Waking up to Urban Renewal in the Metro Area
by Ascenzo Di Giacomo
​April 2015 

Recent actions and a renewed awareness by citizens of the metro area regarding Urban Renewal Authorities (URA) give many of us hope that we are heading in the right direction when it comes to government subsidizing development. But, we can do better to manage growth in a more creative, sensible, sustainable and financially prudent way.

The passing of legislation by the citizens of Littleton last month, which limits the powers of their URA, ‘LIFT,’ is the most significant action taken in decades on this issue. Even after being outspent in their special election campaign 25-1, they voted to ensure that they would have a say in what and how urban renewal projects in their city will be developed, funded and subsidized in the future.

This vote is of landmark importance for citizens that feel the unchecked and often-misguided powers of these URA agencies, primarily at the municipal level in Colorado, need to be addressed and redefined. Concerned citizens of Wheatridge (the Walmart at 38th,) Westminster (the West. Mall Redev.,) Denver (the St. Anthony’s Redev., Sloans Lake area,) and Arvada, where I live, (a Walmart, a hotel, and two large apartment blocks in two years,) who value their community, believe it does and they are assembling, educating themselves and making their voices heard in a big way.

At the heart of the argument is how the cities and URA’s fund these projects, which in most cases, is through a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) mechanism. Simply put, the TIF takes the potential, future property tax revenues generated on the so called ‘blighted’ sites, that are earmarked for education and government services, and refunds them back to developers and the authorities themselves for up to 25 years. In an age where we cannot adequately fund education in this state this only exacerbates our statewide budget problems.

Citizens must stand up, speak up, and demand that the goals and actions of these agencies are truly looking out for their best interests, both financially and culturally. We need to question whether retail is the answer for all these communities needs. What about subsidizing other needs like low-income and senior housing and transportation.

We need to demand that they use (and provide us) factual financial data from prior projects and other planning and research tools when analyzing the details of these binding decisions that spend our future tax revenue. Do these projects actually pay their way? There is evidence, presented by urban planning and similar organizations nationwide, that they do not.

We have to slow down this massive ‘development train,’ that hands out subsidies primarily to developers and multi-national corporations, before it is too late. We can work to preserve community in the metro area through increased citizen awareness and involvement, a higher level of government accountability and potential legislative action in the state house. Don’t forget, it’s OUR hard earned tax money they are spending. Stand up folks and be heard!         uploaded April 7th 2015

Topic: Urban Renewal 

The last twenty years have seen Urban Renewal Authorities across the US transformed into useful and controversial entities that have changed the landscape of American cities. The Denver Metro area has its share of projects of all sizes. Recently, in Lakewood, the Belmar Neighborhood is one of the most recent.

Arvada Branch - Jeffco Public Library

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