Next Steps: Contact JPPHA Board & City Council

Feel free to copy + paste - and change as you see fit - the following templates and send to the Jefferson Parkway Board as well as Arvada City Council. Contact information for each is below.

Jefferson Parkway Board: https://www.jppha.org/board-of-directors/

Arvada City Council: https://arvada.org/city-hall/about-city-council/arvada-city-council-contacts

Sample Language for Emails:

Sample 1: Concerned about Parkway, please consider community recommendations

Dear Boardmember (Jonez, Williams, Szabo, Beacom, Ahrens)

I am a resident of Leyden Rock and recently attended a community meeting last week about the Jefferson Parkway coming though my neighborhood. I am very concerned about the impacts this road will have on my family. While I knew the right of way was there, I was hoping that it would never be built. But since it is, we need to work together on proper mitigations for our community. I heard some great ideas at the meeting on Wednesday. I understand we are going to vote on them soon. Please hold off on releasing the initial RFP until you get the community’s input and can include them in the proposal. I hope you will carefully consider the requests my community will be making in the next few weeks to minimize the impacts of the Parkway on my community

Thank you,

(Resident’s name)
(Address)
(Email)

*****

Sample 2: Need light and sound protection, but no sound walls please

Dear Boardmember (Jonez, Williams, Szabo, Beacom, Ahrens)

My home borders the parkway and I just learned that I will be 65 yards from the edge of the road. I knew it was going to be there when it was built, but that is much closer than any other neighborhood on the Beltway. Surely there will be some protection from sound and light pollution, but isn’t there something better than a sound wall? I don’t want to lose my views, but I never dreamt we would be this close!

Yours Truly,

(Resident’s name)
(Address)
(Email)

*****

Sample 3: Need walkways over the Parkway

Dear Boardmember (Jonez, Williams, Szabo, Beacom, Ahrens)

I live in Leyden Rock and I love my community. We attend most of the community events and enjoy walking to the pool on the weekends. I just learned that there are no plans for pedestrian bridges over the road you want to build. How can that be? Please put in some types of walkways so we can get to the other side of the community without driving.

Thanks,

(Resident’s name)
(Address)
(Email)

*****

Sample 4: I like the idea of an access road to Highway 72

Dear Boardmember (Jonez, Williams, Szabo, Beacom, Ahrens)

I just found out that they may be able to put an access road in when they build the highway though Leyden Rock. Please do so, it would make this neighborhood much safer, and I could actually use the highway If you do.

Best regards,

(Resident’s name)
(Address)
(Email)

*****

Sample 5: My community matters, we need time to get our recommendations into the RFP.

Dear Boardmember (Jonez, Williams, Szabo, Beacom, Ahrens)

I just attended a community meeting in Leyden Rock and heard great and not so great ideas about what can be done to reduce the impacts on my community. I also heard that the RFP is going out soon. Please don’t release the RFP until you hear from this community. Once the RFP goes out, we are locked out of any meaningful chance to require effective mitigations.

Regards,

(Resident’s name)
(Address)
(Email)

*****

Sample 6: Addressed to the JPPHA Board.

Dear JPPHA Board members:

I am a taxpayer, registered voter and resident of the Arvada Leyden Rock neighborhood.

When I purchased my home, I was aware that there was a future right of way for the Jefferson Parkway that bisected the Leyden Rock neighborhood. I understand that the future is now. I am writing to urge you to incorporate all the recommendations that were unanimously adopted by the Jefferson Parkway Advisory Committee into the Jefferson Parkway RFP that will be delivered to the concessionaires in the next few weeks.

The Leyden Rock neighborhood is unique in some important ways. This neighborhood has formed a strong community. This has happened through focusing on community events that bring the neighbors together for Easter Eggs hunts, Movies in the Park, Oktoberfest, pictures with Santa, multi-family pool dinners and many other gatherings. The neighborhood is comprised of 3 parts because of the terrain. But it feels like a single community thanks to these events and mundane interactions like the trash/recycling can return on high wind days.

The neighborhood is also unique in that it is the only community in the Front Range where a single community is bisected by the beltway. It is also the community that has homes less than a football field’s distance from the road edge. This demands that the design pays particular attention to minimizing the impact to the Leyden Rock neighborhood.

The selected design should:

minimize the sound increases due to the Parkway

prevent light pollution from leaving the Parkway right of way boundary

maximize the safety of the residents of Leyden Rock

keep the community highly connected

be aesthetically pleasing by:

using creative solutions to these mitigations

blending the Parkway into the neighborhood

I commend the Board for assembling a citizens committee to gather feedback and make recommendations. I have reviewed all the recommendations and agree with all the unanimously adopted recommendations. I urge you to take the next step in citizen involvement by including these recommendations as requirements in the Jefferson Parkway Request for Proposal that the vendor must consider and incorporate into their design.

I would ask that additionally, the residents of Leyden Rock be consulted during the development and evaluation of the proposals. Hold community meetings in Leyden Rock with the concessionaires so that they can understand the community needs for the Parkway. Poll the community on the part of the design that impacts the Leyden Rock when the designs are submitted.

Sincerely,

<full name>

<address>

<city, state, zip>

<email address>

<contact phone number>