Week of March 2, 2023
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
ParkerChronicle.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 22
VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 14
Residents sue county to halt apartments near Parker BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Commissioners George Teal, left, and Abe Laydon have removed colleague Lora Thomas from several boards.
PHOTO BY THELMA GRIMES
Thomas removed from serving on county boards Teal, Laydon vote for removal BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The two-member majority of Douglas County’s elected leaders has removed the third commissioner from several boards that oversee community organizations, a move she called “personal political retribution.” “For nearly two years now, (Abe) Laydon and (George) Teal have conspired and collaborated to silence my voice and prohibit me from executing my fiduciary duty to act in the interests of the resi-
dents of Douglas County, including the almost 129,000 voters who re-elected me in November 2020 by an 18-point margin,” Commissioner Lora Thomas wrote in a February newsletter. The removals come amid what Thomas called “constant personal attacks and antagonism, including being investigated twice with absolutely no findings of any wrongdoing,” she wrote in another recent newsletter. The changes in power raise issues for her ability to represent her area of Douglas County, the newsletter argued. County commissioner District III is the only district with a lack of city- or town-level elected officials to represent their interests, such as overseeing property development
or other roles, the newsletter argued. That’s Thomas’ area, largely made up of Highlands Ranch. Laydon, the commissioner for District I, or northeast Douglas County, said the concerns are “wildly inaccurate,” noting the commissioners are all elected at large. In Douglas County, the commissioners are required to reside in different districts, but voters throughout the entire county cast ballots for each seat. “Each of us represents the entire county, and each of us is intimately familiar through decades of living and working here with the needs of our local boards,” Laydon said. SEE COUNTY, P5
In-N-Out Burger is coming to Parker Road Commercial growth continues BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Parker Town Council approved the first amendment of the Parker and Pine Mixed Use Plan De-
velopment, which will allow an In-n-Out Burger to be built on the southwest corner of Parker Road and Pine Lane. By approving this development, the council will allow proposed revisions to eliminate the provision precluding drive-thrus within a 300-foot radius of Parker Road and Pine Lane. In addition, this unique plan de-
velopment has its own additional design standards to add stucco and stone as a permitted material and Bone China and Sandcastle to the allowed color palette to the town wide criteria. The planned development is located within the central district of Parker’s master plan, which SEE IN-N-OUT, P7
The ongoing battle in the Denver suburbs against new apartment complexes has reached the Parker area again, but this time, residents took the fight to court. More than 100 area residents filed a lawsuit against Douglas County’s elected leaders for allowing a development to move forward that would put about 200 housing units just south of the Town of Parker near state Highway 83. Residents of The Pinery, an area that sits between Parker and Castle Rock’s northeast edge, brought the lawsuit, arguing the proposed development does not meet the county’s approval requirements and that it is “incompatible with the existing character” of the area. They also cited concerns of increased traffic. The Pinery, a relatively remote set of neighborhoods along a major state highway, consists of low-density, single-family homes, according to the lawsuit complaint. (“Density” is a term for how many people or housing units occupy an area.) “Plaintiffs will experience actual, immediate, and irreparable harm from (the county’s) approval of the development,” the lawsuit complaint says. The proposal highlights friction between the desires of suburban homeowners and the business community, whose need for workers can lead to support for new housing. “Many of the major employers in Parker are struggling with personnel due to the low inventory of workforce housing options in the town,” T.J. Sullivan, president of the Parker Chamber of Commerce, wrote in a letter to county staff in support of the development. “(Thousands of) individuals commute to Parker each day from outside the town — especially from the south Aurora area where there are more options,” Sullivan wrote. The Douglas County commissioners voted 2-1 on Jan. 10 to allow the development to move forward. The lawsuit, filed in February, asked a court to reverse the county’s decision and stop the development. ‘Urban area’
Part of the county’s process for approving a development in the area south of Parker centers on The Pinery’s status SEE LAWSUIT, P2