There have been several recent articles in the Times-Call commenting on the out-of-control growth in Longmont. I suspect the recent opinion pieces by Richard Juday and Sarah Shurtleff are only the tip of the iceberg as witnessed by the fine article by John Fryar in the Sunday T-C (June 20, 2021). Missing in these articles, however, are recommendations as to how growth can be controlled.
The council’s belief that the recent deluge of apartment and other houses is to “maintain and improve the quality of life” in Longmont is the bogus thinking of developers. I fail to see how more and bigger apartments and subdivisions can possibly contribute to the quality of life.
Councilperson Polly Christensen is quoted in the Fryar article as saying she wants “better development, smarter, more efficient, more creative, more varied. To stop all growth, residential or commercial, would be to suffocate Longmont.” Nice buzz words, but they are the self-serving words of developers because there is no workable definition as to what constitutes “better, smarter, or efficient” development.
In the same Fryar article, councilwoman Marcia Martin says that Longmont needs “wiggle room” to balance various needs: This is nonsense. Her statement that we need higher density mixed-use developments also sounds suspiciously like a statement provided by the developers. Large bee-hive apartments need to be banned outright as the increased number of people and automobiles create the nightmare problems we now have. In fact, I will argue that these huge structures are a main reason for the anti-growth movement. As Richard Juday notes, the city of Longmont is not obligated to providing housing for anyone.
Former Councilmember Roger Lange and city manager Gordon Pedrow are on the right track when they say the city needs to establish qualify of life goals — something the city has needed for over the 25 years that I have lived here. Indeed, there should be an immediate moratorium on any kind of growth until this is accomplished and agreed to by the citizens. “Kicking the quality of life can down the road” is a cop out that can only benefit developers.
The citizens of Longmont need to take control of growth: Minimally we need to vote out all City Council incumbents, and not elect anyone having any ties to developers or real estate. Growth can also be controlled by banning several practices that are not in the best interest of the people. The city should be prohibited from becoming financially involved with any proposed development or private enterprise by allowing tax-increment financing or special taxing districts, or other financial gimmicks that take public money and give it to private developers. There should be no waivers for fees and infrastructure, no subsidies of any kind to developers or companies. Infrastructure must be paid for up-front, IOUs are to be banned; in other words: If you want to live or do business here, bring you own money.
The city should not provide electricity, sewage, water, or fire and police protection to any area not included in the city, e.g., unincorporated Boulder County lands. Furthermore, annexing land for development should be prohibited. The current plan to expand the city to 32 square miles is not what I would call responsible thinking as doing so only results in more growth and sustainability problems in larger proportions; i.e., growth does not pay for itself. Perhaps we need to include some of these suggestions as proposition in the next election and thus take control of the city out of the hands of the council and developers; i.e., Longmont for Longmont.
Bill Butler holds a Ph.D. in anthropology and retired as park archaeologist at Rocky Mountain National Park. He and his wife have lived in Colorado since 1976, and in Longmont since 1996.
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June 23, 2021 at 07:53PM
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Bill Butler: Longmont needs growth control - Longmont Times-Call
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