By Susan de Castro McCann

Redstone Review Editor

LYONS – It has been a long cold winter in Lyons, but things are looking up. The orange cones and barrels are finally gone along with the mud and the piles of dirt on the side streets and all the heavy equipment. The new sidewalks are in with sandstone accents and the new street lights create a wonderful soft light all over the downtown.

In a few months the landscape crews will begin planting all along Main Street and the coffee shop and restaurant goers will start spilling onto the tables and benches along the street. The musicians will begin tuning up, the Outdoor Market will return on the weekends, the art walk will gear up and the wonderful spring and summer concerts will begin with the Sounds of Lyons.

Much of the work on big town projects took place over the winter. Utility lines were replaced under Main Street before the street was paved. Measures were taken to cut and balance the budget and members of the Lyons Planning and Community Development Commission, PCDC, logged in many, many hours working on the new Lyons Comprehensive Plan. But some residents find the wording controversial.

The comp plan was last revised and updated in 1998 when it won the Governor’s Smart Growth Award. Many residents were actively involved in working on the comp plan both in 1998 and this year as well. In 1998 many residents were interested in focusing on limiting residential development because the Olson Property on Red Gulch Road was going to be annexed to the town for residential development. Residents wanted a say in how property would be developed and how fast so they added wording in the comp plan saying that all annexations over five acres and not owned by the town should go to a vote of the people. The town board took this wording to heart and created an ordinance using much the same language. The Olson property was eventually purchased by Boulder County to connect the Heil and Hall Ranch Trails and create recreation areas.

The focus of the new comp plan is on commercial/economic development. “We are focusing on the eastern corridor and the land east of the intersection of Colorado Highway 66,” said Marty Hine, a member of the PCDC. “Our focus is on economic development. We have created a new planning map and we hope to renegotiate a new intergovernmental agreement with the county commissioners so we can annex that land on the eastern corridor to create more commercial development.”

Apparently the PCDC felt that the ordinance calling for a vote of the people for annexing land over five acres could be a hindrance to development, based on the language in the old comp plan. So it is now recommending in the new comp plan that the town board take a look at that ordinance and possibly change it.

Several residents have expressed concern over the language in the new comp plan to look at the ordinance. “I don’t want to see that ordinance to vote on annexations taken away,” said Don Lutter, a Lyons resident. “I don’t think that the town board alone should make the decision on annexing land. I want the people in Lyons to continue to be able to vote on annexations.”

Trustee Kurt Udovich, the liaison from the town board to the PCDC said that the wording in the new comp plan is only a recommendation to look at the ordinance. “The PCDC has heard that some developers are reluctant to try to develop land and spend a lot of money when the people might vote against the annexation,” he said.

Lyons Mayor Julie Van Domelen said that the town’s people would have to decide if the ordinance is to be changed. “Personally I would not want to change an ordinance and take away a vote of the people unless the people were able to vote on that,” she said. “The ordinance does seem to be having the opposite effect from its intended purpose in the old comp plan. Now developers are reluctant to develop land that must go to a vote for annexation, so it’s doing the opposite of its intended purpose and possibly hindering economic development. The question of changing the ordinance came up during one of the focus groups on the comp plan with our planner, Danna Ortiz. The people in that group seemed to be receptive to some changes.”

It is not known how that question was worded or how many were in the group.

But Lutter disagreed with the idea that voting on annexations would have a negative impact. “I would not necessarily vote against commercial development,” said Lutter. I would be much more likely to vote for commercial/economic development than residential development. Residential development does not pay for itself and commercial development could potentially pay for itself. It’s not a given, but it’s more likely to pay for itself with sales and property tax revenues as well as create some jobs.”

Since the ordinance is still firmly in place and the comp plan is recommending that the town board look again at the ordinance, there is still time for residents to consider their options.

You can read the new Lyons Comprehensive Plan on line at www.townoflyons.com.

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