One of the biggest questions facing metro Denver is how growth should be directed over the next 20 years to accommodate the 1 million additional residents projected as being added to the region – a one-third increase over today’s population – while maintaining our quality of life.
The State Land Board’s proposal to develop the Lowry Bombing Range is not the right answer.
The land is 20 miles southeast of Denver – completely outside the urban growth area established in the MetroVision 2030 regional plan. The land board’s Lowry Bombing Range project is fiscally irresponsible, would worsen sprawl and traffic, and runs counter to the initiative passed by the voters directing the board to manage state trust lands for their long-term value.
A recent study by the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) of various growth patterns to accommodate these million new residents indicates that developing the bombing range at this time could cost the metro region an estimated $814 million in additional infrastructure costs, including an extra $627 million in regional transportation needs and $187 million in public infrastructure for the proposed 3,800-acre development.
The land board’s own analysis showed that, if developed now, the project would generate just $79.5 million for schools – less than a tenth of the $814 million it would cost the region and far less than what the land board could make for schools if they hold on to the investment until it makes economic sense to develop it.
Under Amendment 16, passed in 1996, the land board is required to manage this land for the inter-generational benefit of Colorado public schools. The constitution states that “the economic productivity of all lands held in public trust is dependent on sound stewardship, including protecting and enhancing the beauty, natural values, open space and wildlife habitat thereof, for this and future generations.”
There are also serious questions about whether the bombing range has adequate water supplies to support 13,000 residential units and accompanying commercial development. The local aquifer level has been dropping and the feasibility of delivering water from the project’s claim to Arkansas River water rights has been questioned by numerous officials.
The Aurora City Council recently voted unanimously against the development because of serious concerns about the water supply and the development’s impact on the city’s already constrained road system in the eastern quadrant of the metro region.
These issues demonstrate that the land board has placed the proverbial cart before the horse by moving forward with development plans for the Lowry Bombing Range when fundamental questions regarding the full costs and long-term impacts have been left unanswered. The land board should hold onto this valuable land until regional development leads to the right conditions.
We urge Gov. Bill Ritter to step in and set the board straight on what it means to be “stubborn stewards of the land.”
State Sen. Bob Hagedorn represents Aurora and unincorporated Arapahoe County. Elise Jones is executive director of the Colorado Environmental Coalition.
