and Wellington. Non-urban municipalities would be prohibited from restricting accessory-dwelling units but won’t have requirements around duplexes, triplexes and other multiplexes or transit-oriented development. ey also won’t need to prepare a housing needs plan.

is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

Creek downs Valor in top-teams tussle

Bruins take 9-7 win in lacrosse showdown

goal by Ollie Nolting but the game was tied at 7-all in the fourth period.

Goals by junior Owen Burke and senior Brody Fisher in the nal seven minutes provided the winning margin.

Fisher had three goals in the game and two came in the fourth quarter. Nolting had two goals and one assist for the Bruins. Gus Bell nished with three assists.

Sophomore Rush LaSelle had three goals and an assist for Valor. Valor’s Baden Brown and Liam Goodwin each had a goal and assist.

“We made a lot of mistakes and they are a great team,” said Bocklet. “Great teams capitalize on your mistakes, and every time we threw the ball away in the clearing game, they got the ball and came down and scored.

“ e guys are feeling good but we’ve got to learn from our mistakes and hopefully improve upon them. We’re always going to be happy about a win. I’m always going to be critical of how we played but as long as we learn from our mistakes, we’ll be in a good spot. It would be a surprise if we don’t play Valor again this season.”

Valor coach Jeremy Noble hopes his team can use the loss to learn and move on.

at lead and was on top 5-4 at halftime.

Cherry Creek nally went ahead 7-6 on a third-period

“It was a big game and we used it as a measuring stick to see where we are at, as a program,” said Noble. “All the credit goes to Cherry Creek. ey had a good game plan on defense and were the better team. We will learn from this as a group and move forward.”

Legend takes 12-2 win over Ralston Valley

BY JIM BENTON SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Legend’s baseball team played its third game in three days against Ralston Valley on March 30.

With games bunched together, it can put stress on a high school pitching sta because of pitch limitation rules.

However, Legend got a solid pitching performance from Gavin Hasche and combined that with a 10-hit attack over ve innings to notch a 12-2 win over the Mustangs in a game that ended after ve innings because of the mercy rule.

e win improved Legend’s record to 5-2 and came after the Titans defeated Lakewood 14-3 on March 28 and an 11-7 setback to Cherry Creek on March 29.

“We knew we had three games in a row so we kind of spaced

our pitching a little bit,” said Legend coach Scott Boyd. “Our starters for three games threw very well. We hit the baseball against Ralston Valley. We have tough games coming up against Valor and Erie and our goal is to win every week. With this group of kids, we should be able to do that.”

Hasche, a senior who has committed to Boston College, allowed two runs, gave up ve hits and struck out six batters in his ve-inning outing.

“I felt good,” said Hasche. “I pitched pretty good but I made some mistakes. I was just locating my fastball and my slider was moving.”

Senior shortstop Nathan Hopkins, who made two dazzling elding plays early in the game, paced the Titans o ense by going 3-for-3 with a solo home run and two runs batted in. He

scored three runs.

“I like to be both a defensive player and a hitter, and this game I showed up to be both and I liked it,” said Hopkins. “Today the wind was in my favor on the home run and I caught it on the barrel of the bat and the wind pushed it out for me.

“We have to impress some people,” continued Hopkins. “People are going to sleep on us and we’re going to catch them o guard. We have a lot of pitchers that can do good things and if they keep performing at the rate they are doing right now, we’re going to have a good season. It’s going to be fun to watch.”

Jackson Phillips and Connor Boyd also gured in on the Legend o ensive heroics against Ralston Valley. Phillips was 2-for2 with two RBI and Boyd went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in.

Dylan Reif (3) of Cherry Creek tries to get past Valor Christian’s James Hamilton (5) during the March 29 boys lacrosse game between the the teams.

PHOTO BY JIM BENTON

Legend starting pitcher Gavin Hasche gave up two runs and five hits in a 12-2 win over Ralston Valley on March

Coloradans could get up to $2.5 billion in tax refunds

BY JESSE PAUL THE COLORADO SUN

Coloradans will receive more than $2.5 billion in tax refunds from the state as long as there isn’t a recession, according to two quarterly economic and tax revenue forecasts presented this month to the legislature.

