Dear Neighbors,

This is to make sure that residents are aware of a new apartment complex that is proposed to be developed on the steep hillside off Youngfield Dr in Applewood between W. 15th Place and Youngfield St, just north of Colfax.  Map of Proposed Site

The development is slated to be two, 3-story buildings with 44 units (Studio to 3-bedrooms) with a heavy concentration of two-and three-bedroom apartments.

While we absolutely acknowledge, agree with and understand the need for affordable housing, all multi-family residential apartment complexes must be well-planned and built in locations that provides adequate space and safety for the residents and the community, regardless of its use. 

To that end, the residents near this development have several concerns surrounding the site suitability and safety of this location for both the existing community and new residents:

Poor Site Suitability/Topography: The topography of the land is extremely steep by way of a 250 ft slope and only a small parcel of the actual available land can be developed, creating a compressed area to put two- three story buildings, parking and additional resident amenities. Additional concerns include:

• Drainage and flooding concerns for the residential homes that reside below the development and along the agricultural ditch with the added hard surfaces on the hillside
• Ensuring storm water run-off is contained and environmentally routed 
  • Per the developer, the proposed plan is currently to put the stormwater into the agricultural ditch along Youngfield Dr, which homeowners are already having issues with flooding without additional stormwater getting dumped into the agricultural ditch  
• Site Suitability Photo Library 

Location, Parking and Fire & Life Safety Concerns:  Lack of walkability, public transportation and bicycle options resulting in the location being car dependent. Limited on-site parking will be made available with the expectation that overflow parking will be in the surrounding neighborhood streets. With the narrow streets and historic infrastructure of this neighborhood, this will create a fire & life safety situation for the neighborhood in which fire rescue will NOT be able to access the existing homes in the neighborhood with cars parked on both sides of the road, let alone trash, recycle, delivery trucks, etc. 

 

 

 

 

• West Metro Fire Life & Safety Department does not evaluate the fire & life safety impact of a new development on the surrounding areas/neighborhoods, only the development itself.  We have 1 fire hydrant for all 14 houses in this neighborhood and a single entrance and exit via W. 15th Place that will be shared between the neighborhood and the development.
• If cars are parked on both sides of the road and in front of the fire hydrant along with adding close to 200 more people to a small neighborhood that currently has a single entrance and exit, we will all sitting ducks in a case of an emergency.
  • We ask... where does the existing neighborhood fit into this equation and how are we being protected should there be a fire or need to evacuate? 
• The developer has a one car per unit policy and originally proposed 53 spaces and 4 visitors parking for residents, visitors and staff for the 44 units, which is insufficient, especially as the apartment complex will be heavily weighted on 2-and 3-Bedroom units.
  • The city has mandated 1.5 cars per unit=66 resident parking and 4 visitor parking spots. While this is a partial win if they uphold this decision, 4 visitors spots for 180 people and having a 1 car per unit policy will still create challenges
• The walkability, transit and bicycle scores for the development is well below the average scores of other comparable affordable housing complexes as well as other areas in Lakewood, resulting in this location to be deemed car dependent, based on a walk score report conduced for the development.  
• Overflow parking will be on W. 15th Place, Whippoorwill Dr and nearby Applewood neighborhood streets, especially during inclement weather when cars can't get up W. 15th Place due to the steep grade.
• The infrastructure in the surrounding neighborhood was built in the 1950s and consist of narrow, cul-de-sac streets, with irrigation ditches on both sides of the streets and no sidewalks or streetlights, resulting in limited adequate parking along the neighboring streets and blocking emergency access. 
• Due to the narrow streets, cars parking on both sides of the neighborhood streets will prevent emergency vehicles and other larger vehicles from accessing homes in the neighborhood, as seen in the drone video and pictures below. 
• Trash trucks and large delivery trucks currently have to back out of our streets due to how narrow streets already. What happens when cars line the streets?   
• Parking on Youngfield Street will result in the bicycle lane being blocked. 
• No nearby public transportation: Retaining walls will be required, preventing access to the adjacent RTD bus stop on W. Colfax Ave. The nearest light rail station is over 2 miles away from the apartments 
• It will be close to a mile walk on steep hills, along busy roads and highways with no sidewalks and will be impossible to access the bus stop for those with mobility issues or need ADA accommodations. 
  • Here are the conditions that people will need to walk along to get to the nearest bus stop.

