City Council Minutes 1998 09 01 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Davidson called for the applicant's presentation. Erik Hartronfi, 1021 South Boulder Road, Suite J, Louisville, Colorado, stated that there were a few items left unresolved from the August 4, 1998, meeting that they have cleared up and are now seeking approval for the project. The tenancy of the building has been changed, and there is a potential change of ownership that is contingent upon the action tonight. He reviewed the conditions and changes since the August 4, 1998, meeting. The signage has been changed; however, all signage is still required to come before Council for approval. He questioned why a multi-tenant building is being required to go to that level of approval for signage. He continued by stating that he feels condition number two is really the issue, which is parking. The applicant is willing to participate financially in the provisions of downtown parking. The condition, as worded, requires the applicant to either form a downtown parking district, or provide 30-38 parking spaces. He feels that the condition is basically a denial of the project. He requested that condition number two be changed by striking the last sentence. The third condition refers to the timeline on the PUD, and the applicant agrees to the two-year time limit proposed. Cheri Ruskus, 728 Main Street, Louisville, Colorado, asked to read the following statement: "Yesterday, I saw the dream, that I have worked so hard for over the last thirteen years, pack up in a moving truck and move to Denver. My company, Business Answers, is gone. While the retail side of the operation remains, soon to be purchased by Chandy Bridges, the answering service division that founded the company no longer exists in downtown Louisville, Colorado. This is an answering service that was in downtown Louisville three years prior to my purchasing it, and five years before that in Christopher Village. So, after twenty-one years, there is no longer an answering service in Louisville, Colorado. This is not because of change, this is because people were afraid of change. To take a risk; to do something that was unknown to them. Therefore, delaying the decision by making no decision for five months has made the world of difference in my future. I've worked very, very hard to make a simple living and to try to make some dreams come tree for myself and my family. Dreams, not only for ourselves, but what I've heard from other citizens and business owners, was a good thing for downtown Louisville. I never brought the idea of this building to Council with dollar signs in my eyes, but with excitement about how this project could make a wonderful difference to Business Answers and downtown Louisville. In addition, the possibility of adding almost five thousand square feet of retail space was something that we had talked about in many different workshops, committee meetings, future planning meetings, over the course of several years. We truly felt it would be a big boost in helping regain some commercial retail vitality for downtown that had dramatically gone away over the past several decades. Refusing to allow for change makes change happen in ways that are not controllable. I know quite a few business people who have lost their life savings in downtown Louisville, following their heart and their dreams, while waiting for change to happen. I will not be one of those people. While part of the dream is now gone with Business Answers, the possibility of the building remains and the viability of new beginnings it now represents. I love downtown Louisville and the business people who have been the fabric of it for the past one-hundred-plus years. Downtown 9