By every measure, Parker, Colorado is going through a period of tremendous growth. Shaking up Parker Town Council may bring the positive changes needed.
Parker now has almost ten-times as many residents as it did in the year 1990. As more and more people continue move to the Denver Metro Area, Parker continues to be the best option for suburban living outside of the city.
Much of this development and growth can be traced back to ordinances passed in 2003. All to make Parker more appealing to real estate developers. One such ordinance was the elimination of the minimum parking requirement for Downtown Parker developers.
Land developers have to seek approval before they can get the green light to move forward with projects. Developers have traditionally been required to provide a realistic amount of parking for their building’s tenants. For single-unit homes, this is easily accomplished through a driveway or garage. But the task becomes more difficult for apartments and commercial properties.
Because land in Downtown Parker is at a premium, the Parker Town Council approved a measure in 2003 to eliminate the minimum parking requirements for Downtown Parker developments.
What may have seemed like a good idea when Parker boasted a population of 23,558 at the turn of the millennium, is quickly becoming an issue now that the town’s population has ballooned to over 50,000 residents.
As an example, the new Parker Flats at Old Town development project on Pikes Peak Drive is adding 146 residential units to the Downtown area. But because 48 of those units include multiple bedrooms, the number of driving-age residents is likely to be significantly higher. The Township of Parker approved the development project with just 125 allotted parking spaces.
Town Council Candidate Jeff Toborg inquired about this discrepancy. He asked whether there was any planned off-site parking to accommodate the additional Parker Flats residents not covered by the 125-space allotment. The Township responded by sending him a map of public parking areas in Downtown Parker. Instead of requiring Parker Flats to meet the parking needs of its residents, the Township is allowing them to use existing Public Parking as overflow.
“I asked the Mayor about this,” Toborg explains, “and he told me that Parker doesn’t have a parking problem. It has a ‘park where you want’ problem. As if it is somehow normal to have to park a half-mile away when I want to eat at Indochine.”
“What we have in Parker is high density growth with a lack of planning,” the Town Council Candidate continued, “Whether is it Parker Flats or the proposed Downtown hotel development, no one is planning for the inevitable traffic and parking problems.”
“Why hasn’t anyone looked into this parking exemption ordinance and said, ‘let’s repeal this?’”
The Parker Flats apartments alone will add an additional 30-50 cars to Parker’s public parking areas, not to mention the visitor parking that will overflow into public lots as well. So while Downtown businesses welcome the foot traffic that will come from this new apartment complex, they will do so at the expense of their customers who drive into town.
Parker Town Council said that they are studying ways to ease the parking and traffic burden on the Downtown Parker area.
One proposed “solution” is to put an additional traffic light onto the corner of Pine Drive and Summerset Lane. Though there is already a traffic light at the corner of Pine Drive and Main Street. There is also a flashing red light just a few yards up the road in front of the fire station.
The only problem is that they don’t own the land to put up a traffic light. So, the township is looking into using eminent domain to seize land from a local business owner to erect the traffic light. 0.352 acres to be exact.
Joe Oltmann, owner of Villa Parker event venue, shared his views on the issue. As a successful business, Villa Parker has received 70 accolades in the past eight years. Including Denver A-List’s Best Wedding Venue Award for 2016 and 2014. Oltmann recently received a letter from the Township making an offer for a parcel of his land. He was informed if he refuses the offer, they would acquire the land through other means (ie: eminent domain).
“It just never stops. They want to take and take and take, without any accountability,” stated Oltmann.“...at every step of the way, the Township has tried to make it harder for us to do business.”
Supporting Toborg's candidacy, Oltmann believes Parker Town Council needs to be shaken up.
Toborg agrees that the eminent domain threat is ridiculous. “Unless it is for safety, can’t see why we would go for eminent domain proceedings.” Toborg told this to a reporter during an interview. “We need to do what is fair and equitable. You would do more damage than good with all these stop lights in a row. It just doesn’t make sense.”
What is clear is parking and traffic are going to become a major cause for concern. Parker now has almost ten-times as many residents as it did in the year 1990. This growth is excellent for the local economy, but it apparently comes at a price. What are your thoughts on the issue?
