Blog Entry 37 of 51
The Lakewood Lowdown
Hi, I'm Erin Feese, a community journalist here at YourHub.com.
As journalists, we are always seeking to uncover the newsy, the exciting, the weird and the heartwarming stories going on around us. The greatest part of YourHub.com is that you can be the one to tell your story. In this blog you'll find highlights of the Lakewood and Edgewater sites, as well as the musings of your friendly neighborhood journalist. So go ahead, uncover what's going on around you, and don't be afraid to share what you find.
Citizens fed up with RTD
Contributed by:
Erin Feese/YourHub.com
on 12/19/2007
Waving signs with "Honk if you support property rights," "Stop the misuse of eminent domain," and other slogans criticizing RTD, a small crowd of protesters attracted the attention of passing motorists in front of 1600 Blake Street on Dec. 18. The citizens -- many from the 13th Avenue Corridor in Lakewood -- gathered in front of RTD's headquarters in downtown Denver to make their voices heard before a public hearing.
Daniel Gallegos, of Denver, said he was protesting because he wants to end RTD's unfair practices regarding land acquisition. His issue with RTD is personal -- he said his family wasn't paid a fair value for their land in east Denver when it was acquired by RTD several years ago.
"My family was cheated out of the the full value of their property ," he said. "RTD's tactics aren't fair."
As RTD continues to move forward with the voter-approved FasTracks West Corridor, more and more citizens along the light rail line are getting upset. The main issue, it seems, is RTD's use of eminent domain.
Eminent domain, for those of us who don't know (it's a new term to me), is the power of the government, or RTD in this case, to seize private property without owner's consent for public use (highways, utilities, or in this case, light rail).
Well, that's fine and dandy, but according to Dec. 3
Rocky Mountain News article and some of the citizens I spoke to at the protest, RTD is entering untested waters with some of its plans -- meaning the agency is trying to snatch up land not just for light rail stations, tracks and parking, but for retail development they hope to get big bucks for.
You might of heard of Lakewood residents
Kim Synder and
Galen Foster, for instance, who own a window-tinting business at 14th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard. The couple was busy waving signs at the Dec. 18 rally because RTD wants their business and home -- not for parking, but for a five-story office building. Read the
Rocky's account of their story
here.
Arvada resident
Tom Wambolt, president of Colorado Property Rights Coalition, said the organization got involved so the people could have someone of their side.
"We want to make sure people get treated fairly," he said.
For more on the Property Rights Coalition, click
here.
For more on Lakewood-based Land Grab Colorado, which is raising money to assist property owners, click
here.
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