Good evening.  The message below was sent to the Lafayette City Council on behalf of my wife Barbara and I and 614 residents of Lafayette.  

“614 Lafayette Residents Ask City Council To Not Annex Lafayette Marketplace

I have the highest regard for the Lafayette Councilors who display their dedication to the City and its residents day-in and day-out. The number of hours they devote to serving Lafayette residents is unbelievable. And I have the highest regard for the Intergovernmental Agreement (“IGA”) between the cities of Lafayette and Erie that was expertly negotiated by Lafayette Administrator Fritz Sprague. What follows is offered in this spirit.
Reflecting pent-up unhappiness with over-development in Lafayette, CO, an unprecedented 614 residents respectfully and politely have asked their City Council (in writing with their names, addresses and emails), to not annex the land for Lafayette Marketplace. Another 216 residents of nearby towns like Erie have joined in that request. Those signatures were accumulated in only 3 days and the numbers continue to grow.

Lafayette Marketplace is somewhat unusual because the land proposed to be developed is not located in the City of Lafayette. That means that the developer has no legal rights under the City’s development process, its Comprehensive plan or any other City ordinances or procedures. The developer’s only right is the ability to ask that the land be annexed into the City of Lafayette. 614 Lafayette residents and 216 residents of neighboring towns like Erie are asking the City Council to vote to not annex the land for this development.

Importantly, the decision on annexation is legislative in nature, unlike other Council decisions that are quasi-judicial. That means that the Councilors have complete and unrestricted discretion on how they vote. I believe that City Staff will confirm this fact.

We understand that the land in question is referenced in the IGA. But that fact absolutely does not compel the Councilors to vote to annex. One of the stated objectives of the IGA (page 1) is to “regulate land uses in order to minimize the negative impacts on the surrounding areas”. And, referring specifically to the land on which the out-of-town developer would like to build Lafayette Marketplace, the IGA (page 2) clearly states, “ Nothing in this section is intended to require Lafayette to annex such area“.

Therefore, the IGA in no way prevents the Councilors from granting the request of the City’s residents to not annex the land for this development. And, as illustrated below, the stated objective of the IGA (minimizing negative impact on surrounding areas) is completely consistent with the concerns of Lafayette residents.

There are many serious and valid reasons why Lafayette residents oppose annexation of this land to build Lafayette Marketplace. Already Arapahoe Road near 287 is a nightmarish parking lot. And as Erie continues to build more homes, and as the nearly 1,000 homes in Silo and 40 North are built immediately adjacent to the Lafayette Marketplace land, the conditions on Arapahoe will grow even more untenable. The last thing Arapahoe needs is the traffic from 677 more homes (up to 1,000 cars) dumping directly onto Arapahoe.  

The nearby schools are at capacity and building portable classrooms. And they will be further stressed by the children who will reside in the Silo and 40 North homes. There is no way these schools can absorb the children from the additional 677 homes proposed for Lafayette Marketplace.

And, of course, we have no water! Colorado is in a legal struggle with six other States over entitlement to water from the Colorado river. Local governments, including Lafayette are imposing thoughtful and appropriate restrictions on water usage by current residents. The water situation is so dire that a community in Arizona has had its water completely shut off (rendering their homes virtually worthless), and New York hedge funds are buying up scarce water rights sensing what one Fund Manager called “a Trillion Dollar opportunity”. The Lafayette Marketplace developer claims to have a source of water for their development. But it would be far better to use whatever that source is to serve existing residents and businesses.

We know that tax revenues from a project like Lafayette Marketplace are important to the City of Lafayette. But by not annexing this land, the City will be missing out on only 1/2 of the anticipated tax revenue because the other half already has been pledged to Erie in the IGA. And because of the IGA, even if Lafayette Marketplace is not built, Lafayette will continue to receive 1/2 of the tax revenue from Nine Mile Corner. That will considerably soften the financial impact of not annexing Lafayette Marketplace.

Finally, although we hope it will not come to this, I quote below the language of Section 6.11 of the Lafayette City Charter:

“Sec. 6.11. - Referendum on annexations.
No land which is annexed by the City of Lafayette shall be zoned until sixty (60) days following the date of final approval by the City Council of the annexation. If within that time, a petition signed by at least three percent of the registered electors of the city, as of the date of the last city election, requesting that such annexation be repealed or submitted to a vote of the electors, then no permit or other development approval shall be issued for development on the annexed land until approved by the voters in a referendum.”  

Given the strong Petition support by Lafayette residents in only 3 days, I have no doubt that a concerted effort to invoke this Charter provision would be successful.

We respectfully request that you honor the express wishes of your constituents, the residents of Lafayette, and vote “No” on the threshold question of whether to annex the land for Lafayette Marketplace. And we request that you hold this vote soon since doing so will spare both the City and the developer the time and money that would be expended pursing development plans and City evaluation of those plans.

Respectfully and politely submitted,

Barbara and Preston Padden on behalf of 614 Lafayette Residents.

Preston Padden
Boulder Thinking, LLC
202-329-4750