By Julie Van Domelen, Mayor

Redstone Review

LYONS – The Town has embarked upon a number of initiatives to improve the local economy, shore up our infrastructure, and make Lyons more sustainable. All of this effort begs the question of how we measure results. We have spent time and money, but are we achieving our intended goals?

LYONS – Economic sustainability has been a core objective of town policies for the last several years, stemming from the realization that a vibrant Lyons relies on a sustainable economic base. The 2010 Comprehensive Plan highlighted the importance of economic sustainability in terms of generating sufficient revenue to support town infrastructure and services and promoting a business-friendly environment that encourages commercial and job growth according to community members’ vision and desires. A core part of the strategy to achieve this was to coordinate with local landowners including the City of Longmont and developers to encourage the annexation and development of properties along the eastern Highway 36 corridor.

LYONS – In the late 1990s, one of the main land-use issues facing Lyons was how to control growth and in particular limit the expansion of residential growth.

The 1998 Comprehensive Plan called for the establishment of open space buffers around Lyons and emphasized the risks of sprawl. In that time period, there were several additional housing developments wanting to annex into Lyons, including upper Stone Canyon, other hillside developments and the potential for 500 new homes on the Olson property on Red Gulch Road. There were very few zoning and regulatory tools in place to provide safeguards. In response to an advisory question asked to the voters, in 2000 the Board of Trustees, BOT, put in place a restriction that any annexation over 5 acres would need to be subject to a vote, except for town-owned land.

LYONS – I attended the Lyons Community Foundation, LCF, gala last weekend and was reminded of the amazing community we live in. People step up to the plate in many ways to make Lyons the great place that it is. That volunteer spirit is alive and well on our boards and commissions, so I want to devote this month’s column to the over 70 people who serve on town-related boards and commissions.

LYONS – The next big issue looming on the Board of Trustee’s agenda is the renegotiation of our Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Boulder County. The IGA is a legal agreement that sets the framework for cooperation between Lyons and Boulder County in terms of land use issues and a range of other areas of common objectives. It also defines how far Lyons will be able to expand its town limits over the next decade and it stipulates what both parties can do in the land that surrounds Lyons, defined as the Lyons Planning Area or LPA.

LYONS – Every once in a while, a book that you are reading seems to be a perfect fit for what you are experiencing. This month the book club I belong to is reading Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner, which recounts one man’s journey through the most happy and least happy places on our planet in search of the answer: what are the elements that make for a happy place?