10AM-2PM Today’s Thrilling Thursday at the Railroad Museum will focus on The Grand Gaggle: The Galloping Geese of the Rio Grande Southern. Learn about these unique Colorado creations, do related crafts, and generally have fun. Bring the kids! This event is recommended for ages 6-10. Learn more….
5:30-6:30PM Join Foothills Art Center’s Curator, Eriq Hochuli, as he leads an interactive group discussion on selected works from NPC Hell with Curator Eriq Hochuli. This is the LAST LOOK! This is exhibit goes down after Sunday.
6:15-8:15PM Cooking Class – “In a Pickle” & Other Tangy Toppings at Earth Sweet Botanicals. Learn more about the class. I recommend you call, to see if they still have room in this session: 303-278-1260
6:30PM City Council will meet in City Council Chambers. They will consider a number of hot issues tonight. See the meeting packet to learn more about any of the following issues. They will begin with a Executive Session (off-camera and closed to the public) to discuss negotiating strategies regarding the purchase of the Coors office building. The property inspections have revealed a number of expensive-to-fix problems so Coors and the City would need to decide who would fix them. The public meeting will reconvene at 7PM, and public comment will be accepted at that time.
The Consent Agenda contains a curious item. This part of the agenda is designed for uncontroversial items that don’t require discussion. One of the items asks Council to approve the City’s plan to host a bike race on August 24th. I call it “curious” because this decision has already been made and the race already shows Golden as one of its stages. The accompanying memo shows that the race may cost the City up to $50,000, though they hope to find sponsors to defray some of that cost. The contract with the race company includes some interesting details. The city must provide police, public works assistance, permits, emergency medical service, portable toilets, waste management, and 165 hotel room nights (Wow!). There may also have been an additional 20 room nights already used for site visits. The City is also responsible for WIFI to support media and they must put on an expo (which will be in Parfet Park). I’ve always heard that events with street closures hurt the stores, and apparently the City pays for many of the hotel rooms, so I would be interested to see an analysis showing the fiscal benefits of hosting an event like this.
Council will consider a request to allow sidewalk seating for the two restaurants that will be moving into the old mortuary at 1100 Washington Avenue.
They will revisit a request to rezone the “Overlook Property.” This request came to council in late June, and many citizens living near this property gave public commenting asking that the request be denied. The property is currently platted for 92 single family homes. This is a difficult location for homes, because it is right next to I-70 and therefore noisy. The owner now hopes to develop the property for “self storage and personal warehouse use.” The neighbors expressed concern about light pollution from the proposed buildings and possible noise. Their greatest concern is sharing the single access road (W. 4th Ave.) with additional traffic and the possibility of residents and business owners alike being “bottlenecked” in the neighborhood in case of fires or other emergencies. The owner has tried to address some of these issues and council will reconsider the request tonight.
Council will consider some proposed code changes as recommended by the Planning Department. These changes are tied to the Building Moratorium and are designed to reduce bulk and close some loopholes that developers have been exploiting. Note: I find these changes both obscure and arcane, so the following summaries may be faulty. I encourage you to read the meeting packet yourself.
1) Some developers have been acquiring several adjacent lots and then subdividing them in such a way that they can build several oversized duplexes in a relatively small area. Staff proposes to fix this loophole by disallowing the oddly-shaped lots.
2) The Phase I changes reduced the “Vertical Bulk Plane” (allowed height of external walls). This change defines some architecture features that can exceed the allowed height, such as dormer windows. It also defines architectural features that can encroach into the home’s setback from the lot line, such as eaves.
3) The maximum height of residences in R2 is 30 feet. Roof top decks will have a maximum height of 22 feet, so you can’t build a 30 foot building with a flat roof and put a deck on top of it.
4) Developers have been constructing apartment buildings in commercially-zoned areas (the new sophomore apartments being built across from Safeway are a good example). Commercial zoning allows greater height and less setback than residential zoning does, so they can fit in more apartments. This change will require that these all-residential buildings comply with residential standards (less height, greater setback).
Tonight’s Music:
Ace Hi Tavern – Karaoke, 9PM
Columbine Cafe – Thunder and Rain, 7-9PM
Dirty Dogs Roadhouse – Dave Frisk, 6-10PM
New Terrain Brewing – The Often Herd, 6-9PM
Table Mountain Inn – Darcy Nelson, 6-8PM
Wrigley’s Chicago Bar & Grill – Bruce Cole, 5-9PM