An economic downturn is increasingly likely, however, given international nancial instability, including stubborn in ation and the banking industry’s headline-grabbing struggles over the past month.

Nonpartisan Legislative Council Sta said the state government will collect $2.75 billion in tax revenue in excess of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights cap on government growth and spending in the current scal year, which ends June 30. e legislature is required to refund that money.

e Governor’s O ce of State Planning and Budget expects the TABOR cap to be exceeded by $2.7 billion in the current scal year.

e cap, set by a 1992 constitutional amendment passed by Colorado voters, is calculated by multiplying the prior year’s limit by in ation and population growth rates.

e money will predominantly be refunded to taxpayers in April 2024 in the form of checks tied to people’s income — with higher refund amounts going to higher earners — as long as the legislature doesn’t change the refund formula this year, as it did in 2022.

e forecasts are provided to the Colorado General Assembly to help lawmakers draft the state budget for the next scal year. e data presented in March to the legislature’s powerful Joint Budget Committee, which drafts the budget, is considered the most important each year

because it’s used to set spending.

The good news for the legislature is that it will have all the money it’s entitled to. The bad news is that the inflation rate used to calculate the TABOR cap lags current economic conditions. That means that while the legislature would seem to have more money to spend next year, the amount is actually lower than this year’s when adjusted for real-time population and inflation increases.

In fact, Greg Sobetski, chief economist for Legislative Council Sta , told the JBC that even without TABOR state budget revenue isn’t expected to keep up with in ation and population increases.

“We expect those revenue increases to not make up for the budgetary pressures that arise from in ation and population,” he said.

Still, state tax revenue is expected to exceed the TABOR cap through the 2024-25 scal year, which begins on July 1, 2024. at’s assuming Colorado voters don’t approve more reductions in the income tax rate — as conservatives are pushing for — and the legislature doesn’t pass new bills o ering tax breaks.

ere’s also a proposal swirling at the Capitol to ask voters to forgo their TABOR refunds and send the money to K-12 schools instead.

e TABOR cap was exceeded last scal year by $3.7 billion, which prompted refund checks to be mailed to Coloradans last year. Another round will be mailed out in April, as well.

Legislative Council Sta and the governor’s o ce shared good and bad news about the state’s economy.

Overall, the state’s economy, like the nation’s, is slowing in the wake of rising interest rates set by the Federal Reserve. Unemployment

in Colorado, however, remains low — 2.8% in January, which means it has returned to pre-pandemic levels — and isn’t expected to rise too much.

Legislative Council Sta forecasts the unemployment rate to be 2.9% at the end of 2023 before increasing slightly to 3.1% in 2024. e Governor’s O ce of State Planning and Budgeting says there are two job openings in Colorado for every unemployed person.

Coloradans’ personal savings, meanwhile, have shrunk amid high in ation, while credit card balances have risen.

“Some households may still have excess savings, but most lowerincome households spent down the excess savings acquired early in the pandemic,” Louis Pino, an LCS analyst, told the JBC.

Bryce Cooke, chief economist with OSPB, said if there is an economic

downturn, Colorado will be well positioned to weather it.

“If the gap between the workforce and job openings remained similar to where it is now, you would see that people wouldn’t be losing jobs,” he said.

Cooke said bank failures in the U.S. and internationally are a real economic risk, though it will be tempered by the federal government’s willingness to respond to the situation.

Overall, Lauren Larson, who leads OSPB, said these are “uncertain economic times.”

is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

CROWSS UP DRO ELZZ

What goes around

independence to solve issues with local thinking rather than falling back to outsiders and interference that failed our schools before? After all, shouldn’t we be electing local o cials who have the leadership moxie to bring all kinds of people together?

Lloyd Guthrie Roxborough Park

Pick a name

Compared to Colorado, with our weak gun laws, the State of Tennessee has almost no gun laws. e six people who died in the Nashville school shooting were simply traded for the right of every Tennessean to own a weapon of war. Or two or three or a dozen.

