Article Contributed on: 11/9/2006 3:44:02 PM
The discussion over the land swap in Rooney Valley has prompted me to ask several broader questions: Why did the Lakewood City Council approve a 1,400-family development in this location to begin with?
As far as I can see, the parcel is surrounded by at least five parks plus open space. Is the open space and parkland what Carma Development will really be selling?
Doesn't the open space create the real value of that land? Why didn't Jefferson County purchase it as open space for the people?
Who is going to pay for the infrastructure: the streets, the sewers, the schools? How about services: more police, more firefighters, more parks maintenance?
Most important, where is the water going to come from for all those people?
Hasn't anybody in government looked at the housing market in Colorado lately? We are tops in the nation in foreclosures and have so many existing houses on the market right now that experts predict a 4.7% decline in home value for 2007.
Why should taxpayers foot the bill for this speculative development in an area that should be open space and not some juicy plum for real estate developers? T
hese are questions all Lakewood residents should be asking themselves right now.
Lastly, this Ken Parks person is a P.R. employee of Solterra Development, not a Lakewood resident, and I question the appropriateness of printing his postings in what is supposed to be a neighborhood publication.