Planning Commission Agenda and Packet 2021 05 20

Home Browse Search

particularly the proposed development's scale and the applicant not fully addressing the associated regional impacts on housing, traffic and the environment." The plan for Redtail Ridge is emblematic of the unchecked, unrelenting growth that has sprawled across the Denver/Boulder metro area the past 25 years. The Redtail Ridge land was first approved for commercial development by the City of Louisville in 1978. In 2009, at the request of then -owner ConocoPhillips, the City rezoned it to a Planned Community Zone District — Commercial (PCZD-C). Much has changed in our world since these designations. For the past decade, nature has been reclaiming the current Redtail Ridge land. Foxes and coyotes search for prey. Native plants are once again emerging. Prairie dogs, a keystone species, scurry about. Bald eagles, and yes, "redtailed" hawks, soar overhead and nest in the trees. Brue Baukol may hold legal title to the Redtail Ridge lands, but try telling that to the plants and animals who inhabit this place. There are other larger questions that need to be asked. In our post COVID-19 world, will companies rethink office space needs? Does our town really need a 20+year construction project that will produce more concrete, more steel, more asphalt, and more pollution? Why does new development always seem to come with destruction of the environment? And what happens if Redtail Ridge is built, then fails? Residents of Louisville need look no further than to the suburban blight along McCaslin Boulevard to realize that the lofty promises of developers do not always come to fruition. Finally, will the new office space at Redtail Ridge lure Louisville businesses to vacate their current spaces, robbing Peter to pay Brue Baukol? Yogi Berra also said: "When there is a fork in the road, take it." On Thursday, May 13, the Louisville Planning Commission will face such a fork as they discuss the Brue Baukol proposal. The Planning Commission has the authority to demand that the developer set aside more open space at Redtail Ridge. Will they use it? If so, how many acres will the Planning Commission ask for? And what will Brue Baukol demand in return? Likely, the developer will promise more open space IF the City of Louisville grants a waiver to raise the height of the new buildings at Redtail Ridge. Currently, the City caps height at three stories. The stakes are high and so are the risks for the City of Louisville. How the Planning Commission responds to Brue Baukol's proposal will likely set the tone for an eventual Yea or Nay vote by City Council. Open space is in the DNA of Louisville residents, and they will fight fiercely to protect it from Brue Baukol's armada of steamrollers. The Denver developer may have a treasure chest of financial resources to lobby the City of Louisville and its citizens, but the people of Louisville have something Brue Baukol lacks. They have the power of "home." In the ongoing debate, the wise words of Yogi Berra seem to hang over the city: "It ain't over till it's over." 13