Douglas County has three County Commissioners who support the right to own an AR 15 assault/pistol/ri e, or other weapon of war, over the lives of every school student in Douglas County. ey were elected by a majority of the residents of the county who have similar views. Other elected o cials do not even support the red ag law that would take these weapons of war out of the hands of mentally ill people.

I would like to invite a representative group of the afore mentioned AR15 supporters to join me in visiting three schools that are a short walk from my house. Students from these three schools pass my house every day. ese representatives would simply trade their AR 15s for the life of every student and teacher or keep their AR 15s and pick a name, who they view, has less value than an AR 15.

Roy Legg Highlands Ranch

We can certainly engage in gallows humor over Trump’s indictment, but the reality is that this political move will just light a re under some to go after Biden for his family’s foreign in uence money — which we all know would be like furiously pedaling a stationary, nodestination bike in a spin class. Hey. While we’re about it, let’s just indict every government o cial who has been doing insider trading. And because I’m already on the path to mix more metaphors, all I can picture is Nero playing the violin while Rome burns. In our country’s case, though, it’s not just dollars going up in smoke. We ourselves may be willingly stepping into the incinerator.

Linda Mazunik

Lone Tree

Where’s the civility?

Do you readers think that Lynn Popowski (letters to the editor 3/30/2023) might have noticed when she opened her paper to read her letter, the letter following by Larry Norton? Might she have realized that her letter might be judged as lacking in the civility that he mentioned? But I doubt that such an idea would enter her head. She has already claimed that there might not be any “sane” Republicans in our midst. She calls Dave Williams a far-right conspiracy theorist and election denier. She calls legislators spiteful and insane — for even trying, in the face of insurmountable odds to oppose her Democratic worn out and useless tropes which have become law or will become law because Democrats control — with an iron st — Colorado’s legislature and governor.

SEE LETTERS, P31

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CLASSIFIED AD SALES 303-566-4100 classifieds@coloradocommunitymedia.com

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CASTLE PINES METROPOLITAN DISTRICT – SUMMER SEASONAL POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Seasonal Groundskeeping Jobs

Enjoy working outside in beautiful surroundings? Castle Pines Metro District is looking for positive, motivated, team-oriented people for its Landscape Maintenance Team for the summer (May-August). Duties include mowing, trimming, planting, miscellaneous jobs, and repairs. Hours: 7 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday –Friday; Salary $20/per hour. depending on experience. Requirements: 17 years old, clean MVR, dependable, clean/neat appearance.

To apply call Sue or Liz at Metro, 303-688-8330, or email apply@castlepinesmetro.com.

LEGITIMATE WORK AT HOME

No Sales, no Investment, No Risk, Free training, Free website. Contact Susan at 303-646-4171 or fill out form at www.wisechoice4u.com

Senior Estimator

Haselden Construction LLC in Centennial, CO. Prep estimates w/ proper level of detail for all design stages: Conceptual, Schematic Design, Design Development & Construction Docs. Bac’s (or frgn equiv) in Const. Mgmt., Civil Eng. or rltd + 5 years’ exp as a senior estimator or rltd, or Masters + 2 yrs exp. Salary: $115,000 / year. Email res to: Attn: Amanda Sparks - Ref #5250, AmandaSparks@haselden. com.

Help Wanted

Registered Occupational Therapist/ COTA

Full-Time and part-time Registered Occupational Therapist/COTA for 2023-24 School Year! OTR must have, or be eligible for appropriate Colorado licensure. Provide Pre-12 intervention, assessment, direct & indirect services just east of Denver on I-70, Bennett, Strasburg Byers & Kiowa areas COTA Needed for Limon & Surrounding Areas

Support from an experienced

COTA is available for OT. Full

Time Salary range: MA $50,450$56,050 PhD $55,700 -$61,300.

Part-Time Salary prorated based on the number of days employed.

COTA Salary range BA $41,222$46,600. Excellent Benefits. Access to a company vehicle or mileage reimbursement. May be eligible for a loan forgiveness program! Flexible scheduling with the opportunity to complete some work at home. To apply for this position, please visit our website ecboces.org and click on the “Jobs” page, click on the job you are interested in & then click on the grey button “Apply Online”, located at the bottom of the job listing. EOE Questions contact Tracy at (719) 775-2342, ext. 101 or email tracyg@ ecboces.org.

