CCU Withdraws its proposal to HRCA to Purchase the University Site in Highlands Ranch

Sadly, today the end came for the CCU proposal. This from the HRCA website:
"NOTICE: Colorado Christian University has withdrawn its request to purchase land from the HRCA for a university campus in Planning Area E in the Backcountry. As a result, the community information meetings scheduled for January 12th, 14th, and... 27th have been cancelled."

I will ask formally that a process begin with the delegates that will determine if the HRCA Board of Director's confirm that the Backcountry (formerly OSCA) Management Plan is still as valid today for the HRCA as it was in 2002, when it was initially adopted.

OSCA MANAGEMENT PLAN AREAS

OSCA MANAGEMENT PLAN AREAS

From the Highlands Ranch Open Space Conservation Area Plan......

"The Primary purpose of the plan is to establish appropriate land uses for the 8,200 acre Open Space Conservation Area (OSCA). The plan also identifies specific areas for open space, wildlife habitat, public facilities, and public and private recreation and educational facilities including parks and trails."

This is our Primary Goal as well, but we are organizing to insure that all appropriate measures are taken to RESPONSIBLY develop these areas as outlined in the plan. The development of this important area of our community demands that all citizens’ concerns are heard, and then an outline of what will actually be done to evaluate, sell, develop or improve these assets is presented to the entire community before decisions are made. It is imperative that the Highlands Ranch Community Association, as steward for these lands, takes all the steps necessary to achieve the goals of this plan.

MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR THE OPEN SPACE CONSERVATION AREA

All of the FACTS of the OSCA Management Implementation Plan can be found here:

http://www.hrcaonline.org/PDFs/HRCA/PDF71.pdf

Please take a few minutes to read all about the amenities of this plan. It is easy to see how much hard work went into the development of this plan. Pay close attention to all of the various stakeholders who contributed their expertise to this plan.

I ask you this? Who wouldn't want to follow this plan? It will be a glorious addition to our already outstanding community.

Ask yourself this: Should we FOLLOW the PLAN? Or, should we NOT FOLLOW the PLAN?

I vote FOR the PLAN; Because it is part of what makes Highlands Ranch such a special place

NIMBY's

NIMBY - "Not In My Back Yard".

Interesting phrase, isn't it? I found a very good definition on the internet this morning. Here it is: "A Situation where one or more members of a community oppose establishment of an inherently undesirable project (such as a hazardous waste dump or radioactive material storage), or an otherwise desirable project (such as a school or shopping center), too close to their homes from fear of its negative consequences."

Now, back to the topic at hand, Highlands Ranch. If every time a development in the Master plan at Highlands Ranch was stopped by a strong vocal minority of neighbors directly adjacent to it because the land about to be developed was pristine, full of desirable wildlife, or was going to add traffic to the streets, none of those developments would have ever happened, and Highlands Ranch would still be a very large paper plan with one or two subdivisions at Broadway and Dad Clark Drive. There would be a 25 year old vacant and shuttered NorthRidge Recreation Center and no gas stations, restaurants theaters, or shopping, not even a Jenny's Market.

Is this what the original planners of Highlands Ranch would have been proud of? NO! Of course not, neither would the communities to the north of County Line Road, in Arapahoe County be happy if there were no Highlands Ranch. A master planned community is just that, PLANNED. When development that is planned begins to happen, it is natural for those most affected to protest and express their self interest to keep the land in its original condition. However, the Highlands Ranch community is a sparkling success, one of the best communities in the entire nation. Why? Because the plan was followed, only adapted when market conditions changed, or some other discovery was made that made the original plan not feasible. All citizens of Highlands Ranch should be able to enjoy ALL of the amenities in the plan for our community, even if it causes consternation to those who live directly adjacent to it.

The best use of NIMBY resources and energy is to have their concerns heard and adopted in whatever way feasible by the developer. This way, everyone wins, the developer, the community at large, AND the NIMBY.

What can you do to help?

Please help us by doing one or all of the following:

• Sign our Petition at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/hrcitizensforgoodopenspace/

• Contact the HRCA Delegate for your district. They are the ones who will eventually help decide to approve this prudent land sale. Voice your support now before this opportunity is lost and CCU decides to move elsewhere, taking their positive economic benefits with them. To find out who your delegate is, click on the link below entitled, "Find your District Delegate Contact Information". Roll your cursor over your neighborhood on the map and you will find out the contact info for your District Delegate.

• Contact the HRCA Board of Directors:

The Board of Directors has the ultimate decision in this matter. It is imperative that all of us contact each and every one of them to let our voices be heard.


