The proposal to rezone the lot at 10th & Xenon for a large, commercial, memory care facility faces its first hearing this Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 6:15 pm at the Taj Mahal. Please attend the hearing. Just being there is important, but you will also have an opportunity to testify. As usual, your testimony is limited to three minutes. You may display visuals during your testimony. It's easiest to bring a paper printout of the visual, but you may bring a computer and plug it in (a VGA or HDMI connection is required.) There is additional information about the proposal and links to key documents below on this page to help with your presentation.

Just a friendly reminder that decorum is important at these meetings. The Planning Commission is made up of volunteers who take their responsibilities very seriously and spend a great deal of their time to understand the issues. The members of the Planning Commission are not the enemy; they are just doing their job. It's okay to show emotion during your testimony, but please do so respectfully.

The hearing will consist of a presentation of up to 20 minutes by the county planning staff, followed by a 20-minute presentation by the developer. Then comes public testimony. The commissioners are expected to vote that night. There will be two votes. One vote will be whether to support or reject an exception to the Comprehensive Master Plan. The CMP designates our neighborhood to remain residential, so the commissioners must decide whether an exception to the plan is appropriate for this use. The second vote is on the rezoning.

The votes by the Planning Commission are recommendations to the County Commissioners. After the proposal is considered by the Planning Commission, it will then be considered by the Jefferson County Commissioners on Tuesday, December 8th, at 8 am. The commissioners will make a final decision on the rezoning at that meeting. Please plan to attend.

Click here for Official Notice of Hearings

If you'd like to share your thoughts with the association board and/or add your email address to our list to receive updates, please use the Contact Page.

A developer has filed plans to develop the lot at 10th & Xenon. It's a 2-acre lot and, according to the submittal to the county, the developer "is requesting to rezone the property from R-2 (residential-duplex) to P-D (planned development) to facilitate the development of an Assisted Living/Memory Care Facility for seniors aged 55+ suffering with memory impairment issues such as Alzheimer’s, dementia or the like." The next section on this page has links to key documents.

Highlights of the plan.

• Facilities for 72 patients
• A total of 5 unattached buildings. One building may be 2 stories (31 feet max height). Others are 1 story (24 ft max height).
• Maximum total footprint of the five buildings: 29,000 sq. ft. No building with a footprint larger than 6,000 sf.
• 28 parking spaces. Calculated at 1 space per 4 patients for staff; 1 space per 9 patients for visitors. (Two spaces were added.)

Current Development Plan - October 2015

This is a rendering of the development from the traffic study. (This rendering is a bit outdated, but pretty close to the current design. It does not show a later expansion of the parking lot.)

Here are many of the key documents from the developer and staff responses. All can be found on the Jeffco Planning website.

Submittals by Developer
Traffic Analysis - February 2015
Application Form - May 2015
**Project Summary - Aug. 19, 2015
Parking Study - Aug. 19, 2015
**Responses to Public Comments - Aug. 19, 2015
Development Plan - Oct. 13, 2015
Referral Response #1 - Oct. 13, 2015

Documents from Jeffco Planning Staff
Application Submittal Checklist
1st Referral Response - July 6, 2015
1st Referral Staff Comments from Various Jeffco Departments - June/July 2015
**Citizen Comments Submitted thru July 7, 2015

The annual meeting of the Daniels Welchester Neighborhood Association was held on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Welchester Elementary. The meeting started with a Q&A with candidates for Lakewood mayor and city council and ended with election of neighborhood association officers and board members. Although association president Diane Duffey had planned to give up the post at the end of her two-year term, she reluctantly agreed to stay on for a second term.

Diane reported on various plans for developments in and around our neighborhood. There is no news on the proposed Memory Care Facility at 10th & Xenon. Apparently the developer and Jeffco Planning are arguing over the number of parking spaces. The county wants 26 spaces while the developer wants only 20. Frankly, for a facility with 72 residents, we believe 26 is too few and would result in on-street parking issues.

The longest discussion was about a recently disclosed plan by the City of Lakewood to spend $25 million to purchase property in the northwest corner of the Federal Center to build a Belmar-like development. This is being rushed through without adequate public discussion. Association members voted unanimously that, although not specifically opposed nor in-favor of the project, they definitely oppose the fast track approval. You are encouraged to attend the Monday, Oct. 26, meeting of the Lakewood City Council to tell them to slow down the process. (See information above.)

Here is the material that was provided at the annual meeting.

Agenda - Click Here

Handouts

• Local Newsletters
• Jefferson County Contact Information
• City of Lakewood Contact Information

The association has a Facebook page. It's a public page, so even if you do not have a Facebook account - or know anything about Facebook - you can still visit the page and read about the neighborhood. Just click the logo -

The minutes of association meetings are posted on the 'association business' page after they are approved.

The Daniels Welchester neighborhood is more than 60 years old. Currently, it includes 1,800 households. Some are in unincorporated Jefferson County. Some are in Lakewood. Jeffco and Lakewood often make decisions that impact our neighborhood. A legally established and operating association gives us a much stronger voice in protecting the interests of our neighborhood when those decisions are made.

Equally important is that an association gives us a way to keep Daniels Welchester residents informed about what is happening in the neighborhood. And it provides a forum for all of us to suggest ways of making our neighborhood even better.

This is a neighborhood association that advocates for the community. We keep the lines of communications open to elected and appointed local government officials as an early warning system of plans by local governments that might impact the neighborhood. As issues arise, the association brings together residents of the neighborhood to develop positions to assure strong public input as the issues are addressed.

Its mission is only to advocate for the neighborhood. It is NOT a homeowners' association. It does NOT have covenants or deed restrictions. It does NOT tell residents what they can and cannot do with their homes. It does NOT have assessments or provide services.

The association is a voluntary organization. Homeowners and other residents who live within our borders (see border information above and to the right) may join if they choose to, but are NOT required to join. Any dues the members approve are completely voluntary.