Dear Neighbors and Friends,

As residents of Louisville, and especially those of us in the historic Little Italy neighborhood, we welcome thoughtful growth. Development can bring energy and opportunity to our city — and it must also respect existing neighborhoods, schools, and infrastructure.

The current Coal Creek Village plan poses serious concerns that could negatively impact Little Italy, DELO, Louisville Middle School, and the broader community. We are asking the City of Louisville and the developers to slow down, listen, and work with residents to find responsible and creative solutions before approvals move forward.

Quick Overview:

-Traffic & Safety:  Don’t route 900% more cars down Little Italy’s one-block of Front Street and its alley — this is a street where pedestrian traffic, including kids to school is high, that leads to a parking lot, a train crossing, and into the already unmanageable Middle School traffic.  Make reasonable plans for traffic safety, particularly where an emergency evacuation is concerned.

-Neighborhood Character:  Protect historic Little Italy’s access, safety, and livability by keeping through-traffic out and ensuring fair utility and alleyway improvements.  The current Planning Department's focus on densification is working counter to Louisville's values.

-Green Space & Drainage: Require more trees, green or open space, and stormwater management to prevent flooding, preserve neighboring houses, and deal with snow storage.  We stand, in this community for parks, open space, trail connectivity, and childrens safe pathways to school.

Expanded Concerns

1. Traffic & Safety on Front Street and the Alley Behind Harper St.
Current city plans route significant traffic through Little Italy — a small, historic block that was never designed for cut-through driving. This is an attempt to solve already deficient road infrastructure that causes traffic delays already.
With 188 units planned (vs. the originally approved 51), this could bring up to 900% more cars directly into a school zone where Louisville Middle School kids walk (no buses provided), and traffic is already messy twice a day. It also greatly increases the risk of disaster in the case of emergency evacuations like the one that came just a few years ago with the Marshall Fire.  The gridlock that happened in this area would only be worsened by adding 188 households to evacuate and would in no way be resolved by opening Front Street. 

Residents ask that the Front Street and alley connections be limited to emergency vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians only. Other developments in Louisville have had to be retroactively closed to through traffic — let’s prevent that mistake here.  We also have proposed and discussed various solutions including making the developer's part of Front Street be a non straight street, using the alley access to access both neighborhoods, and requesting the developer to put funds towards solving the Hwy 42/S. Boulder Rd. intersection so that traffic funneling is not necessary.  The Planning Department has refused to consider other solutions and has communicated that the Front Street throughway is their only solution.

2. Green Space, Drainage, and Flood Risk
The site is a natural drainage area and contains small wetlands vital to wildlife. The Goodhue Ditch also runs through the property. Current plans increase impermeable surfaces, creating real flooding risks for Little Italy and Hwy 42.  As the developers have yet to show residents the engineering plans for drainage, only have explained that they plan a detention pond, real fears exist around an area of town that already floods in wet conditions.  
The proposed alleyway drainage is inadequate and could leave residents and the city with costly long-term problems. 
We are asking for modern stormwater design, preserved wetlands, and sufficient green space with mature tree plantings, especially where the development meets existing neighborhoods.  One solution the residents have proposed is to put a park in the Southwest corner of the site, which would allow for show storage, permeable ground, a buffer between the old neighborhood and the new development, and fulfill the land dedication requirement that the city is waiving - their explanation being that historically they've waived these requirements when the previous approval had it waived.  This is an example of the city taking a pro developer stance rather than working with or for the residents and working ways that are set, rather than searching for creative solutions to real problems.

3. Preserving Neighborhood Character & Fair Access
Little Italy has relied on its alleyways and property access for over 70 years, and was platted in the late 1800s.  Current designs would cut off or narrow this access, creating legal risks (including Adverse Possession claims) and threatening residents’ rights.  The city claims that they need to create a grid pattern to match the downtown grid of streets, but have failed to note that current infrastructure does not allow nor will ever allow a grid system to exist east of the railroad tracks, where the proposed development site lies.
Developers could adjust the plan slightly — removing as few as 4 units — to maintain fair alley access while still achieving their goals.  They could also share and improve the alley in use rather than building a new road directly parallel to the current alley.  Residents have also proposed this solution as a win-win for both Little Italy and the new development, to no comment from developer or City of Louisville.   We also ask for shared infrastructure improvements, including buried utilities, sewer and water upgrades, and neighborhood buffering, so that old and new neighborhoods thrive together. This stems from problems already arising in Little Italy with old systems failing in the recent past.  In the least, we feel it is reasonable for a city official who has the knowledge about connecting these two neighborhoods facilities be present at the Planning Commission meeting and that residents get to hear a plan that makes sense.
 
Our Request
We are not anti-development. We are pro-responsible development. We simply ask that the City of Louisville Planning Commission not approve the Preliminary Plat until:

Traffic cut-throughs into Little Italy are removed or redesigned for safety, and traffic plans around emergency evacuations are developed.
Drainage, snow removal, and green infrastructure are addressed, and
Resident access and neighborhood character are protected.
This is about finding common ground — building a new neighborhood that works with, not against, the ones that are already here.

Please sign to show your support for a safer, greener, and more respectful Coal Creek Village development.

Thank you for standing with your neighbors.