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Friends of the Foothills
Jeffco Gives Urban Zoning Change to Keller Farms
This scenic area, west of SH 93 - from Golden to the Boulder County line, has been identified as one of Colorado's remaining "Crown Jewel Open Lands" (Denver Post editorial, June 11, 2000) a priority for preservation. This is an important natural resource for the entire metropolitan area.
Update 06/30/12:
On June 25th the Jefferson County Commissioners approved the Keller Farms Rezoning, opening the door to the development of a new urban area (about the size of Edgewater) just north of Golden and bordering Hwy. 93 on the west.
Jeff Keller said that the actual development of the property will not begin until the mining operations at the quarry on the property are completed. There is no exact date when this will happen. His prediction is about 15 years, but the actual time will be controlled by market conditions. In the current economic slow down, quarrying operations have also slowed down.
As we went through this process, it became more and more clear that our county government's leadership was focused on future growth and development, even at the expense of our existing communities and residents. In the hearing on Monday (and in the previous planning commission hearing) there were a lot of "blue sky" comments from the supporters and very little consideration given to valid points raised by the opposition. The commissioners were in such a hurry to pass this that they ignored their own county regulation which requires that an applicant provide documentation for proof of water supply.
It will be important to keep an eye on what happens. As we learned in Arvada as they moved forward with the development now called Candelas, things that were promised originally got changed as the developers start doing their thing. For the people traveling the Hwy. 93 corridor and those living in nearby communities it will be very important that the minimum standards in the plan not be weakened, especially for highway standards and improvements.
Thank you to all who helped and supported our efforts to protect our communities and property values. Wouldn't it be nice to have county commissioners who were more community friendly?
Your donation and support will help us make our voices heard. This is the last large segment of land west of Highway 93 that is threatened with urban development. Make a donation by clicking above, or send your check to Friends of the Foothills, PO Box 17164, Golden CO 80402.
For some quick information on this issue, please watch our 2 minute film, "Keep it Rural":
Urban Sprawl Threat at Keller FarmsIn a community meeting held at Fairmount Elementary School, Jeff Keller, President of Keller Farms and Asphalt Paving Company, announced that they were beginning the process to have Jefferson County rezone approximately 1200 acres of land bordering on the west side of State Highway 93 for commercial and residential development.
Of the approximately 40 citizens from the neighboring area who attended the meeting, a vast majority expressed concerns that the development was inappropriate for the Mountain Backdrop/ Foreground and would create additional problems for traffic, ground water, noise and be out of character with the rest of the corridor. Several of the attendees joined with Friends of the Foothills that evening and are working with us to prevent this proposed rezoning. This area has been identified as one of Colorado’s remaining Crown Jewel Open Lands (Denver Post editorial, June 11, 2000) a priority for preservation. This is an important natural resource for the entire metropolitan area. Here is the proposed urban zoning
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