Forum to Focus on Transit Oriented Development

In November, voters will decide whether to fund the initiative.

Friday's forum will be held at the Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway. It will focus on the West line, which will run about 15 miles from the Union Station to what is known as the "Taj Mahal," the Jefferson County government center.

There will be seven stations in Lakewood, notes Lakewood planning director Frank Gray, one of the speakers. Of those, four will have development potential. Plans and zoning would call for retail, housing and parking, he says.

Linda Morton, former Lakewood mayor, will moderate the panel.

Speakers will include Steve Burkholder, the mayor of Lakewood; Rick Garcia, the Denver city council member whose district includes the west side where the West Line is proposed; Preston Gibson, president and chief executive officer of the Jefferson Economic Council; Steve Glueck, director of planning for Golden; Rosemary Rodriguez, Denver city council member and Rick Sheehan, Jefferson County commissioner.

The purpose of the session is to create a forum for discussing economic development, creating jobs, opportunities for housing along with other types of real estate along existing and proposed transit stations, according to Marilee Utter, co-chair person of the local ULI chapter.

The challenge, she says, is to accomplish these goals while emphasizing and retaining characters of existing neighborhoods.