“Trustee Golden Run Background Information” (9/23/13)


From: Aaron Harber

Subject: Trustee Golden Run Background Information

Date: September 23, 2013 6:49:29 AM MDT

To: "Joe Wilson "

Cc: "Joe Wilson", "A.J. Krieger ", "Gary Behlen", "Marty Ostholthoff"



GOLDEN RUN, LLC

www.GoldenRun.com   Aaron@GoldenRun.com

2500 North 119th Street, Lafayette, CO 80026-9216

P:  (303) 666-6161    C:  303-718-3399

 

 

Dear Joe,

 

In response to questions about the benefits from the development of Golden Run, we’ve prepared a checklist which we wanted to share with you.  To date, we have not heard any objections to Golden Run which we cannot successfully address.  We realize it will take people with vision to make Golden Run happen so we appreciate the support the Board has given our initiative (especially the unanimous vote to approve the Preliminary Annexation Agreement).  Here are the positives we have listed for communication to members of the community to inform them about Golden Run’s potential..

 

  1. 1.Making Erie a national leader by showing the rest of the country how to create a truly sustainable community.

  2. 2.Use Golden Run to make Erie a regional and national destination for tourists and other visitors .

  3. 3.Creating an Economic Development engine for Erie as attested by the State’s top expert, Tom Clark, CEO of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (www.bit.ly/ClarkLet).

  4. 4.Emphasizing how Golden Run already is focusing national attention on Erie via Golden Run’s new National Sustainability Council: www.bit.ly/CouncilGR.

  5. 5.Creating a reputation for Erie as the most desirable community in the country for businesses to locate.

  6. 6.Creating jobs in Erie so residents can live and work in the same community by creating a major Employment Center.

  7. 7.Offering super high-speed, 1 Gigabit service to all of Golden Run and then using that as a pathway for all Erie residents to have extraordinarily fast Internet service.

  8. 8.Constructing a Business Incubator to expand businesses throughout all of Erie.

  9. 9.Creating a Transit Center to provide alternative means of travel to Denver, Boulder, DIA, and other locations.

  10. 10.Using Golden Run’s population to help businesses expand along the County Line Corridor so Erie has an internal economic core.

  11. 11.Having Golden Run’s residents be the only realistic solution to saving Historic Downtown Erie by providing substantial new customers.

  12. 12.Providing a wide range of on-site retail shopping and dining (restaurant) opportunities in Erie.

  13. 13.Using a high population density community to significantly reduce per-person impacts.

  14. 14.Showing how a pedestrian-oriented community can meet residents’ needs while eliminating most vehicular traffic and avoiding congestion.

  15. 15.Creating a diversity of housing stock in Erie which is missing (i.e., for people who want apartments and much smaller homes).

  16. 16.Focusing on the needs of mature citizens so they can stay in the community their entire lives.

  17. 17.Providing a range of housing to meet senior citizens’ desires (from independent living units to assisted living and higher care facilities)

  18. 18.Providing significant medical facilities within the community.

  19. 19.Involving institutions of higher education on-site so all Erie residents can better access educational opportunities.

  20. 20.Having world-class athletic facilities for working out and training to meet the needs ranging from the novice to the Olympian.

  21. 21.Constructing multi-modal trails which serve runners, walkers, cyclists, skateboarders, roller-bladers, and equestrians.

  22. 22.Having marked 5K and 10K race courses on-site for training and community events.

  23. 23.Having workout stations every 1,000 feet on the trails to accommodate all levels of ability and fitness.

  24. 24.Having a multi-screen movie theater.

  25. 25.Building a regional Performing Arts Center.

  26. 26.Creating an Arts District to support artists, to offer art instruction, and to create a major destination for residents and visitors.

  27. 27.Having one or more grocery stores on-site or in the immediate area.

  28. 28.Developing Community Gardens for all Erie citizens.

  29. 29.Having a Dog Park for Erie’s pets (and their owners) to use.

  30. 30.Creating multiple places for Erie residents to meet, socialize, and just be together --- helping to unite the entire Erie community.

 

Please refer everyone to our presentation: www.bit.ly/OverviewGR (to see some of the detail, suggest they view it in full screen mode).  And please encourage everyone to look at the description of our National Sustainability Council and the members we already have committed to Golden Run (www.bit.ly/CouncilGR).  They should quickly see we already are bringing national attention to Erie.  And, of course, please refer them to Tom Clark’s endorsement letter at www.bit.ly/ClarkLet. 

 

With your help, we are moving forward with the collaborative process to trifurcate the annexation and zoning process as follows:

 

  1. 1.Do the annexation as scheduled but negotiate key details later due to the amount of time required to create our plan together.

  2. 2.Do the zoning as scheduled but recognize the complexity of Golden Run requires more time to complete the details.

  3. 3.Take our time to work collaboratively to create the special “Golden Run Planned Development -- Development Plan” (“GR-PD-DP”) over the course of the next year (2014), with a Development Agreement which specifies all of the entitlements being given to Golden Run.

 

This plan, as originally proposed by the Town staff, gives the Town, its citizens, and Golden Run the time we need to develop the specific plan we want.  The advantage is we are able to tell Erie citizens that the biggest decisions will not be made until the middle or end of next year and they will have plenty of time to help shape the specific configuration of Golden Run.  We realize the risk to Golden Run is we could end up being annexed and zoned but not get the specific Development Plan entitlements we were seeking.  We accepted that risk and the staff’s recommendation to allow Golden Run to de-annex or disconnect in the event we cannot forge a final development agreement.

 

As always, please call me any time at 303-666-6161 to discuss this.  And let me thank you in advance for your continued support to help make this happen for the Town of Erie, for the region, and for our State.

 

Sincerely yours,

 


Aaron

Board and Community Correspondence

As part of the transparency of the project, Golden Run periodically posts correspondence it believes citizens might be interested in having the opportunity to read. Please contact us with any additional questions.

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