WEEK OF DECEMBER 12, 2024
VOLUME 136 | ISSUE 19
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West Dry Creek Circle apartments are a go City approves future land use and character map change BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
A gate and sign closing off a path that connects the High Line Canal trail and Jackass Hill Park.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BILLY GOOCH
Path closure near park causes confusion, frustration
Jackass Hill Park connection to High Line Canal trail has now been gated, posted BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYYMEDIA.COM
With a white picket fence on one side and a wire fence on the other, a wide dirt path connects the High Line Canal to Jackass Hill Park in Littleton. Until very recently, this path was regularly used by people walking their dogs, neighbors heading to the park and young people traveling to and from school. But at the end of November, a notice and a closed gate appeared at both entrances to the path, blocking it from public access. “Private property and driveway. Violators will be prosecuted,” the notice reads. Billy Gooch, a Littleton resident who walks his dog several times a week on the
High Line Canal trail, said he noticed the closure a few days before Thanksgiving. “It was just kind of out of left field, like there was no indication this was coming,” he said. “It would be a real shame if this became permanent — if they decided to divide and split our community in two.” For Gooch and other neighbors — some of whom say they have been using the path for 30 years — the closure is a disappointment. What was once a 400foot stroll between the park and High Line Canal is now an approximately 30-minute roundabout trek on busy roads to arrive at the same destination. Before the path was closed, a sign marked it as private property that could be closed at any time. After the path closed, residents posted more than 80 comments on the neighborhood-based social media app NextDoor about the path’s closure. Many commenters expressed confusion and frustration about the change, while others defended the apparent private prop-
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erty owner’s decision. “I’m sure they closed it due to liability/insurance, or people abusing the privilege,” one commenter wrote. “How would you like to be responsible for loads of people walking/biking across your land every day?” Available Arapahoe County property records do not clearly show who the owner of the path is or whether the path is private property. According to an Arapahoe County plat map from 1956, it is possible that a segment of land between the High Line Canal trail and Jackass Hill Park in this area was once reserved for right of way and road purposes, but the legal status of the land may have changed many times since then. Littleton City Manager Jim Becklenberg said the city is conducting research to better understand the legal rights connected to the land. “There’s a long history on the property, and we want to be accurate in our
Littleton City Council approved a change to its future land use and character map, a decision that means a 173-unit apartment complex on West Dry Creek Circle will go forward. In a 6-1 vote, the council approved a motion to change the future land use and character map to allow “suburban residential multifamily” uses instead of “suburban commercial” uses on the site. In approving the change, the city council set the planning commission’s recent approval of the development — which was conditional on the future land use and character map change — into effect. More than a dozen people attended the meeting to share their opinions on the proposed complex, with many residents opposing the new development. “I think the developer tried with this, but unfortunately, their plan is simply unmitigable,” said resident Pam Chadbourne. “It is too aggressive, too large to be mitigated.” Other residents spoke in support of the development, citing the need for more housing stock in Littleton. “As somebody whose friends — and myself — can struggle to afford housing, I urge you to please allow this,” said resident Keely Quinn. “Housing prices will never stop skyrocketing if we don’t start building houses.” The development, proposed by Vista Residential Partners, will sit on a 5.6-acre site at 16 W. Dry Creek Circle, which is located south of West Fremont Avenue, east of the High Line Canal and west of South Broadway. The apartment buildings will be four to five stories tall, with a maximum height of SEE APARTMENTS, P4
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