FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 1, 2021

REDTAIL RIDGE DECISION 

CHALLENGED BY LOUISVILLE RESIDENTS

Louisville residents are seeking a referendum on a land-use ordinance passed by City Council on September 21, 2021. The ordinance approves a General Development Plan amendment for the former StorageTek/ConocoPhillips site in the southeast corner of the city. The development, called Redtail Ridge, is the project of Brue Baukol Capital Partners, a Denver-based real-estate investment firm. The residents filing the referendum maintain that the sprawling commercial-industrial development will destroy wildlife habitat and mountain views, bring too much traffic and air pollution to the city, may siphon potential tenants from the city’s many unoccupied existing commercial properties, and is incompatible with Louisville’s culture and small-town character.

 At 389 acres, the former StorageTek property is the last large undeveloped parcel in Louisville, and comprises 8% of the city’s total land area. StorageTek’s facilities occupied about one-third of the property from 1978 to 2010, when they were removed by ConocoPhillips, who purchased the property that year. ConocoPhillips never built anything on the site, and sold the land to Brue Baukol in December 2020. Because the majority of the property was never developed, and the land has been vacant since StorageTek closed in 2005, the site has become an ecologically rich and diverse wildlife habitat. Its rolling, grassy hills are the first thing visitors see when they enter the city from the southeast, and its rural atmosphere creates a distinct character that separates Louisville from the sprawl of Broomfield and Superior to the east and south.

The Redtail Ridge General Development Plan approved by City Council on a 4-3 vote on September 21 would replace this bucolic scene with 3 million square feet of industrial and office buildings, their parking lots, and a soccer field. Only 73 acres, or 18% of the property, will be deeded to the city for use as open space. (The total public land dedication is 93 acres.)

Citing overwhelming public opposition to the project, among other factors, Councilmembers Kyle Brown and Chris Leh joined Mayor Ashley Stolzmann in voting no. Councilmember Brown and Mayor Stolzmann argued that the ecologically sensitive and diverse section of the property north of Disc Drive (about 160 acres) would be a more appropriate open space allotment. Mayor Stolzmann added that the problems identified by the traffic study for Redtail Ridge were not addressed in the development plan. Councilmember Brown said that the GDP as proposed is not consistent with Louisville’s comprehensive plan or the city's criteria to approve a GDP. He emphasized that the Redtail GDP was not designed, per the city’s municipal code for this type of zoning, "to encourage, preserve and improve the health, safety and general welfare of the people of our city,” and that sustainability measures proposed by Council are insufficient to fight climate change and its impact on human health and safety.

Brown also expressed concern that the applicant hasn't demonstrated that there is demand for this type of development. Without an economic impact study, he noted, there is no way of anticipating whether the new commercial and industrial spaces at Redtail would siphon tenants from other areas in the city, some of which already suffer from high vacancy rates. Louisville’s Comprehensive Plan fiscal performance policy for this special district requires a development’s land-use mix to provide a positive economic benefit to the city.

Boulder County’s Department of Community Planning and Permitting also objected to the Redtail Ridge plan, stating in a March letter that, despite adjustments to the plan submitted by the developer last year, “central concerns remain, particularly the proposed development’s scale and the applicant not fully addressing the associated regional impacts on housing, traffic and the environment.”

The referendum process was designed to ensure that City Council remains accountable to the people its members represent. It was designed for situations like this, where Council’s decision is out of step with the community’s values and priorities. Louisville residents have until October 26 to gather signatures and file the referendum petition with the city clerk.