The Washington Post recently adopted the stirring slogan, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”
Goldentoday.com doesn’t actually have a slogan, but if it did, it would be, “Don’t Let Change Sneak Up On You.” That’s why I spend so much time reviewing meeting packets, watching meetings, and telling my readers about the issues that will be discussed in upcoming meetings. Some people may welcome the changes while others oppose them, but I don’t want anyone to be unaware of change until it’s too late to weigh in on it.
Have you ever read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy*, or seen one of the BBC productions of it? The story begins with Arthur Dent waking up to find a bulldozer bearing down on his house. They’re about to knock it down, to make way for a bypass. Arthur feels he wasn’t warned of the plans in sufficient time to lodge a protest, so in desperation, he throws himself in the path of the bulldozer. Here’s how his conversation with the project manager goes:
If you can’t see a video above, click here.
Happily, the City of Golden does a better job of making information available, but we’re all busy and we don’t always have time to keep up with local business. Here are some topics being discussed in this week’s meetings.
Historic Preservation Board – tonight at 6:30 in City Council Chambers. The owners of the home at 1115 11th Street in the 12th Street Historic District want to demolish their one car detached garage and replace it with a two car detached garage with an accessory dwelling unit over the new garage. The Buffalo Rose plans to tell the board about some “minor modifications to the roof portion” in their remodeling project.
Planning Commission – Wednesday night at 6:30 in City Council Chambers. The Jefferson County Housing Authority wants to demolish three single family houses, a small one-story commercial building, and a one-story apartment building on 24th Street between Ford and Jackson. They plan to build 51 low-income apartments in their place. The new structure will be three stories tall along 24th Street. The zoning for that property requires that 25% of a structure be dedicated to commercial use; however, the Housing Authority plans to build for 100% residential use. They will be asking the Planning Commission for a Special Use Permit (SUP) to enable them to build for all-residential despite the zoning requirements.
The Housing Authority has already applied for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credits needed to build this project, and their hearing is scheduled for later in the month. They want to have the Special Use Permit already in hand, to prove that the project will go forward.
The Planning Commission recently concluded that they should tighten up the requirements for developers to get Special Use Permits. If you have an opinion as to whether they should grant one to the Housing Authority, send them a note via Planning Manager Ricky Muriby (rmuriby@cityofgolden.net) and copy citycouncil@cityofgolden.net. Or, if you have time, attend the Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday night and offer public comment.
Getting back to Arthur Dent (from Hitchhiker’s Guide), a few minutes after his house was bulldozed, an intergalactic demolition company came by and announced that Earth was about to be demolished to make way for an intergalactic bypass.
If you can’t see a video above, click here.
As the project manager tells the denizens of the earth, “All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning department on Alpha Centauri for 50 of your Earth years…. What do you mean you’ve never been to Alpha Centauri? Oh for heaven’s sake, Mankind…. If you can’t be bothered to take an interest in local affairs, that’s your own lookout.”
* The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is available on Amazon as a book or DVD, or you can watch it on Amazon Prime.
