UAHR
- Snap Shot Chronology
United Associations of Heather Ridge, Inc. (UAHR.org)
The
following are the significant events in the formation and continuing efforts of UAHR,
Inc. to preserve the 18-hole Heather Ridge golf course in its current form at a
golf course market price:
Rumors
of the Heather Ridge golf course being offered for sale, transforming open space
into housing developments began in 2004.
April, 2005 – Larry
& Pat Horton - Sausalito report Councilwoman Molly Markert - Ward 4
comments, plans for the golf course sale were brought to the city. Plans
entailed changing golf course into a housing development. Vinny Roith, President
Sausalito calls meeting of Heather Ridge homeowners to discuss the issues.
The contract to sell the golf course expired and HOAs decided to keep alert.
May, 2005 –
Report of another contract was brought to the attention of
the HOAs.
June 1, 2005 – 39 people [HOAs (residents surrounding the golf course)
and city staff] attended this meeting. The
city staff reported that the golf course was zoned R-2 and could be sold and
developed. The HOAs were asked to
vote:
1.
Should the group be Reactive
(influence development)?
The vote was unanimous YES.
2.
Should the group become Pro-Active
(Organize with the intent to gain
control of the golf course)? The vote
was unanimous YES. (minutes of this
6/1/2005 meeting are on the website UAHR.ORG)
July 11, 2005 – An estimated 300 people (standing room only) from the
HOAs attended an Aurora City Council meeting supporting the preservation of the
Heather Ridge Golf Course. The issue
was not on the Aurora City Council agenda, however 4 residents stood up and gave
brief presentations regarding the support of the neighborhood’s united
position to preserve the golf course. The
presentations were given in the open forum of the meeting of Agenda Item #7 PUBLIC
INVITED TO BE HEARD (non-agenda related issues only).
Special
attention was asked of the council as to the R-2 zoning of the golf course.
The mayor stated that the city was still trying to find the original PUD
(Planned Unit Development = City Approved Site Plan). It had been
misplaced. He indicated an opinion
from the city attorney’s office would be forth coming in a few days.
July 14, 2005 – United Associations of Heather Ridge, Inc. -
Vinny Roith
, registered agent - was incorporated as a non profit corporation with the
Colorado Secretary of State.
July 18, 2005 – A memorandum from Bob Rogers, City Attorneys office to
the Mayor Tauer and City Council provided the opinion that the Heather Ridge
Golf Course is not considered R-2 (developable land) and that to change the golf
course to developable land rezoning would have to be approved by the city and
council. Addendum
July 19, 2005 – 34 people [HOAs (residents
surrounding the golf course) and city staff] attended this meeting. UAHR was
organized into 3 action groups:
-
GCAAG - Golf Course Acquisition Action Group will focus efforts/research around:
developing a business plan, real estate appraisal, forming a special district
and fundraising;
-
IDAG
- Influencing Development Action Group will focus efforts on keeping abreast of any interest
expressed in purchasing and developing the golf course, knowing City Codes and
criteria for decision-making, learning development review process including how
Planning Commission and City Council work;
-
GMOR - Group Maintenance and Organizing Residents will
focus on developing and administering a community-wide survey, how people will
network and communicate, newsletters, mailing lists, media/public relations,
developing a website.
(Minutes of this
7/19/2005 meeting are on the website UAHR.ORG)
August 9, 2005 – 33
people [HOAs (residents surrounding the golf course) and city staff] attended
this meeting. Officers were elected
and the need for contributions for funding was decided.
City of Aurora leaders suggested they would support formation of Special
District to formally organize to gain control of the open space. The
Special District was originally introduced in the 7/19 meeting. The group agreed upon the need for a special district attorney. (Minutes
of this 8/9/2005 meeting are on the website UAHR.ORG)
September 9, 2005 –
UAHR.org website is launched
September 12, 2005 –
Heather Gardens community (2,436 Homes) publicly support the efforts of UAHR. Click
here to view September Heather Gardens newsletter.
September 13, 2005 – 37
people [HOAs (residents surrounding the golf course) and city staff] attended
this meeting. The group was
introduced to the pro-bono attorney Gary White.
Progress of the committees was presented. (Minutes of this
9/13/2005 meeting are on
the website UAHR.ORG)
October 11, 2005 –
28 people [HOAs (residents surrounding the golf course), city staff and 2
surprised late attendees – the golf course owner and spouse] attended this
meeting. David Clinger, the land planning consultant to EDI the original
developer of
Heather
Gardens
and Heather Ridge Golf Course, spoke about the original plans and his opinion
of what it would mean to transform the golf course into housing. Owner
of golf course says the golf course is under contract to be sold as a housing
development. (Minutes of this
10/11/2005 meeting are on
the website UAHR.ORG)
November 03, 2005 – Ed
Kay, Heather Ridge South, contacts environmental attorney Nathan Mease. Mr.
