Colorado neighbors push for increased oversight of potential land development near Ralston Creek in Arvada
Neighbors in the western part of the Denver metro area are continuing their push for more oversight of a development planned along Ralston Creek in Arvada.
The land at issue sits at 68th Avenue and Kilmer Street, just off Indiana Street -- a property that has been the focus of debate for several years.
Residents of the Forest Springs and GEO neighborhoods in west Arvada have made it their mission to protect Ralston Creek.
"It's just a very important part of Arvada. It's one of Arvada's crown jewels," Rick Simms said.
Simms and Karen Gerbatsch live in those neighborhoods and frequently use the Ralston Creek Trail. They also help make up the Friends of Ralston Creek Neighborhoods, a grassroots organization fighting a plan to turn 14 acres of undeveloped land along the waterway into an RV storage facility.
"Our main message has been we just don't feel it is an appropriate thing -- 350 RVs right next to Ralston Creek and right next to the surrounding neighborhood," Simms said.
When the discussion began in 2021, different city plans allowed for different uses. One plan allowed mixed use. The other allowed industrial.
"The developer asked to have the comprehensive plan match the land development zoning code, and a year ago there was a planning commission meeting on that, which voted 6-1 not to change it. Then city council did the same thing," Gerbatsch said.
Fast-forward to this year, and the developer's request for council to reconsider was granted. In October, the Arvada City Council changed its vote, allowing a site plan for the RV storage facility to move forward.
"It's frustrating," Gerbatsch said.
Neighbors are now pushing for increased oversight of that plan. They worry about the environmental impacts of digging up the property, which was once an unregulated landfill, and what that could mean for their community. They point to engineering reports that advise against building on the land in its current condition.
"We know there was testing. We know there's arsenic, there's a methane plume, there's also asbestos in this. No one really knows what's down there," Simms said.
But neighbors say they know it's not good.
When the area flooded in 2013, they took photos showing trash and other debris buried along the banks of the creek. While the state has approved the developers' voluntary cleanup proposal, neighbors worry it won't go far enough.
"There's a lot of work that the developer is going to have to do to get through that process. But we are very hopeful that the city will do what they can to protect the citizens," Gerbatsch said.
A spokesperson for the city of Arvada declined an on-camera interview but said, when asked about council's change of mind, that under statute the council is allowed to reconsider. At the October meeting, the developer's attorney suggested a lawsuit for limiting property use could be looming. A request for comment from the developer went unanswered.
The city council has said it would like to see the site plan again, and neighbors say they will continue to push for that.