ACTION ALERT: Louisville’s Open Space Advisory Board will hear the new Redtail Ridge plan this Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 7:00 p.m. PLEASE EMAIL COMMENTS to EmberB@LouisvilleCO.gov by Wednesday at noon! Log in to the meeting to hear the new plan!
Hello, Louisvillians!
Redtail Ridge 2.0 is now upon us. As you may know by now, Brue Baukol completed its purchase of the Phillips66 site in December, and submitted a revised General Development Plan (GDP) to the city in January. The new GDP eliminates the previous plan’s residential component and reduces the proposed square footage from 6 million square feet to 3.1 million, which is the size approved by the city for the ConocoPhillips campus in 2010 that was never built. (The application documents are available here.)
The city’s Planning Commission will probably be considering the new GDP in April – we’ll keep you updated about that as the schedule becomes available. In the meantime, a very important discussion of the proposal will be taking place this Wednesday, Feb. 10, at the meeting of the Open Space Advisory Board.
As you can see from the map, the new GDP, while smaller in square footage overall, disperses the buildings all over the site. This eliminates land that could be turned to open space for the residents of Louisville and the wildlife at the site. (The map shows Brue Baukol’s plan to exterminate more than 100 acres of the site’s 142 acres of active prairie dog colony.)
The Open Space Advisory Board can advocate for clustered, more efficient development on the property and a significantly increased portion of the land set aside as open space. Some points we’d like city officials at all levels, including the OSAB, to remember include:
▪ Louisville’s municipal code section 16.16.010.D requires developers to preserve the “natural features” of a site as much as possible during development. Vegetation, waterways, and wildlife habitat, as well as topography, should be understood as part of a site’s natural features.
▪ Southeast Boulder county’s Intergovernmental Agreement mandates preservation of visual boundaries between Louisville and Broomfield. Edge-to-edge development at Louisville’s southeastern gateway would obliterate those boundaries.
▪ The Migratory Bird Treaty Act requires the protection of nesting bird habitat during construction. Brue Baukol has not allowed access to the site for independent wildlife surveys. These surveys are necessary in order to determine whether the new GDP meets the municipal code’s rigorous standard of preserving a site’s “natural features . . . to the extent possible.”
▪ Louisville’s OSAB has long been interested in adding the old StorageTek / ConocoPhillips site to the city’s already noteworthy collection of open space areas. It is not too late to pursue this goal, for all or part of the property, and there are routes available to make this happen. All we need is political will and smart, proactive leadership.
Please email the Open Space Advisory Board and ask them to take a leadership role in determining the amount of open space at Redtail Ridge. Emails sent to the city’s open space manager, Ember Brignull, will be forwarded to the board: EmberB@LouisvilleCO.gov. Emails should be sent by noon on Wednesday.
It’s also worth sitting in on the meeting Wednesday night, as it will be our first opportunity to hear the details of the new GDP proposal. The zoom information is:
+1 346 248 7799 or +1 408 638 0968 or 877 853 5247 (Toll Free)
Webinar Meeting ID: 884 5737 5601
2) Log in via your computer here. Please visit the City’s website for more details of how to link into the meeting here
Be sure to also check out the revised Redtail Ridge Public Engagement website, which has information and materials about the sustainability of the proposed development and is updated continually.
Thank you!