Help Wanted

Educational Audiologist

East Central BOCES is looking for a part-time Educational Audiologist for the 2023-24 school year

• CDE Special Services and Colorado Audiologist licensure required; CCC’s or AAA certificate; knowledge of current technologies in Audiology including HAT systems and cochlear implants preferred.

• Experience with children 0-21 preferred.

• Complete evaluations, provide direct services, and consultation services, manage hearing equipment and oversee hearing screening program.

• Benefits include: a signing bonus, mileage reimbursement

• Flexible scheduling with some opportunity to work from home.

• May be eligible for a loan forgiveness program.

• Ph.D. Salary $51,450-$60,550.

• For Questions, please contact Tracy at tracyg@ecboces.org or 719-775-2342 ext. 101.

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Evidence of Debt and Deed of Trust.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

The property described herein is all of the property encumbered by the lien of the deed of trust.

Legal Description of Real Property:

LOT 15 VILLAGES OF PARKER FILING NO. 25

COUNTY OF DOUGLAS STATE OF COLORADO

Which has the address of:

11812 Mill Valley Street, Parker, CO 80138

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust described herein, has filed written election and demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that on the first possible sale date (unless the sale is continued*) at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at the Public Trustee’s office, Philip S Miller Building Hearing Room, 100 Third Street, Castle Rock, Colorado, I will sell at public auction to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will deliver to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law. If the sale date is continued to a later date, the deadline to file a notice of intent to cure by those parties entitled to cure may also be extended.

First Publication: 3/23/2023

Last Publication: 4/20/2023

Publisher: Douglas County News Press

Dated: 1/25/2023

DAVID GILL

DOUGLAS COUNTY Public Trustee

The name, address and telephone numbers of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

DAVID R DOUGHTY Colorado Registration #: 40042 9800 S. MERIDIAN BLVD. SUITE 400, ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO 80112

Phone #: (303) 706-9990

Fax #: (303) 706-9994

Attorney File #: 22-029105

*YOU MAY TRACK FORECLOSURE SALE

DATES on the Public Trustee website: https:// www.douglas.co.us/public-trustee/

2023-0023

Pursuant to C.R.S. §38-38-101 (4) (i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust and other violations of the terms thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

The property described herein is all of the property encumbered by the lien of the deed of trust.

Legal Description of Real Property:

334, MERIDIAN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CENTER FILING NO. 7C, COUNTY OF DOUGLAS, STATE OF COLORADO

address of:

Double Dutch Circle, Parker, CO 80134 NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust described herein, has filed written election and demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that on the first possible sale date (unless the sale is continued*) at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at the Public Trustee’s office, Philip S Miller Building Hearing Room, 100 Third Street, Castle Rock, Colorado, I will sell at public auction to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will deliver to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law. If the sale date is continued to a later date, the deadline to file a notice of intent to cure by those parties entitled to cure may also be extended.

First Publication: 3/23/2023 Last Publication: 4/20/2023 Publisher: Douglas County News Press Dated: 1/30/2023 DAVID GILL DOUGLAS COUNTY Public Trustee

The name, address and telephone numbers of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

JENNIFER C. ROGERS Colorado Registration #: 34682 4530 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. 10, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 89119 Phone #: 877-353-2146 Fax #: Attorney File #: 48065998

12, COUNTY OF DOUGLAS, STATE OF COLORADO.

Which has the address of:

12813 Domingo Court, Parker, CO 80134

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust described herein, has filed written election and demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that on the first possible sale date (unless the sale is continued*) at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at the Public Trustee’s office, Philip S Miller Building Hearing Room, 100 Third Street, Castle Rock, Colorado, I will sell at public auction to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will deliver to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law. If the sale date is continued to a later date, the deadline to file a notice of intent to cure by those parties entitled to cure may also be extended.

