July 31st, 2008

An end for “RTD FasTracks”?

From the Rocky Mountain News:

Residents living along the South Platte River near the Regional Transportation District’s planned rail maintenance facility renewed their strident criticism of the transit agency Wednesday, saying it was slamming the project down their throats.

“You’re taking half of Denver’s downtown riverfront and converting it to a heavy industrial use,” said Ted Pearlman, who formed No Trains On Our River, a group opposed to the FasTracks commuter rail facility south of Globeville, north of Coors Field and west of Brighton Boulevard.

“Our intention is to stop it altogether,” Pearlman told RTD officials.

Get the full story here.

July 29th, 2008

Land grab for Adams County School District

From the Rocky Mountain News:

Adams County School District 12 forced Autotrol out of its building and wants to pay the company $4 million less than its worth, Autorol’s managing director says.

The dispute centers on Colorado’s eminent domain law, which allows government agencies to condemn and take private property for a public purpose.

That law allows the agency — in this case, a school district — to take the property even if an agreement hasn’t been reached on the sale price.

“We think we’re being treated unfairly,” Autotrol Managing Director Danny Stroud said. “If they want you out of the building, you have to give them possession” even if the offering price is millions of dollars lower than what seems fair, he said.

Stroud says the building is worth $12.7 million.

Adams 12’s offer was for $8.4 million.

Read the full story.

July 29th, 2008

Boulder “Rights Rally” a success!

The Boulder Property Rights Coalition, under the guidance of the Colorado Property Rights Coalition, held their first event this past Saturday.  It was covered by the Daily Camera.

“Dozens of Boulder residents gathered in the afternoon heat Saturday to share songs, build protest signs and decry an ancient land-use law.

South Boulder resident Dana Marshall, 62, organized the “Property Rights Rally” at the Central Park Bandshell, which she said was an expression of a larger frustration at the legal system and how people treat one another.

“Private property rights are sacred,” Marshall said. “We feel that all of our rights are under threat right now.””

Read the rest of the story.

July 26th, 2008

Boulder Property Rights Coalition Rally

The Boulder Property Rights Coalition is hosting a rights rally from 1 to 4 p.m. July 26 at the downtown band shell. For more information, visit www.landgrabber.org.

July 24th, 2008

Potential repeal of FasTracks could mean property owners keep their homes

From the Rocky Mountain News:

Voters could see another FasTracks measure on the ballot a year or two down the road, but it might be a move to kill the overbudget transit program rather than a tax hike to bail it out.

Stymied by a lack of legal recourse to hold RTD responsible for building FasTracks according to the original plan and timetable, longtime opponent Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute in Golden said he will explore the possibility of petitioning a FasTracks repeal onto the ballot.

The 2002 legislation that allowed transit advocates to petition the FasTracks sales tax increase onto the ballot also allows for a subsequent initiative election to reduce the 0.4-cent tax, effectively killing the program.

Read the full story here.

July 24th, 2008

Aurora seniors victorious against developers

From the Rocky Mountain News:

The Aurora Planning Commission handed about 30 senior citizens a small victory Wednesday.

They gathered at the Aurora Municipal Center to speak against a 13-acre building development close to their homes.

The panel voted 4-2 against a site plan extension that would have developed four-story apartment complexes at the Heritage-Eagle Bend housing complex.

Read the full story here.

July 23rd, 2008

Colorado’s Supreme Court gets it wrong again on property rights

From the Denver Post:

Late last month, the Colorado Supreme Court released a little-noticed decision that is the very embodiment of what is wrong with the state’s highest court.

Put simply, the four-member liberal court majority is all too eager to bend the law and prior court precedent if it can reach what may seem like a desired result.

The case that most recently illustrates this tendency is not really complicated.

Read the full story here.

July 21st, 2008

RTD nabbing more land?

From the Denver Daily News:

Even Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan may be impacted by RTD’s FasTracks land acquisitions.

Property owners along the future 23.6-mile FasTracks commuter rail East Corridor between Denver Union Station and Denver International Airport could be facing unexpected land buy-outs or condemnations.

The Regional Transportation District will hold two public meetings this week to discuss the situation, which came about after the agency decided to locate its commuter rail maintenance facility at the Platte Division bus center at 31st Street and the South Platte River.

The original plan was to establish the maintenance facility at the Union Pacific 36th Street Yard maintenance facility. But FasTracks spokeswoman Pauletta Tonilas said an agreement with Union Pacific could not be reached because the rail transportation company wanted too much money. Because the rail maintenance facility is now planned for the current RTD bus maintenance facility at 31st Street, refinements in alignment are necessary and RTD may need to acquire parts or entire pieces of private property to make the corridor work.

Read the full story.

July 20th, 2008

Pinon Canyon expansion may be scaled back

From the Pueblo Chieftain:

It was just last March that Army officials hinted they were willing to chop back their controversial plan to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site to just 100,000 acres - only a quarter of the 414,000 acres they have been requesting.

The Pentagon confirmed that adjustment in a statement Tuesday, which quoted Army Assistant Secretary Keith Eastin saying the smaller request is a recommendation contained in a report that is being delivered to Congress this week.

The report, ordered by Colorado Sens. Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard, is supposed to explain why the Army wants to acquire more land around the 238,000-acre training site northeast of Trinidad.

Read the rest.

July 20th, 2008

In Her Own Words: Another home owner faces FasTracks

From the Rocky Mountain News:

‘I just hate even talking about it,’ says woman who could lose home. Rosie Tozer moved into a small bungalow on 42nd Avenue between Clayton and Fillmore streets, backing up against the Union Pacific tracks, in 1953. She’s still there, and worried that RTD’s FasTracks East Corridor train to the airport will force her out. The Rocky chatted with Tozer in her backyard on Monday about life in Denver’s Swansea neighborhood and the prospect of losing her home of 55 years.

Read the full interview.