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Advisory Panel Meeting to Discuss Future Development of St. Vrain River Corridor

A second meeting of an advisory panel to continue discussion of future development of the St. Vrain river corridor to meet goals B3 and B4 of the Longmont City Council’s workplan has been scheduled for Friday, February 15th from 8:30am to 11:30am at the Longmont Museum. The session is open to the public as observers and we are asking Longmont residents to attend if their schedule allows so that the process is as transparent as possible.

The Longmont City Council developed a workplan (available here) in 2018 to direct their actions and help them meet their goals for the city. Section B of the workplan contains the City Council’s goals for “Longmont’s places”:

In 20 years, Longmont will have a developed Main Street from Pike Road to Highway 66 and a river corridor that stretches from the sugar mill to the fairgrounds as a vibrant economic, residential, cultural and entertainment epicenter that is sustainable and respects the natural environment. This area will:
 Goal B1: Have a diverse housing stock with higher densities and access to high quality public transportation, food and jobs
 Goal B2: Protect and respect our natural public amenities as part of the development process
 Goal B3: Become a nationally recognized geographic center of science, technology, engineering, education, arts, and entrepreneurism
 Goal B4: Bring together private industry, local government, nonprofits, and institutions of higher education as well as the St. Vrain Valley School District to ensure the highest quality, best prepared workforce in the western United States

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January 11 2019 first session of advisory panel notes.

On Friday, January 11th, City Council convened the first meeting of the advisory panel. The notes to the left were compiled from that meeting (click on picture to to see the full notes).

Although the first meeting was also open to the public, it wasn’t publicized very well. Therefore, Stand With Our St. Vrain Creek is seeking to publicize the second meeting to a wider audience. The agenda for the second meeting is below (click on the picture to view the full agenda).

 

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Agenda for the February 15th advisory panel meeting.

Additional supporting documentation for the panel meeting is below:

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St. Vrain Blueprint study area map.

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Timeline Determined for “Second Phase” of Land Development Code Amendments

On Tuesday, February 22nd, Longmont City Council settled on a timeline for the “second phase” of amendments to the Land Development Code (LDC). These amendments encompass not only that portion of the LDC dealing with riparian setbacks and wildlife protection, but also the timeframe for completing supporting tools/documents such as a sustainability system for evaluating development and that portion of the Wildlife Management Plan that deals with development along riparian corridors/near open space areas.

This timeframe indicates August 1, 2019 as the due date for such amendments. The timeframe was based off of a timeframe developed by City Staff (see below).

Timeline for second phase LDC amendments as proposed by City Staff. Except for the RSVP and Main Street Corridor, these pieces of the LDC have a deadline of 8/1/2019.

To view the full discussion of the Longmont Development Code amendment priority and timeline discussion, watch the following video, which has been cued up to the start of that discussion:

https://youtu.be/4wTjEhe5HiE

Wildlife Management Plan Update

The City of Longmont’s Public Works and Natural Resources Department will be updating the City’s Wildlife Management Plan this year. The Wildlife Management Plan codifies the City’s policy toward wildlife, human-wildlife interaction, and wildlife habitat. The first public engagement meeting should be announced soon.

If you would like to be a part of this public process and have your voice heard, please contact Jim Krick via email at jim.krick@longmontcolorado.gov or by calling 303-651-8451.

We will post public meeting dates as soon as they are available.

Land Development Code Updates on 1/22 City Council Agenda

Longmont City Council will be discussing the timing and priority of updates to the second phase of the Land Development Code (which includes the parts of the code dealing with habitat and riparian protections) during the Tuesday, January 22nd City Council meeting. The City Council meeting will be held at 7:00pm at the Civic Center. The City has contracted with Clarion Associates to make the development code updates.

Stand With Our St. Vrain Creek is asking that citizens concerned about our St. Vrain river corridor attend the January 22nd council meeting and to wear green. It is important that council prioritize changes to the development code that strengthen restrictions on development along the riparian corridor in order to protect this important resource.

In preparation for the meeting, City staff has provided the following documents. Click on the picture of each document to access the link to the full text.

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Sustainability Evaluation of St. Vrain Blueprint Plan

Longmont’s Public Works and Natural Resources Office put together a Sustainability Evaluation System (SES) tool in order to evaluate the sustainability of projects in terms of social, environmental, and economic considerations. This is often referred to as the “three-legged stool” or “people, planet, profit.” In August of 2017, the SES tool was used to evaluate the St. Vrain Blueprint and come up with suggestions to make the Blueprint more sustainable.thumbnail of Blueprint SES review

City Council Open Forum

This is a last minute notice, but Longmont is holding another City Council Open forum tonight at 7:00pm at the Civic Center (350 Kimbark Street) where residents can speak about any topic they desire. If you are able to attend, please consider doing so and speaking up in favor of greater riparian protections.