First Publication: 3/30/2023

Last Publication: 4/27/2023

Publisher: Douglas County News Press

Dated: 2/3/2023 DAVID GILL DOUGLAS COUNTY Public Trustee

The name, address and telephone numbers of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

DAVID R DOUGHTY

Colorado Registration #: 40042 9800 S. MERIDIAN BLVD. SUITE 400, ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO 80112

*YOU MAY TRACK FORECLOSURE SALE

law, and will deliver to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law. If the sale date is continued to a later date, the deadline to file a notice of intent to cure by those parties entitled to cure may also be extended.

First Publication: 3/23/2023

Last Publication: 4/20/2023

Publisher: Douglas County News Press

Dated: 1/25/2023

DAVID GILL DOUGLAS COUNTY Public Trustee

The name, address and telephone numbers of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

JENNIFER C. ROGERS

Colorado Registration #: 34682 4530 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. 10, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 89119 Phone #: 877-353-2146

Fax #: Attorney File #: 48061541

*YOU MAY TRACK FORECLOSURE SALE DATES on the Public Trustee website: https:// www.douglas.co.us/public-trustee/

Legal Notice No. 2023-0024

First Publication: 3/23/2023

Last Publication: 4/20/2023

Publisher: Douglas County News Press PUBLIC NOTICE

Parker NOTICE OF SALE Public Trustee Sale No. 2023-0020

To Whom It May Concern: On 1/23/2023 9:20:00

AM the undersigned Public Trustee caused the Notice of Election and Demand relating to the Deed of Trust described below to be recorded in Douglas County.

Original Grantor: COLLIN T LOVETT

Original Beneficiary: MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC. AS NOMINEE FOR JFQ LENDING, INC., ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS

Current Holder of Evidence of Debt: CARRINGTON MORTGAGE SERVICES, LLC

Date of Deed of Trust (DOT): 11/20/2019

Recording Date of DOT: 11/27/2019

Reception No. of DOT: 2019081170

DOT Recorded in Douglas County.

Original Principal Amount of Evidence of Debt: $306,195.00 Outstanding Principal Amount as of the date hereof: $304,924.94

Pursuant to C.R.S. §38-38-101 (4) (i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Borrower's failure to make timely payments as required under the Evidence of Debt and Deed of Trust.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

The property described herein is all of the property encumbered by the lien of the deed of trust.

10/20/2021

Reception No. of DOT: 2021119555

DOT Recorded in Douglas County.

Original Principal Amount of Evidence of Debt: $1,162,500.00

Outstanding Principal Amount as of the date hereof: $374,680.93

Pursuant to C.R.S. §38-38-101 (4) (i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Borrower has died and the property is not the principal residence of any surviving Borrower, resulting in the loan being due and payable.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

The property described herein is all of the property encumbered by the lien of the deed of trust.

Legal Description of Real Property: LOT 2, PARKER VILLAGE FILING NO. 1, COUNTY OF DOUGLAS, STATE OF COLORADO

Which has the address of: 12301 Pine Dr , Parker, CO 80138 NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust described herein, has filed written election and demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

Recording Date of DOT: 10/4/2004

Reception No. of DOT: 2004102623

DOT Recorded in Douglas County.

Original Principal Amount of Evidence of Debt: $76,600.00

Outstanding Principal Amount as of the date hereof: $57,072.07

Pursuant to C.R.S. §38-38-101 (4) (i), you are hereby notified that the covenants of the deed of trust have been violated as follows: Failure to pay principal and interest when due together with all other payments provided for in the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust and other violations of the terms thereof.

THE LIEN FORECLOSED MAY NOT BE A FIRST LIEN.

The property described herein is all of the property encumbered by the lien of the deed of trust.

Legal Description of Real Property: LOT 64, STONEGATE FILING NO. 21A, COUNTY OF DOUGLAS, STATE OF COLORADO.

Which has the address of: 10119 Riverstone Drive, Parker, CO 80134

NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust described herein, has filed written election and demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that on the first possible sale date (unless the sale is continued*) at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at the Public Trustee’s office, Philip S Miller Building Hearing Room, 100 Third Street, Castle Rock, Colorado, I will sell at public auction to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by

Legal Description of Real Property: LOT 16, CHALLENGER PARK TOWNHOMES, COUNTY OF DOUGLAS, STATE OF COLORADO.