Mease offers to work with the UAHR on a pro-bono basis. (Click
for minutes of 11/8/2005 meeting)
November 21, 2005 – Twelfth
developer withdraws interest in purchasing the golf course.
Quote,"...the homeowners have such a strong organization that it is next to impossible
for anyone to come in and develop the course...." (Click
for minutes of 12/13/2005 meeting)
January
6, 2006 -- UAHR attorney Gary White files Service Plan with city of Aurora for
Special District known as "Heather Ridge Metropolitan District". (Click
for minutes of 1/10/2006 meeting)
January
23,2006 -- At the suggestion of the city, Gary White and David Clinger, UAHR
retains Otten, Johnson, Robinson, Neff
+ Ragonetti, P.C. -- Specialists in Colorado
zoning and land use.
January 25, 2006 - Cynthia M Beyer-Ulrich - David S O'Leary & Joseph J Lico
of White, Bear & Ankele,
P.C. Prep for filing Special District Service Plan.
February
9, 2006 - The owner of Heather Ridge and UAHR begin discussions regarding
preservation of the 18-hole golf course & driving range.
February
27, 2006 - The Aurora City Council
voted unanimously to approve the Service Plan for the formation of the Heather
Ridge Metropolitan District. Thank you city leaders: (click
for closed caption of the meeting)
Click
for the video. Then click Agenda item #11 & Fast Forward to about the 6 minute
point.
(Click for minutes of the meeting)
Mayor Ed Tauer, & council persons: Molly Markert,
Sue Sandstrom, Bob FitzGerald, Debrah Wallace, Renie Peterson, Steve Hogan, Brad
Pierce and Larry Beer
Also thanks to Gary
White of White, Bear & Ankele,
P.C. for legal services in preparing timely service plan for special
district.
White, Bear &
Ankele legal team: Cynthia M Beyer-Ulrich, David S O'Leary & Joseph J Lico
March 15, 2006 -- Golf
course owner reports golf course has been taken off the market & is no
longer for sale.
April
7, 2006 UAHR to WBA - Request to cancel May 2 Election
-- UAHR
requests election to be cancelled and rescheduled for November. This action was
due to a discrepancy between the
map of the proposed Heather Ridge Metropolitan District and the detail legal
descriptions. Specifically, property
owners/residents of homes in Heather Ridge South (south of Yale) and Fairway 16
(West of golf course fairway 16), had not received an election mailing that was
mailed Friday 3/31/2006. Fairway 16 and
Heather Ridge South are very important areas that have contributed much both
financially and in volunteer time and effort and must be included for the
election.
September
9, 2006 Heather Ridge Re-Zoning Detail Submitted by Jim Johnson Iliff Land
& Golf LLC - Approved by Aurora City Council
-- Re-Zoning
File0001 - Re-Zoning
File0002 - Re-Zoning
File0003 - Re-Zoning
File0004
November
7, 2006 Election - Land Slide voter approval for Formation of HRMD01 - Click
for Results
December
2, 2006 Final Re-Zoning City Council approval - Zoning Heather Ridge 18 hole
golf course & driving range as "PLANNED DEVELOPMENT -- GOLF
COURSE" -- Jim Johnson - Iliff Land & Golf LLC funded this re-zoning. -
Click for Council minutes - Final Ordnances - Item 9 f & g
February
8, 2007 - HRMD01 (Heather Ridge Metro
District No. 1) organization director
meeting.
October
9, 2007 - HRMD01 (Heather Ridge Metro
District No. 1) 86%
property owner approval to fund the District.
July
31, 2008 Aurora Sentinel News
- 7/31/2008
PDF
August
1, 2008 Cordes and Company - Court Appointed Receivers & HRCC Mgt
August
18, 2008 Aurora Sentinel News
- 8/18/2008
PDF
February
2009 - Meeting Arapahoe County Open Space Grant Program meeting
July
16, 2009 UAHR Future of Heater Ridge Sentinel-Adam Goldstein
August
15, 2009 Polling - Homeowners Pursue Purchase of 90 acre Open Space/Golf Course
with 680 acre feet of H2O - Vote Results -- 79.44% YES Click for Ballot Results
November
23, 2009 UAHR *** SPECIAL *** Director Meeting Re-Organization
November
25, 2009 CBS Channel 4 link to view 3 minute TV clip - Paul Day
December
1, 2009 HR preserves views ... Denver Post - Carlos Illescas
December
1, 2009 Residents set to buy . . . Aurora Sentinel - Adam Goldstein
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