HIGHLANDS RANCH —After drawing the ire of some Highlands Ranch residents about plans to build a gas line regulator station near a school, is seeking a new site for the facility.
Last week, Xcel area manager Tom Henley said the utility was working with the to arrange an open house sometime in the next few weeks to discuss alternate locations for the controversial structure.
“We’ve been looking for a long time for the proper location,” Henley said. “We’re going to present alternate routes and options and see what we can come up with.”
The regulator station will house a system where a new gas distribution line Xcel is planning will tie in to an existing high pressure line, which has run through Highlands Ranch for decades. The above-ground, closed-pipe system will decrease the pressure of the gas in the big line before sending it toward and other developments planned in northwest Douglas County, officials say.
Until recently, Xcel planned to build the station and related infrastructure on a 50-by-65-foot, fenced-in plot 93 feet from the fence around the playground of 805 W. English Sparrow Trail. The project would have been 131 feet from a modular school building at Saddle Ranch and about 160 feet from the fence of the nearest home, Xcel officials said.
Xcel employees, including Henley, participated in a public meeting with residents on March 10 to stress the station’s safety.
“(Regulator stations) are in multiple intersections around Highlands Ranch. It’s a common thing,” project engineer Corey Higel said. “They are not leaking gas. They are safe, and they are efficient.”
According to information obtained from an open-records request, Xcel previously sought to build the station in an existing 200-foot-wide utility easement west of the school, but , which owns the property, denied access via a letter in January 2015, citing its own plans for more piping there. A spot near a baseball field west of the school was shot down because Highlands Ranch officials felt it would interfere with recreation there, and another location fell in a floodplain.
Residents at that contentious meeting urged Xcel to keep looking, citing public safety in the event of a leak or accident, impact on property values and a moral obligation to the well-being of Saddle Ranch students as reasons to move the station.
“Thirty-two parents said they will pull their kids if that goes in,” Saddle Ranch parent-teacher organization president Dina Chatwin said at the meeting. “School should be your haven. It should be your safe place.”
Xcel and Highlands Ranch Metro District last week announced they are looking at other options. A time and place for an open house had not been finalized as of Monday, but metro district general manager Terry Nolan said that a space near a dog park more than 500 feet northwest of the school was being eyed.
“The potential locations all need an easement from the Metro District,” Nolan wrote in a letter that was shared on a established by area residents who oppose the station. “The Metro District Board will not take this matter up until April, after they have had a chance to understand the input from the public meeting.”
Todd Roth was among a group of Indigo Hills subdivision residents who helped organize opposition to the plans. His home backs up to the open space area where Xcel was seeking to build. He had two children who passed through Saddle Ranch and was a volunteer there for 10 years.
“Clearly, once the community started to inspect this project and raise questions that weren’t fully developed by Xcel our voice was heard,” he said. “At this point, I’m very pleased they have listened to public opinion and are considering options that take into account public safety.”
Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953 or jrubino@denverpost.com