Which has the address of: 9567 Deerhorn Ct #16, Parker, CO 80134 NOTICE OF SALE

The current holder of the Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust described herein, has filed written election and demand for sale as provided by law and in said Deed of Trust.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that on the first possible sale date (unless the sale is continued*) at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at the Public Trustee’s office, Philip S Miller Building Hearing Room, 100 Third Street, Castle Rock, Colorado, I will sell at public auction to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will deliver to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law. If the sale date is continued to a later date, the deadline to file a notice of intent to cure by those parties entitled to cure may also be extended.

THEREFORE, Notice Is Hereby Given that on the first possible sale date (unless the sale is continued*) at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 31, 2023, at the Public Trustee’s office, Philip S Miller Building Hearing Room, 100 Third Street, Castle Rock, Colorado, I will sell at public auction to the highest and best bidder for cash, the said real property and all interest of said Grantor(s), Grantor(s)’ heirs and assigns therein, for the purpose of paying the indebtedness provided in said Evidence of Debt secured by the Deed of Trust, plus attorneys’ fees, the expenses of sale and other items allowed by law, and will deliver to the purchaser a Certificate of Purchase, all as provided by law. If the sale date is continued to a later date, the deadline to file a notice of intent to cure by those parties entitled to cure may also be extended.

First Publication: 4/6/2023

Last Publication: 5/4/2023

Publisher: Douglas County News Press

Dated: 2/9/2023

DAVID GILL

DOUGLAS COUNTY Public Trustee

The name, address and telephone numbers of the attorney(s) representing the legal holder of the indebtedness is:

N. APRIL WINECKI Colorado Registration #: 34861 9800 S. MERIDIAN BLVD. SUITE 400, ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO 80112 Phone #: (303) 706-9990

Fax #: (303) 706-9994

Attorney File #: 23-029164

*YOU MAY TRACK FORECLOSURE SALE DATES on the Public Trustee website: https:// www.douglas.co.us/public-trustee/

Legal Notice No. 2023-0035

First Publication: 4/6/2023

Last Publication: 5/4/2023

Publisher: Douglas County News Press City and County

Public Notice

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

A public hearing will be held on April 25, 2023, at 2:30PM, in the Commissioners' Hearing Room, 100 Third St., Castle Rock, CO, for a proposed vacation of a portion of Douglas County Road No. 5 between the intersections of Roxborough Park

Lynn closes with a leftist jab — “Sanity prevailed-for the Democrats.”

No, insanity is running roughshod over the body politic here in Colorado because Republican have always been the party of “Nice.” No longer. Democrats are causing chaos and disorder and a lot of angst with their nasty words and actions. It is time we just said “no” to these displays of ignorant juvenile incivility.

Mary Ann McCoy

Lone Tree

Having trouble deciding

Re: “Country (sic) receives more than $60K in funding for mental health”

I am hesitant to become a paid subscriber to the Lone Tree Voice (LTV) until I see a more balanced viewpoint in the selection of articles provided and the editorial opinion. Additionally, there is very little substance of real importance provided by the regular contributors, i.e. their u and feelgood articles. I am more hesitant after seeing regular grammar and spelling errors in the LTV, the latest being the subject headline, the front page headline at that, which clearly had no or poor editorial review since the text should have obviously read “County.” Journalism today isn’t what it was in the glory days. I’ll subscribe when the LTV becomes a truly quality newspaper.

Philip Rahrig

Lone Tree

Housing questions

Referring to your March 23 article

FREEDOM. TO BE YOU.

by Ellis Arnold and published in the Douglas County newspapers, the idiom “the devil’s in the details” has been validated by our Douglas County commissioners who have met the devil and voted 2 to 1 approving the Ulyssses Development Group (UDG) application for a zoning change to permit the development of a 220-unit low-income housing project.

But wait, Commissioner George Teal is not one to be easily deceived and has taken the following actions after his Jan. 10 vote. First, he checked and is still working on having been told (hard to believe) that the UDG property does not meet Section 8 subsidized voucher quali cations.

