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January 23, 2014 Douglas County, Colorado | Volume 13, Issue 2 A publication of
lonetreevoice.net
Transit tax fails to make ballot Recent polls show voters aren’t ready to approve sales tax By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Graphic by Stephanie Ogren
South suburbia taps into craft beer trend By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com National statistics show most Americans now live within 10 miles of a brewery. For those residing along the C-470 corridor, the drive is soon to get a lot shorter than that. Four new microbreweries will open in south suburban Denver during the first few months of 2014, and at least two others say they have solid plans but still are zeroing in on sites. The biggest of them all — Breckenridge Brewery — plans a
spring 2015 opening of its 12-acre Santa Fe Drive complex. The establishments under construction extend from Highland’s Ranch’s eastern border with Lone Tree to just beyond its western border, all two miles or less from C-470. They join a couple of existing microbreweries already garnering strong local support. South suburbia’s newest brewers say the area’s been underserved, and it’s a gap they’re happy to fill. And if the Boulder-based American Brewers Association is right, many more
will come. “Today, we have 2,700 breweries in the United States,” spokeswoman Julia Hearst said. Of those, 98 percent are small, independent, craft businesses. “In addition to that, the Brewers Association on record nationally has 1,700 in planning,” she said. “There is room for exponential growth. And there’s more demand than supply in the marketplace today.” Beer continues on Page 9
WHAT’S BREWING? A look at breweries coming soon to the south metro area. (More breweries are planned. Listed here are those that have sites and are nearing completion.)
Three Freaks Brewery Location: 7140 E. County Line Road, Highlands Ranch (near C-470 and Quebec Street) Targeted opening: Late February Owner/primary contact: Jeff Atencio More info: 3freaksbrewery.com What to expect: Atencio is a South Met-
ro Fire inspector who’s been home brewing for 27 years. “We’re going to be one of the smaller ones at five barrels. That’s going to give us the opportunity to be a little bit more aggressive as far as experimenting.” Three Freaks likely will open with four different beers, including a Belgian, lager and gluten-free selection. Atencio hopes eventually to expand to eight.
Blue Spruce Brewing Company 4151 E. County Line Road, Centennial
(near County Line Road and Colorado Boulevard) Targeted opening: Late February Owner/primary contact: Rick Kane More info: bluesprucebrewing.com What to expect: Kane is a former Douglas County School District teacher who’s been home brewing for 20 years. Blue Spruce will have a seven-barrel brewing system. It will offer Mexican food along with Colorado cider and wines, margaritas, 12 of his craft beers and eight Brewing continues on Page 9
A proposed statewide transportation tax won’t appear on the November ballot this year after a recent poll showed voters are unlikely to approve it. That doesn’t mean the tax is shelved permanently or that the MPACT 64 group created to study statewide transit solutions will stop its work. “These issues are not Gunning going away,” said Lone Tree Mayor Jim Gunning, chairman of MPACT 64. “If there’s no funding for them today, there’s no funding for them tomorrow. So the project list just gets bigger and bigger.” Locally, the money would have helped fund the expansion of C-470 and the southeast light rail extension from Lincoln Avenue to RidgeGate Parkway. In other parts of the state, it was targeted for the northwest light rail line from Denver to Longmont. Members of MPACT 64 — a transportation-focused collaboration of the Metro Mayors Caucus, Action 22, Club 20 and Progressive 15 representing all 64 counties — hoped to put a 0.7 percent sales tax on the ballot this fall. Money raised through the tax would help fill a $772 million gap in the Colorado Department of Transportation’s annual budget. State leaders spent 18 months pondering ways to bridge that shortfall, and while initial surveys showed a sales tax had the best chance of gaining support, a December poll said the timing isn’t right. Respondents “didn’t see the proposed tax as onerous, but they don’t feel this is a good time to raise taxes,” Gunning said. “In spite of the fact they’re unwilling to back it right now, they strongly endorsed transportation as a part of keeping Colorado’s economy strong.” That endorsement and other poll results suggest that someday, a transportation tax might pass. Colorado today relies on fuel taxes and license fees for construction and maintenance of its transportation infrastructure. The fuel tax, which represents about 6 percent of the cost for a gallon of gas, hasn’t increased since 1991. As cars grow increasingly fuel efficient, gas tax revenues have shrunk. Meanwhile, both the state’s population and the annual vehicle travel miles have jumped more than 50 percent. Poll respondents support MPACT 64’s contention that transportation funds Transit continues on Page 9
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