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Citizens band together to fight Wal-Mart

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Contributed by: Pete Cooney on 2/5/2007

WAL-MART

I went to a very encouraging meeting tonight, Feb. 1.

In case you haven't heard, a beautiful piece of land down by the Platte River has been re-zoned so that Wal-Mart can have yet another home.

BUT...

The people of Littleton have a different vision for their city...and they are not going to give up so easily!

Back in early April of 2006 a group called Contiguous Neighbors Coalition, made up mainly of Centennial citizens, had a meeting to prepare for a "referendum" in order to right the wrong we believe we as a neighborhood were dealt by the Littleton City Council for their incredibly excessive height and density re-zoning of the Marathon Oil property.

We could not proceed because we needed citizens of Littleton to initiate the referendum, being that the Marathon Oil property was in the city of Littleton. We were at such a disadvantage living on the border. The wrong side of the border.
The Centennial side.

Well a group of folks from Littleton who are in this battle with Wal-Mart have no such disadvantage and they are very passionate about their city. They represent a good within Littleton. Passionate about their vision. Passionate enough to roll up their sleeves, dig in their pockets for cash and get to work.

But then again, the property by the river which they are fighting Wal- Mart for lies next to one of the last places in the entire Metro Area along the Platte River that is being preserved in its native fragility. A place where 40 years ago another group of Littleton city stewards recognized the importance of beginning to preserve its vanishing beauty.

We'll the good folks of Littleton are not going to let this one go. Tonight, one night after Littleton City Council voted 4 to 3 in Support of Wal-Mart, a group of citizens met in the basement of the Bemis Library and overwhelmingly supported going ahead with A REFERENDUM. There were at least 75 people in that basement. Just about everyone raised their hand to help with the petition.

They had 3 TV stations rolling tape and the ever present Jennifer Smith of the Littleton Independent was scribbling away. Councilwoman Kast, bless her soul, was a hero in her voting the night before but tonight she talked during the entire time the media was filming. How do these politicians get away with such things? Fortunately Councilman Clark did not try to compete for equal time. ( Mr. Clark and Mr. Mulvey were the other two heros from Council ). Anyway, after Councilwoman Kast sat down and the media put away their cameras, things started to cook. Stay tuned because we are about to witness a victory for people who have a higher vision for their city.

These guys are going to turn the tables on Littleton City Council. If you have never walked, bladed, kayaked, tubed, biked, skied, or jogged down by the river between C-470 and Littleton Blvd. then do yourself a favor and do a winter version of one of these this weekend.

This stretch of the river is one of the best cared for and naturally vibrant sections of the Platte River in the entire Metro Area. Now that Littleton has had their necessary political drama we in Centennial (and the greater metro Denver area for that matter) can help reclaim and preserve that which is rightfully our heritage as well as Littleton's. Stop and think for a moment about the Platte River and how much of America's history as a Nation began along its banks.

It is not a mighty river but it is truly a great river. We all can claim the "Moonshell"* as part of our heritage. I hope you will join in and help with the effort any way you can. I personally am not against Wal-Mart, I'm just for the river!

info@littletonagainstwalmart.com
www.littletonagainstwalmart.com

Respectfully Yours,

Pete Cooney

* The Plains Indian name for the Platte River

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