What Can We Do?

• Contact the seven community board members of the Longmont Planning and Zoning Commission and urge them to retain the 150-foot creek setback, as currently written in the municipal code, and reject requests for variances to decrease the setback for new construction or redevelopment along our entire St. Vrain Creek corridor.

Send your comments to the commission’s staff liaison Joni Marsh at joni.marsh@longmontcolorado.gov.

• Contact all Longmont City Council members and urge them to:

⇒Ensure that comprehensive baseline wildlife surveys are completed before construction begins;

⇒Preserve the large, mature trees, especially cottonwoods, along the creek banks, and re-create the small tree/shrub understory;

⇒Keep new development and redevelopment away from St. Vrain Creek;

⇒Reevaluate and revise our Longmont Comprehensive Plan as it applies to properties in proximity to the area impacted by the 2013 flood using current flood plain information.  Request that the revised Comprehensive Plan take wildlife impacts into account and adopt the least destructive option that will preserve wildlife habitat while mitigating the impact of future floods on the community.

You will find city council contact information here.

Considering the HUGE public investment ($133 million and counting) for the Resilient St. Vrain project, the public should have a significant voice in what type of development might be built.  At the very least, this means keeping the 150-foot setback, as currently written, with NO VARIANCES granted to reduce the setback.