• Laura Hopkins (lhopkins@hrcaonline.org)
• Paul Meyers (pmeyers@hrcaonline.org)
• Todd Landgrave (tlandgrave@hrcaonline.org)
• David Martz (dmartz@hrcaonline.org)
• Rick Dinsmore (rdinsmore@hrcaonline.org)

• Contact your local association Board of Directors

• Attend the RAC meetings at Eastridge Recreation Center at 6:30PM on the third Tuesday of every month starting January 19th 2010. This is your opportunity to speak directly to all of the HRCA Delegates.

• Attend the CCU sponsored community meetings
• Tuesday, January 5 – 7PM Southridge
• Thursday, January 7 – 7PM Southridge
• Tuesday, January 12 – 7PM Location TBD
• Thursday, January 14 – 7PM Location TBD
• Wednesday, January 27 – 7PM Location TBD

• Attend other meetings as announced



Sunday, December 27, 2009

The Opposition

The Highlands Ranch residents who compose the current opposition groups are generally residents of the Hearth and Firelight, the two communities located closest to the 1,200 acre OSCA developable areas, including the proposed Colorado Christian University site. They are digging deep to find out all the facts they can to construe this project as one that is not wanted by ALL of the citizens of Highlands Ranch. Several old news clippings from over five years ago have been used to place the university in a bad light. Some folks testified that they were not informed that this site was developable for a limited number of recreation and public uses when they bought their homes. If that is the cause of all this ill will towards Shea Properties, there is nothing our group can do to change those facts. What we CAN do is inform the rest of the citizens of Highlands Ranch who are in favor of the responsible development that there are ways to turn the sale of the designated university site into a wonderful benefit for ALL of Highlands Ranch. The 202 acre regional park was mentioned as another "thing" that was wrong with the OSCA plan. If this group had their way, they would want Douglas County to never develop this regional park which is a benefit to ALL of Douglas County, not just highlands Ranch. It’s hard to get supporters of the OSCA plan to come out and speak and email their delegates and HRCA Board Members. This is an uphill fight for us who care enough to stand up in favor. All we can do is get out and knock on doors and spread the word! Thanks for your continued support!
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4 comments:

  1. UnknownDecember 31, 2009 at 12:25 PM

    As the only website (that I know of) that is in favor of the CCU proposal, I'd like to see you layout your reasoning for the development. Your only argument is to criticize the Hearth and Firelight (I live in Firelight for the record) as bad people who don't want development anywhere. I am currently strongly against the CCU proposal and leaning towards the regional park and I would really like to know why you think CCU will benefit HR. And please don't say money as it will likely raise our taxes.

    Thanks,
    Dan Widmer
    Firelight resident

    ReplyDelete
  2. C. BlakeJanuary 1, 2010 at 4:55 PM

    Daniel, I don't understand your argument. A park would cost us tax money, but a private school is not paid for by tax dollars. They have to earn money by tuition and pay the community taxes. I support this idea. When Valor CHS was built, they put up a beautiful building and pristine sports fields, and are currently raising funds to build a gorgeous performing arts center that will be available to be used by the entire community. They have already won a state football championship in their league and are about to graduate their first group of well prepare students. I personally know two Highland Ranch women who have gotten good paying jobs at Valor and they love working there. Valor has done nothing but brought pride, jobs and money to HR. We simply need to challenge CCU to be as good. I think they can be a wonderful enhancement to the Ranch. We can earn a reputation for a being not only a great place to live but a place that offers great schools all the way from Kindergarten through college.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJanuary 5, 2010 at 11:07 AM

    Blake,

    Are we making ranch a Christian-Only oriented community?.. since you see CCU as enhancement to the ranch. There are residents with other religious beliefs that will not benefit from CCU. Any use of the community space should benefit the entire community.

    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJanuary 5, 2010 at 3:41 PM

    Blake,
    I wasn't trying to make an argument either way. I understand spending money for a park because that will benefit all residents. I'm not strongly for the park, but I understand the desire for it and would go along with it. As for CCU, yes they will be responsible for developing the land and buildings but it is my understanding that it will be up to the residents to pay for expansion on Monarch, managing drainage issues, police, fire, etc. I expect those costs to be greater than the gain from the sale. Does anyone know the price of the land?

    All I wanted was someone to defend the idea of CCU. I've only talked to a few people, but they say the same thing this website says: "You don't want it because you live in firelight and you don't want any development." No one has ever said anything about the actual benefits: culturally, jobs, etc. I'd like to see a lot more evidence and details but at least that was something. I just think you'd do your cause a huge benefit if you (this website) could offer information. I came to this site with an open mind to learn about the benefits. I certainly wasn't convinced. All I learned is that I'm against all development because I live in a particular neighborhood.

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