Next, he then called the UDG team “on the carpet” (his words) based on much of my research accusing UDG of presenting false and misleading information. He found, for example, that an investor who lends $100 can earn $96 in federal tax credits in 10 years. Keep in mind that these great low hanging investor fruits are not available to residents such as you and me, but are only available to large institutional investors such as the recently collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, SVB. ( is is true.) Having clari ed the use of tax credits for nancing UDG is now caught in the cross hairs of having lied during their presentation when UDG adamantly alleged that the insultingly misnamed “Workforce Housing” project is not government subsidized. e term “low-income housing” is considered politically incorrect and avoided by peddlers of rental “a ordable housing” or “attainable housing” projects, however, low-income is properly named

when it’s subsidized by the LowIncome Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) as quoted in March 23 article by Connor Larr, a UDG partner who clari ed that the applied LIHTC is a federal tax credit.

Upon my request, Commissioner Teal requested the county attorney to either validate or nullify UDG’s assertion that Workforce Housing is not subsidized in the context of the following (lookup MTSP):

“HUD refers to projects nanced with tax exempt housing bonds for

ABOUT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Colorado Community Media welcomes letters to the editor. Please note the following rules:

• Email your letter to letters@coloradocommunitymedia.com. Do not send via postal mail. Put the words “letter to the editor” in the email subject line.

• Submit your letter by 5 p.m. on Wednesday in order to have it considered for publication in the following week’s newspaper.

• Letters must be no longer than 400 words.

• Letters should be exclusively submitted to Colorado Community Media and should not submitted to other outlets or previously posted on websites or social media. Submitted letters become the property of CCM and should not be republished elsewhere.

• Letters advocating for a political candidate should focus on that candidate’s qualifications for o ce. We cannot publish letters that contain unverified negative information about a candidate’s opponent. Letters advocating for or against a political candidate or ballot issue will not be published within 12 days of an election.

low-income residential rental development projects as Multifamily Tax Subsidy Projects (MTSPs).”

e county attorney, however, is now not responding because of the ensuing legal appeal by residents (to include myself) to reverse this zoning decision. However, if it walks and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck, and the lesson learned is “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when rst we practice to deceive.”

Smith Young Parker

• Publication of any given letter is at our discretion. Letters are published as space is available.

• We will edit letters for clarity, grammar, punctuation and length and write headlines (titles) for letters at our discretion.

• Please don’t send us more than one letter per month. First priority for publication will be given to writers who have not submitted letters to us recently.

• Submit your letter in a Word document or in the body of an email. No PDFs or Google Docs, please.

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Public Notices

Road and Thunder Run. For more information call Douglas County Planning, 303-660-7460.

File No. SB2023-007 / Vacation of a Portion of Douglas County Road No. 5

Legal Notice No. 945250

First Publication: April 6, 2023

Last Publication: April 6, 2023

Publisher: Douglas County News-Press

Bids and Settlements

Public Notice

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) #010-23

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SERVICES

The Departments of Community Development and Human Services of Douglas County Government, hereinafter referred to as the County, respectfully requests proposals from responsible and qualified Domestic Violence (DV) organizations.

The RFP documents may be reviewed and/or printed from the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System website at www.rockymountainbidsystem.com.

RFP documents are not available for purchase from Douglas County Government and can only be accessed from the above-mentioned website.

While the RFP documents are available electronically, Douglas County cannot accept electronic proposal responses.

RFP responses will be received until 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 11, 2023 by Douglas County Government, Finance Department, Purchasing

Division, 100 Third Street, Suite 130, Castle Rock, Colorado 80104. Three (3) copies of your proposal response must be submitted in a sealed envelope, plainly marked “Request for Proposal (RFP) #010-23, Domestic Violence Services”. Proposal responses will not be considered which are received after the time stated and any proposals so received will be returned unopened.

Douglas County Government reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, to waive formalities, informalities, or irregularities contained in a said proposal and furthermore, to award a contract for items herein, either in whole or in part, if it is deemed to be in the best interest of the County to do so. Additionally, we reserve the right to negotiate optional items/services with the successful vendor.

