Update: 1,117 Verified Signatures & Letter Sent to Commissioners

🎉 Amazing Progress in Just 11 Days!
When I started this petition, I had the goal of educating our neighbors and my community.  Together with my four- and six-year-olds, we've reached about 30 households by foot on 6/6/2026 in two hours.  Today, we've reached 1,117 verified signatures! Thank you to every single person who has signed the "Keep Our Green Space: Keep Current Zoning Intact In Douglas County, CO" petition. This incredible response in just 11 days shows just how much our community cares about preserving the character, safety, and livability of our neighborhoods.

We Need Your Help to Keep the Momentum Going
Your voice matters. If you haven't signed yet, please do—and if you have, help us reach even more people:

• Share the www.change.org/KeepZoning with friends, family, and neighbors via text, email, and social media
• Post about it on Nextdoor, Facebook, community groups, and local forums
• Talk to your neighbors — word of mouth is powerful
• Leave a comment on the petition explaining why this issue matters to you personally. Public comments show the commissioners that real people, real families, and real concerns are behind these signatures.
• Contact your favorite local media outlets — newspapers, radio stations, and online news sources want to cover community stories like ours. Send them a note letting them know about the petition and why this rezoning threatens our community's quality of life.
• Contact the Commissioners’ Office at 303-660-7401 or by email at bocc@douglasco.gov

 
📬 Official Letter Submitted to Douglas County Commissioners
We are pleased to report that a comprehensive letter has been submitted to Commissioners Van Winkle, Teal, and Laydon outlining our community's serious concerns about the proposed rezoning of the northeast corner of Meridian Village Parkway and Ridgegate Parkway from park/recreation use to a multi-story apartment complex.

The Letter Highlights Four Critical Issues:

1. Traffic, Pedestrian Safety & Infrastructure Strain
Ridgegate Parkway is already heavily congested—traffic has steadily increased over the past four years and is expected to grow even more with ongoing development to the south. This road is a critical connector between I-25 and Parker. A multi-story apartment complex at this intersection would significantly worsen congestion during peak commute times.

More importantly, the safety of our families is at stake. The intersection of Meridian Village Parkway and W. Parker Road is a hub of activity where families, bikers, runners, and dog walkers regularly use these corridors for recreation and daily transportation. Pedestrians and cyclists already have to frequently dodge vehicles on these roads. Adding 200+ residential units would dramatically increase traffic volume and frequency, creating dangerous conditions for the families and active residents who depend on these routes.

The situation becomes even more critical when you consider neighborhood spillover traffic. Residents and delivery traffic from this development will inevitably use W. Parker Road and Meridian Village Parkway as bypass routes during peak traffic periods. These neighborhood streets were designed for local circulation—not as alternative highways. With high concentrations of bikers, runners, and dog walkers using these same streets, rerouting congestion through residential corridors will create a dangerous collision zone.

Adding fuel to this fire: Colorado House Bill 24-1304 (effective June 30, 2025) eliminates minimum parking requirements for multifamily residential developments in metropolitan planning organizations. This means Shea Homes can build a large apartment complex with minimal to zero required parking spaces. With insufficient on-site parking, residents and visitors will be forced to park on surrounding neighborhood streets and use local roads as cut-through routes, further exacerbating traffic congestion and safety hazards on roads already heavily used by pedestrians, cyclists, and families.

2. Water Supply & Infrastructure Concerns
Our community has identified a potable water cistern operated by Meridian Metropolitan District located at the northeast corner of Meridian Village Parkway and Ridgegate Parkway—on the same parcel proposed for the apartment complex. The cistern appears to be approximately 500 to 1,000 feet from where the multi-story building would be constructed.

We're concerned about potential risks associated with building a large residential complex so close to this critical water infrastructure. During construction and ongoing operation, there could be impacts we haven't fully considered—potential contamination risks, structural considerations, or effects on the water system's capacity during our current water shortage. An independent hydrological and structural engineering assessment should be completed to evaluate these concerns.

3. Utility & Grid Reliability Concerns
Residents have experienced increasing power outages year over year, raising serious questions about grid capacity and reliability. Adding 200+ residential units to this area during a period of strained utilities would only exacerbate these reliability issues for the entire community.

What Happens Next?
Your voice, your ideas, your engagement matters as DougCo establishes an Expedited Review Policies for Affordable Housing Projects. Keep sharing the petition, keep posting comments, and keep speaking up for our community.  

Next Land Use Meeting/Public Hearing Agenda on June 23 at 2:30 PM:

Business Meetings / Public Hearings - Douglas County --> View agenda, attend in-person or online

2026 Business Meeting/Land Use Meeting Public Hearing schedule.

-Lisa E.