For more background on this issue, here's a quick story from The Denver Post:Jeffco Approves Controversial Church ExpansionCommissioners McCasky, Congrove Ignore Pleas Of Residents
JEFFERSON COUNTY (April 22, 2008)—Jason Bane, candidate for the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners, issued the following statement today in response to a controversial 2-1 vote by the Board of Commissioners approving expansion of The Rock South Baptist Church in a residential neighborhood:
“Time and time again the pleas of the community are completely ignored by the Board of Commissioners,” said Bane. “I know this neighborhood well—a large commercial facility has absolutely no place in the middle of a residential neighborhood where the vast majority of traffic will come from people who live outside the area.”
The Rock church had asked the Board for permission to rezone an area of land that would allow for a large expansion and additional parking. With a 2-1 vote (Commissioners Kevin McCasky and Jim Congrove voted YES), the Board of Commissioners approved the rezoning—despite a DENIAL recommendation from the staff of the Jefferson County Planning Commission and despite passionate testimony from local residents opposed to the plan.
Bane opposed this rezoning proposal from the beginning, and in February walked door-to-door in the neighborhood to discuss the issue. As Commissioner Kathy Hartman said in voting against the proposal, the rezoning makes The Rock “ten times as large as any similar church in the area more than 500 feet from a major right-of-way.”
“This isn’t about the church or its purpose for expansion—I would have opposed this expansion if it was the former tenant—the Chatfield-Columbine YMCA—that had made the proposal. It is absolutely poor county planning to allow a massive commercial structure in the middle of a residential neighborhood that already faces heavy traffic from the elementary school next door.
“That’s why I’m running for Jefferson County Commissioner: So that the people of this county can finally have a real voice in decisions that affect their daily lives.”
A controversial expansion of a large south Jefferson County church has been reluctantly approved by county commissioners.I grew up not far from this neighborhood. My aunt lives just down the street from The Rock. I learned to play basketball here when The Rock was the Chatfield-Columbine YMCA (and prior to that, The Ridge Athletic Club).
Today's rezoning will allow The Rock South Baptist Church, 10393 W. Alamo Place, to construct a 16,000-square-foot youth center and a parking lot west of the current church building.
Residents of the Westridge and Relections subdivisions have fought the rezoning, contending the church already is too big for the surrounding neighborhood and causes parking and traffic problems...
...Commissioner Kathy Hartman was direct in her opposition. The Rock's expansion will make it "ten times as large as any similar church in the area more than 500 feet from a major right-of-way," she said.
Hartman added, "This is a travesty for the neighborhood. I think this is a wholly inappropriate use. No."
Church officials have agreed to have people directing traffic during peak worship and activity times and to allow Westridge Elementary School to use the planned parking lot for drop-off and pick-up of students.
It makes absolutely no sense to allow a major expansion of any sort of commercial property here, whether it is a church, a YMCA or a storefront. This is a residential neighborhood (located between Kipling and Simms, just North of Bowles in South Jeffco) that was not built or conceived to be able to absorb so much traffic from people who don't live in the area.
I walked this neighborhood back in February, knocking on nearly every door, and I only met two people who were in favor of the rezoning. It's a shame that Commissioners McCasky and Congrove continue to turn a deaf ear to the needs and desires of the people who live in the community.
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