ARVADA, Colo. — It was a victory for a small community group fighting Amazon for proposing to move into their neighborhood.
The Arvada City Council debated the move Monday night, eventually rejecting the rezoning and annexation of land in west Arvada.
The meeting started at at 6 p.m. Monday went until 2 a.m. Tuesday morning.
The conversation was about 33 acres of land right next to Maple Valley Park and Ralston Creek Trail.
Part of the land would have been annexed into Arvada and rezoned to allow for the development of a new Amazon delivery site.
The plans were shot down by the council in an overwhelming 5-2 vote.
The seemingly quiet neighborhood in Arvada made a lot of noise over the proposed amazon facility moving in.
They organized a petition and they received thousands of signatures.
“They’re all coming together so our voices can be louder and can be heard. the community should have a voice. this is a zoning issue. and so we have a voice,” said Gina Hallisey, chairperson for Protect Maple Valley Park in a previous interview. “We want to make sure that our city council people and the mayor hear what we have to say.”
The group was worried about traffic, noise, air quality, and the environmental impact it could have on the park.
According to the Ralston Valley Coalition (RVC), the Arvada Arts and Culture Plan has expressed a goal of creating a Second Cultural Hub and goes so far as to list the property at 66th and Indiana as a possible location.
The RVC encourages local leaders to follow their own planning documents and include the community in the process to create responsible development that benefits all parties.