Lakewood – The City Council heard testimony late into the night Monday about a proposed Sam’s Club and its potential impact on adjacent high-end neighborhoods near Pinehurst Country Club.
At 10 p.m., the Lakewood City Council was still taking comments about the proposed rezoning for the 138,000-square-foot wholesale retail store at 7205 W. Quincy Ave.
The applicants’ attorney, Carolyn White, said the project is compatible with the area and is in step with the area’s changing character that includes 2.5 million square feet of retail along the South Wadsworth Boulevard corridor.
In addition to $3 million in public improvements required by the proposal, the applicant will spent another $4 million on widening roads, upgrading drainage and putting utilities underground, White said.
The project “will improve traffic and provide revenue to help the city meet its goals citywide,” she said.
The applicants say the project would generate an estimated $1.7 million in sales tax annually for the city.
Former 7th Congressional District candidate Mike Feeley, a Lakewood lawyer, was hired to outline the concerns of Citizens Against the Re-Zone. CARZ is a group of 12 neighborhood associations that contend the project will intensify traffic congestion and create noise, safety and drainage problems.
“This is the Quincy corridor. There is no access (at the proposed Sam’s Club) onto Wadsworth,” Feeley said in protesting the depiction of the project as being part of the retail concentration on Wadsworth.
Feeley questioned how idling trucks and traffic increases are compatible with the nearby Sisters of Loretto school and home and the “ambiance of the neighborhoods.”
The group alleges that the city is “so broke,” facing $12.5 million in budget cuts over two years, that it is willing to put a “big box” store in a residential neighborhood.
“It’s a quality of life issue,” said Denver Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz, adding that it was the first time she has gone to another jurisdiction to represent her constituents.
A legal protest filed by the group last week has forced the proposal to gain the support of two-thirds of the council – eight members – to pass.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
