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Week of November 10, 2022
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
SouthPlatteIndependent.net
VOLUME 78 | ISSUE 1
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 32
Council passes affordable housing mandate A first in south metro BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Following a marathon night of legislative negotiating, the Littleton City Council voted unanimously Nov.
1 to approve a new policy that both mandates and incentivizes affordable housing for new developments. The Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, or IHO, represents a major policy breakthrough for a council that has spent years studying and debating remedies to the soaring cost of housing. According to a 2017 housing
study, the city is estimated to need more than 1,000 more units at rents below $635 per month to keep up with demand and has an overall deficit of 6,5000 homes. Though Littleton joins a list of five other metro area cities with similar laws, for Littleton’s neighbors in the south metro region — including
Englewood and Centennial — it is a first. “We’re making history in Littleton,” said District 4 Councilmember Kelly Milliman. “Hopefully, we’re setting the stage for other communities to follow our footsteps.” SEE HOUSING, P4
Rogers Behavioral Health opens in Arapahoe County Treatment for OCD, anxiety, depression BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
you think of all of the people who have been part of this club over the years, all of the time that has passed and activities that we have been involved in and here we are, still going strong.” Beginning with just 16 residents in 1922, the club has grown to 90 today. Its members included fixtures
Colorado residents looking for mental health treatments focused on anxiety, depression and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have a new option — Rogers Behavioral Health. The national not-for-profit mental health treatment provider launched its first Colorado location in Arapahoe County, opening a clinic located at 10333 East Dry Creek Road. “We are just so excited to bring Rogers to Denver and to meet the growing need for specialized, evidence-based treatment,” said Clinical Director Julia Carbonella during the clinic’s open house on Nov. 3. According to the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration, an estimated three in 10 Coloradans, or 1.5 million people, are in need
SEE ROTARY, P2
SEE HEALTH, P22
Cindy Rold, the Rotary Club’s past president, speaks to the organization’s many missions, which include ending polio worldwide. PHOTO BY ROBERT TANN
Rotary Club of Littleton celebrates 100 years of service Event highlights past and present efforts BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
For more than 100 years, the Rotary Club of Littleton has raised and spent hundreds of thousands
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for philanthropy efforts across the metro region. On Nov. 4, huddled in the Columbine Country Club, a crowd consisting of members, past and present city officials and other community leaders celebrated that legacy. “What an accomplishment for an organization to last 100 years,” said Cindy Rold, Rotary’s past president and the event’s chair. “When
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