HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/20/1974
MINUTES
August 20, 1974
A special Meeting was called to order by Mayor pro tem Joseph
Donaldson at 6 40 p.m. at the WffiEt Ridge Grange at 3850 High Court.
Aldermen present were
Hulsey, Robert Howard,
Abramson was absent.
Mary Jo Cavarra, Joseph Donaldson, Calvin
Larry Merkl and Louise Turner. Mayor Paul
Also attending were City Administrator John Jerman, City Attorney
William Mc Carthy, City Clerk Elise Brougham, members from the
Parks and Recreation Commission and members from the Planning Commission
and interested citizens, and staff.
Submission of final THK Report on parks and open space for the city
was presented by Bob Gilner, Director of City and Regional Planning
for THK. Mr. Gilner stated
1. The report is supposed to be the Open Space Chapter of the
Comprehensive Plan.
2. That open space is protective and can provide for parks and
recreation. That parks etc. can encourage development thus forming the
community structure, and are desired for aesthetic reasons.
3. That the plan will serve as justification of expenditure of
the Jeffco Open Space funds.
4. The plan is for Wheat Ridge at full population which is
estimated at 44,000.
5. They did not include the schools in counting eXisting facilities.
6. They recommend playgrounds within walking distance and have
community parks more spread out through the City.
7. Wheat Ridge has a wide range of age groups with the population
evenly distributed.
8. Wheat Ridge has quite a bit of vacant land, especially in the
western 2/3 of the city, and they are not recommending buying developed
land.
9. He stated the Greenbelt which is already owned by the City
along Clear Creek is a good park plan, and that there are two other
opportunities for foot paths etc. along Lena Gulch and Rocky Mountain Ditch.
The Wr.ght McLaughlin Report recommended an open channel for LBE Gulch also.
10& The report includes estimated costs and needs.
11. The priorities are listed as most urgent park due to insuffi-
ciency presently in p~~ land, then parkland needed to meet park and
open space requirements, and desirable open space.
12. Their recommended acquisition would take 25 years to complete,
but this could be accelerated if all the land is not bought, but utilize
development rights, flood plain zoning etc.
13. They do not recommend that Wheat Ridge have regional parks.
14. They recommend a land officer to acquire the lands.
15. The city has 83 acres of parkland now, and recommend that the
city acquire an additional 225 acres. This was based on the standard
of 10Y2 acres of parkland per 1,000 people.
Citizens were in the audience and in general were opposed to open pathways
along waterways along their yards, and also were opposed to access to
the Greenbelt down the gulches along their yards.
Some of the comments were as follows
1. If a farm could be kept open as farm land, and it was suggested
there could be protective covenants.
2. If there is egress through the gulches, there will be a problem
to police the area, and the cars will park along the street in front of
the people's houses.
3. That there are 3 ponds where the access is planned and this
would be an increased hazard to children.
Alderman Cavarra asked if the people agreed to eliminating 3 access points
on the south side and they responded in favor.
MINUTES - August 20, 1974 - Continued
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Mr. Jerman, City Administrator stated the procedure is as follows
the plan has been officially submitted to COllncil and will now be
referred to Planning Commission for review and study and recommendations
at a public meeting, and then it will be forwarded to Council for a
public meeting and final adoption. Then, the acquisition could proceed.
It was also asked what the cost and security problems could be, and
that there should oe emphasis on acquisition of areas that are for sale.
Mr. Tom Lam, Planner presented the following information on the Comprehensive
Plan preparation.
1. He had divided the area into 6 sections with different boundaries
than before due to the census information obtained. Tffi tentative time
tabls is as follows for the neighborhood meetings
District 6 September 11
District 3 September 17
District 4 September 18
District 5 September 24
District 2 September 25
District 1 October 1.
It was agreed that schools should be used as meeting places, and the
time table is subject to botaining the meeting places.
2. It was determined there should be a mailing of the notice
with a map of the city showing the districts and the meeting place for
all districts for the best saturation. It was also suggested that
the schools should be requested to send home with students the notices.
3. Mr. Lam recommended that citizens be allowed three minutes
to speak but it was decided this should be dependent on the size of the
crowd.
4. He recommended the Planning Commission and Council attend
all meetings.
Mr. Lam presented charts on housing characteristics and socio-economic
characteristics of the City. He stated there were some sensitive areas
such as whether the city should make its obligation be to provide
housing for people living in District 1 as it becomes indistrial,
shoUd the city control the growth, strip commercial - whether it is
advisable or should be interspersed with other zoning such as high
density, should the water and sanitary districts be consolidated,
should the downtown area be on Wadsworth and 44 Avenue vicinity,
and does the city want special identity.
The Planning Commission members who were present stated they had not
been consulted on the Budget preparation and felt it was their statutory
duty to have been consulted and give their recommentation. Upon request,
Mr. Jerman explained that his understanding of state law was that the
Planning Commission had review responsibilities for the capital budget
but not for any aspects of the operating budget. It was noted that the
Commission had been sent a list of proposed capital projects on July 2, 1974
by the City Administrator.
It was agreed that Department Heads would meet with the Planning Commission
on September 16, 1974 for their capital projects and Council will take
the Commission's recommendations on September 19, 1974 and Council will
have another budget study session on September 21, 1974.
Meeting was adjourned at 11 15 p.m.
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APPROVED
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