Since residents can speak about any topic for up to 5 minutes, it’s best to show up early to add your name to the speaker list.

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ACTION ITEM: Attend Longmont City Council Meeting at 7pm on Tuesday, January 22nd

City Council will be reviewing and scheduling the projects they want to pursue in 2019 at the January 22nd City Council meeting. One of the these projects is the revisions to the riparian section of the Land Development Code (LDC). Staff will ask council to prioritize the projects in the order they wish staff to work on them. Also council members will be asked to choose which recommendations of Stand With Our Saint Vrain Creek’s 4/1/2018 letter they wish to include in the LDC revisions.

We ask that you please attend this council meeting and consider speaking during public invited to be heard urging council members to prioritize revisions to the riparian section of the LDC to strengthen protections and to direct City staff to amend the LDC to reflect all recommendations in Stand With Our Saint Vrain Creek’s 4/1/2018 letter.

What: City Council meeting

When: Tuesday, January 22, 2019 at 7pm

Where: Longmont Civic Center 350 Kimbark Street, Longmont CO 80501

If you can’t attend the meeting, please consider contacting Longmont City Council at the following email addresses:

Brian.Bagley@longmontcolorado.gov Mayor

Polly.Christensen@longmontcolorado.gov Mayor Pro Tem, Council Member At Large

Aren.Rodriguez@longmontcolorado.gov Council Member At Large

Joan.Peck@longmontcolorado.gov Council Member At Large

Tim.Waters@longmontcolorado.gov Council Member Ward 1

Marcia.Martin@longmontcolorado.gov Council Member Ward 2

Bonnie.Finley@longmontcolorado.gov Council Member Ward 3

Or you can use the contact form: https://www.longmontcolorado.gov/departments/city-council/how-to-contact-city-council/city-council-mayor-contact-form

Vote NO on Amendment 74: The Taxpayer Loses on All Fronts!

Amendment 74 is the most dangerous ballot issue in decades. It would require compensation of property owners for any reduction in their property value as a result of government regulation. If it passes, Colorado will completely lose the ability to protect the environment and public health. Proponents always claim that such measures protect private property rights. In actuality, however, they elevate one class of property over all others.

Environmental regulations are nearly always among the first targeted by this kind of action, because compliance with a regulation costs money. Any money an industry must spend to protect the environment is a direct reduction in profit margin, thus a reduction in “fair market value.” Amendment 74 would allow industry to claim payment for its loss from the government involved (ie. from us). In order to enact or enforce any regulation protecting public health and the environment, government would have to pay the polluter or developer to comply. Since no level of government – state, county, municipal – operates at a surplus, they wouldn’t have the funds to pay polluters, thus the only option they have is to eliminate regulations.

Some examples:
Land use regulations requiring buffer zones and green space for wildlife? Gone.
Requirements for companies to reclaim land they have mined? Gone.
Scrubbers on smokestacks to reduce acid rain and snow? Gone.
Regulations requiring berms around construction sites to prevent sedimentation of streams? Gone.
Regulations to protect water quality from discharges by mines, breweries, drycleaners, construction sites, feedlots or agricultural facilities? Gone.

Amendment 74, however, isn’t specific to just environmental regulation. It targets ALL regulations. Restaurant health regulations cost money, so those would be eliminated. Zoning regulations that limit certain uses in close proximity to others would also be off the table. We could see adult book stores or pot shops next to schools, oil and gas operations next to hospitals and schools.

Lastly, it’s important to remember that the amendment only applies to private property owners, which in itself increases costs to the public. Governments themselves would still need to meet standards and in fact could face significantly higher costs to do so. For example, federal drinking water standards and wastewater standards would still apply to public water providers; so Denver Water and others would need to provide a safe product. The water flowing into their facilities, however, would be significantly more impaired as a result of the lack of regulations on upstream industries. Guess who will have to pay the increased costs of water treatment to a safe standard? You, the consumer, once again!!

In its purest essence, Amendment 74 requires the people of Colorado to pay industry not to pollute the environment or poison the citizens of the State. Given the extreme threat to public health, our air, water, lands and wildlife, Amendment 74 is the most damaging issue to appear on the ballot in over 20 years. It’s imperative to defeat it in November. Vote NO on Amendment 74.