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May 22, 2014
50 cents Adams County, Colorado | Volume 50, Issue 40 A publication of
northglenn-thorntonsentinel.com
Alpine Waste moves base
A HONKING GOOD TIME
Company to relocate to 74th Avenue, Washington Street By Tammy Kranz
tkranz@colorado communitymedia.com
The Classic Car Show was a popular stop for people during Saturday’s Thorntonfest at Carpenter Park Fields in Thornton. The event also featured a Kids Korner, the Marketplace, the Battle of the Bands competition and a Rocky Mountain DockDogs competition which tested K9 competitors on their jumping and retrieving skills. Photo by Ashley Reimers
City expands electronic signs code allowances By Tammy Kranz
tkranz@colorado communitymedia.com Motorists will see more electronic message signs often seen along Interstate 25 throughout other sections of Thornton thanks to an amendment to its sign code. City Council voted unanimously during its May 13 regular meeting to amend its code to allow electronic message center signs (EMCS) for nonresidential lots and commercial centers that are adjacent to arterial and collector streets. Before the approved amendment, EMCS were only allowed along E-470 and Interstate 25 in the city of Thornton. Electronic Changeable Copy Signs, which allowed only text, were allowed throughout other parts of the city — these types of signs are often used for gas stations and small stores like Walgreens. “As this technology has expanded, more and more businesses hare taking advantage of the ability to have electronic signs,” Code Compliance Supervisor Robin Brown said during council’s public hearing on the matter. “In fact, we have 27 currently authorized in the city. We have received an increasing number of requests for the message center signs — the ones with the pictures — away from I-25 and E-470. Business-
es are wanting to use those to display their products or their facility.” The amended sign code now allows these types of signs along artillery streets, which include 104th and 88th avenues, Washington and Huron streets; and along collector streets, which include Grant Street, Welby Road and Zuni. “Some of these clearly run through residential areas but the proposed ordinance will only apply to nonresidential lots or commercial centers,” Brown said. No one spoke against the measure during the public hearing. Mayor Heidi Brown commented that she was excited about the amendment. “There have been a lot of requests for the signs, so I think this will make a lot of business people very happy,” she said before the vote. The code’s four key regulatory elements for all electronic signs will still apply to ensure traffic safety. Those elements include a five-second message hold time, only a fade or dissolve method of transitioning to one message to the next — no swirling or flying objects, a one-second transition duration and a brightness level that Brown said was “fairly low” and far lower than other signs along I-25 outside Thornton.
POSTAL ADDRESS
The city of Thornton has amended its sign code to allow electronic message center signs for nonresidential lots and commercial centers that are adjacent to arterial and collector streets. Those type of signs were previously only allowed in Thornton along Interstate 25 and E-479, such as this sign for American Furniture Warehouse. Photo by Tammy Kranz
NORTHGLENN-THORNTON SENTINEL (ISSN 1044-4254) (USPS 854-980)
OFFICE: 8703 Yates DR., Ste. 210 Westminster, CO 80031 PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Adams County, Colorado, the NorthglennThornton Sentinel is published weekly on Thursday by MetroNorth Newspapers, 8703 Yates DR., Ste. 210 Westminster, CO 80031. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT WESTMINSTER, COLORADO. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 8703 Yates DR., Ste. 210 Westminster, CO 80031 DEADLINES: Display: Fri. 11 a.m. | Legal: Fri. 11 a.m. | Classified: Tues. 12 p.m.
Alpine Waste & Recycling is moving its headquarters to Washington Street and 74th Avenue. Adams County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved, during its regular May 12 meeting, plans for the company to build its headquarters on approximately 10 acres of land it already owns at 7381 Washington St., the vacant property north of Boyer’s Coffee. Alpine Waste headquarters is currently located in Commerce City. “Alpine Waste intends to utilize the site for their new headquarters office and maintenance facility,” case manager Christ LaRue said. “The initial development would consist of constructing an approximately 22,000 square foot office and truck maintenance building, constructing a compressed natural gas fueling facility for the truck fleet to be parked on site, adding an indoor truck wash bay and paving a portion of the site for employee and visitor parking.” Alpine Waste Executive Park will be located on the southwest corner of 74th and Washington. Plans are for the eastern parcel to be developed immediately while the western parcel will be used for truck parking with a portion of the site reserved for possible expansion. The building and parking area for employees and visitors will be located in the northeastern part of the property, and truck bay entrances and truck parking areas would be on the southern portion. “The site would not be used as a transfer station for waste,” LaRue said. “It should be noted the use of the site as a transfer station is not allowed without approval of a Conditional Use Permit for that specific purpose.” Alex Orloff, chief financial officer of Alpine Waste & Recycling, said that this site will be strictly for headquarters — a place to locate corporate and operational offices in the same manner it is set up now in Commerce City, 7475 E. 84th Ave. “We have a waste transfer station and recycling processing plant that’s also located in the county at 53rd and Fox about a couple miles south of this site. And that’s the location we use for those activities,” he said. Plans also indicate that landscaping Alpine continues on Page 3
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