You spoke up for Open Space at 119th and Baseline!

Standing room only again!

On May 17th I wrote “May 20: next official step for the annexation at 119th and Baseline, Gateway Lafayette. Let’s pack city hall and speak out for open space!”

You did indeed do that. Thank you!

You filled the council chambers and the lobby, too. We counted about 60 folks who were there to send a message to the council about this property. Approximately 20 people spoke, with only two in favor of the development, the rest in support of saving this land for open space. Another 20 letters were in the council packet; you can see them here. Scroll down to item K. The property owner’s daughter wrote a letter in favor of the development, as did two people who do not live in Lafayette.

You can watch the presentation and hear those who spoke here. It’s Item K.

An awesome photo by Russ Croop of our iconic gateway into Lafayette from the east.

THE PETITION

I am a member of Preserve Lafayette. We started a petition, “Preserve Lafayette’s Eastern Gateway as Open Space” which Vicky Uhland presented to the council. She also read some of the comments people wrote after signing. At that time, we had 912 signatures. As I write this, we have 995, only 5 more needed to hit a 1000. Can you help us reach that number?

The first sentence of the petition states, “We, the residents of Lafayette, Erie, and Boulder County, ask our leaders to work as partners to preserve the 78 acres at the northwest and southwest corners of 119th and Baseline as open space.”

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

On May 22nd, we sent the petition to the county commissioners.

SOME POINTS FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

Developers always pull parts of the community’s vision document, the Comprehensive Plan, to make the case for their development. I served on the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) for the latest update of the plan. I went through it to make my case to council on why this should be open space.

I said that everything about this project is in opposition to what Lafayette is and aspires to be, which is why Preserve Lafayette will challenge the annexation for this development if approved. Our comprehensive plan says, “Lafayette is committed to the preservation of open space and wildlife habitat as part of its overall objectives tied to environmental stewardship.”

It is so important to this community that only parks, recreation, open space, and wildlife habitat span two of our four planning frameworks, environmental stewardship and also community character.

A community survey question asking what they liked about Lafayette resulted in open space and public lands and small town feel coming in third and fourth both with 71% support.

The plan says open space also functions as a buffer from surrounding communities and preserves agricultural activities in and around Lafayette. That’s exactly what these lands do today: they are agricultural lands that buffer us, especially our Old Town, from the growth to the east. They are the last pieces of the puzzle we need to preserve this valuable ecosystem that includes the best wetland on the front range, and that rural entrance from the east, so many of us treasure, that tells us we are back home.

OPEN SPACE TRAILS AND ACQUISITION REQUEST

I reminded council that in May 2024, they approved the open space and trails acquisition requests to Boulder County. This land is on that list and was described this way: “With swift development occurring all around this parcel, securing it as open space for future generations is a high priority to the residents of Lafayette and Boulder County.”

MINING AND RESILIENCY IN THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

I told the council that under Resiliency, the comp plan addresses environmental hazards and developments and says:

“The city will restrict development in areas that are at risk of subsidence from previous mining activities.”

A local resident is helping us gather information about mining in this area, including providing booklets from the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety that oversees abandoned mines, which I gave to each councilor. A map shows the Simpson mine is under this land and extends east under the Lowe’s property ( this is the property at the southeast corner of 119th and Baseline, see the graphic above), where the geologic hazard of subsidence risk was determined to be severe.

In the booklet, on a page titled “New Construction”, it says that when serious subsidence hazards exist in undeveloped areas, construction of permanent structures should be avoided, and to set aside subsidence-prone sites for open space and other non-structural uses.

A recent letter from a senior project manager at the State Mining Division says “The Colorado Geological Survey (CGS) recommends that the City of Lafayette submit any development plans to the CGS for a Land Use Review prior to any development.”

MINE SHAFT COLLAPSE IN OLD TOWN

Some of you might recall that in 2015, one block west of this property, on E Cleveland, the road collapsed as an SUV drove over a pothole, leaving it hanging over the edge of a 15 ft sinkhole over a 200 ft deep old mine shaft. Here’s a report from 9News. Here’s an image from that article.

ANOTHER SHAFT COLLAPSES IN MARCH 2025

In March this year, another incident happened when a shaft opened up behind a resident's home between Simpson and Cleveland. It took a Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety crew almost 3 weeks to drill down 220 feet and fill the hole with concrete.

Shout out to David Salmans, who took these two pics. You can see in the top right corner of the first one the property Kairoi wants to build on.

These are my pics of the equipment needed to deal with this collapse.

OIL AND GAS WELLS

There are three oil and gas wells on this undermined property. The developer told Preserve Lafayette he intends to access them by drilling laterally from a pad in Weld County.

When the land shifts and settles due to a mine underneath, pipes and utilities can shift and break, timbers can rot over time, and collapse.

CLIMATE

Climatecolorado.gov says Colorado’s agricultural lands play an important role in fighting climate change. The goal is to store one million metric tons of carbon dioxide on natural and working lands by 2030 – the equivalent of taking 215,000 gasoline-powered cars off the road.

Our Climate Action Plan says that through strategies aimed at preserving, restoring, connecting, and protecting natural resources and meaningful open spaces, along with increasing opportunities for carbon storage, the City prioritizes resilience and sustainability.

MY REQUEST TO COUNCIL

Purchasing this land as open space takes the mining issue off the table, preserves an incredible ecosystem, removes an important item from the open space wish list, supports the community’s desire for open spaces and our small town feel, buffers our Old Town and even meshes with our climate action plan when it comes to carbon storage.

My request to the council was to “please give staff direction to collaborate with Boulder County and Erie to create a new partnership and jointly purchase this land as open space. I think many in this room and the community would support you.”

COUNCIL VOTE

As expected, the council voted to approve the eligibility of the property for annexation. This was not the vote to annex!

LAFAYETTE OPEN SPACE ADVISORY BOARD

I went to the June meeting of LOSAB and told them about the council meeting, the petition, and the support they have in the community for purchasing these properties for open space.

Want to offer more support? Awesome!