Arvada – The Arvada grassroots citizen's group, Arvada for All the People, has garnered a favorable decision from the Colorado Court of Appeals on the controversial $30 Land Deal apartment project.
The plan officially titled 'Olde Town Residences' contemplated the construction of a six story structure consisting of a two story parking garage topped with four floors of 256 apartments that would have loomed over the already congested Wadsworth Bypass and ended forever the “grand view” from Grandview Avenue.
Especially controversial was Arvada Urban Renewal Authority's plan to sell the nine acres of public land – then valued by the Jefferson County Assessor at almost $6 million – to developer Trammell Crow for $30. The developer was also to get $13 million in taxpayer subsidies through a sales and property tax rebate until 2034.
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The development was reject by the Arvada city council in January 2018, but subsequently approved in a 'reapplication' the following March. Arvada for All the People filed a lawsuit objecting to the procedure used to approve the project in April 2018. The Jefferson County District Court decided against Arvada for All the People in March 2019. This decision was appealed to the Colorado Court of Appeals and in an opinion released May 14, 2020, overturned City Council's approval of the Olde Town Residences project.
The decision means that developer Trammell Crow will have to start the development
approval process as a new application – the city council's March 2018 approval is void.
Karen Breslin, the attorney representing Arvada for All the People said:
“The events surrounding the Olde Town Residences project reveal the too-cozy relationships that
often exist between local governments and the developers they are supposed to regulate. In their
zeal to approve the apartment building, Arvada officials adopted a tortured reading of local law
which left residents in the dark about how City Council could approve a project that it had recently
rejected. The court’s opinion is a welcome reminder that municipalities cannot set aside legal
requirements merely because they are inconvenient to the interests of developers.”
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Arvada for All the People is pleased and gratified that reason and common sense has prevailed in this case.
Arvada for All the People extends its deep appreciation to the many Arvada citizens who supported us through the lengthy and costly legal process.
A pdf of the Court of Appeals opinion can be downloaded at:
www.ArvadaforAllthePeople.com