Developer sues Colorado city amid park land requirement fight with residents
A vacant building and open lot on 777 South Yarrow Ave. in the Belmar area of Lakewood was slated for redevelopment. Now it could be the site of a battle that could set the table for all future development in the Colorado city and beyond.
"For us here in Lakewood, it's asking our elected officials to stand up for us," said Lakewood resident Cathy Kentner.
A school teacher, Kentner was a key figure in getting the ordinance that kicked off this debate on the ballot.
"The development is going to happen and it's how it happens that's important; that it's sustainable and it includes the greenspace," she said.
Typically, it was standard practice for a vacant lot to take bids from development groups and then pay Lakewood to not have to abide by a requirement that the project have some type of public green space allocated to the build.
Currently, the city says that any residential developer has to provide a minimum of 5.5 acres of park space per 1,000 anticipated additions to the city population. Or, they can pay a fee. The ordinance that was introduced in December by the Lakewood City Council means that there can be no fee and, instead, developers have to abide by the park land requirement or find somewhere else to build.
The developer of the 777 South Yarrow lot, Kairoi Residential, is now suing the city.
"It will be impossible to construct the development -- or virtually any development that meets the aims of the M-C-U zoning district," the lawsuit reads.
Kairoi and its subsidiary Belmar LLC allege that the park land requirement is larger than the actual plot of land they would be building on.
But the lawsuit was expected by members of the City Council. Some voted "yes" on the ordinance because they believed that it wouldn't hold up in court anyway and passed it knowing a lawsuit would come as opposed to putting it on a public ballot.
"Because this citizen initiative will face significant legal challenges for numerous reasons, I believe it would have been wasteful to spend anywhere from $175,000 to $350,000 of taxpayer's funds on a special election when the outcome will ultimately end up being decided in court," Lakewood Mayor Wendy Strom said in a statement.
But Kentner feels the suit, which was originally scheduled to be heard this Friday but has now been pushed back, can still be adequately defended.
"If this lawsuit gets a good defense, it will hold up in court because it's long been understood that developers have to live with some requirements," she said.
