South Platte Independent 041422

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Week of April 14, 2022

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO

A publication of

SouthPlatteIndependent.net

VOLUME 77 | ISSUE 23

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 26

Some clarity emerges in creating new county health department Future of Tri-County Health, costs to leave the agency unclear BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The coronavirus pandemic has thrust what was once a seldom-discussed

subject — local public health agencies — into the public consciousness, and the interest locally doesn’t seem to be fading away. About 2,500 people watched

or called into a virtual town hall meeting where leaders took questions about how Arapahoe County is working to create its own health department amid the breakup of Tri-County Health, according to the county. Public health agencies play a different role in the

public’s lives than doctors treating illnesses, Arapahoe County Commissioner Nancy Sharpe explained. “Public health, on the other hand, wants to keep you from getting sick in the first place,” Sharpe said during the town hall. Adams and Arapahoe counties are still members

of Tri-County Health, but Douglas County has already exited Tri-County and formed its own health department. Douglas County’s leaders have long clashed with Tri-County Health during the coronavirus pandemic, SEE HEALTH, P10

Some Littleton residents call for halt on future developments City manager, attorney push back BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Centennial City Councilmember Candace Moon, right, speaks during an April 9 town hall event about housing affordability, hosted PHOTO BY ELLIS ARNOLD at the Littleton Museum. Littleton City Councilmember Gretchen Rydin, left, also spoke during the event.

Lawmakers talk housing crisis, ‘missing middle’ in town hall Affordable housing options a concern BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Large and expensive single-family homes are a defining feature of much of the south Denver metro

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area, but collectively, they can function as a barrier for the area’s younger demographic. “We’re sitting in our big family homes, but our kids can’t afford to move” to the same area, said

Candace Moon, a Centennial city councilmember. She spoke at a town hall event alongside state Rep. David Ortiz, state Sen. Jeff Bridges, and two Littleton city councilmembers SEE TOWN HALL, P6

BEST OF THE BEST

Several Littleton residents, during an April 5 city council meeting, called on leaders to halt new developments and lambasted the land-use code. The outspoken residents prompted the most direct and public defense of the code yet from city staff. In calling for a moratorium, residents struck at the heart of the city’s Unified Land Use Code (ULUC), passed unanimously by council in October, that allows for rezonings of certain land in a bid to promote more mixed-use developments, especially along major corridors like Santa Fe Drive, Broadway and Littleton Boulevard. “To me, it seems like it gives developers from outside of Littleton and Colorado the license to shape SEE COUNCIL, P22

VOTE NOW! LittletonIndependent.net SouthPlatteIndependent.net


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