Please direct any questions concerning this RFP to Carolyn Riggs, Purchasing Supervisor, 303-660-7434, criggs@douglas.co.us, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.

Legal Notice No. 945267

First Publication: April 6, 2023

Last Publication: April 6, 2023 Publisher: Douglas County News-Press Public Notice INVITATION FOR BID (IFB) #019-23 CARCASS REMOVAL SERVICES

The Douglas County Department of Public Works, on behalf of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, hereinafter referred to as the County, respectfully requests bids from responsible and qualified individuals/companies for services related to carcass removal from roadways within unincorporated

Douglas County.

The IFB documents may be reviewed and/or printed from the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System website at www.rockymountainbidsystem.com. IFB documents are not available for purchase from Douglas County Government and can only be accessed from the above-mentioned website. While the IFB documents are available electronically, Douglas County cannot accept electronic bid responses.

Bid responses shall be submitted in a sealed envelope plainly marked “IFB No. 019-23, Carcass Removal Services” and mailed or hand-carried to the address shown below prior to the due date and time. Electronic and/or faxed bid responses will not be accepted. Bids will be received until 3:00pm on Thursday, April 20, 2023 by the Douglas County Finance Department, Purchasing Division, 100 Third Street, Suite 130, Castle Rock, Colorado 80104. Bids will not be considered which are received after the time stated, and any bids so received will be returned unopened.

Douglas County Government reserves the right to reject any and all bids, to waive formalities, informalities, or irregularities contained in a said bid and furthermore, to award a contract for items herein, either in whole or in part, if it is deemed to be in the best interest of the County to do so. Additionally, we reserve the right to negotiate optional items/services with the successful bidder.

Please direct any questions concerning this IFB to Carolyn Riggs, Purchasing Supervisor, 303-6607434, criggs@douglas.co.us, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.

Legal Notice No. 945271

First Publication: April 6, 2023

Last Publication: April 6, 2023

Publisher: Douglas County News-Press

Public Notice

INVITATION FOR BID (IFB) #013-23

SPRUCE MEADOWS

LIVESTOCK GRAZING

The Department of Open Space and Natural Resources of Douglas County Government hereinafter referred to as the County, respectfully requests bids from responsible and qualified individuals/companies for a long-term partnership with a Livestock Manager (consultant) to manage the Property for the purpose of preserving and protecting the Conservation Values defined in the Conservation Easement, while utilizing a high-density, short-duration cattle grazing program to benefit the health and vigor of native plant communities; help control noxious weeds; provide compatible outdoor recreation opportunities, including trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding; and hosting interpretive programs, and special events all in accordance with the Conservation Easement and this Plan.

The contract, issued as a result of this IFB, will be for a period of approximately ten (10) years, beginning in May 2023 to and including December 31, 2032.

The IFB documents may be reviewed and/or printed from the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System website at www.rockymountainbidsystem.com.

IFB documents are not available for purchase from Douglas County Government and can only be accessed from the above-mentioned website. While the IFB documents are available electroni-

cally, Douglas County cannot accept electronic bid responses.

Bid responses shall be submitted in a sealed envelope plainly marked “IFB No. 013-23, Spruce Meadows Livestock Grazing” and mailed or handcarried to the address shown below prior to the due date and time. Electronic and/or faxed bid responses will not be accepted. Bids will be received until 3:00pm on Friday, April 21, 2023 by the Douglas County Finance Department, Purchasing Division, 100 Third Street, Suite 130, Castle Rock, Colorado 80104. Bids will not be considered which are received after the time stated, and any bids so received will be returned unopened.

Douglas County Government reserves the right to reject any and all bids, to waive formalities, informalities, or irregularities contained in a said bid and furthermore, to award a contract for items herein, either in whole or in part, if it is deemed to be in the best interest of the County to do so. Additionally, we reserve the right to negotiate optional items/services with the successful bidder.

Please direct any questions concerning this IFB to Carolyn Riggs, Purchasing Supervisor, 303-6607434, criggs@douglas.co.us, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.

Legal Notice No. 945259

First Publication: April 6, 2023