Solterra Centre Official Development Plan Addendum

The responsibility of the City of Lakewood is to protect and enhance the integrity and successful implementation of its Strategic Growth Initiative Law. According to the Constitution and case law, vesting is not a guaranteed right that supersedes or preempts or prevents legislative government action. The developer needs to be told he will need to take his case to court to prove he has anything that is is vested.

Jim Kinney

Council is being asked to approved a new vested right - to guarantee the rate of build out each year.

This request for a new vested right is a significant exception to the Growth Initiative.

As was disclosed in the Big Sky litigation against Green Mountain Water, CDN is about to sell Big Sky to Lennar. The reason for this request is to make the deal more valuable to CDN. Selling the land with this guarantee is more valuable than if the rate of build out is limited.

CDN proposes to limit the total number of units in exchange for this special exception from the Growth Initiative. But think about that. The total number of units they can build is more valuable than the rate each year. In fact, Lennar does not intend to build more total units than what they are proposing - so they are not giving the community anything of value.

Once the Council makes this special exception for CDN/Lennar, then the rest of the developers will have an equal protection argument - if giving CDN/Lennar a blank check as to the number they can build each year cuts in to the number other developers can build then they will have an excellent argument that this special exception ordinance for a special interest violates their right to the same treatment - equal protection of the law.

As noted in the blog below, the constitutions (US and CO) do not favor vested rights agreements because they result in "legislative entrenchment" - tying the hands of future legislation. As noted below, if there was a vested right to the RATE of build out each year - CDN had to expressly say so back in 2009., They didn't. So the right to unlimited rate of build out does not exist.

The only way they get it is if this Council votes to give CDN/Lennar a special exception to the Growth Initiative.

And making more money for CDN is not a good reason to gut the hard earned Growth Initiative. Instead of looking for ways to erode the Growth Initiative we should be working on ways to strengthen the Growth Initiative.

http://rooneyvalleynews.com/big-sky-cdn-attack-on-limited-growth-initiative-violates-constitution-and-common-law/

http://rooneyvalleynews.com/skilling-franks-letter-the-big-sky-exemption-is-good-for-the-citizens-response-no-it-isnt/

John Henderson
2167 S. Juniper St
Lakewood CO. 80228
316-295-0084