Citizen Centennial 10-25-2013
Centennial
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 49
IT’S A BOO-IN
October 25, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourcentennialnews.com
Changes: they’re in the codes Zoning standards alter Centennial’s landscape By George Lurie
glurie@ourcoloradonews.com
Twin 6-year-old sisters Alexandra and Gabriella Hammond, dressed as “spooky princesses,” came away with handfuls of candy from the carnival games.
A toddler tries her luck at the bean bag toss at South Suburban’s annual Spooktacular, held at the Goodson Recreation Center. Veronica Tafoya, left, and Shelby Hunter, front desk managers at the Goodson Recreation Center, prep for the annual Spooktacular pre-Halloween event held Oct. 18. Imaginatively dressed little ghouls and goblins came out early to celebrate Halloween at South Suburban’s annual Spooktacular, held Oct. 18 at Goodson Recreation Center. The event, which drew nearly 600 participants, provided safe, supervised fun for children up to 11 years old. Among the activities at this year’s Halloween extravaganza: the Little Spook House, Trick or Treat Street, the Cookie Walk and Spooktoddler musical chairs.
PhOtOs by GeOrGe Lurie
In 2010 the Centennial city council adopted a new set of Land Development Codes, which have had a dramatic impact on zoning and development around the city and are slowly but surely changing the face of Centennial. Impacting everything from the size and appearance of individual buildings and their signs to the design and scope of approved-but-yet-to-be-built new “urban centers,” Centennial’s new LDCs are a direct reflection of council’s desire to guide and polish Centennial’s brand while making the government more accessible to Centennial residents. Examples of how the new development standards are reshaping the city include: • The Jones District, a 42-acre, 1.8-million-square-foot, mixed-use “urban center” that will be city’s single-largest commercial development to date. Cable and online education magnate Glenn Jones recently won council approval to move forward on his mega-project, which will be built immediately west of Jones International University headquarters and IKEA. The project’s backers told city councilors their development would not have been feasible if the city had not adopted the new LDCs. Mary Bliss, Jones’ vice president for real estate development, said the new LDCs are “business-friendly and really helped streamline and expedite the approvals process.” • A request approved by city council Oct. 21 allowing Centennial Healthcare to rezone its 32-acre property on the southwest corner of East Arapahoe Road and South Jordan Road from mixed-use planned unit development (M-U PUD) to a BP — or business park — designation. The revised zoning allows Centennial Healthcare to take advantage of new standards in the 2011 LDCs that allow some commercial properties to erect electronic signs. Andrew Firestine, Centennial’s deputy director of community development, said the rezoning by Centennial Healthcare “was an example of business owners proactively identifying reasons to rezone in order to take advantage” of the new Land Development Codes. Other examples of new electronic signs popping up around the city include ones at the Celebrity Center at Arapahoe and Parker roads, in front of the shopping center at University Boulevard and Dry Creek Road, and at Interstate 25 and County Line Road at the Centennial Promenade shopping center. The large electronic sign in front of the Centennial Civic Center was also erected after the new LDCs were adopted. As far as the proposed Jones District is concerned, Firestine said the “urban center” — or UC — zoning designation did not exist in the city’s prior land developCodes continues on Page 14
Bela Houck, left, and Leah Muniz play the Spooktacular’s ghoulish version of musical chairs. Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.