is inviting area residents to an open house to provide feedback on a planned location for a regulator station it is seeking to build in Highlands Ranch.
The utility will host the open-format gathering from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 4 at the Hilton Garden Inn, 1050 Plaza Drive, according to a shared on the .
The focus of the meeting will be a regulator station Xcel had planned to build in an open space area in Highlands Ranch’s subdivision. The station would house the connection infrastructure where a new 12- to 8-inch, low-pressure gas distribution line would tie into an existing high-pressure, 24-inch gas line Xcel has owned and operated in the area for years.
Xcel’s first choice for a site was met with strong opposition from Indigo Hill residents, who worried about safety, noise and the potential impact on property values. For many, the primary concern was that the location was within 100 feet of the playground of Saddle Ranch Elementary School, 805 W. English Sparrow Trail.
Following strong public pushback on those plans, Xcel officials earlier this month said the company is near the Fido’s Field dog park. The location is in Foothills Park, in the same general open space area as the last site but farther from the school.
In his letter, Xcel area manager Tom Henley wrote the company is holding Monday’s open house to “provide additional information about the location, design and function of the regulator station” and gather public feedback.
The station, which Xcel says will be designed to limit noise and fenced off to minimize visual impact, will be part of a 6-mile distribution line that will eventually bring natural gas to as many as 45,000 new residential and business customers expected to move into northwestern Douglas County in the coming years.
Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953, jrubino@denverpost.com or @RubinoJC
Xcel meeting
When: 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.on Monday, April 4
Where: Hilton Garden Inn, 1050 Plaza Drive, Highlands Rnach
