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May 8, 2014 Arapahoe County, Colorado A publication of
PostaL Patron
southplatteindependent.net
Apartment building gains approval Old plans updated with smaller units By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@coloradocommunitymedia.com A five-story apartment building approved seven years ago will finally move forward, though at a slightly higher density than planned before. Plans call for offering the units for sale. “Frankly, if we had proceeded in 2007, this project would probably have been owned by the bank,” said David Berton, a
principal at Rapport Holdings. His company owns the 0.7-acre property on Rapp Street, directly east of McDonald’s and just north of Arapahoe Community College. The site is currently three single-family lots, though the northernmost house burned to the ground last May, displacing the three young adults who shared the home. Littleton Fire Rescue determined the cause to be combustible bedding too close to a portable heater in a bedroom. Littleton’s planning board approved the new plan on April 28. It calls for 68 apartments, up from the original 52, plus five live/work units on the lower floor. Plans continues on Page 11
These three lots just east of McDonald’s on Rapp Street could soon be a five-story apartment with ground-level commercial uses. Photo by Jennifer Smith
Red-light cameras still a go Measure hits brick wall upon reaching House By Vic Vela
vvela@coloradocommunitymedia.com
A shot Of LiTTLeTOn
Greg Reinke, president of the Historic Downtown Littleton Merchants, serves up flavored vodka shots to all the lucky ladies who visited his costume shop, Reinke Bros., during the annual Ladies Only Sample Tour on May 1. Photo by Jennifer Smith
City set to get more stout 38 State Brewing Company hosts grand opening By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@coloradocommunitymedia.com 38 State Brewing Company is arriving at the end of a trail it blazed, and at the start of what its owners hope is a long and prosperous journey. “People ask if, looking back at all the work it took to do it, would we do it again,” said Kim Keating. “That would be a definite yes. And we’re rallying the other brewers that are opening up to just keep going.” Keating, her husband, Mike, friend Ja-
son Virzi and neighbor Brett Blazek got bit by the brewing bug five years ago, and decided three years ago to dive in head first by setting up shop in Littleton. Several manufacturers have expressed interest in the city, but 38 State was the first to actually get the barrel rolling. At the time, such companies were only allowed in industrial areas like the Santa Fe corridor, where Breckenridge Brewery will rise next year. The Old Mill brewery gets to be downtown because it has a full restaurant, so it’s classified as a brewpub. But after dealing with 38 State, city staff recommended last year that the law be changed to allow microbreweries, wine makers and microdistilleries in certain commercial areas like shopping centers and downtown. City council ultimately agreed, passing an ordinance that limits
their size and requires 30 percent of the building to be dedicated to retail sales and a tasting room. The action actually came too late to help 38 State, which will host its grand opening on May 10 in its new space, a former automotive shop south of the Office Depot at Broadway and County Line Road. The garage doors open up to tables and a bar, along with a jukebox, Pac-Man machine and Golden Tee. While they don’t have a kitchen, they will regularly invite food trucks and welcome deliveries and picnics. “We love our space, so we’re happy,” said Kim Keating. “But we paved the way for other places to not have to go through such a strict process.” Some might call it the perfect setting for a garage party, which the partners say is
After a bill cruised through the Senate, the House last week put the brakes on the measure, which sought to ban red-light cameras and photo radar systems in Colorado. The legislation officially met its demise during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on April 30, but the bill’s sponsor, House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, had pretty much accepted its defeat before it even got there. Senate Bill 14 would have prohibited local governments from using photo-radar technology to capture drivers who speed or run red lights. It was gutted by the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, which passed a stripped-down version of the bill on April 28. The gutted version only would have allowed for a state study of the technology’s public-safety effectiveness, something that Ferrandino didn’t think was necessary. “I think we have enough studies to show that it’s not effective,” Ferrandino told the Appropriations Committee. Ferrandino and other bill supporters argued that photo-radar technology is a cash cow used by local governments to rack up revenue, courtesy of lead-foot drivers. The House speaker also said the technology does little to prevent accidents. “They give a sense of public safety, but don’t actually increase public safety,” Ferrandino said. But several law-enforcement representatives testified otherwise during
Brewing continues on Page 11
Cameras continues on Page 11
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