WESTMINSTER 12/20/12 December 20, 2012
50 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwestminsternews.com
Adams County and Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 68, Issue 9
Change of plan Jeffco’s master plan update is complete By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com
Matt Meyer, a firefighter with the Westminster Fire Department, flips a commercial size tire while competing in a fitness competition called Battle on the Mountain at B Fitness Saturday Dec. 15. Teams from the fire department in conjunction with the Westminster police and personal trainers from B Fitness competed.
Battle for a good cause By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ourcoloradonews. com Westminster firefighters and police officers went head to head against fitness trainers during B Fitness’ Battle on the Mountain Dec. 15. This year the competition of strength and endurance featured events geared around firefighting and police work. “This is the second year we have done this event, and it’s always so much fun,” said B Fitness owner Mike Byrne. “It’s also our way of giving back to the community, which is part of our business model.” This year Battle on the Mountain was sponsored by B Fitness in Westminster and the Westminster Public Safety Recognition Foundation. All the money raised will go to the Jessica Ridgeway Park Fund to help pay for playground equipment at the newly renamed Jessica Ridgeway Memorial Park
Although the competition was close, this year, the police department came out on top, followed by the fire department and then the trainers. B Fitness general manager Matt Gazdik said adding elements of firefighting and police work was new this year, which created a whole new ball game. “We incorporated their equipment, like dragging dummies and shooting paintballs,” he said. “Last year it really revolved around the club aspect, so it was great to bring in events that our competitors do all the time.” Adam Geiger, director of fitness operations at B Fitness, said although the event is highly competitive, it’s the camaraderie between the trainers, firefighters and police officers that makes Battle on the Mountain unique. He said the teams do razz each other before and during the competition, but it’s all in good fun. “A lot of the set guys work out at B Fitness, so we know them, and the weeks before the
competition we definitely give each other hard time,” he said. “But when it comes to the competition, we are all high-fiving
each other, pushing each other as much as we can and cheering each other to the end. The atmosphere is a lot of fun.”
In the movies, the master plan is always an overly-complex and nefarious plot set in motion by the villain. Although the Jefferson County Comprehensive Master Plan couldn’t be called nefarious, the claim of overly complex might stick. So the Jeffco Planning Commission voted 7-0 during its Dec. 12 meeting to try to add some clarity to the document. The county’s last master plan update was in 2010, and it combined portions of 16 different area plans to form the general planning and landuse document for all unincorporated property. But the Planning Commission — the seven-member advisory board with final approval over the plan — experienced a two-thirds turn over in 2011. “The new Planning Commission started looking at the entire document and decided they really wanted to see something a little more clear and concise,” Jeffco Senior Planner Heather Gutherless said. A request for comment by a member of the commission was declined. The master-plan-update discussions began in November 2011 and had two main goals, Gutherless said. The first was to remove all general, countywide policies from the separate area plans and consolidate them. Other policy redundancies within the plan itself would also be removed. One example used by staff is a set of three separate policies, in three different sections, that added up to 54 words. All three were tidily summed up in just one, 13-word policy: Transportation infrastructure and parking areas should balance safety, neighborhood character, and environmental impacts. The other goal of the update was to reorganize the entire document into two distinct sections, one titled Development Review, and the other one called Long Range Planning Issues. What the update did not do was change any land-use suggestions, any zoning, or make any substantive changes to county policies, according to Gutherless, who said she thought the update was a much-needed change. “I’m excited to see how it is when we apply it because I think it will be a lot better,” she said.
NEWS TIPS Do you see something newsworthy? The Westminster Window welcomes your news tips about possible story ideas. Let us know about it at newstip@ourcoloradonews.com
POSTAL ADDRESS
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.
Adam Giger of B Fitness runs with a dummy over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry while competing in Battle on the Mountain against the Westminster Fire and Police departments Saturday, Dec. 15. Photos by Andy Carpenean