 

 

 

 

Caption: No shoulders or sidewalks to get to the nearest public transportation

• Limited walkable access to businesses, grocery and schools. The target audience for this development is families. 
• Stober Elementary school is a mile away by way of Youngfield St, which is a busy street that has no sidewalks, is not safe for anyone, let alone children, to walk or bike on
• The middle school and high school are between 2.5 miles and 3 miles away.  
• Photos of Parking & Street Challenges - 15th Place & Whippoorwill
• Street Parking- Drone Footage
  • If cars are parked on both sides there is barely enough room for a delivery truck to get through. Fire rescue, trash and recycle trucks will NOT be able access homes in this neighborhood 

 

 

Safety Concern with Access Point/Entrance & Exit through Youngfield St at W. 15th Place: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• The proposed access point using Youngfield Dr, is located at the blind corner of Youngfield Street and 15th Place, creating further traffic and accidents.
• Youngfield Street, which borders Unincorporated Jeffco and the City of Lakewood, is a single-lane thoroughfare that that is often used when I-70 is congested
• At capacity the apartment complex will house up to 180 people and the development is anticipated to create an additional 300 car trips per day through Youngfield St. 
• Multiple accidents and many close calls/potential accidents have occurred at this intersection. To name a few at this year: 
• Feb 2024: Hit and run on the curve of Youngfield at 15th 
• June 2024: Head-on collision between a motorcyle and car on the curve of Youngfield at 15th. Thankfully, the motorcyclist survived but did sustain extremely serious injuries
• Aug 2024: Family of 5 misses curve plows through the garage of a home on 15th Place  
• Aug 2024: Elderly women misses curve, drive up and off driveway of home on 15th Pl, crashed into irrigation ditch and found trapped in car next morning 
• Sept 2024: Teen nearly gets hit on bicycle crossing Youngfield and 16th 
• We have shared with the developer and the City of Lakewood over-and-over again that this entrance and exit through W. 15th is NOT SAFE and adding additional traffic at this intersection is IRRESPONSIBLE and NEGLIGENT.

 

 

• The planned entrance of the complex is steep climb with an elevation gain of 40ft from Youngfield St (~10% grade) to the proposed entrance. Often in winter a 4-wheel/AWD vehicle is needed to get up and down W. 15th Pl /Youngfield  Dr
• The planned access on Youngfield Dr is up a small but steep hill that is already difficult to navigate in winter and will result in a pile up of cars at Youngfield St and W. 15th with cars not being able to access the apartment complex
• Youngfield Drive is currently a small unpaved gravel road, approximately 15 ft wide, that will require expansion to meet code.
• Although the road is being developed specifically for multi-family residential, there is not enough room to develop this road to meet code for multi-family residential and is being developed based on standards of a single family residential
• The increased traffic from the new Lutheran Hospital, development in and around 32nd & Youngfield Street, the new condos on Youngfield St. next to Abrusci's and this proposed development will continue to create further challenges and accidents on Youngfield St, which is often already congested during high traffic volumes on I-70. 

Video: Youngfield traffic challenges  

 

 

Video:  Car in Winter unable to get up W. 15th Place- Jan 2024  

• Today, with 14 houses in this neighborhood, very few cars access W. 15th Pl.
• What happens when there are 300 more car trips per day coming onto W. 15th Pl and cars can't make it up W. 15th Place? There will be a pile up on Youngfield St and accidents.   

 

 

• In addition to the complexity of this intersection, especially in winter, drivers will need to navigate around pedestrians that will be walking down the steep grade without sidewalks, as shown below.  
• In this case, the ride-share couldn't get up W. 15th Place due to the snow and ice and the resident nearly falls trying to get down W. 15th Place to get into the car with no sidewalks. 

 

 

Photos: Challenges at the Youngefield Street and 15th Place Intersection

• The grade of W. 15th Place and Whippoorwills is steep enough that even snowplows have gotten stuck. How does the developer and City expect that with 300 car trips/day, not all 4WD, that there won't be cars repeatedly stuck during inclement weather when even snow plows get stuck on the grade?  This residential road is not designed for density

 

 

• In this case, the City of Lakewood snowplow slid into the front yard of the residence on W. 15th Place and Youngfield St. 
• This past snow season alone, we captured 2 separate instances of snowplows that got stuck on W. 15th Place & Whippoorwill Dr. let alone cars, SUVs, delivery drivers that also couldn't get up W. 15th Place. 
• Today we have a few cars that come through here each day, but W. 15th Place is not designed for a high amount of traffic/density and cars WILL get stuck with the grade.  
• We have proposed to the City and Developer to make a separate entrance and exit to the development from W. Colfax Ave (West of Blue Star Memorial), in which the road could be developed safely to code for multi-family residences with accel and decel lanes; provide direct access to public transportation for residents of the affordable housing complex; create a more seamless transition between the multi-family development and a small single-family residential neighborhood; and help to preserve the characteristics of the single-family neighborhood, per the Lakewood Comprehensive Plan requirements. This proposal has been rejected by the developer and City. 

