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Week of December 29, 2022
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
JeffcoTranscript.com
VOLUME 39 | ISSUE 23
Lakewood city council discusses ordinances for vacant and blighted properties BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Commercial properties that are falling into decline or are vacant in Lakewood are being targeted for city programs that might motivate owners to clear them for sale or clean them up. Lakewood Planning Director Travis Parker presented three options to the council on Dec. 19 based on a previous study session in July. One option is tracking all vacant or
blighted properties and giving fines. This would create a list for each, and owners would be liable for a fine equivalent to 40 mills per month after being on the blighted list for 60 days, and 20 mills per month for the vacant list. A land bank would be another option, where the city buys up a vacant or blighted property to further the process of cleaning up rather than being dependent on market forces, Parker said. The third option was short-term
or revolving loans. These are low to zero-interest loans for property owners from the city to help them afford to prepare properties for sale and avoid blight while owners either wait for property to sell or for future development. The loan would be repaid on sale or occupancy of the property. Council member Sophia MayottGuerrero stressed that she wanted to be careful of blighted but still occupied properties. “I think that the idea that property
Casa Bonita to open in May
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 15
SEE VACANT, P2
Single-use bag ban prompts Lakewood council discussion
BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Casa Bonita in Lakewood will open in May 2023, according to an announcement by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Dana Rodriguez, the Denverbased executive chef for the project, joined in the announcement. “Casa Bonita has brought so much joy to so many people over the years – we wanted to share the news of our May reopening as our holiday gift to the people of Colorado,” Rodriguez said in a statement. The two Colorado natives bought the bright pink restaurant and childhood staple in September, only months after it went bankrupt in April 2021 due to the pandemic, for a reported $3.1 million.
owners, residents, businesses are struggling, where things are going potentially very poorly, where things are blighted, but the properties are being actively used, to me is not the main point of this,” she explained. “We don’t want to be in the business of telling landlords of ‘icky’ looking properties to evict people.” Council member Charley Able spoke similarly, highlighting his interpretation that the focus of these
BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Colorado house passed the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act in 2021, creating statewide measures to reduce single-use bags and other materials. The act leaves implementation and enforcement to localities, and Lakewood City Council discussed how the city might do so. Roger Freeman, a commissioner with the Lakewood Advisory Commission, presented Lakewood’s available options to the council on behalf of the sustainability subcommittee on Dec. 19. The state act requires that Jan. 1, 2023 a minimum 10-cent charge be added COURTESY OF CASA BONITA
SEE BAN, P2
CITY TO THE SLOPES Initiative aims to help city kids make tracks
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