Update on church site near Kipling and Coal Mine Ave
You may have heard the good news, that the JeffCo Planning Commissioners voted 4 to 1 against
the housing development plans proposed by Peak Development. But we aren’t out of the woods.
The final step is getting the Board of County Commissioners to vote no as well. Their meeting,
which is open to public comment/testimony, will be Tuesday, June 6 at 8:00 in the morning. Yes,
very inconvenient for people with jobs/families/lives, but this will be the final decision. If the
Commissioners approve the plans, we’ll be stuck with this risky, badly planned housing
development that will negatively impact the hundreds of people who live in this area. Please carve
out a few hours that morning and join us either in person in Golden or virtually. Several people
were unable to join the last meeting after getting registered because the County doesn’t provide
instructions or links to access the meeting, and now that we know this, I’ll be posting everything
once it’s available. But before the meeting, we once again need emails. The developers produced
a “new” set of plans, so the Case Manager, Nathan Seymour, will be accepting emails from the
public until this Thursday, May 18th (nseymour@jeffco.us and include Westend Ridge, case #20-
122769PF in the subject line). These emails will be part of the info packet given to the
Commissioners prior to the meeting, so it is advised to be specific regarding why you are opposed
to the development. We got a look at the new plans during the meeting, but were disappointed to
see that all the most concerning issues were still present, and according to Chad Ellington (who
owns Peak), they won’t be revised. The 34’ retaining wall is staying right where it is – just 7’ from
the Dutch Creek Farms homes – and if the homeowners do any digging or make modifications to
their own property, it is possible that the wall will lose its structural integrity. How ridiculous that
the success or failure of a towering wall is dependent on the actions of neighboring homeowners
outside the development. Chad was asked directly by one of the Commissioners if he would
consider reducing the number of homes so that the retaining wall could be moved a safe distance
north, away from the Dutch Creek Farms homes. He shook his head no. Since they won’t reduce
the number of homes, traffic is going to be a nightmare for everyone who travels in the area.
Crossing Coal Mine Ave from the side streets is already stressful during rush hour, so I can’t
imagine what it’s going to be like with 105 more families where the church now stands. During the
meeting, we also learned that the detention pond will not be relocated to a safer location in order
to reduce the threat of flooding. Since the pond is unreliable and will require constant
maintenance, it’s unfortunate that the developers won’t utilize a subsurface stormwater system,

but my guess is that while that would be a much safer option, it would also cost more, so they
gave it a big thumbs-down. The developers are cutting costs wherever they can. Sprinkler
systems will only be in some of the homes, even though theres a very real possibility of the
emergency vehicle entrance being inaccessible due to its location and the parking problem. The
future residents of the community will have to awkwardly parallel park and block their garage
doors (see pic). There won't be any parking lots or designated visitor spaces, so vehicles will
likely spill over into the streets and communities outside of the development. Without yards or
convenient green spaces, are kids supposed to play in the narrow streets that will be clogged with
cars and trucks? Looking at the drawings, it would appear that some trees are right in the middle
of the roads too. In the newest plans, the developers randomly labeled two already existing spots
as “pocket parks,” which is laughable. The one near the detention pond includes a “dog run” that
looks to be adequate for one frisky Chihuahua (see pic). The other “park” is right next to a curve in
Coal Mine, where speeding drivers occasionally jump the curb and end up in the grass. A few
years back, a driver slammed into a tree in that spot and was taken to the hospital. If the
developers had spent any time at all talking to the neighbors, they would know this. Clearly not
the best location for kids to play. And no, these homes will not be affordable, which is what we
really need right now. The cheapest Cityscape style home I could find in the Metro area was
$619,000, although I’ve heard the Westend Ridge versions will be in the $700-800k range. Maybe
some people would say that's affordable, but I would not. And why have we never seen any
renderings of the development from the street view perspective? I suspect it’s because they don't
want anyone to picture the reality of the situation. It is one hot mess. What we need here is a
safe, cost-effective, family friendly, well thought-out neighborhood that will meet the needs of its
future residents without wreaking havoc on the hundreds of people who currently live all around
the site. The developers have a responsibility to make that happen, so why arent they? Their
focus from the very beginning has purely been money. Cutting corners, taking risks,
being impractical, keeping the public in the dark, and disregarding the needs of both the future
home owners and the existing neighbors is apparently how they choose to "develop new
communities." Not a single one of them would want their families to live at Westend Ridge. Are all
three of them lacking a conscience? There will be no accountability, because Chad explained
during the meeting that if the pond floods or the wall fails, it will be up to the HOA and home
owners to deal with the mess. How convenient for him. Registration for the meeting is open until
June 5th (https://www.jeffco.us/activities/activity/detail/73). The Board of Commissioners is separate from the Planning Commissioners, so it shouldnt be
assumed that they will vote the same way, especially since its likely that the developers and their
"team of experts" will have better answers prepared next time. We need people both in front of the
Commissioners in Golden and also virtually, so if possible, please leave the morning of June 6th
open and join us to fight this thing. All of the project docs can be viewed here:
https://permitsearch.jeffco.us/amandaItoI/PublicDocs/Preliminary-Final%20Plat/20-
122769PF%20Westend%20Ridge/3.%20Review%20Process%20-%20Agency%20Comments/