Encroachment of Residential Homes and Property: 

• In order to make the entrance and exit through Youngfield Dr "work", the City is mandating to move a residential home driveway, making it more difficult and potential unsafe to access their garage via their existing north-facing, steep driveway, which has been in place since 1967
• Multiple residents along Youngfield Dr will lose the foliage and buffering that they have today and will be faced with having 300 car/trips per day staring openly into their backyards, due to this now becoming right-of-way and no room to put in buffering  
• A sewer line for another existing neighbor will need to be moved to accommodate the development with the proposed plan more conducive for sewer backups and blockage

Disregard to the City of Lakewood's Comprehensive Plan

• The subdivision ordinance requires all subdivision plats to conform to the Lakewood Comprehensive Plan. Of which, this development does not follow the City of Lakewood Comprehensive Plan based on the following:  

  • “The City will continue to support the diverse image and character of the community by maintaining the existing characteristics of neighborhoods with existing single-family residential zoning; creating appropriate transitions between commercial, multi-family, and mixed-use development and single-family zoned areas; and encouraging contextually appropriate infill and redevelopment projects.

  • Required to “ensure that a link between increased transportation options and higher density land use is made when reviewing site plans.”

  • Based on the needs assessment, Lakewood has a shortage of affordable, accessible rental units that needs to ideally be located along major corridors with easy access to public transportation  

Open Space: The land has never been developed since first know record of 1899. Today, there is wildlife sightings such as deer, fox, bobcats, ect and people enjoying the open space. The loss of open space will disrupt the wildlife and wildlife migration that currently frequent this location

• The Applewood /Colfax Hillside & 15th Place Photos

Doing work without permits - The developer feels that they are above the law by doing work without a permit, which included clearing and removing all the trees and vegetation, excavating near a major watermain that provides water to thousands of people and using a company that is not licensed to remove trees within the City of Lakewood. They removed the majority of the trees and vegetation on an easement that surrounds multiple houses without a permit, provided no erosion control to the surrounding homeowners despite this being adjacent to a landslide area and left a huge pile of dead trees in the middle of their lot creating a significant fire hazard.  The residents had to call the city to express their concerns to get the erosion control. 

Lack of transparency between the developer and the residents prior to submitting their funding application. They only communicated to 4 residents by way of an undated letter that was received in the mail on June 5, 2023, after they received funding on May 30, 2023

Inaccuracies regarding the community on their funding application. The Federal Tax Credit application required the developer to do community outreach and note any opposition to the project prior to requesting funding.

• Prior to submitting the application, there was no interaction with the immediate community that would be impacted the most by the project 
• It was noted on the application that the community had no opposition to the project and that the residents of Applewood were happy with the proposed project location and went on to say that they felt it would increase the value of their homes. Homeowners that are in the neighborhood or directly adjacent to the project were not interviewed or notified.

We have created a non-profit organization, Applewood Heights Community Organization and attained a highly accredited attorney to help support our efforts.

Want to help:

Please let the City of Lakewood and Jefferson County know that you are concerned and opposed to this development and it's just not a few of us!

Youngfield St is on the border of Unincorporated Jeffco and Lakewood and should have a say in this. 

Public comment is open for the Subdivision Notification for this development.

We urge you to email the of City of Lakewood, city council members and planning department.

• Kara Mueller: city planner- karmue@lakewood.org
• Travis Parker: Director of Planning: trapar@lakewood.org
• Max Kirshbaum: Director of Public Works: maxkir@lakewood.org
• Jeslin Shahrezahaei: Mayor Pro Tem /Ward 1 City Council: jesshah@lakewood.org 
• Glenda Sinks: Ward 1 City Council: gsinks@lakewood.org
• Mayor Strom: wstrom@lakewood.org

Reference the development at 1515 Whippoorwill Dr, Lakewood. Project# FI24-0005/SP23-0025   

Attend City Council Meeting and share your concerns during public comment.  

The safety of the access point on Youngfield St and the site suitability of this development is irresponsible and will result in increased accidents and/or deaths. One accident is one too many and the accidents in Feb, June, August are three in short time too many! Please Lakewood and Metro West Housing we don't want to see someone die!      

If you would like to send a donation to help in our efforts, please feel free to scan the Zelle QR code below or reach out to jonna.helm@gmail.com.

 

 

 

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We invite you to reach out to us for more information and sign the petition if you would like to help support our efforts. 

Please feel free to email jonna.helm@gmail.com for questions or would like to be added to the distribution list to receive updates. 

Thank you for taking the time to read through this and your support from your Applewood neighbors on 15th Place and Whippoorwill Dr.