Herald Englewood
ENGLEWOOD 2.14.13 February 15, 2013
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourenglewoodnews.com
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 93, Issue 1
Business district’s future cloudy Property owners’ petition seeks to abolish Englewood’s BID By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com
Lillian Everett, left, holds out the gift envelop to the lion dancer as the girls and her family take part in the Feb. 9 Chinese New Year’s celebration at the Twin Dragons Restaurant. Traditionally, the lion scares away evil spirits. Photos by Tom Munds
Celebration welcomes Chinese New Year Fireworks, dragons part of event at Twin Dragon By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com Exploding firecrackers, the clang of cymbals and the throbbing tempo of the drum welcomed the costumed dancers helping to celebrate the Chinese New Year Feb. 8 and 9 at the Twin Dragon restaurant in Englewood. The brightly colored lion-headed dancers gyrated, twisted and turned among
The Grant family, left to right, Keigh, William, Peter, Susie and Leah, check out the lion dance costume. The family wore Chinese attire as they attended the Feb. 9 Chinese New Year celebration. POSTAL ADDRESS
the tables, paying special attention to the children, giving some of them “butterfly kisses” with their long eyelashes. The Tai Kung Ha Holistic Fitness Center dance team included a drummer, two cymbal players and a pair of “lions.” Two dancers were assigned to each lion, one operating the head and one under the cover that represented the body. They were led by a character known as a Happy Budda. Traditionally, it is believed the lion is a good omen, scaring away evil spirits and ushering in good fortune. “This was our first year to come to the celebration here at the Twin Dragons,” said Lucille Tourney, of Greenwood Village. “I my granddaughters and their children, my great-grandchildren because expected the little guys would enjoy the music and bright colors.” A tradition of the celebration is to “feed” the dragons red envelopes containing a monetary gift. Tourney’s great grandson Landon DeLisa took his envelope to the dragon. The playful dragon took the envelope and the 5-year-old’s arm. “He was fuzzy and fun,” the boy said. “It tickled when he had my arm in his mouth.” The Everett family also attended the celebration for the first time. Jocelyn held 6-month-old Ashlyn while Lillian, 4, moved to the aisle to hand the dragon her envelope. “This is a lot of fun and I’m glad we came,” the Littleton woman said. “Lillian is fascinated by the dancers and she is really enjoying the event.” The youngest member of the family looked on and didn’t seem to object when the dragon came close. Friends Carolyn Wold and Donna Truskolaski said they scouted locations to find one that was celebrating Chinese New Year and where they could make reservations for dinner so they could watch the festivities.
Daniel Lee Ha executed his special Tai Chi routine as part of the Chinese New Year’s event at the Twin Dragon Restaurant. Ha learned the martial art as a child in the temple.
The Feb. 9 celebration was a special occasion for the Grant family. “Our sons, Willian and Keigh, are Chinese so this is an important part of their heritage,” Peter Grant said. “We tried to make it a bigger deal as all of us wore Chinese attire. It is a great experience for the boys and we enjoyed it too.” After the dancers completed their ceremonies, the team brought the dragon’s head over to the family so they could look and touch it. “It is pretty special,” Keigh said. “It is fuzzy and soft. I like the dragon and I liked the drums too.” When the lion dance was completed, the drum was replaced by quiet music as Daniel Lee Ha performed his intricate, Printed on recycled newsprint. Please graceful Tai Chi routine. He often balances recycle this copy. on one foot and often did jumps. He said the performance was very special. “I have been doing this type of Tai Chi since I was a little boy in the temple,” he said. “Now, at 55, I am making this my final performance with the lion dancers.”
Numerous property owners have signed and filed a petition calling for the dissolution of the Englewood Business Improvement District. In order to abolish the district, proponents must meet two mathematical requirements - the signatures of those who pay more than 50 percent of the total assessment and the owners of more than 50 percent of the acreage in the district. The petitions and signatures are being evaluated and the city council gave consensus approval to setting a March 18 public hearing on the issue. Dan Brotzman, city attorney, said if the petition signatures meet the mathematic requirement, the city council is required to abolish the district. However, if there are challenges to the validity of some of the signatures, the council must judge if the signatures should be counted. After hearing comments and protests at the public hearing, the council determines if it is in the best interest of all concerned to dissolve the district. If the decision is to dissolve the district, the council will tentatively consider first reading of an ordinance to abolish the BID at the April 1 meeting. If first reading is approved, the second and final reading is tentatively scheduled April 15. If the second reading is approved the business improvement district will be abolished effective one minute after midnight, May 18. The district is a self-taxing, self-governed program set up to finance projects above and beyond those provided by governmental agencies. The Englewood Business Improvement District was formed by election in 2006 and includes all commercial properties on both sides of Broadway from Yale to U.S. Highway 285. Merchants along the stretch of Broadway launched the successful grass-roots effort to create the business district, followed the process and, in the required November 2006 election, property owners voted almost 2 to 1 to create the district. Recently, some of the district’s property owners no longer support it and Dominique Cook announced an effort to dissolve the district and presented the petitions signed by property owners at the Feb. 4 Englewood City Council meeting. She stated the reason for the dissolution effort was the improvement district lacks organization and transparency. BID continues on Page 6
An effort is underway to dissolve the Englewood Business Improvement District. The district stretches north from Hampden to Yale. Photo by Tom Munds